SnowbirdRN

Perhaps the Ativan is also ordered for muscle spasms which could greatly reduce pain.

Badger, River.

I work labor and delivery (and postpartum). I wish we had (flexible) visiting hours! Our moms are exhausted and need to rest but every friend and family member "needs" to come see the baby. I try to suggest that they have most of their visitors come at the same time so it's not a parade of people all day. Breastfeeding is delayed because visitors are in the room. There is SO MUCH patient education to do with new parents and it's hard to fit it in there with visitors coming and going and trying to balance letting the pt sleep. I'm happy to do education with family in the room (so that the baby's grandparents aren't giving dated advice) but it's hard when friends are there. I also want to respect that they're there to visit and be social, not be talked at by a nurse. We only allow one support person to spend the night because there really isn't enough room for more than that. I had to make the father of a baby sleep in the waiting room because the pt's mother was controlling (and a super jerk) and manipulated her daughter into saying she'd prefer the one person to be her mom. Terrible.

I love your thought process here. That alone shows the positive effort you put into your work and other peoples' lives. You're an amazing nurse just by being able to grow from this experience. Kudos!

My goodness. I think that shows more negative things about the HR person than the applicant, by far!! Bitter about the job much?

We get a raise every year. I'm leaving in 6 weeks anyway for something new and exciting. I was getting bored. The kids are stable and it's more like babysitting with some nursing thrown in.

I do home health for pediatrics and typically have between 6-10hr shifts. Base pay is $27/h but there's differential for evenings/nights/weekends.

Hello all! I'm looking into applying for a Labor & Delivery position this coming fall. I've been a high-tech pediatric visiting RN for 6.5yrs (not really that high-tech: Trach, Gtubes, brain injuries and neuro patients). I have my BSN (2007). I'm wondering if there are any certifications I can get before applying, to increase my chances of being hired and to make sure I'm competent in the area before hitting the floor. I expect (want/need) an extensive orientation as I have no hospital experience aside from nursing school. The NCC requires 2000hrs of experience in the specialty before you can even apply for the certification program. Dana

Go into pediatrics?

Holy cow! I usually have the choice of $25 gift cards to the grocery store or gas.

Yikes! I would likely send them home. I'm no babysitter. If I have a camper spending more than a day with me, I think they need to go home. I had a camper with a fractured wrist last year who stayed and only spent one day in the health house but that was because she was in the ER all night and needed to rest. Her family was 6hrs away. I also had a camper with a sprained ankle last summer who I ended up sending home (I let her try it out for a few days and she decided to leave). Crutches and camp just don't work out well!

We do meds right after meals (though if they want to pop in before a meal I allow it) and I often would have about 3-5 kids forget each time. All the program areas have walkie talkies so I would just check the class list and call the camper down. The only difficult part was when an area didn't answer their radio. I'd take the med with me to the class and pull the camper aside to do it. I didn't mind terribly during the day because it got me out of the health house and I could see classes and stuff but bedtime meds I'd get a little irritated if they didn't come because I have a lot to do before going to bed. If it were just allergy medicine I'd let the camper forget and learn on their own but any other stuff I tracked them down.

i've never heard of this game! One game we have that I cringe at though is the ball tied to the pole.. SO many injured fingers..

Littlewing, fear not of your age! This will be my fourth summer as the camp nurse and I'm 25. That means I started when I was a wee little 22yr old. Many parents dropping kids off were like.. "wait, YOU'RE the nurse?! You went to college and have your RN license and everything?!" Yeeep. I make a cute nurse, don't I?

oh and i also hated when people came down during the rest hour after lunch because I often felt like I needed a nap but if I think about it, it's probably best for them to come down at that time rather than miss out on activities.

I would always be in our health center before and after meals, and at bedtime. If a camper is late by 15-20min or if I'm itching to go to bed or something, I call the camper down. The counselors have walkie talkies so it's usually easy for me to call for a camper past bed time without waking up the whole camp.

you guys send kids home with a temp no matter what? are you a day camp?? I rarely send kids home (with an exception of last summer and h1n1).

I hold two jobs in the summer. My regular VNA nursing shifts (30 hrs) and the overnight girls camp. I get 24hrs off from camp a week and that's always spent towards my other job. I'm also the only nurse at camp and I surely get burnt out at times. When I'm not at camp, the director is in charge of passing meds. There are also a few staff members who are over 21 and have some sort of medical background (EMT, Head Lifeguard) who I allow to pass meds and treat campers with minor injuries as well. This summer I am looking for another nurse to help while I'm not at camp and give me a night off once a week but I highly doubt we'll find one. Luckily we have only just over a hundred campers at most so it doesn't get too crazy but with the h1n1 last year it seemed like my office was more bustling than the playground! I also keep a radio and am only confined to the health center if there is a camper in there. I'm often found sitting out in the sun doing my mounds of paperwork (thank you, ACA) and chasing my two cats out of the woods. -dana

I've done 3 yrs at an overnight girls camp. Year 1 we had an adult have a Grand Mal (no history of having seizures), A violent camper threatening to hurt others; Yr 2 we had a choking counselor (able to cough it up), Another counselor with some sort of neurological reaction to Benadryl (ambulance- was fine) another counselor with a torn ACL, a homesick non-english speaking camper threaten suicide if we didn't let her go home *dad said, suck it up!* haha.. she was watched and it wasn't a valid threat.; yr 3- A camper who broke her ankle and sprained it in 3 places but didn't complain and was walking around on it all week (Mom was ******). Lots of counselor psych issues.. anxiety/panic attacks and bulimia, confirmed h1n1, a dumb counselor who jumped off a ledge and badly sprained her ankle (i thought it was broken actually), two other camper ankle sprains requiring xrays, a 15yr old girl fainted a few times and on the last one in the middle of the night she broke her arm when she fell in the bathroom BY HERSELF (?!?!) 1 confirmed Lice and many other scares. Now that I think of it, the worst stuff happened to the staff... yr4... we'll see..

We had a confirmed case at my camp, she was immediately sent to the ER with her mom when she hit 104 with terrible breath sounds. She ended up having bronchitis at the same time. Shortly after that, the Health Dept was in contact with me and helped clarify protocol. I told counselors to send any coughing or ill looking campers down to me and if they had a temp of 100.4 or higher they were immediately sent home (though some families lived farther away so the campers were isolated in the back). If I had any other campers with asthma or other resp. issues, I checked in with them regularly and called home just to let the family know what was going on at camp and they could pull out their kid if they were strongly concerned. I was the only nurse so let me tell you, it was HELL that last week (luckily it didn't hit till the last session!). I ran around with a chart of kids temps. I had about 30 kids with 99 and up. I didn't administer any antipiretics if they had a temp as to not mask a fever. I sent home about 20 kids that week (we only had about 100 campers). I told their parents the kid could come back after 24hrs of no fever without medication. Only one or two came back. We put hand sanitizer on all the kitchen tables and completely cleaned out bathrooms & the cabin that had the confirmed case (washed bedding, wiped down mattresses, etc.). Next year we are making it protocol to call home if any camper gets a temp of 100.4 because we had a few of them pre-h1n1 confirmation and some of their parents were upset that they hadn't been informed their kid was sick. I didn't isolate anyone with 99s because frankly, I didn't have enough space to do so and most of it was due to mild dehydration and running around. If you have a camper with 100.4 or higher and you give them tylenol etc, do you isolate them? For how long?

androrn, How did the software work out last summer? I ended up getting the ACA book which was okay but if I could computerize this year, that'd be GREAT!

At camp I'm required to document each camper that comes in, their concern, and the treatment provided. This has to be in a bound book. Last year I used a bound journal-like book and I had to draw extra lines on every single page to make it more like a chart which was a PAIN. Anyone know of a pre-made log book for camp or school nurses that I can buy? What do you document in?

Hey, this year will be my 3rd year as a camp nurse and I'm the only nurse at camp. I actually prefer it this way! I put a little board on my door saying where I am if I'm not in the infirmary. I also carry a walkie talkie and counselors will radio me before sending any kids down. That way I'm able to make my rounds through the activities and join in if I wish. The only thing I feel I can't do is any water sports because if there is an emergency I need to be able to run asap! I've spent a lot of time at arts and crafts!! I love being a camp nurse, I can't wait to go back this summer! For "uniform", I wear what ever I want. This usually means a tanktop and shorts for me. I wear the camp staff t-shirt on check-in days with a name tag. If you have any more questions, feel free to email me at danacharlee[at]gmail[dot]com

i did both axillary and oral temps. HR was elevated (110-20ish) RR 28, which is her norm. I told the parents to mention the temp to the surgeon when they call about the casts. Do you understand the basis of neurological fevers? If they decide to keep the same casts, i might put some toothpaste on it or something.

I'm a high-tech pediatric visiting nurse and most of the kids I work with have had severe anoxic brain injury. For one it happened 18 years ago when she was a premie and coded, another 5yr old drowned when she was 18mo. With both these kids I've experienced "neurological fevers". I'm not sure on the background of this or what not. Basically the kids occasionally get fevers(usually 99-101.5) without getting sick. Should I treat the fevers? I usually do if they look uncomfortable. I've heard of fevers in the acute phase of TBI but not several years after the event. The 5yr old had bilat hip surgery last weds (it's monday now) and had a temp of 101 today. I know it's common for a low fever after major surgery but 5 days after? Incisions look good and I don't see any signs of infection. I'm not sure if the temp was normal post-op related, neurological, or if I should be concerned(She's also been taking acetaminophen with codeine every 4 hrs so I would think there wouldn't be a temp while on that! I wonder how much higher it would be if she weren't taking it). Also, the poor kid peed all over her spica casts. They're soaked. Mom is calling the surgeon tomorrow. I suggested a blow dryer on low for now but dry pee is nearly just as bad isn't it? Sure smells lovely.