Lacey

This thread has really taken off with invaluable info, thanks to all, especially Kevin, I would like to mention that the GRE has changed format. They have dropped the previous analytical section in favor of an analytical writing section consisting of two essays. Now the format, (as of Oct 2002) consists of; Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative reasoning, and Analytical writing. Check the latest bulletin or go to http://www.gre.org. I do have one question that I hope may benefit the board as a whole. Can anyone recommend a trade journal for student or working CRNAs? Thanks everyone!

We have one notorious idiot surgeon that has hissy fits in person and on the phone. Typically we get his post-ops to the floor and he never bothers to write for tylenol or diet instructions etc. One time the night nurse kept calling him because his pt. kept vomiting, had an extended abdomen and fever.He yelled at her that abdominal surgeries always go like that and she should know that. Well, finally, the patient started projectile vominting about 5:30 am and had to go back to surgery, turns out he left a sponge in her! Of course, she never got an apology, but now his nickname is SpongeBob!

I see some nurses run around like nuts all shift and then AFTER report they sit down and do charting for the whole 12 hrs on the clock. These people are not organized! It's easy to get behind sometimes and then it's ok to stay late and put your I&Os, VS and meds if necessary but don't make it a habit. I also agree with empty IV Bags and bad IV' sites and don't even get me started about dried on-hours old poop! Depending on the hospital, report is either recorded, verbal or walking. I like walking rounds, that way if there is a problem, you can fix it together, instead of leaving a mess for someone else. And one other thing! When you hang a new IV bag, let's say 1000 ml, program the pump volume for 900 or 950 so it beeps before the tubing goes dry. You won't believe how many nurses program in 1000 ml! OK - I'll shut up now!

I work part-time at a small hospital that has tried every trick in the book to cut nursing and call it "Quality Care". We had the cellphones and beepers (eventually they all were "lost" and never replaced). They had team nursing which I liked when they had enough staffing to make it work. We have gone back and forth with charge nurses. The doctors are ready to flip because we keep changing the system and they never know whom to ask for info.The staff is constantly fighting and bickering depending on the system "du jour", and the patients are left in the dust. My solution- I keep this as my "don't take it seriously part-time job" and work at a bigger hospital that isn't afraid to spend a little money. Quality care means professionall nurses!

Shevalove: The first unit that I went into when I got out of school was a Level 1 trauma/ICU. I had gone to a community college with limited clinical experience and I thought, "ICU nurses are the best, so I will work here!" I was really over my head on that floor. My heart just wasn't in it, I had a bad preceptor/orientation experience and I started to flounder. After putting my family through nursing school hell for the past two and one half years Iwas afraid to tell them I had made a mistake. It got so bad that I was getting physically sick on the night before work, no sleep etc. After 7 months, I almost made a very serious mistake and I asked to speak to the manager, she suggested a new orientation, I nearly started to cry! To make a long story short, I quit, took a job doing private duty for a while and went back to a different hospital on med-surg floor. I was so afraid of working on an intimadating unit, that I welcomed the med-surg floor. I stayed there many years, switched to other units and guess what, now I'm back in the ICU, Go figure. I guess the point is: you have to decide what's best for you, it's the hindsight thing though trying to figure out what exactly is the best?!

Roland, do not despair! I have worked with male nurses and I think if you are a good nurse, you will earn and receive the respect of coworkers and patients. I have had many little old ladies request the young male nurses after they had received top notch care from them. The only thing I have seen are from two ER nurses that always ask that a female nurse be pulled from the floor to straight cath or put a foley in a young female patient. These two nurses always claim it was the patient's request but when I get down there the patient denies that they had requested a female nurse. I think the male ER nurses are the ones with a problem!

Shevalove, It's a tough question, Should you stick it out on a Med-Surg unit you hate, or switch units? Some folks think that Med-Surg is kind of the universal starting place. I know lots of new grads that were fortunate to be hired on the unit they really wanted, ICU, L&D, NICU etc. and have been there for years. If you're not really happy and can't see yourself working there ever, then perhaps you should consider a change, but ask yourself is it just the new job jitters? Because you'll have that on every unit to a certain extent. Some Med-Surg units are really brutal these days, and don't feel guilty about wanting a change. Good Luck!-Lacey

It seems like becoming a CRNA is quite the hot ticket in the nursing world. There are lots of people going into nursing school ( diploma on up) just as a step to CRNA school. I have to admit I have mixed feelings when I hear a young potential nursing student tell me that they want to become a CRNA. The number one driving force for these kids is the income. I wonder what kind of a nurse will these people make, I guess it's fortunate that they predict they will only have to deal with patient care for a mere one year before they will be promplty accepted into nurse anesthetist training. I had one young girl in her first week of clinicals ask me if a 2.7 GPA would be good enough to apply to CRNA school. This reminds me of several years ago when everyone wanted to become a life flight nurse. Wonder whatever happened to those "nurses"?

Hello to all nurses! Congradulations to everyone that has taken or is interested in the Med-Surg cert test. I took it last Oct. I used "Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification" 2nd ed. by Phyllis Healy and Leona Mourad. I got it online, not sure of the site or price but it may have been thru the ANCC website, if not, try Amazon. It may have been about $50. Also, after you register for the test, they send you a short review course. I found this book very helpful, I studied in short (30 min or less) periods about 3x week for about 2 months before the test. The test itself is now a blur but I remember it seemed very faithful to the study materials that I had choosen. I hope this helps and Good Luck!-Lacey

Hey, I have lots of med-surg and telemetry experience and decided to into the ICU only because I needed it to apply to nurse anesthetist school. I am in my last week of orientation and it seems so much better. On the floors, we would just pray the patient wouldn't crash until after we were gone, God Forbid that you would have to call a doctor and get screamed at. In the ICU, we see it coming and try and prevent it. The doctors actually call the RNs to check on the patients and ask if they need anything!