Rabid Badger BSN, RN

Not according to the Faculty of Nursing official grading scale

B+

Yes you need to be an RN for the ICU. Ive only seen LPNs in one ICU here and they worked well under scope and not as bedside nurses.

Ah ok.

Are you in Canada?

We are opening a huge new oncology centre with a year (I think, as it is under construction currently) at the Foothills Medical Centre. Keep your eyes peeled for positions there and specifically at Tom Baker Centre (the current oncology centre).

I did this exact move almost 6 years ago and was successful. I did not give notice in Winnipeg until I had landed something here. However I was successful for two reasons, there was a new hospital opening up at the time and I am specialized in critic...

I've never heard of high dose insulin therapy for beta blockers. Its usually treated with glucagon and supportive therapy. High dose insulin therapy is usually reserved and well documented for calcium channel blocker overdose.

Sorry, but I think hourly rounding should be mandatory. I work on an extremely busy ward and I round every hour. It doesn't mean I have to do anything to check to make sure my patients are still breathing. Many a time the only way we have caught a pa...

The one thing that I don't get from your posts are any personal responsibility. Somehow it's all the school's fault, its a conspiracy theory, they're out to get you. Occam's razor would suggest that there is a reason why they have put you on probatio...

I enjoy working codes, but dammit, why do they always happen at shift change?

Well this is unfortunate. Actually everything you listed for what you learned in ICU we do on my Medical ward! Except we don't do CRRT, but we recover HD. What else I do: Manage codes, on a virtually daily basis. Run 4+ IV continuous infusions on a s...

This is untrue. Since no vaccine is 100% effective, there is about 10-30% of vaccinated individuals who did not seroconvert. This is why herd immunity is so important. When you do not vaccinate, you risk not only exposing yourself and your loved ones...

"I was like . He's in here because he was bleeding you idiots" Best quote ever. I love it. This is exactly what I would say, since I am a very much a loud mouth assertive nurse. If you were my student I would LMAO then give you a big shiny gold star....

Thanks for proving my points so eloquently throughout this thread! Simply genius!

This is untrue. The fever is a symptom of the immune reaction to infection, not the cause of the immune reaction. You can treat the fever with meds without affecting the immune response. By giving tylenol, you reduce pt discomfort, reduce dangerously...

Wow. Are you kidding? You seriously cannot compare 6 high acuity medicine patients to LTC patients. There is a reason you have half a ward to yourself. Same reason rehab patients have such a low ratio. Because there is considerably less to do! And y...

LOL, I'm the loudmouth gutsy one on the ward. I have noooo problem calling out the medical team and managment etc. I consider it a necessity for advocating for your patients.

I'm union, I think it makes a big difference. That being said, I have exactly those hell shifts too. Our ward is difficult to staff and we get many sick calls. Management seems to work in complete opposition to the staff, in pushing more and more com...

I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure this one out. Benner's "Novice to Expert" theory and research is widely accepted and incorporated into schools of nursing and licencing bodies. Novice nurses are not equipped for the independent and...

I went to school with the idea that I only wanted to work in L&D, mat/child. What I discovered during school is that I LOVED medicine more. I'm working adult medicine now and I love it to death. I've never been more challenged. I am looking to pr...

I stopped giving meds gravity after I clogged an NG and nearly lost a SBFT. The problem was when you pop the plunger off and dump the meds into the syringe to give gravity, sometimes it chunks and blocks either the syringe or NG. So I mix each with w...

Don't be sorry. I don't think it reflects on Americans as much as it does on the new grads who think they are infaliable. I feel sorry for the patients who will be put at risk. An overconfident student or grad nurse is a serious safety risk who doesn...

I love the fast pace, the unpredictability of the ward, nothing is the same from day to day. I love learning everyday, I love bringng comfort and reassurance to someone who is dying or ill. I love being the one to advocate on their behalf, to ensure ...

All our oral meds are prepackaged in the PYXIS individually and labelled. Some nurses take them out of the packages before they head to the rooms, but I open them at the bedside, in front of the patient, as I expain (every time) what the med is for w...