Lacey

Sorry you had a bad experience with that ICU nurse. I don't know about your facility, but at mine the DOCTORS decide which pt. needs to go to the unit, not the nurse. And, if the ICU nurses are so smart, how many times have you had a pt. come out of...

I think this is a common problem for young families. You have to be creative, remember, there are single parents that have to work full-time and they manage! Have you looked into working agency, many of them offer 8 hour shifts, also how about weeken...

Don't become rattled just because the situation is tense. Ask the doctor exactly what this procedure is. If it's something that you're familar with, then proceed to assist BASED on unit policy. If the physician is asking you to do something outside o...

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...

I like switching days and nights! On nights, there's no meals, less visitors, and less meds usually! We only have to take road trips( not easy for vent pts on a million drips!) to CT and MRI for emergencies. It's a nice change and on my last night, I...

I just finished a RN-BSN program. It was 18 months long, one night a week. The Diploma students were at a disadvantage for prior college credits but the college had a class to show us how to write and present a portfolio that demonstrated knowledge f...

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 p...

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&...

1. RN-BSN 2. 12 yrs experience 3. Adult ICU 4. $24.64 Hr reg rate, $5.00 hr weekend diff. 5. Good benefits. We also have a $32/hr for 2-12...

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 th...

I have a story of when I was a teenager working at an animal hospital part time. One hot summer, a lady called and asked if we could send someone to her home to remove the remains of her dead St. Bernard as she was unable to dig a hole big enough etc...

Intrusive family members are the pits! I remember taking care of one woman that kept telling us her daughter was coming today and she used to be a nurse. Well, the daughter shows up and starts with the Why this and why not this? stuff, and when I was...

Tooty, You have it right but I might add some other options, hope it doesn't confuse you. There are currently 3 different types of education( in Pennsylvania anyway) that will you get you prepared to take the NCLEX. A diploma program is usually asso...

Tooty, The secret to doing a lot of big things in life is to make not doing it unthinkable! Go ahead and become obesessed with all things nursing. Also look at Springhouse's website for more books. Classes in Medical Terminology are sometimes availab...

I think the thing that I hate he most is the previously described scenario when they called people off and then "like magic" the ER fills up and the matrix goes out the window. I think when the supervisor goes over the matirx, he or she better find ...

With this nursing shortage, RN's have a great deal more choices about their work situation. I've said it before, but if you don't like it where you're at- Look for something else and quit moaning to everyone else!:)

Kudos for all you "adult students"! I agree with the others, Tooty. Go talk to a guidance counselor and see what they advise. I know in my area, (Western Pa), they have been widening their applicant pool. This is a nice way of saying that some of the...

That's really cute! I remember my brother ( an engineer) called me to tell me that one of our realtives had been diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer, it was a women's cancer called,"Bavarian Cancer"!

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 ...

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 n...

Some people really are clueless. Does anyone else have problems with visitors? I get tired of the ones that abuse visiting hours, show up with screaming babies or let the little ones run up and down the hall, Show up with 4 foot potted plants, giant ...

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 ...

RE: Nannanurse: I didn't mean to offend anyone with my remarks about getting your eating under control. If you would stop and think about it, the reason this surgery results in weight loss ( if it doesn't kill you) is because your caloric consumption...

Just my 2 cents. In just 4 weeks, I saw two gastric bypasses go horribly wrong on two young healthy women. I have a friend that works in another ICU and sees bad ones all the time. By bad I mean leaking anastomoses that turn into sepsis, into ARDS ...

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 nursin...