cpkRN

You sound just like I did when I started out and I'm now an OR educator and in leadership with our national organization. I was passionate about my job and knew I didn't want to be anywhere else. I had a CRNA tell me I would never make it, that I ...

Even if you take out the religious part, it's still moving. I felt the power of this story and I hold no religious beliefs. Bravo!

Your patient may be asleep for an hour or even much longer, but you are ultimately responsible for that patient on the table. You may not start IVs or directly give medications (other than drawing them up and delivering them to the sterile field) bu...

We are part of an assigned team at my facility also. I don't expect it to be family utopia, in fact, I know that staying through a hurricane will probably be worse than the 9th layer of you know where. It is, however, part of my employment agreemen...

I work in a smaller community hospital and do mostly general, GYN, and ortho cases. The drugs I see most are: Marcaine (0.25% or 0.5%), Marcaine with epi, Ropivicaine, Lidocaine (1% or 2%), Lidocaine with epi, Bacitracin, Depomedrol, Thrombin, Van...

Area hospitals offered me as a new grad RN (BSN) 19-25. I make in the middle of that range. The higher paying hospitals here in New Orleans actually have pretty bad reps, so if you come here, do your research and forget about the dollar signs.

Orientation is technically 6 months. I was hired for a smaller facility but trained at the big "parent" hospital for the first 2.5 months. I've been at the small hospital full time for 2 weeks now and it's almost like starting over. I'm also someo...

I have also been in the OR for 3 months and was hired as a new graduate. I still feel stupid and inadequate on a daily basis, but we (myself and the other new hires) have been told that it's normal to feel that way for a long time. Many say even 2 ...

You're very lucky! Lots of applicants out there right now and many of my fellow students are upset that it's so difficult to even get called back! When I interviewed a year ago, it was basic questions: What is your biggest weakness? Biggest strength?...

That's not true. A large number of people do come in from BR because they want to continue their education at LSU, but everyone is weighted the same when it comes to admission. It's just a rumor propagated by the large number of people who do come...

LSU will set up times for you to get everything done. You'll get emails and such detailing how to get your background check done, where to buy your malpractice insurance, etc. They'll pretty much walk you through the entire process. It was all don...

You won't start clinicals until your second semester. That's when you'll need your CPR card.

Class schedules are already up: http://nursing.lsuhsc.edu/AcademicSchedule/ClassSchedules/Fall%202011/Fall%202011%20Class%20schedule%20preregistration.pdf If you have Ab Psych, you'll have the Tuesday phys lab, if you're not taking Ab Psych, you'll h...

NolaRachel: you might want to run this by someone at the school first. I know they'll take Delgado credits for Abnormal Psych, but I just have no clue what they'll really do for anatomy. I had straight A's across the board in Delgado A&P I and I...

Physiology will be a challenge no matter what. Just don't get blindsided from it. Nobody finds it easy. I breezed through phys at Delgado and kept thinking there was no way I'd have trouble or fail a test at LSU like everyone told me. It made me ...

You have to take physiology, no questions asked. Anatomy is another story: they just started allowing CARE students to get credit for anatomy this last year. Talk to them about it at your advising or at least sometime soon. This week is probably b...

Everyone has to take LSU's physiology and, yes, it's probably the hardest class you'll take. I had already had A&P I and II and struggled. 2 years ago, they didn't take many of our anatomy credits, but it seems that's changed - a few people I k...

LSU does not rent books and the bookstore is terribly overpriced. I'd suggest buying books used online (the bookstore doesn't sell used either) as soon as you find out which ones you need. The unfortunate thing is you might not know what books you ...

I never got a confirmation from them when I sent mine back 2 years ago; however, I did send it back with a tracking number and delivery confirmation to cover my butt. I received information with my school email and confirmation of orientation about ...

I would hope they have a way of keeping track of who is next in line. Surely it would be however you "scored" in the application process. Alphabetically just doesn't seem very fair to me. I don't think anyone outside of administration really knows...

I don't think it's any "set" time. One I know from my class got called a week before classes started. The 2 I know from CARE X both knew about a week after everyone was supposed to turn their paperwork in if they accepted their acceptance letter (i...

I know of 2 people that started with CARE X from the alternate list.

Thanks for the clarification on anatomy, medtech! I knew some of y'all were exempt, didn't know how many. We (CARE IX) had a ton of people who didn't have to take abnormal psych also but they made us all take anatomy. I think our complaints about t...

They will not take your physiology credits - you have to take the one at LSUHSC. CARE didn't used to get credit for anatomy, but I know for a fact they took some people's anatomy credits from the CARE class that started this year. Just beware - they ...

Classes have started on a Wednesday for the past several years. You'll probably have a "level orientation" (which is different than your one in June) the day before classes start. Last year, classes started on the 11th. 2 years ago, they started o...