BookwormRN

I just finished my first week in my new surgery position. I left a med/surg unit after 5 1/2 years as an RN, total of 9 years on the unit (started there as a CNA). We moved to a new hospital in May, and the morale of the unit has gone downhill. Staff...

I have the Cardiology III and LOVE IT! IMO, the Master is very heavy and the diaphragm is large...harder to listen to my small little elderly/pediatric folks. With my Cardio III, I can use the pediatric diaphragm and it works great! (Plus, it is ligh...

I have applied for/been offered jobs which would require significant pay cuts. I currently work in an acute care setting, averaging three 8-hour evening shifts per week. The new jobs were Mon-Fri, days. No weekends, nights, holidays. If I'd taken tho...

Along these lines...a few weeks ago, I was outside a Pt's room and saw a family member figure out how to work the over-the-bed table. Then she said, "Look, I could be a nurse!" I wanted so badly to go in and have a heart to heart conversation with h...

Our facility had something fun each day last week (celebrated early), culminating with a special Nurses Day Mass on Friday, at which they had a Blessing of Hands. (Catholic Hospital) Not only did they bless the hands of those present at Mass, but one...

Actually, I have given names of new grads to my manager when we have had a position to fill. And yes, we've hired new grads. (My nursing school friend and I were hired as new grads.) However, we were new grads who started as CNAs in this facility, wo...

This post hits home! We are building a new hospital in the near future and am told that the nurses will be carrying cell phones, in addition to a new call system. I just cannot imagine the interruptions when in with a patient! It is bad enough when s...

"The CNA then wrote out her totals of fluids at the meals she'd had on the board to help her understand that she'd had too much fluid already, and she still got mad about it. I told the nurse and the nurse said do not give her fluids, she's had enoug...

Hahaha! Usually I can figure out the initials; this one had me stumped :)

I'm sorry, but I don't know what A.L. means...

Not all schools have 12 hour clinicals. The school I attended did not have them; however I did do 12 hour shifts during my preceptorship during my last semester. Not all schools are the same, nor do all med/surg units have 12 hour shifts for their nu...

Hi Everyone, I am just so excited that I have to share; I have finally decided to go for it and am applying to an RN to BSN program!! This has been a personal goal for me since before I finished my ADN. I put in a few years at a university right out...

Thank you for all of your well wishes! I will be attending the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay online. I spent several years at UW-GB and therefore have only the nursing classes to take for completion. I'm so excited!!!!!

Having had 3 c-sections personally, um yeah, those nurses should be assisting the patients! I was unsteady, in pain and at times unable to move quickly enough to pick up the babe from the bassinet, let alone get to the bathroom on my own to urinate f...

"Bellin is good school but is private and quite costly. There prerequistes are quite specfic. It is affliated with a Bellin Health (hospital) and I hear there clinicals are great. There are several universities (UW) that are high ranked also. Have hi...

I currently work with two nurses who attended Bellin. They both enjoyed the school and their experience. One did tell me, however, that if she knew then what she knew now, she would never have gone into so much debt for her nursing degree. The second...

In my area (Northern WI), there is no difference in pay for BSN vs ADN. Hospitals here will hire you as a staff nurse with either degree. In Milwaukee and Madison, some hospitals require a BSN. There has been talk for quite some time about having the...

I am known for carring a pocket drug guide for nurses on my COW (computer on wheels), as I always look up meds that I am unfamiliar with. If I cannot find it in my book, then I will resort to the computer (I prefer books!). If I don't at least know w...

Hi, my name is Michelle and I am a pen addict. We are in the process of switching to computer charting at our hospital; our manager made the comment, "You won't even need to carry a pen anymore." I almost passed out. You will NEVER find this RN witho...

I work for a hospital that has a union and am currently the president of the local. We belong to the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, which is part of the AFT. While unions are not perfect, I am happy to have a union contract...

Thankfully, our facility has a union! We get time and a half for anything over our 8 hour shift; if the supervisor calls us 4 hours prior to a shift to work on our day off, we get a bonus. The way you all are being treated is ridiculous. I say take a...

Yes, Nurses are really that important. Do we always FEEL important and appreciated by those in the medical profession? No. However, I learned a long time ago (before I became a nurse) that it is what I think that matters. I KNOW that I am the eyes an...

I like to pack left overs if they are available; sometimes a "Lean Pocket"; always fruit/veggies; yogurt is good, too...I like something relatively light, as I work evenings and hate to back to running around with a heavy stomach.

I've had 3 c-sections, each one with a different healing period. That being said, your physician will probably impose a lifting restriction for awhile-usually no more weight than the baby. Don't think you should be assisting an 80 lb. person with lif...

Excuse me? I chose nursing to be a bedside nurse. In that role, I am a professional and expect others to be professional as well. That includes proper English, pronounciation and spelling. It has nothing to do with "rising to another level of nursing...