Emperess

When it became clear that my great-grandfather was in his last days, my family kept vigil at his bedside for days, not wanting him to be alone when he died. They talked to him, reminisced, and sang songs while my music therapist aunt played guitar. My mom and aunt were there, telling him that it was okay for him to go to his wife, that we loved him and she was waiting for him, and to let go, it's okay. As they tell it, he turned his head towards them ever so slightly, without opening his eyes (had been pretty much comatose for a couple of days), and gently pushed their hands away from his, away from his body. They looked at each other and knew instantly. "He doesn't want us to be here". They kissed him with tears running, told him goodbyes and we love yous, then it was a short drive home. Sure enough, less than 10 minutes after walking through the door, the phone rang...

It's strangely exciting - I must be weird - to have a non-nurse get so into these seemingly mundane details of our lives... Picture a cross between a turban and a beanie - made of gauze. Basically they just wrap a long white gauze bandage around the head, yeah, just like a turban I guess. :) So fresh post - op of course the incision would be covered by the gauze (like I needed to say that, duh, sorry) and there is usually some blood bleeding through the gauze at the area where the incision is (again, usually on the side of the head, around 2 o'clock above the ear - just a common site, it could be several places depending on the area of the brain bleed/injury). Under the gauze, which is probably on a couple days before it's not needed anymore, will be a good-sized area of hair shaved to buzz cut length - and the surgery-team doesn't usually exhibit any care in what could ever be faked as a stylish 'do - and the incision has those train-track-looking staples. You can hardly see any sutures (stitches), they are mostly internal (under the skin). It's definitely a fearsome sight, especially when it's a female with long hair and suddenly she's got a lopsided quarter of her head shaved. Those that recover they must all do a Sinead and wear a wig in the meantime or something. Aside from the obvious, way more important, things to worry about, I'D BE CRUSHED after all my years of growing long hair. Anyway, I'm happy to help out, keep throwing those revisions at us!

If doing the food tray, be sure to have separate trays for day and night shifts (and evenings, too, if 8 hr shifts). Trust me, you wouldn't believe how grateful night shift workers are for this consideration, and how often it's never thought of. Or maybe instead of grateful, just how p.o.'d they are when all the holiday goodies/gifts are gone long before they get there.

I've always wiped the stopper underneath the bottle cap with alcohol. I thought I learned not to use betadine because it reacts with the rubber or something? Anyone?

I'm 24 and get the same thing frequently working in ICU - "You don't seem old enough to be an RN" "Were you a very young high school graduate?" "You can't have been doing this very long" I usually win them over with my professionalism and detailed explanation in laymen's terms of all the things happening to their loved one, and all the strange equipment they see. Then the occasional well-intended "Oh, you should be a doctor!" Like it's a compliment that we're not supposed to know this stuff as nurses and must be exceptional if we do, "and so young at that!" I remember when I was a new LPN at 20 working med-surg, often with CNA's 2 or 3 times my age. The patients frequently mixed us up, even after repeated clarification. "Honey, can you get the nurse?" "I am the nurse, Mrs. Doe, what do you need" "No, sweetie, I need the NURSE" [picture banging my head against the wall at this point] Or when the CNA was my age, I once heard from outside an elderly gentleman's room to his wife "What, do I have a bunch of teenagers taking care of me???"

This would be largely dependent on the hospital, ICU, charge RN, and RN caring for the patient. In general, allowing small children into ICU's is limited for several reasons. They may expose susceptible patients to potentially devastating bugs, such as RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus, very common in children, esp in cold seasons). Also, they may not understand, be very scared of, be unprepared for, even traumatized by the unfamiliar, scary, and VERY different appearance of their loved one. In any case, they should be thoughtfully prepped for what they will see and why. Many exceptions are made, especially in the cases of very critical or dying patients. I hope this helps...

Wow, I am sure I speak for many of us in saying I am impressed! From my experience in neuro, I would have expected an incision closed by a line of staples in addition to sutures, and probably more on the top/side of the head as opposed to the forehead, and usually pretty straight, not zigzagged. The path of dried blood, plus a little fresh blood, was RIGHT on. Does this seem more accurate in commonality to you guys? (Since you are paying SUCH close attention to accurate detail, kloget) :)

I had no idea. I wonder how many other states allow LPN/LVN's to push IV meds? Does the list of allowable meds include narcotics? Just curious - I know most LPNs are perfectly capable of recognizing and reacting to s/s of narcotic OD. (So sorry to get so far off topic)

WHAT???? Did you say LPN's can push IV meds at your hospital??? Now I may be grossly misinformed of the differences between states' scope of practice variations, but I didn't think LPN's/LVN's in ANY state were allowed to give IV push medications. I was an LPN before becoming an RN in Arizona, and I had to be IV-certified to hang IV piggybacks, and those were mostly your scheduled antibiotics, antifungals, Pepcid and things of that nature. Electrolyte riders, blood, Ampho-B, etc had to be hung by an RN, and IV push meds were not in my LPN scope of practice under ANY ANY ANY circumstances, and I know that hasn't changed in the years since I was an LPN. I admit it was tempting to breach my scope of practice to give Morphine for the umpteenth time in a shift of chasing down an RN to give it for me, but I knew I couldn't sign for it, and I would never ask someone else to sign for something I gave, so I can't imagine crossing that line. Where are you working at, mjlrn97?

I couldn't do peds (babies, maybe; teens, no prob) but not those toddler/early school-age kids, ever since this experience in nursing school.... Clinicals, county hospital, peds ED - spanish-speaking only 7 yo girl brought in by mom, grandma w/ c/o blood in urine. Need to do a straight cath for specimen, right? U/S speaks spanish and explains procedure, rationale (at least, we hope?), then leaves room. The RN and I speak limited spanish, so we know enough to give instructions, and "Esta bien" - hardly comfort and caring explanations, soft words to the poor girl. So the RN needs me and one other to help hold the girls legs apart so she can do the cath. The one other available was a med student, cool. The med student happened to be a rather tall, muscular (this guy was just huge overall) black man. Pretty imposing especially considering his role of holding apart a small (nude) girls legs who doesn't know the language, doesn't know what we're doing or why, her mother/grandmother are sitting in the room doing nothing to stop it, and is screaming and crying inconsolably. All I can figure is she is old enough to know that that area is supposed to be private and there is something very wrong with this picture, and plenty old enough to form permanent memories, but not old enough to understand why this is necessary, etc. I was close to tears myself and was horrified at my imaginations of the psychological trauma to this little girl. I swore off ever having to do with anything remotely invasive with this age group - I can't take it emotionally. I'll stay in adult ICU, thank you - at least they know (mostly) that I am not there to hurt them.

I did my ADN in a program that allowed you to take LPN boards after the 1st year of a 2 year RN program. All together it took me 4 years, but it can be done in 3 (depending on how many prereqs and how many classes you are able to take at once). I went full-time plus, but started out my prereqs at the CC with intentions on transferring to the university nearby, so I have my ADN with extra classes I didn't need for my degree, but would have needed for the BSN (statistics, the slightly higher math, and the like). The students at my program who did it in 3 yrs instead of 4 (or more :) ) had all their PREreqs done before starting the program but not all their COreqs - classes you must have done before graduation, but not necessarily before starting the program. I wouldn't advise that, because they were swamped - nursing school is hard enough without having to worry about additional courses, too. The year working as an LPN (part-time on med/surg) while finishing my RN I found as EXTREMELY INVALUABLE - to me, it was a year of getting adjusted to "real-life nursing", learning time-management and patient care/tasks for a 12 hour shift while having an RN "backing me up" if I needed it. But working as a CNA can have benefits as well, even if it's just familiarizing yourself with the hospital environment and routine, and becoming comfortable dealing with patients and even families. Another possibility is working as a unit secretary - less patient care, but a chance to familiarize yourself with orders and what they mean, how they get done, and how a unit functions. If you can swing it, I highly recommend getting experience in the hospital however you can, with a caveat - as a CNA or LPN, beware of difficulties with "role confusion." A student nurse vs CNA vs LPN have widely different roles, duties, and focuses, and be cognizant of the different thinking patterns required for each. Though all revolve around what is best for the patient, as an RN you are expected to see a much bigger picture and have much more (sorry I hate this phrase too) critical thinking. So go for it, but don't get stuck in a CNA/ US mindset for your RN training. Like the others have said, definitely go for the ADN - unlike my program, the LPN won't seem to benefit you at all.

Hi Rocknurse! I was born and raised in the Phoenix area, and happy to tell you what I can. What I have always loved about Arizona is how much variety there really is close by. So many people think the whole state is just a huge desert, but there's much more. Mt. Humphrey's peak in Flagstaff is around 12,000 feet, and about 2.5 hours drive from Phx. It is one of three ski resorts in AZ, two of which usually have good snow seasons (the others are in Show Low and Tucson.) Sedona is probably the most popular place for tourists and locals alike, other than the Grand Canyon, of course. Sedona is famous for its red rocks, and is absolutely GORGEOUS! Also famous for it's numerous vortexes (don't ask me to explain what the heck they are, I'm still not sure exactly), cool jeep tours, and very artsy and new age vibe. There are several lakes in and around the Valley of the Sun full of recreation, and the Salt River. "Tubing the river" is very popular in the summer - you ride down the river on inner tubes, bring an extra tube for the cooler, and relax or really party down the river as the case may be. Mountain biking is very popular and there are lots of locations in and around the area for hiking and biking. I don't know much about horseriding in the area (I'm sure there's more than I realize) and don't worry about finding a place to work out. A half-day's drive will take you to the beach in San Diego, Mexico, or Sin City (Las Vegas). There's also lots of Indian gaming casinos in the area, on the Native American reservations surrounding the city. Phoenix itself is a large metro area, fairly spread out. Generally speaking, a car is necessary to live there, but there are lots of people who commute using the bus system, which is okay, but not great by any means. There is not really a centralized business district or public transportation other than the buses. Lots of freeways, constant growth. I imagine you have an idea about the hot summers - very hot! But, as we say, it's a dry heat - the humidity is very low except in the monsoon season in late summer - spectacular thunder and lightning storms! In the winter, it's beautiful. Phoenix has many "snowbirds" who come from colder areas and live there in the winter. Gosh I'm so verbose this morning! I don't know quite how to describe how nursing is since I don't have much experience in other places to compare it to. ICU's are generally 2:1 ratios. The shortage here is just like anywhere else, of course. Lots of overtime available, but not required generally. Lots of travellers and registry. Not very much union activity at all - they tried in Flagstaff this year and it was voted out. What hospital are you considering? There are so many - I want to say around 5 or 6 level I trauma's. The Banner facilities have a good rep as far as I know, especially Thunderbird in North Phx. Scottsdale Healthcare, too. I actually moved to Flagstaff when I finished nursing school, so any of my experience with Valley hospitals is mostly as a student, although I did work as an LPN for a year at a Banner facility, and it was a nice place to work. I'm working as a traveller now, and headed home in November to work in the neuro ICU at Good Samaritan, a level I in downtown Phx - I'm pretty excited to work there. I don't really know what the average wage would be for an experienced ICU nurse. All I can tell you is, as a traveller, I will be making $28/hr, which of course is usually a little more than the average staff nurse. Three years ago when I was a new grad, new grads started around $16-18/hr. Cost of living is pretty good compared to many places. I grew up in the East Valley (Mesa, Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler) and there are many nice places to live in those cities, all a short commute to any of the downtown Phx hospitals. The freeway system is pretty good, though of course rush hour sucks. For a nice 1 bedroom apt, I would guess around $600/month or so, but I shared a house when I lived there before, so I'm not sure. Sharing rent in a house varies widely, anywhere from $200 - 600/ month depending on where, how big, and how many people sharing. I hope all this info helps you decide, I think I must be homesick writing all these nice things about my home. I can't wait to be there for the holidays!