amyrae76

Swellz and Trixie13, if you're willing to share, I'd love to know what company you do abstracting for and how many hours per week you work. (I'm trying to PM you but the site is not cooperating, or maybe it's user error -- ha.) I'm also an oncology nurse and I'm thinking about reducing my hours at my full-time job to do abstracting from home, but I've read some negative reviews from oncology nurse abstractors about one company in particular so I'm curious what your experiences are. Thanks! Amy

I know this has been posted in the past but I can't find a recent post. I'm looking for a 100% online RN-to-BSN program, with no clinical hours. I'd really appreciate anyone's suggestions/advice/experience with any programs. Thanks in advance! Amy

Thanks, dreavt! Those are the 2 books I have, too. I'm doing the ONS online self-paced course that has me reading content from the book, but I'm not a big fan of the outline format of it. Other people have done what you did, so I think I'm going to switch to the study guide and start doing questions, questions, and more questions. Fingers crossed!

Are you doing that online self-paced class through ONS, the one that's like $160? What do you think of it? Is it helpful? I'd kind of like to do that but I don't want to spend the $$. My work will pay for us to do a one-day review course here in town, so I'll do that, but that ONS online thing looks cool.

I'm using the ONS Core Curriculum book as well, and I also bought the accompanying study guide with practice questions. I'm taking the test in November, so hopefully plenty of time to prepare. Good luck to everyone!

I work in a treatment center where we treat hemachromatosis patients, and we're able to use a patient's port for a therapeutic phlebotomy with a doctor's order. I don't think our state BON addresses this -- it's our institutional policy. (I'm in Nebraska if you need that info to take to your BON) Incidentally, I was surprised to see one poster say she rarely draws blood from ports. Our treatment center is a well-known oncology/chemo center, and that's one of the main reasons our doctors have their patients get a port. amy

I'm taking the OCN exam this November to get oncology certified. Does anyone have any advice on the best way to study for this? Amy

We use Alaris pumps and I really like them. I work in an infusion center that gives a wide range of meds including chemo, blood products, fluids, antibiotics, and more. I like how programmable they are.

I'm pregnant right now and I work in an outpatient infusion center where we give tons of chemo every day. Like you, we don't mix our own chemo. There are several of us at my job who are pregnant now or have been and have still worked here throughout pregnancy. My feeling is that as long as I take recommended precautions, I should be fine. I worry more about my exposure to certain infectious diseases during my pregnancy. amy

I work in an outpatient treatment center with mainly oncology patients, and we hear this a lot. But we've actually found a solution: for these patients, we don't use the pre-filled syringes but draw the saline up from individual 10-ml vials. I know that if you read the label on the vial and the label on the pre-filled syringe it looks like they should both be exactly the same thing in terms of preservatives, etc. that could cause the nausea, but we've concluded that there's some kind of difference because this solves the problem for these patients. This has baffled all our RNs, doctors, and pharmacists, but this solution has worked for us. amy

Qaqueen, since you're a recent graduate, your nursing school might have some resources that wouldn't require you to go to considerable expense for this seminar. At my nursing school they had mannequin arms with real "veins" with red dye in them, and you could practice starting IVs and actually see "blood return" if you were in the right place. I'd probably check this out first. Otherwise, it's really just practice that makes you better. You might do like I did and find an older coworker who is good at IV starts and ask her for advice on technique. amy

Yes, there are jobs available like what you describe. For example, one of the hospitals in my city has an IV Team. These nurses start IVs and insert PICC lines at the bedside. You don't necessarily need any specific training other than being an RN and having an interest in IV therapy. I've also seen a lot of job ads in our newspaper for home health infusion nursing. It's a growing field, so check into it in your area -- you should be able to find something. Good luck! amy :)

Hello, I'm about to start a new nursing job, and I'm 4 months pregnant. I have no idea how long of a maternity leave I should take because this is my first baby so I don't know what to expect. How long should I ask for? I know I don't want to put a little 6-week-old baby into daycare, and my friend said she didn't even start to feel human again until 10 weeks. Any advice? Thanks! amy :)

Did you end up taking the job at the endoscopy center? I can't tell you how jealous I am!! I would LOVE to have that job. I'm a new grad too, and I started out on a med/surg floor and quit after a month and a half. Just yesterday I accepted a job at an allergy & asthma clinic, and I'm not terribly excited about it but it's a job and I didn't want to be in the hospital. It seems to me that as long as you have some sort of nursing experience under your belt, you will usually at least be considered for other positions down the road. Some positions will require previous OB experience, but I've known plenty of new grads who have gone right into OB, so you should be fine if that's where you eventually want to be. Good luck! amy :)

Not sure if you're still looking for advice since this post is over a month old, but I thought I'd offer my 2 cents. :) I'm a new grad too, and I started out on day shift, along with 4 other new grads, on a VERY busy med/surg floor. 2 months after we all started on that floor, all 4 of us have now quit because it was such a bad experience. However, the new grads who started out on the night shift on that same floor tell me that they absolutely love it and have a blast on night shift. The pace is just different, from what I hear. You mentioned a couple of considerations, like fewer people calling you, fewer family members around, etc. Well, the scary thing to me was that if I ever had to call a doctor for anything, it would be in the middle of the night!! You'd have to be pretty darn sure that phone call is necessary, you know? That would make me nervous. amy :)