Scrubs911

Posted this in the student forums yesterday. Hoping NPs can share what books helped them through NP school. * Original Post: A few weeks ago I was browsing the threads and saw a book suggestion for*Clinical Pathophysiology Made Ridiculously Simple*(for students taking Advanced Patho). I got the book and I'm loving it. Classes don't start for a few more weeks and I love that I can go through this book in preparation for the actual class text. It sums things up nicely. Are there any other books that you swear by for different subjects in the NP curriculum? Kind of like the "For Dummies" line of books that break complex subjects down and can be used as supplementary reading?* Hopefully this thread can be a sort of resource for NP students.

Have you checked out UTMB Galveston? I know you have to go on campus every couple of months but a lot of it is online.

Yep, I agree you should let go of the belief that LPNs have to defend their qualifications. The only solid defence is the quality of care you provide and your professionalism. Everything else is just fluff. I believe the real issue here is that this person chose to be disrespectful to you and you allowed it to fly. As a professional you've got to learn how to grow a thick skin, and manage not only your patients but the family as well. That might mean bringing the focus back on the patient and the care he/she needs and will get from you. Might also mean you call in your supervisor to help deal with a verbally abusive individual. Sometimes it means you find a jovial but firm way to cut off that line of conversation. The goal is to bring attention back to the patient-- the reason you guys have contact in the first place. More than anything, people form their opinions of you from their first encounter. Drop the 'people think LPNs are less than' mentality because it may be seeping into your interactions. You are the professional. Go into the conversation owning the room. Do your job well, and be confident in what you're doing. People sense this and respond accordingly.

I can't really speak for those who choose their specialty for strictly financial reasons but what you said ^^ is what I'm working toward: finding a specialty that supports me and one that I will also enjoy. You could say that part of my criteria for deciding whether or not I enjoy my job is if the 'needs' I listed in my first post are met.

Hi! Congrats on your new job. First be sure that it's normal to be anxious about your performance at a new job especially if it's nursing and in a completely new environment/country. One thing I'll suggest is to speak up. If you are not sure how to do something, speak up. Let your preceptor know what procedures you need practice with, when you're comfortable enough, ask him/her and others on the unit to let you assist with or perform these procedures when they have patients that need them. You'd be surprised how many people enjoy teaching. Orientation is the best time to get as much practice and clarification as you need before you get put out there, if you don't think 15 days is enough, tell your manager that you need more time. If you can, get some nursing clinical textbooks and look through them (you could even ask the nursing students on your unit what books they're using for clinicals). Good luck!

I am so grateful to everyone for taking the time to help me with this issue. I appreciate all the suggestions and advice. There's quite a bit I have to figure out and the posts here have helped me narrow down some of the important stuff: What the market is like, what other options are out there, how much time and money I can dedicate to school, and what the hours are like. I couldn't have come up with all of these suggestions on my own; I am thankful to you all.

Thank you! You raised so many good points. Thank you so much, I'll look and see what's out there. No it's not ridiculous to seek input from people who are able to give objective and diverse responses based on life experiences that I and those I trust may not have access to. Those I trust tend to care too much to be objective, and most of them have no clue what nursing is about besides what I tell them. I appreciate your input though. RN with some ICU experience, so far that has helped me sort out what things I do not want to do for the rest of my life lol. Thanks for chipping in.

I'm trying to figure out the next step of my life. I will be applying to MSN programs for this fall or next spring but I'm yet to decide on what advanced practice concentration to focus on. So far I'm thinking ANP, ACNP or CRNA. I've got the grades and pre-reqs for any of these (God's been good to me with my grades and I am thankful not boastful), and I can see myself functioning in any of these roles. I'm still working on the work experience part of the applications though (I work in the ICU). Here's where I have issues, I've gotten different opinions about these areas of nursing (on this site and talking to others), may of which are not realistic. For example, some folks seem to think all CRNAs are rich and are living the life, but many don't consider the liability, stress factor, on-call nights, weekends and holidays that go into that pay-check. Here's what I want in my future: Some autonomy (I'm one of those nurses who sees nothing wrong with APNs collaborating with MDs), time to be with my family, a stable work schedule, not having to miss my babies' birthdays "cos mommy has to work," and time to have a real life-- travel, do community work, follow other non-nursing interests. The financial aspect though important is not my priority-- I do want a comfortable life for my family though. Am I being unrealistic? Do any of these career paths provide at least 70% of what I want for the future? Thank you for your input.

thank you for clarifying your post mbarn08. i get what you're saying and you're right, what should be in theory is hardly ever what is in practice. thank you for sharing your experience.

That site is a great resource Chisca. And what you said about staff retention makes sense; I'm not exactly sure what the turn over is but folks who have been here longer say we have way more 'new' people than 'old' people.

Thanks for the responses. I understand that other units have higher pt:nurse than we do, and in no way do I attempt to minimize the work other nurses do. I just wanted to focus on the ICU setting (since that is where I work) and not compare settings because that could lead to needless arguments that could go on forever. I hope you understand.

*I posted this in the new grads section but I also want to hear from the experienced nurses* Hi. I'm a relatively new nurse in a general ICU (we get a variety of patients). Considering the shortage of jobs for new nurses, I'm very grateful I found a job in an area of nursing that I find interesting albeit challenging. When I interviewed for the job, I was told that the Patient:Nurse ration was 2:1, and very rarely would a nurse have 3 patients. Well as it turned out, 3:1 is the norm on the unit (we're chronically understaffed) as I've seen more nurses tripled than doubled on any given day. Is that the norm in ICUs? Or is it just because we're a general ICU? I personally think it's dangerous because there is no way a nurse can be in 3 rooms at a time, and inevitably, one or more patients receive less than optimum care, especially if one of the three patients is more critical than the others. I worry about liability should something go wrong on the nurses' watch (more like the absence of it). Should I be concerned about this or is this the way things are in most ICUs? PS: It's insane that nursing units across the country are so understaffed (putting more stress and workload on the nurses especially the more experienced ones) while thousands of nurses, new and old, remain without work.

Hi. I'm a relatively new nurse in a general ICU (we get a variety of patients). Considering the shortage of jobs for new nurses, I'm very grateful I found a job in an area of nursing that I find interesting albeit challenging. When I interviewed for the job, I was told that the Patient:Nurse ration was 2:1, and very rarely would a nurse have 3 patients. Well as it turned out, 3:1 is the norm on the unit (we're chronically understaffed) as I've seen more nurses tripled than doubled on any given day. Is that the norm in ICUs? Or is it just because we're a general ICU? I personally think it's dangerous because there is no way a nurse can be in 3 rooms at a time, and inevitably, one or more patients receive less than optimum care, especially if one of the three patients is more critical than the others. I worry about liability should something go wrong on the nurses' watch (more like the absence of it). Should I be concerned about this or is this the way things are in most ICUs? PS: It's insane that nursing units across the country are so understaffed (putting more stress and workload on the nurses especially the more experienced ones) while thousands of nurses, new and old, remain without work.

Yeah it must be hard to leave so soon but you've got to be realistic and make choices that are healthy for you and your career. God forbid that something goes wrong somewhere and you end up with a revoked license and a smear on your name, talk about extended unemployment. Your organization doesn't seem like the supportive type. Good luck and be very careful.

Hey cheer up. Like you said, you're new, new people ask questions. New people feel silly for not knowing everything they think they need to know. It's okay to feel incompetent when about to perform a new task and very wise to ask for help or guidance with the procedure. New people like you are good news. Now if you were new and felt like you had the whole unit pat down... there'd be a problem. Hang in there.

If relocation is not out of the question, why not apply to hospitals in other cities or states, and relocate if you get a job (not before). I know of many people who had to move across the country for jobs cos they'd stayed months without working and were afraid of "forgetting" their skills.

There's a whole forum with over 400 threads on the subject. I'm sure you'll find loads of info if you do a search or read a sticky in that area. I hope the link works: https://allnurses.com/registered-nurses-diploma/

Wow I haven't been here in a while. Congratulations y'all!!!

Thanks and good luck to all of us :)

No problem. There was a thread on the subject yesterday. I was able to gauge what the average number is for most folks. Thanks.

Thank you!!!

I don't believe a unit hiring new grads into the day shift is necessarily a bad place to work. Most managers hire based on the unit's needs, and if there is an opening on the day shift that a new grad can fill, they may just go ahead and hire a new grad for it.

Hi. Let me get this straight: You're interested in the medical field with Nursing as your top choice. You're trying to do both Nursing and Biology and you want to start with the Biology major while you wait for an opening on a nursing waiting list? I hope I got what you were trying to say. Yes you can study both Nursing and Biology in college. You can have a Nursing major and a Biology major OR you could do a Nursing major and a Biology minor-- with this option you won't have a Biology degree but depending on what classes you take you can still apply to other health related professions (medical school, dental school etc) OR have classes that may be useful to you should you decide to get a graduate nursing degree. (I may be incorrect with this but) You cannot have a Nursing minor because you won't have all the classes required by your state board of nursing to have a nursing degree/RN. Scenario One: Now if you do decide on a double major (Bio and Nursing), the lower level classes will apply to both your Nursing and Bio course work: Bio I & II, A&P I & II, General Psychology etc will work for Bio and Nursing. Your basic Chemistry class(es) will also work for both degrees. In upper level classes (when you're taking the core nursing courses-- Med/Surg etc), you'll have your work cut out for you, especially if you're taking upper level courses like Biochem, Histology, Cell biology, Organic Chemistry etc. at the same time. Scenario Two: You go for a Nursing major, and a Biology minor. The lower level courses still apply but you won't take as many upper level biology courses like Biochemistry etc. Scenario Three: If your purpose for seeking the Biology degree is ONLY to make you eligible for other health professional schools OR graduate degree in nursing (you said you're interested in the medical field especially nursing-- so I'm assuming Nursing is the highest on your list of options). You do not need to have a Biology degree. You can get a degree in Nursing and take extra courses while you are in school to fulfill the requirements for those professional schools. For example, if you choose to become a CRNA after your RN, extra classes like Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry will come in handy. Now that I've probably overwhelmed you with info :) Here's what I have to say about the Community College bit: You can enroll in a community college to get those lower level courses I talked about. It'll probably take you 2-3 semesters to get your Algebra, Composition I&II, Bio I&II, General Pschology, Development over the Lifespan (Psych II), and Microbiology. The Nursing school you're interested in will list which of these you need to apply. You can take these classes while you prepare/wait for nursing school. You probably will not be able to apply to nursing school until you have taken some of these courses. In many community Colleges students taking the basic science courses declare a "General Science " major or something similar. If the Community College you go to has a Nursing school, you can apply there and get the Associate degree in nursing and then sit for the NCLEX-RN OR you could go to a 4 year college, do the BSN and sit for the NCLEX-RN (and also take the Upper level Biology courses I talked about earlier). I hope this helped. Feel free to PM me if you have other questions and speak with academic counsellors at your school for more professional help with these options. Cheers!

Congratulations!!! I applied also, and only got the confirmation email. Oh well...

Hi everyone. Thanks for all the responses. I'm thinking of purchasing 'The ICU Book' based on the recommendations here. I read reviews on amazon, and some folks believe the earlier editions are better than the current 3rd edition. I usually assume the latest edition is better than previous ones. Would anyone who has read the different editions please let me know if indeed the older editions are better or if I should go ahead and get the 3rd ed. Thank you!!:heartbeat