Melanie_RN

When UK bought Good Samaritan, employees were told they would not be affected. Today, UK nurse managers gave over 50 employees the option to either resign from UK or go work at Good Sam, but they would not be promised their full time hours. These are nurses with a couple years experience. Not the new graduates. Not the "old" nurses. As one could imagine, this is extremely devastating to the nurses, as well as the units. . Many TRAINED the new graduates, only to be given their walking papers after finishing the training. This is basically a forced resignation because very few nurses will take a job in which they cannot be promised their full time hours. This type of injustice should not stand. Granted, the other nurse from my unit and I were offered positions in another unit, but it's a unit neither of us really want to work. The hours are not what we want, and neither is the environment. I'm been freaking out all day. Since they're giving us the option of going to good samaritan, where we can't even be promised our full time hours, that hospital has like 40 patients right now, we're not being laid-off and therefore, we're not elligible for unemployment. I don't know what I'm going to do.

My first code was my first day in the ICU. Working on the floor we had a bunch of "near codes", but nothing a good dose of Narcan couldn't fix. The guy had been less responsive than before (EMV=3T) and we had called KODA (the organ donation society)that morning because its protocol for our hospital when someone'es EMV is 3. Later that evening, I noticed a change in his EKG. Then it went junctional, we were on the phone with the doc's getting orders for cardiac enzymes, when his rhythm went even crazier, so we go in there (my preceptor and I) and check for a pulse. Nothing. So we start stripping him off and hit the CPR latch on the bed. They call the code, and bring me the back board. At that point I almost started crying, but then it kicked in and I knew exactly what to do. And as bad as it sounds, all I could think was "HELL YES! I"M GONNA DO CHEST COMPRESSIONS!!!!" We coded the guy for an hour, and there was nothing more we could do. It was just severe sepsis. I did at least 15 rounds of compressions, maybe more, my preceptor did that many as well. We put in chest tubes and all that jazz during the code. We got the chest Xray (still not sure why, it seemed to be a bit pointless after the docs already decided to call it, but she was there with the portable) and during all that, my preceptor and I had managed to break all his ribs and his sternum was broken from his collar bones. Needless to say, we wanted him back. We seriously worked as hard as we could on this guy. It was all really exciting, honestly.

I'm with you! I'm looking at psychiatric NP vs. psychiatric CNS. The way my school describes it as, the NP deals with psychopharmacology, and the CNS doesn't. Otherwise, they do the same as far as counseling, and seeing patients. I am personally a believer that a lot of things can be solved with counseling, as my anxiety/social anxiety issues were solved with talking, as opposed to the anti-depressants they gave me, which made the underlying, undiagnosed ADHD waaaaaaay worse. I think I'll probably go the way of the NP, because sometimes, people really do need medication (my BF being a prime example) but I would prefer to stay away from it as much as possible, and go the route of the OP, with holistic medical interventions.

sharann---you got it right on the money!!! Scrubs is by far the most accurate out of all of 'em! Scrubs is by far my favorite show. But you have to keep in mind, it is a sitcom. It's not Discovery Health (which has as many inaccuracies as Scrubs....not as many as Grey's though...no doctor does that much patient care). But I have noticed they do have quite a bit of accurate things on there. And Nip/Tuck, the only other "medical" show I reguarly watch.....please....have they ever even *seen* an actual medical procedure? Been to the doctor? The thing that kills me, that I always point out, and my boyfriend has even started saying "Mel, dont say a word" because he notices it to, is SIDERAILS. PUT 'EM UP!!! Do you want your patient to fall outta bed!?!?! haha

I get quite a bit of respect for simply being a nurse. And for the fact that I have over a year of RN experience and I'm only 23. Then when asked where I work, I get a lot for the being an ICU nurse. But as an aside, I also work at a major rehabilitation hospital, in addition to my Burn ICU job at UK. At the rehab hospital, its the other nurses that I get no respect from. They have *always* treated me like I am stupid. I dont' go in with the attitude that I know everything and all that jazz, but I do know that I am a competent nurse, yet, they treat me as if I'm someone who has never even been to nursing school! Needless to say, this job probably won't last much longer :)

Kentucky does, but they have a new "post-ceptor" program in which you do an additional 120 hours following graduation before you can get your ATT. It really helps everyone out, because by the time you pass boards, you're already oriented to your job and can hit the floor running!

I didn't take the review class, although our school was just short of requiring it.....talk about getting yelled at! My instructor said there was no way Id pass boards if I didn't take it. Funny thing is, me and another girl who didn't take the class passed first time with 75 questions......about half of the ones who took the class FAILED (a few more than once) I honestly didn't study much. I was working full time, it was kinda hard to do. So I did review a little content from Mosbys and did a few NCLEX 3500 questions, but what helped me the most was this Kaplan book that doesn't go over content, but explains to you how to break down the questions and figure out the answer even if you dont know what its talking about. It was really really helpful, especially when I got questions from out in left field.

no one has any advice?

I'm thinking about applying in the next year or so. I may have an advantage on some of you though.....I grew up about 5 miles from Wendover! So it's really part of my heritage, as growing up, I mostly saw nurse practioners who were a part of FNS. If you all haven't seen Wendover in person, you are in for a wonderful surprise. Its absolutely BEAUTIFUL there!

I worked with neuro for a year, and the only time they're flat is when their spines haven't been cleared. Otherwise its at least 30, you dont want to increase pressure on the brain!

I'm hoping to start an RN-MSN program next fall, and right now I'm bouncing back and forth between getting my masters in nursing administration and getting my NP and specializing in bariatrics and obesity treatment. Since I work there and get free tuition, of course, I will be attending the University of Kentucky. This is a listing for the advanced practice programs at UK. If I decide to pursue the bariatric NP goal, then what educational track do you guys think would best prepare me for that career? I realize that since bariatrics and obesity treatment is just now beginning to gain recognition, there aren't many (if any, I haven't found any..) specialty programs. So I'm assuming there would probably be a few other classes I would need to further my education in that particular specialty. Thanks for the advice!

Ive worked at UK since last June, and now I'm leaving for Cardinal Hill. Being a teaching hospital, its a very hard environment, and since its one of the biggest hospitals in Kentucky,we get some of the sickest patients in the state. It's a very stressful environment. I was simply not happy here. But the benefits, sheesh, they're second to none.