Marijane

I work on a cardiology floor. In a code blue, the patient is unresponsive and does not have a pulse. In a rapid response, there is a change the patient's status, such as difficulty breathing, hypotension, oxygen sats less then 90%.

When the oncoming nurse is warned by three offgoing nurses to do not clock in, turn around, and go home. The place is a zoo.

What a great question. I can tell you are a very caring instructor. I can remember the qualities of the person that made her my favorite instructor. She still remembers what it feels like to be a nursing student, the stress and late night studying. She gave real life tips to being a good nurse. To be a good nurse you have to take care of yourself first, always take your breaks when you need it. She was not afraid to tell her stories of when she was a nursing student and new nurse and all the mistakes she made. She said do not give up but learn from your mistakes. Even though nursing school is hard and demanding, there are plenty of students that have made it through and are now successful nurses. She told us she was always available if we needed any help and gave us her cell phone number. She was voted by the May graduating class to pin the nursing pin on the students. Even though I just graduated in May, I will definitely keep in touch with her.

MissRn09, I'm curious what is the pay at Ochsner? What position were you offered at OLOL? I just accepted a position on the Cardiac floor at OLOL.

Hi, maybe I can help you out. I had an interview with Ochsner a few weeks ago. What I can tell you is you want to arrive maybe 10 to 15 minutes early to your interview. Human resources will ask you to take a computerize survey. The survey will ask questions to determine your personality, if you are a team player or work better alone, OCD, and if you can multitask. It will also ask if you like to work nights, weekends, and holidays. After taking the survey I interviewed with the nurse manager on the med/surg floor. The nurse patient ratio is 1:6. And she told me they start all new nurse grads on night shift. I was not interested in working the night shift so the interview basically ended there. So I didn't find out the pay rate or benefits of Ochsner. Hope this helps. Good luck with your interview. What position are you applying for?

I have a funny. This wasn't me but one of my classmates. We were on the clinical floor our first semester and she was assigned an isolated patient. Before going into the room, she was told to gown and glove up. Well, she put on a patient gown instead of an isolation gown and went into the patient's room. It wasn't her fault that our clinical instructor didn't specify which gown to put on.

That's true, I forgot about that. Butterfly23, to answer your question, my GPA wasn't that great when I applied. I believe it was the essay part that helped me out. I did alot of volunteering and mentioned that on the application. Not sure how many people applied but OLOL accepts 100 students.

Hi ConsideringNursing07. I would suggest researching the schools in your area on the internet. Then show up in person to request a brochure and application. Find out what is required, such as a physical, hepatitis shots, tuberculosis skin test. Then schedule an appointment with an advisor to find out what prerequisites you will need to take before applying for the nursing program. Hope this helps.

Hi Butterfly23, welcome to allnurses. I'm not sure of the pros and cons of the nursing schools available in Baton Rouge but I can provide you with a list. Baton Rouge General Midcity offers a diploma program. Southern University offers a BSN program. Southeastern University offers a BSN program. Our Lady of the Lake offers an ASN program. I'm not sure about LSU. I just finished my first semester at Our lady of the Lake and really like the instructors and classes here. Hope this helps you in making your decision.

Thank you for all the replies. To answer some questions and clear things up. My clinical instructor was not with me but asked another student to come with me to make sure I did the five rights while administering medication. I can see where I went wrong on one of the five rights. The patient was not NPO and was able to eat and drink without any problems, just wasn't getting enough nutrients and calories. Thank you anne74 for the warning to not let patients manipulate me. From now on I will definitely be more careful and follow the doctor's orders.

Hi everyone. I am a nursing student that just finished the first semester of nursing school. During clinicals, I had a patient with a gastric feeding tube and the doctor's order was to give meds through the feeding tube. So for morning meds pass, I crushed the medication and gave it through the feeding tube. For the afternoon meds pass, the patient insisted on taking the medication orally. I gave the pills over to the patient and he swallowed it without any problems. My question is this changing the route of administering the medication? Thanks.