RNMeg

I took it one assignment, one exam, one clinical day at a time, jumping through all the hoops they wanted as they came. I didn't let myself get behind, and I only looked far enough ahead to keep me on track, to avoid feeling overwhelmed. I got thro...

I agree that she was not as shocking a character as the popular culture suggests, and in some ways she is a sympathetic character to those of us who know what nursing is like sometimes. However, she very much contributed to Billy's suicide by humili...

Starting in April, we will have to wear Caribbean blue..kind of a dark teal. For the time being, most of my co-workers are trying to wear their bright colors and prints, but I prefer wearing dark solids anyway.

I'm 26 years old, RN, BSN, and I work in ICU stepdown/telemetry 36 hours per week. I work nights, so while I technically have 4 nights off per week, the first night off is spent getting back on a day schedule, and the first day back is spent sleepin...

I wear makeup to work, but never a lot. I'll use concealer for dark circles under my eyes if I didn't get much sleep, but most of the time I just wear eyeliner, mascara, and neutral eyeshadow. I've always hated lipstick/lipgloss and blush (my cheek...

I regularly draw AM labs from PICCs, IJs, subclavians, and Portacaths. Easy for me, easy for the patient (if I'm quiet enough, sometimes they don't even wake up!). I just make sure to flush well before and after, and never draw through the cap. So...

Merry Christmas, all! I screwed up my holiday schedule, thinking I was scheduled for tonight when I was actually scheduled for Christmas Eve. I had been celebrating with my family (and had a couple glasses of *wine) when I got that dreaded 19:15 pho...

This morning (my third-in-a-row, just-get-me-out-of-here, want-the-week-to-be-done morning), my manager pulled me aside when I finished report and said "I got a really nice letter from a patient about you." She took me to her office and showed me the...

I'm so lucky that I have family who understands. My brother is a Sheriff's deputy who works midnights as well, so my parents pretty much wait for us to call them, even on our days off, because they don't want to wake us. My husband is respectful of...

I was in the same boat as you. Not as tall, but pretty heavy I've absolutely fallen in love with Alegrias. They come in a ton of different patterns and styles, and the footbed is firm but covered in memory foam, so you get support and softness. I...

I had a crazy dream about work last night. I work on an adult stepdown tele unit. I dreamt it was my first night off orientation, and my assignment consisted of 9 dogs..and a baby! I was so stressed out trying to figure out how to assess the dogs a...

I've seriously considered wearing my old-fashioned nurses' dress and cap to work tomorrow night, but it will be my first night on my own off orientation, so I think I'd rather be comfortable :) Who knows how crazy it'll get. I still might wear my ca...

I was driving behind a car with MVA on his plates the other day. He was driving like a maniac! I wouldn't be surprised if he found himself in an MVA before long

Some people on my unit do this, others do not. Everyone is pretty flexible with report, though, and it just takes a quick "Did you already look at the history and everything?" before starting so you know how in-depth to go with report. I'm on orien...

My facility requires at least 2 hours' notice (unless it's something like a car accident on the way in to work), but they prefer as much notice as possible. I'm glad this thread came up, I'm also on orientation and feeling sick. I'm going to go in ...

As far as I know, my pay is competitive. $24/hour base pay, $27 on average with my night shift differential. Looking at salary.com, that's about average for my area and my level of experience. I may move on, only because I'm planning on buying a h...

I graduated May 7th, 2010, passed the NCLEX on June 10th, 2010, and started my job August 19th. So about 3 months of job seeking. I am in Tucson, Arizona. To be fair, though, my experience is skewed; I signed a contract with this hospital for tuiti...

We implemented this in my facility as well. We don't do a full report bedside, as others have discussed..we do report outside the room in a private place, then go in together and briefly assess the patient. A patient had come back from cath lab, an...

During school, you rotate through just about every area, but once you get a job you stay in the same area for the most part. Sometimes you'll "float" but in my experience, they send you to similar areas (for example, if you're a cardiac ICU nurse, t...

Yes, if the trach is capped (usually happens after they've had it a while). If someone is on a vent, they cannot talk. Hope this helps

There's a radio ad playing right now where a spokeswoman who identifies herself as an RN endorses some non-hormonal anti-hot-flash menopause snake oil. I feel it makes our profession look bad, when people claiming to be nurses promote non-evidence-b...

Honestly I don't know much about the hospitals in Phoenix. I live in Tucson I'm not even sure where in KY my classmates moved, although they both have said they're enjoying their new jobs (one of them works in neuro ICU).

That's kind of funny, because 2 of my May '10 grad classmates moved from Phoenix to Kentucky to find jobs Anyway, to answer your questions, the job market in Phoenix for new grads is pretty bad right now, but there's no telling how it will be a ye...

The floor I work on has a particular odor..Jevity and smelly feet, I think. It's because the floors are carpeted in the halls, so they hold onto smells. I can smell it clearly on my skin and in my scrubs after a 12-hour shift, and it grosses me out,...

If your hospital subscribes to Micromedex, you can look up any drug to see if it's compatible with any other IV fluid or drug. It's a website that should be available through the hospital's internet. You just click the "IV compatibility" tab at the t...