ernursen

It works. Passed after 75 questions.

Funny.....the people most qualified and most experienced to suture in my ER are the medics. I would trust them with my life.

What about advice nursing? I work in a fast paced clinic with some amazing RNs who act as advice nurses, many of whom are old (not age wise..you know what I mean) ER nurses. As for me...I am going back to ER. But when I graduate with my RN...advice nursing seems cool enough to try out. :) Good luck. My prayers are with you. :)

ULTRASCOPE!!!!! It is sooo much better than a Littmann (in my opinion) and I am hard of hearing at times...lol (older age). Plus it has a LIFETIME warranty...seriously. Every couple of years, I order new tubing with earpieces for $7 to cover s/h and you can get free retaining rings and diaphragms....no questions asked. I LOVE mine. http://www.ultrascopes.com/

So true. I know when I am in the patient role, I want to be able to understand my providers and I want to feel confident that we are all on the same page. Words mean different things in different languages, so i feel it is a valid concern. It does not mean anything bad or offensive.

Not to toot my own horn, or at least terribly bad, but I am a pretty damn good nurse. I have worked as an LPN for the last 6 years. My experience includes Med/Surg, Ortho, Urgent care, and for the most part ER!!!! I got involved in the ER rather quickly and have busted butt to prove myself. Heres the prob...my employer currently would rather have me quit than alter my work schedule so I can finish college to get my RN. I started classes Monday and have gotten nothing but the run around. My evaluations are damn near perfect at work, I NEVER call out and I actually do work when I am there...unlike some others!!! ARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!!! It will be impossible to find a new job due to having to do an orientation at a new place which would probably be during the week....and I have class. I am the sole provider of my family of 5. I just don't know what to do at this point? What is wrong with this picture? I should mention that we are already short staffed at my current job, but they refuse to turn any of those slots to part-time or transfer me.

AMEN!!! God love us pit nurses!!! And we wouldn't dream of doing anything else!! I jump into my big girl panties, not one leg at a time, but both!!

LOL...that is funny.

Got one to add: If you are going to fake a seizure...do it right....seriously at least pee in your pants and don't get caught casually lying down before you start convulsing. It's embarrassing...and to the kid that did it once on my career...it really makes your mom mad when she finds out you were faking. OOPS> LOL

Too funny!!! I wonder how many will say, "I will NOT go down there!" Not many can tolerate the pit like we can.

I agree. Take it from someone who has been there......you do not want to be their change agent. For anyone, this role sucks and you end up being miserable. Grown folks don't usually change unless they want to. For a whole floor to change, you would first need to get rid of the folks not doing their jobs and the pot stirrers. And then hire in new folks. This, in my opinion would send a better message to employees that if they want employement, they need to make some improvements. I can understand if you are in a position that you have to take the job...but I too would question if it's worth it. Just my 2 .

ROFLMAO!!!! :chuckle Too freakin funny and true!!! I am so guilty of doing the happy dances.

Sounds like you are very disgruntled. Seriously, come work with some of us in the ER. We are always looking for good help, but remember you will have to tend to more than 2 pts of all different acuity levels. Just because you get assigned to lower acuity beds doesn't mean you won't get stuck with an acute MI or stroke victim. Our nurse managers and charge nurses will just look at you and say, we need the bed, you are an ER nurse, you can handle it. Many times we have seen nurses (all specialties to include ICU) leave for a break and never return...lol. It's actually both funny and sad at the same time. Like others have said, we have to transport a lot, to admission rooms, CT, etc.... And often times, there is not much staff to watch our other pts while we are gone and we do get pts put into our rooms while we are gone. We are a revolving door. We do not get the luxury of having out pts stay with us awhile. It's always a surprise. I Also, change is a part of healthcare. If your bosses say you have to do something and it is within your scope of practice, you do it...or you leave. It is very simple. I have worked places where we have actually chosen to work short, our charge nurse asking a disgruntled or lazy employee to leave rather than us having to put up with the negativity. It is so much easier to work and to take of your pts when everyone works as a team. Based on your comments, you are saying you are not a team player. That kind of attitude does not fly at most places...at least it doesn't for long anyhow. Whatever happened to people's work ethic? I don't know about anyone else, but I LOVE what I do, but I just want to go to work and everyone just loose the drama. We have all graduated from school, so let's just do what it takes to take care of our pts safely and with some compassion. The shift really will go by much smoother with team work.

Can't help but add my 2 cents. Change is hard for everyone and to top it all off, it has always seemed that nurses in specialty areas always seem the worse to budge and do things differently (myself included). We always seem to think our job is the hardest and we can't leave our pts. There are a few differences though between an ER and an ICU nurse. First, an ER nurse takes care of the same type of pts as an ICU nurse with the exception of ratio. An ICU nurse typically takes care of 2 total care pts. In the ER, we often have more than that and we are lucky if we get help because we are always run so short. An ICU nurse complaining to come an get one pt seems ridiculous, considering ER nurses transport their pts and like I said, often have more than 2 pts to take care of, not to mention when the ER nurse leaves for transport, there is almost always a brand new, sometimes critical pt placed in that room you previously emptied....while you are transporting!! That does not happen in the ICU. And I def. won't go into the fact that most ICU nurses I know and have known, complain about being short staffed and life is unfair while on one of their many smoke breaks.

Just got accepted to Hopkinsville's nursing bridge progam. I start in Jan and am really nervous and excited. My prtoblem is books are sooo expensive and HCC has their own weird way of running things when it comes to their financial aid and to top it all off, the school is closed until mid-day on the 5th of Jan for holidays. Does anyone have NSG 210 books they would like to donate? I know when I was in school, I kept all my textbooks thinking I would use them, but really never did. I have quite a large family and I am the only one that works (dear hubby is stay at home dad). Even if you don't want to donate...how about borrow? I can return them to you. Thanks for your help. :)

Just got accepted to Hopkinsville's nursing bridge progam. I start in Jan and am really nervous and excited. My prtoblem is books are sooo expensive and HCC has their own weird way of running things when it comes to their financial aid and to top it all off, the school is closed until mid-day on the 5th of Jan for holidays. Does anyone have NSG 210 books they would like to donate? I know when I was in school, I kept all my textbooks thinking I would use them, but really never did. I have quite a large family and I am the only one that works (dear hubby is stay at home dad). Even if you don't want to donate...how about borrow? I can return them to you. Thanks for your help. :)

Not during a code, but I was asked to start an IV on a pt whose internal defibrillator kept misfiring and after I got access to the vein and was withdrawing the needle, his defibrillator went off and shocked the bejesus out of me. It was the craziest feeling ever. I seriously saw stars.

I used that program when I was in school for LPN. It was amazing!!! I had two small children and was married, and still got help. I would not be where I am today if it weren't for that program!!

TYHank you!!! jobsinme.com is an awesome website. I feel confident now in leaving TN!!!!

AMEN!!!!!!!! Could not have said it better myself.

I used Saunders I believe (it was a long time ago). But what a bunch of us did was use the cards and play trivial pursuit with them. Each color a subject...worked out perfect and we had fun while we learned.

Thanks Jules. I am working on it through distance learning.

I am a LPN with 6 years ER experience. Also some med/surg and ortho. I have had to train new grads (RN) and always am asked to take RN students because I love to teach and I know my sh!t. I also know theirs...lol. I know I could challenge the boards and pass them if they allowed. We as LPNs do so much more than what some RN's would like to admit and we get paid a lot less. Every year they add more things to our list that we can legally do, but still no pay increase. In my state, I can basically count on 1 hand what I cannot legally do that an RN can, and I do know how to them. And I can't stand to hear RNs say we weren't trained in assessing and the critical thinking they were. If that was the case how come we are asked to do their jobs and just have them co-sign our charting? A lot of what I have seen from personal experience is lazy RNs sign our charts while we bust our butt for a hell of a lot less money and lots of generalized disrespect.

Remember your ABCs. When in doubt, look to those first. Works every time. :) Good Luck

My question may sound ridiculous, but a few co-workers and I have seriously discussed this and is wanting your input. If an LPN has a certain amount of experience (the board could come up with a number) and is willing to pay out of pocket to take the RN exam, then why shouldn't they be allowed? I mean seriously....let's think about it for a moment. An LPN with a few years under his/her belt and maybe even has recomendations and is willing to pay to take the test...what could happen? A few great LPNs then become awesome RNs? And the board would make a killing due to the high cost of the test and the high number of those who would take the test, versus the few who would pass. I know that I could pass the boards but working fulltime for the last 6 years and raising a family has not left me any time to go back to school. What do you all think?