Meriwhen ASN, BSN, MSN, RN

Psych ICU, addictions

Member

All Content by Meriwhen

  1. Meriwhen

    How to find out Sentara salaries?

    Meriwhen replied to Elizabeth 123's topic in Virginia Nursing

    It was higher (up to $9/hr); they've reduced
  2. Meriwhen

    How many uniforms should I buy?

    Meriwhen replied to Rnstudent2011's topic in General Students

    I had two sets of uniforms. After clinicals, I usually ran a load of laundry that evening, so I never had a problem of not having a clean uniform
  3. Meriwhen

    Am I Always Going to Argue with my Instructors?

    Meriwhen replied to LuckyinKY's topic in General Students

    Choose your battles wisely. Instructors do make mistakes, and if you can provide hard evidence (that is, it's in the current textbook) justifying your answer choice, then by all means approach the...
  4. Meriwhen

    Honors BSN unable to find job. Can the college be sued?

    Meriwhen replied to Tankweti's topic in General Nursing

    Sure, you could sue them...actually, you could sue anyone for any reason. But would your lawsuit actually have a chance in court? I'm 99.9% certain that it would go nowhere because the school...
  5. Meriwhen

    Do you answer your phone on your day off?

    Meriwhen replied to Leelee2's topic in General Nursing

    I set a special ring tone for when work calls me. So when I hear that ring tone, I know not to answer the phone
  6. Meriwhen

    Offered a PRN position...To accept or not to accept.

    Meriwhen replied to Brycemom, RN's topic in First Year After Licensure

    I started as a PRN and I was lucky: my facility was short-staffed enough and my schedule was flexible enough that I never had problems working full-time every week. I switched over to permanent at...
  7. Meriwhen

    Can You Ask for More?

    Meriwhen replied to Sl1011's topic in First Year After Licensure

    You could always negotiate--after all, the worse that can happen is that they'll tell you No :) However, unless you can bring something really phenomenal (experience, certifications, etc.) to the...
  8. Meriwhen

    Resume/cover letter help for a "lower" position

    Meriwhen replied to StarryEyed, RN's topic in First Year After Licensure

    I don't have suggestions for your cover letter. I do have two important suggestions though. First, before you even begin applying to "lower" positions, check with your state's BON because in many...
  9. Meriwhen

    When you interview, do you get a rejection notification?

    Meriwhen replied to Lovelee82's topic in First Year After Licensure

    When I was hunting, I'd either get the rejection via e-mail or letter. When I did land the job, I think it was a week or two before I got called in for preemployment screening and drug tests, which...
  10. Meriwhen

    not selected before an interview??

    Meriwhen replied to jennykim's topic in First Year After Licensure

    I also vote for calling ASAP to clarify what's going on. At the same time, I'd also accept the possibility that this place may have found an applicant who they feel may be a better fit than you for...
  11. Meriwhen

    I'm EMPLOYED after relocating to New England, FINALLY!

    Meriwhen replied to Bobbkat's topic in First Year After Licensure

    Congratulations! And very impressive, considering that to do it, you moved TO an area that's scarce in nursing jobs to begin
  12. Meriwhen

    Patient scratched by needle during vaccination

    Meriwhen replied to ajz1215's topic in Nursing Career

    Well, most of our needle exerperiences were with vaccinations or antibiotics, my child's condition was stable so we had the benefit of time, and they were administered in doctors' offices. I agree...
  13. Meriwhen

    Patient scratched by needle during vaccination

    Meriwhen replied to ajz1215's topic in Nursing Career

    Speaking as a parent, I was always encouraged to hold my child for vaccinations--it was a source of comfort for both of us
  14. Meriwhen

    new grad in ambulatory surgery center? what do you think

    Meriwhen replied to shuubie's topic in General Nursing

    Go for the job (wait, you already went for it ). You'll learn a lot, gain good experience, and find that you'll probably be able to keep a lot of your nursing skills up. And besides, if you are...
  15. Meriwhen

    What to expect on my 1st day!?

    Meriwhen replied to Courtcatt's topic in General Students

    Usually the first day in most NS programs is spent going over the policies, procedures, syllabus, schedule, immunizations, safety issues, and things like that. Yes, they'll probably read every word of...
  16. Meriwhen

    Grades don't matter! Are you sure??????

    Meriwhen replied to dinah77's topic in General Students

    Do they matter? Yes and no. Of course, they matter for graduate school. In this market, with tons of new grads competing for less GN spots than before, lots of employers are using grades to cull the...
  17. Meriwhen

    Your desired specialty

    Meriwhen replied to ThePrincessBride's topic in Pre-Nursing Students

    A heads-up: about 75% of you will end up changing your mind about your specialty--and change it several times--during school. That's because you're going to get exposed to many different areas in...
  18. Meriwhen

    How to give report?

    Meriwhen replied to ScreamBoxDolly's topic in General Nursing

    You really will get better as time goes on. When I first started I included every little thing including a lot of unnecessary stuff. I usually gave report to the same two nurses (which one depended...
  19. Meriwhen

    Falsifying degree at work....

    Meriwhen replied to Twinboys98's topic in General Nursing

    I checked with my state's BON. Falsifying her credentials--her representing herself as having a BSN when she doesn't have it--would be considered unprofessional conduct, and she could be subject to...
  20. Meriwhen

    Pt.s threatening bad feedback on customer service surveys

    Meriwhen replied to Manatee111's topic in General Nursing

    Tell me about it. I'll occasionally get patients who threaten to go AMA but back down when I say, "if that's what you really want, sure, I'll call the doctor while you pack." Psych nursing helps you...
  21. Meriwhen

    giving smaller dose med?

    Meriwhen replied to pblpn's topic in General Nursing

    Also (depending on your facility policy and state laws), you could probably save the second half of the pill for the next
  22. Meriwhen

    Employed '09 and '10 grads: Are you where you wanted to be?

    Meriwhen replied to Lovely_RN's topic in First Year After Licensure

    You sound like me, except I was trying to run as far away from L&D as possible :) I ended up in psych nursing, primarily on a substance abuse/detox unit (though I get quite a bit time on the more...
  23. Meriwhen

    i shouldn't be asking this.

    Meriwhen replied to smartnurse1982's topic in General Nursing

    That's my problem too: I've had doctors order a dose skipped, change to a different medication, or flat-out cancel a medication because I couldn't obtain exactly what they wanted in the original...
  24. Meriwhen

    i shouldn't be asking this.

    Meriwhen replied to smartnurse1982's topic in General Nursing

    I'd make up the 0.5mg with whatever I had on hand, but I'd also call the doctor and give them a heads-up: "hey, we don't have 0.25mg/2ml, but I can make the 0.5mg with a different concentration...
  25. Meriwhen

    Can I have multiple ear piercings?

    Meriwhen replied to SingDanceRunLife's topic in General Students

    There's no restriction on the number of piercings; the restrictions are on what type and how many earrings you can wear. In both of my nursing schools, no earrings were preferred; if one did wear...