Meriwhen ASN, BSN, MSN, RN

Psych ICU, addictions

Member

All Content by Meriwhen

  1. Meriwhen

    Where can nurses live?

    The problem with moving to a large city as a new grad is finding a job. Most of the big cities have way too many new grads--BSN and otherwise--looking for work. Most people are looking for...
  2. Meriwhen

    Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Psych Patients

    The hospitals I work at use both LVNs and LPTs (licensed psych techs--they can pass
  3. It's easy to e-mail them and they WILL respond even if you don't give your name. I wrote them (well, the CA BRN, not the BVN) about something and got a reply within a
  4. 1. Pay these tickets ASAP. 2. Find a way to leave earlier for school. 3. Contact the BVN (you can e-mail them anonymously) to ask if you have to report either/both of these tickets. I'm not sure...
  5. If you haven't already done so, resume the job search. Yes, it may be taking longer than they said for them to make a decision...or maybe they took the coward's way out and didn't bother to...
  6. Meriwhen

    Did i get the job? Ahhhh!

    It sounds like you have a good chance. However, no matter what promises they made, deals that they struck, or whatever they said to you at the interview...you don't have a job until HR calls with the...
  7. Meriwhen

    Attention PRN nurses

    That is a valid point. However, that's not the PRN's fault, but the hospital's fault for choosing to use a PRN over paying OT. PRNs don't have any say in that matter whatsoever. So it's not right...
  8. Meriwhen

    Reasons NOT to give APAP for fever?

    I wouldn't give APAP (I use that term in my notes, BTW) if the patient has a hepatitis or other liver dysfunction/failure. At least it wouldn't be my first
  9. Meriwhen

    Attention PRN nurses

    I've been both permanent and PRN. As a permanent staff member, I've never felt resentment or bitterness towards PRNs...except the occasional moment of frustration on my part when I wanted to just be...
  10. Meriwhen

    Re-entry with little to no work experience.

    Hurdle 1: you have less than a year's experience so that shuts you out of most jobs. Hurdle 2: you have graduated several years ago and aren't a new grad anymore. I would start with the refresher...
  11. Meriwhen

    Nursing listed as 4th on a list of fun jobs.

    They must have talked to a psychiatric nurse. You can't make up the stuff that we get to see every
  12. Meriwhen

    psych nursing

    A very common misconception. People often think that psych patients check their medical issues at the door so that all we have to do is sit with them in the dayroom and talk. Or they think that...
  13. Meriwhen

    Daylight thinks we do nothing on night shift

    Night shift also complains about what the day shift does/didn't do/should have done as well. Even if there's three shifts to choose from (day, evening and NOC, and I've been at all of them), I can...
  14. Meriwhen

    Question about travel staffing and "shortage"

    In addition, hospitals don't have to provide benefits (medical, retirement, etc.) or PTO for travelers. That's a very big cost-saver right
  15. Meriwhen

    phentermine/drug test

    If you're going to take any medication--and especially controlled substances--that aren't prescribed for you, you're playing with your career...and it's no one's fault but your own if it burns you in...
  16. Meriwhen

    Shoes. Yes. Shoes.

    I wear Saucony sneakers with arch inserts. My feet hold up pretty well in the psych
  17. Meriwhen

    two weeks notice

    When you give notice, vacation time is not included in that, and most places will not let you use vacation time or other PTO during the notice period. Some will even discourage sick days, or give you...
  18. Meriwhen

    Group one

    If you got a paycheck from them, it was a job and you can't just "forget" to include it on the resume. IMO list it and explain what happened...better you do that than to omit it and it turns up on...
  19. Meriwhen

    Application Limit? What???

    I've seen it at a few facilities I've applied to...basically, I could apply to up to 10 positions within a 2 week
  20. Unfortunately in CA, there's already a lot of nurses looking for work who are already citizens or permanent residents. So unless you can bring something truly extraordinary to the job--and with all...
  21. Meriwhen

    What is your favorite antiemetic?

    Ditto. Phenergan can also give them a high. And you can tell the patients who are experiencing that high: they insist they need their their phenergan q4h on the dot, yet have no problems polishing...
  22. Meriwhen

    Any eating disorder nurses out there?

    LOADS of Axis II...seriously. Almost every patient in my ED program has at least one Axis II diagnosis: Borderline and Obsessive-Compulsive are the front-runners. So start reading up on...
  23. At my facility, having a BSN or MSN will get you 25 cents more per hour than a non-BSN/MSN. AFAIK there's no increased compensation for
  24. Meriwhen

    A question to nurses with children

    I can guarantee that if you (generic you, not specifically the OP) try to use your child(ren) as leverage or an excuse to cherry-pick your schedule, you will rapidly make enemies...or at least not...
  25. Meriwhen

    Pros or cons?

    I agree. If there's ever any conflict or issue where you and her are on opposite sides, guess which side the doctor will support almost all of the time...hint: not yours :) Also, if she's on a...