Meriwhen ASN, BSN, MSN, RN

Psych ICU, addictions

Member

All Content by Meriwhen

  1. Meriwhen

    How are you assessing alcohol withdrawal?

    Meriwhen replied to nj3456's topic in General Nursing

    CIWA with Ativan or
  2. Meriwhen

    New Nurse With Large Disposable Income

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

    1. Pay down any debt you have. 2. AT THE SAME TIME, start putting some away in savings. 3. If you haven't taken advantage of retirement plans offered through your work, do so. If they don't offer...
  3. Meriwhen

    How long is your commute?

    Meriwhen replied to the nurse who lived's topic in General Nursing

    Depends on which facility I'm working at. My commute ranges from 5 minutes (the facility I go to the most often) to an hour and a half (last night's drive home, and the length of that commute is more...
  4. Meriwhen

    Fresh RN - Shift Schedule

    Meriwhen replied to Lindarn2015's topic in General Nursing

    I prefer to work most of my shifts in a row, then have a couple of days off. I don't like 1 on, 1 off, 1 on, 1 off... Nor do I like to have monster stretches (7+) of either shifts or days off. The...
  5. Meriwhen

    Switch to Mental health nursing

    Meriwhen replied to fetchfelix's topic in Psychiatric

    I had a classmate who had worked at the hospital as a psych tech during nursing school, and when she got hired on as a RN she referred me. That got me the interview at least. I think my willingness...
  6. Meriwhen

    new grad with a psych degree, but no experience

    Meriwhen replied to heynow1313's topic in Psychiatric

    I would definitely apply. You have some experience in geropsych thanks to your ALZ patient. Your psych degree shows that you have an interest in and some knowledge of psychiatry. Plus, not a lot of...
  7. Meriwhen

    How many hours is your shift?

    Meriwhen replied to motor_mouth's topic in Psychiatric

    Every psych job I've worked has been 8s. They seem to be the
  8. Meriwhen

    I NEED AN ANSWER!

    Meriwhen replied to STXGirl2009's topic in Licensure: Criminal History

    OP: no one knows if this will appear on your background check. As you were not arrested, it probably will not show up, but I can't promise that. All you can do is wait and hope for the best...and...
  9. Meriwhen

    Do I NEED to get my BSN?

    Meriwhen replied to SingDanceRunLife's topic in Diploma, ADN, BSN

    Do you NEED to get the BSN? No. However, a lot of employers are BSN preferred/required, so if you don't have it, you may find yourself fighting an uphill battle when it comes time to look for that...
  10. Meriwhen

    Lose your license for administering a PRN med without a pain scale?

    Meriwhen replied to Cola89's topic in General Nursing

    IMO, you can't lose your license for there not being a pain scale for PRNs. However, if it's your facility's P&P to have a pain scale present on all PRN orders, then your job could be at risk....
  11. Meriwhen

    Psych nurses: What have you learned from working with substance abusers?

    Meriwhen replied to E.Renez's topic in Psychiatric

    In addition to all of the above... Resist the urge to play MD and decide for yourself what PRNs that the patient should and shouldn't have. Detox is very uncomfortable to the patient both...
  12. Meriwhen

    psychiatric nurse board certification

    Meriwhen replied to psychnursemichele's topic in Psychiatric

    I don't know what their grading criteria is (how many questions you can miss and still pass). You could ask the ANCC but honestly, I doubt they'll tell you. Also keep in mind that a few of the...
  13. Meriwhen

    Need advice about complaint filed against me with BON

    Meriwhen replied to Anonme's topic in General Nursing

    1. Get a lawyer...good, you did that. Now make sure you do not do anything without consulting that lawyer first or having that lawyer at your side. Do not go to any meeting, hearing, interview,...
  14. Meriwhen

    Frugality thead:work less, spend less

    Meriwhen replied to Emergent's topic in General Nursing

    I have a budget, I live within my means, I open a retirement account at every job I work at, I treat savings/retirement accounts as though they were bills and contribute to them every month without...
  15. Meriwhen

    Pros & Con's of baby making while in nursing school.

    Meriwhen replied to 1naturalhealer2016's topic in General Students

    Considering that I was in the AMA category when I had my second and last child, I have to agree: mid-20s to early 30s is still prime childbearing
  16. Meriwhen

    Pros & Con's of baby making while in nursing school.

    Meriwhen replied to 1naturalhealer2016's topic in General Students

    I had two classmates get pregnant while in nursing school. One had great timing and gave birth during a 3 week break. She was able to have family members watch the baby and she jumped right back in...
  17. Meriwhen

    Forced IM meds...always ethical??

    Meriwhen replied to Abbyrose's topic in Psychiatric

    I have to agree. If they agreed to take the meds PO but when the time came refused and started acting out again--especially if they became violent in any way--then giving the med IM is justified,...
  18. Meriwhen

    New Hire Vaccine

    Meriwhen replied to greysfan_LPN2RN's topic in General Nursing

    I may be wrong, but my understanding is that facilities can set their own requirements regarding vaccinations. IMO, start with getting the titers drawn and go from
  19. Meriwhen

    The Stethoscope

    Meriwhen replied to Flyboy17's topic in General Nursing

    Like it or not, we'll never get the perfect apology that will make everyone happy. IMO, I think nurses and nursing made its point regarding the stethoscope/View debacle, and it's time for nurses to...
  20. Meriwhen

    Can we lay to rest the "compassion" nonsense?

    Meriwhen replied to dinah77's topic in General Nursing

    I generally find that I'm told I lack compassion--by patients and otherwise--when I'm not giving them exactly what they want, even if it's not the best thing for
  21. Meriwhen

    first day with agency - lol.

    Meriwhen replied to mmccool719's topic in Agency Nurses

    Getting thrown into the mix is normal. Getting thrown into a haphazard disaster is not. I agree: there's too many red flags in this facility that would make me very wary about going
  22. Meriwhen

    nurse-pt ratio

    Meriwhen replied to lynnpsychrn's topic in Psychiatric

    And California: 1:6 ratio for acute psych come hell or high water. My average patient load is
  23. Meriwhen

    nurse-pt ratio

    Meriwhen replied to lynnpsychrn's topic in Psychiatric

    Not crazy to think that at all, especially considering that nighttime is when a lot of your patients come alive thanks to
  24. Meriwhen

    Contraband

    Meriwhen replied to southshore2014's topic in Psychiatric

    At the current hospital I work at, we have "open" units where patients can have such things as iPods, personal electronics, jewelry and other extras, though cell phones and cameras are not OK because...
  25. Meriwhen

    Forced IM meds...always ethical??

    Meriwhen replied to Abbyrose's topic in Psychiatric

    Sadly, I have. If it wasn't the "they're already drawn up" reason, they sometimes gave a patient IMs to make an example of him/her so other patients would see what would happen if they decided to...