medicalma'am

medicalma'am's Latest Activity

1. 

   What do ICU nurses do?

   medicalma'am replied to mcpnurse's topic in Critical

   That is so true! The docs just keep keeping them alive. They are not the ones who are there for 12 hours with them dealing with balancing all the drips to keep them going, seeing the patient suffer, seeing the family in distress over their loved one. When the family member asks "How is he/she doing?" sometimes I just want to cry. I see the quality of life down the road and hurt so much for them. I just wish the docs would step up to the plate sometimes.
2. 

   How do I become a critical care nurse?

   medicalma'am replied to mark1973's topic in Critical

   My hospital hires graduate nurses into ICU. We have a three month (at least) preceptorship and critical care classes once a week. Once I was on my own the stress level was high. I had loads of experienced nurses to consult and never was made to feel I was asking a dumb question. The key is the percentage of 'new' nurses there are on a shift compared to experienced nurses.
3. 

   subarachnoid bleed questions

   medicalma'am replied to Zookeeper3's topic in Neuro

   I think that you are doing just what you should by answering her questions without giving any more information. Just keep answering her questions and hope that as she comes around they will become more complex and she will remember more (of what you have told her) or understand more. You sound frustrated by this but I imagine that it is out of your care for her and want for her improvement. You are right to be patient with her and give her nothing more than she can handle.
4. 

   NCLEX Obsessed

   medicalma'am replied to Scorpio,LPN's topic in New Nurse

   I used Saunders and Prentice Hall and found Saunders to be really much easier. I so needed that book to make me feel better when I was getting 68% in the Prentice Hall book! It made me feel successful because I did better. I think that the test taking skills are a MUST to read and practice. I was able to increase my scores by using them. I took my test SLOWLY and used 4 of the marker boards they provided! I will know in a couple of days if I passed!
5. 

   Failed NCLEX-RN

   medicalma'am replied to lilygrl2468's topic in NCLEX

   I just took mine today and it was the hardest exam I have ever taken. I have to agree that listening to others is not good. All anyone said to me was the IT WAS HARD, so I studied well. I think I was tachycardic the whole time but somehow kept myself calm. In a couple of days I will know... Thank you for sharing your feelings. You can do this!
6. 

   My HESI story.

   medicalma'am replied to 2btmanrn's topic in New Nurse

   We also have to pass the HESI exit to graduate at 850. We are allowed three tries and have never 'lost' a student because of it. We pay nothing to take any of the many online exams we are required to take, it is included in our tuition. We took it Wednesday and several did not pass the first time and will retest next week. We have remediation available to us online. I made a 937 (81.8%) and found the 160 questions to be grueling. I was missing questions at the end just because I was SO tired. Now I only have two finals next, one in 7 days and one in 10 days. Graduation is two weeks away and the next day is pinning. Good luck to all of you in getting this oppressive policy changed. :heartbeat
7. 

   Where are there jobs in Texas?

   medicalma'am replied to newgrad82's topic in Texas

   Many smaller towns outside of the big cities are hiring. Try Conroe and Livingston outside of Houston. Tyler and Nacogdoches have great hospitals to work for, but they each have lots of grads about to come out of schools near. The smaller towns have a much more 'family' quality to their staff. The pay is not what it is in the city for a GN (about $20) but the cost of living is a bit lower than the city. Good luck to you.
8. 

   Missed Dosage Calc by two points!!!

   medicalma'am replied to malestudentnurse's topic in General Students

   Well, I took the dreaded test today and passed. I had done ALL the problems on those websites this weekend and it paid off! That is my LAST DOSE CAL TEST!!! Till my on the job tests, that is.
9. 

   Missed Dosage Calc by two points!!!

   medicalma'am replied to malestudentnurse's topic in General Students

   Here are some websites that our instructors gave us. I copied and pasted the problems to a word document and have been working on them all weekend. My test is tomorrow. http://classes.kumc.edu/son/nurs420/clinical/basic_review.htm http://nursesaregreat.com/articles/drugcal.htm http://www.msumedcalc.com/conversions.html http://www.accd.edu/sac/nursing/math/default.html Happy studying!
10. 

    Thank you, nursing school gods.

    medicalma'am replied to Bortaz's topic in General Students

    Our instructors told us last semester that they had been 'babying' us too much. They discussed not giving us their PP's online to print out. They wanted us to take notes instead. OK, they have about 75 PP slides in 50 minutes of lecture and I became SO frustrated trying to keep up and take notes! I was going nuts in the middle of writing and they would change the slide. They don't want us to follow along in the book and highlight what they talk about either, just take notes. I am older than or the same age as several of them. I remember the days of taking notes! WE had instructors who wrote on the board (as the last poster noted) and we listened and wrote at the same time. WE LEARNED! WE COULD KEEP UP! They are the ones, in my opinion, who are spoiled, just teaching from the power point by reading it to us. That is not a lecture. So far this semester is better. Our Psych nursing lecture today was terrific. She integrated a film that we discussed, our homework that we brought to class to discuss and her VAST knowledge. She had my rapt attention.
11. 

    Missed Dosage Calc by two points!!!

    medicalma'am replied to malestudentnurse's topic in General Students

    We take it at the beginning of each semester. We have to get a 90 and have three chances to pass. We only have 10 questions o the test though. :omy:
12. 

    Thank you, nursing school gods.

    medicalma'am replied to Bortaz's topic in General Students

    I had the same experience. I assumed it was because our program director was in the lecture hall with us. One other student and I commented to each other during a break that the lecture was different than before. We will see if it keeps up. We are down to 53 students and hopefully all of us will graduate in May!
13. 

    For the eyes of the "older" pre-nursing students only!

    medicalma'am replied to stpauligirl's topic in Pre-Nursing

    Archie and Jughead, Dobie Gillis and Maynard G. Clebs, The Lennon Sisters, sing along with Mitch, Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass, Tiger Beat magazine, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Elia Kiliakan. I recently listened to 'Sirius radio Kids' with my grandson and heard DAVY JONES singing a kids song!
14. 

    For the eyes of the "older" pre-nursing students only!

    medicalma'am replied to stpauligirl's topic in Pre-Nursing

    Before malls, my friends and I would catch a bus in Webster Texas and ride to downtown Houston and spend the day shopping at Foley's and Macy's and getting pictures taken at the drugstore in a little booth. We would return to the bus station and pay $1.10 to ride back to Webster where our parents would pick us up again (we lived in Clear Lake City). I would have NEVER let my kids do that!!!!!!!!!!!! It's just a different world today.
15. 

    For the eyes of the "older" pre-nursing students only!

    medicalma'am replied to stpauligirl's topic in Pre-Nursing

    My late husband had a 'Robbie the Robot' in the 60's and I remember going to the theater to see '101 Dalmatians' when it first came out and being VERY afraid! I was about 5 years old. In the early 80's we had a game for TV called 'Intellivision'. We could play baseball on it, among other things.
16. 

    Pain med for ALS hospice pt

    medicalma'am replied to spoiled28's topic in Hospice

    Dear Spoiled28 What is the source of this patient's pain? ALS does not usually have pain associated with it. Is this patient at home or in a hospice facility?