SoxfanRN

The nice thing about CT is that it is not terribly difficult to get around. Middlesex Hospital and the hospitals in Hartford are doable from the New Haven area depending which town you settle in. If you are interested in LT rehab, Gaylord is a poss...

Any hospital on the Magnet journey gives preference to BSNs. So, if you have your heart set on Yale, then I would say it is a worthwhile endeavor. If you do not want to do that, there are plenty of other hospitals in the area that provide excellent...

If the book contradicts the exam, then that is something to follow up on with the instructor or your advisor. At the very least, you could get an answer as to why one or the other was correct pending the clinical situation in the question. At worst...

Part of learning to be an educator is learning to develop tests and other evaluation tools. Nursing programs look to evaluate students' knowledge in all areas of the nursing process and the ability to critically think. Often times, the only way to ...

One of the few barriers you will face as an ADN grad is with Magnet institutions that require a certain percentage of BSNs+ to retain their Magnet status. In CT, Middlesex is magnet; I'm not sure if Hartford still has Magnet status. Other institutio...

a. Check NCLEX-PN pass rates for the schools you are looking into. They are available. Ask former students what they thought of the program. b. Your license is transferrable through each state's DPH. Some states have an agreement where their licenses...

This person is most likely anxious and feels she was wronged. Aggressive people don't care about anyone else's rights except their own. Now come the threats to try and intimidate you into giving her what she wants. Many people choose to file wrong...

Jack, I agree that the data speaks for itself, and I agree with it. However, I think it is crucial for us to understand why people do not prescribe to that data. Here are some thoughts, ideas, and beliefs that I have witnessed myself. Nurses and do...

Not only are people not retiring, veteran nurses are not moving so they don't lose their senority to potentially get laid off at another company. Take what job you can no matter the setting. I believe we can have really positive experiences no matte...

Being "snowed" usually refers to increasing a patient's medication to the point where the patient becomes unconscious. It does not refer to medicating a patient to expire. In psych, you will hear of patients being "snowed" after they had been agitate...

Contact your representatives. Our license fees go into the general fund. That money will probably not go back into nursing. When they did this last year, it was a last minute addition to a bill, and we did not have the warning to combat it. We h...

Another factor is that CT is a pretty small state. Even if you live in CT, it is easy to travel into NY, MA, or RI to work.

It's a chicken or egg question. Some people start using for a variety of reasons: to fit in socially because the drug crowd accepts everyone as long as you do what they do, to stifle psychological pain and trauma, to take care of physical pain and i...

Addiction is a holistic disease. It effects people physically, psychologically, socially, and spiritually.

Don't take these classes lightly. If you can get A&P down, it will be much easier for you in the nursing classes. Good A&P knowledge will allow you to figure out disease process, symptoms and symptom management, medication effects, and ration...

"Dry drunk" usually refers to a person who is sober physically but continues the behaviors of an addict. It usually does not refer to someone who will someday possibly be addicted to something. So, IMO, you were not a dry drunk for 36 years. Howev...

Plain and simple, you are a recovering addict. From what you have written, it was not misdiagnosed. It is what it is. The only thing you can do now is learn from the experience, make sure it doesn't happen again (relapse), and make sure your child...

This is from the DSM-IV:Substance dependence is defined as drug use that causes significant impairment and distress to the user. Substance dependence, or addiction, includes: tolerance to the drug; withdrawal symptoms; use in increasing amounts des...

If there is one thing that recovering folks want most in life, it is to be cured. That would mean that they could do what they wanted to again without getting the same negative consequences that resulted from long periods of addiction. The problem i...

I have worked for both unionized hospitals and non-union hospitals. I would have to say that I like the non-union hospitals better. The union can contract for very good wages and benefits, staffing ratios, training, etc., but it all has to be agreed...

1. The curriculum. I still refer to it as "hell." 2. Initial licensure nurse? 3. Inpatient psych. I thought I was awesome at first and knew everything. That lasted a week. After that I was convinced I was too dumb to work with people. 4. Visiting nur...

I don't know what the big deal is. I am a man who has chosen the nursing profession. If I didn't choose nursing, I would have been a person doing something else. If a doctor or engineer had not chosen those professions, they would be a people doin...

There are 3 conditions to where a person can be committed involuntarily: danger to self, danger to others, or if the person is deemed gravely disabled. Often, a person gets committed short-term with a PEC (Physician Emergency Certificate). The ED d...

One of the issues of contraband is that it is really easy to pass on. I had a cocaine patient show me how easy it is to pass crack to another patient: All it took was a handshake. If I wasn't watching intensely at the moment, I wouldn't have caugh...

When I worked inpatient, we did do a strip search on admission along with a belongings check. We did at least weekly room checks with random room checks thrown in. We did check everything any visitors brought in, and we did not allow visitors into ...