GenXnurse

I think anesthesia school is a challenge. Nursing school was a cake-walk comparitively. Don't get me wrong- I am proud of my nursing degree, but I could at least study for a bit and then get a day or 2 off per week. There is NEVER a day off in Anesthesia School-- there is only borrowed time. If you borrow time from 1 subject it is taking time away from another etc..... Someone earlier said it was the volume- I agree 100%. There haven't been any concepts that have been over my head yet- BUT there are just SO MANY things to learn and remember. Plus- Like our program director says, "You can't afford to forget anything." That is also the program director's way of reminding us that all tests are cumulative all the way through school. I read all of these posts prior to starting to try and get a feel for how it was going to be. I tried to prepare the best I could- the family did the same. Even with all the best planning it has been a HUGE adjustment. Nothing we can say will actually prepare you. Plus- mentally you won't really believe it (most likely) until you experience it. But try to believe what you are reading... Good luck.

I agree with the above. Learn or Re-learn the Gas laws. You can do it on-line at no cost. Here look at these: Boyle's Law Charle's Law Gay Lussac's Law (3rd Gas Law) Dalton's Law of Partial pressure Henry's Law Otherwise don't sweat it. I agree with reviewing physiology (from above)

It's happening in Mid-michigan. Tight scrutiny on hours worked- Absolutely NO OVERTIME (which has been hurting nurses who got used to having this "extra" income) Layoffs haven't happened yet- however there are hiring freezes and early retirement has been offered. These are usually precursors to layoffs. Just my observation with a little opinion mixed in.....

Look- You should simply deny the request and be honest. You can deny the request AS WELL as send that person a message on myspace. Professional lines and personal lines should not be crossed. What if you take care of this person again or the little one? They might not want private information disclosed either..... You need to protect yourself as well as your patients. Send a nice reply stating that you enjoyed taking care of them and to ensure their privacy (and yours) that adding them to your personal page is not in the best interest of both parties. I think this is a tactful, and respectful way to handle it. People will appreciate your professionalism. I have a lawyer and an accountant for a rental house business. Both are great people, but I don't add them to my facebook personal page. As for creating a second page- I think that takes work, and is not very genuine. Better to be honest in a tactful way- IMHO. Good luck.

I had been out of school for 13 years when I started to "refresh" my courses. Many schools require most of the sciences to be no more than 7 to 10 years old. So- because I hadn't taken chemistry in SOOOO long I started over with basic chemistry (Like highschool- No credit stuff) Then General Chemistry and Algebra- Then Organic Chemistry and Statistics. With those classes I was eligible for some programs: Akron, U of Pittsburgh, University of New England, Michigan State and some others. My plan was to apply to these programs and see what happened. If I didn't get in- my plan was to continue with classes to be eligible for other programs: Depending on the program- I would have had to repeat: Anatomy and Physiology Microbiology Possibly Pathphysiology and Pharmacology (Although if required to "refresh" these- I would have opted for Graduate level classes, as I have been told that this shows your ability to succeed at that level. Did these classes help? I don't know. On some level I thought it was a real pain. On another level I found that I really liked relearning concepts that I had quite frankly forgotten. Special 31- If I were in your shoes- I wouldn't retake undergrad classes. Go for the graduate classes and make yourself a super strong candidate. Expanding your knowledge base (in my opinion) is always a good thing. Best Regards!

I personally would call your hospital's risk management office and ask for some guidance. Then ask for a written policy. This grey area seems like it needs some specificity. I don't envy your position!

JC- You will achieve your goal in a short amount of time. I highly doubt it is going to take you anywhere close to 10 years. You seem very driven- Good luck.

Congrats Dive Princess! Since you shared your stats I will share mine as well (classmate!) 3.6 overall GPA- had to repeat several sciences which were all 4.0 (Been a nurse too long) GRE 1200 Writing: 4.5 CCRN 14 Years combined ICU experience with a little Trauma thrown in on the side. I agree- the interview was a huge part of the process. Plus- the caliber of person applying is amazing. I feel very lucky and humbled to be included in this class. Can't wait to meet you. Okay JC- Not to be direct and call you to the matts- but I guess that is what we are doing. Are you venting or are you going to share your stats with us so that maybe we can provide some feedback? At any rate good luck to you! Hopefully you won't have to retake all of your undergrad sciences like we did. What a chore! Best Regards.

JC- MSU does not send rejection letters if you don't get an interview. Apparently there were over 100+ applications submitted. Of those 100 only 27 were granted interviews (yes they did take place the week of the 23rd) Only 10 are going to get a spot. Now is probably not the time that you will be able to receive much feedback as the program directors are pretty busy. I do believe, however, that if you humbly ask for some feedback you will probably receive it. I must ask though- have you checked the MSU nursing website to check your stats against the current class that is attending MSU? If not- here are the current stats as I recall: Average GPA 3.77 GRE: 1100 combined Writing: 4.0 Average ICU experience: 2.9 years This year, apparently, the competition was much, much tougher. If your stats are close to these- then I guess I would try and pursue feedback as you are doing. Again, this year, according to one of the interviewees- there were "several" nurses with well over 10 years of ICU experience. The program was born out of a need to serve the Mid-Michigan area. As such- there are several hospitals in the area that are encouraging their best talent to apply. Keep doing your best. I imagine that you are motivated and are going to get in somewhere.

i'm confused by this comment. what is an "actual" science course? biology= science microbiology=science general chemistry= science anatomy= science physiology=science pathophysiology=science pharmacology=science organic chemisry=science here is a quick definition that i found at dictionary.com: science: [color=#558811]-noun 1.a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws: the mathematical sciences. 2.systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation. 3.any of the branches of natural or physical science. 4.systematized knowledge in general. 5.knowledge, as of facts or principles; knowledge gained by systematic study. 6.a particular branch of knowledge. 7.skill, esp. reflecting a precise application of facts or principles; proficiency. whether you found certain classes easier than others doesn't dictate whether or not they should be considered sciences. furthermore, there were earlier postings that stated that individuals wouldn't enter nursing if there were more sciences. that is pure speculation and holds no merit whatsoever. in my experience, especially in critical care, there are nurses that are forever trying to expand their knowledge base- including knowledge in the core sciences. finally- in the strictest of definitions: the study of nursing care is a science as well (please read the definition above). that is why it is a bachelor's of science of nursing (as you outlined above.) are you purposefully trying to hold our profession in disdain? this worries me that are pursuing an advanced degree in nursing yet seem to not advocate for our profession. good luck i guess. to the original poster: you can find an on-line organic chemisty class at university of new england. the director of the program will actually talk to you personally about the class and whether it will work for you.

I have worked in a Level 1 trauma center for the last 10 years and have never seen a patient intubated for convenience. I have given a lot of medications to try and curtail dangerous behavior, however.

The question is: Will it make a difference for you? You have to decide. In my experience there are more open doors for a nurse with a BSN. However, if you know that you definitely do not want to go on- maybe an ADN is best for you. Also- should you want to get your BSN later- You have the option of doing a BSN completion program after you get your ADN. I will guarantee you, however, that there are more opportunities other than just management should you obtain a BSN. You will need to research what those opportunities are, and how you want to proceed. As a final note- and this is just from personal experience, sometimes after getting through school it is hard to go back and start school again. That being said, do you have to fortitude to go back to get your BSN after you have been out of school for awhile (should you obtain your ADN first.) Again- All very personal decisions that need to be viewed within the context of your personal circumstances. What is really important: You want to be a Registered Nurse. That is awesome. There are lots of opportunities for RN's period. No matter what- Good luck and get going!

Don't you dare quit Nursing! Change your scenery and find a mentor/ confident that you can confide in and vent to. Legally- You are allowed to skip lower acuity procedures if time and staffing is critical. For instance- a pt's bath could be missed if you had to pass meds for all of your patients and simply did not have time. I am not suggesting this is desirable- it is not. However, we as nurses, tend to keep making a system work when it is broken. The answer isn't to stay over, or work harder, or work until we drop dead. The answer is to say- Hey Management! This is too much darn work for 1 person to do! Make a choice: 1) hire more staff or 2) Decide which procedures/points of care are going to be omitted, because currenty there is not enough human resource (ie: Nurses) to get the job done. Then fill out short staffing forms to document that you voiced your concern. Also- be kind to yourself. You know you are doing your best. Keep doing your best, but please don't shoulder the responsibility of providing all points of care when clearly you are not being given enough staff to carry them out! Mostly- please stay in the profession. We want you here! Don't let this job rob you of your life force. Start looking for other opportunities that feed you rather than deplete you. Best of luck.:)

Well- I feel the need to provide a little balance to this question. In our hospital- The on call cath lab team has to stay until all cases for the day are done- To include any and all add on's that the cardiologists feel like they want to add on. Furthermore- they can,and do, get called back after they have stayed until 7 or 9 pm at night (with a 6 am start time) Also- for an on call weeked, one can plan on getting called in (we are a large teaching facility) Wearing lead aprons (approx 20-40 pounds) for 10-12 hours gets exhausting even when just standing in the lab. There was not a day that I left where my joints didn't ache- even with proper shoes and such. Those are the cons- in my opinion. However- it is a fabulous place to learn all things (and I mean all things) cardiac. Cath lab nurses are extremely specialized after all of that training, and seem to be sought after for many other opportunities when they decide to move on. (For instance- pacer reps for medtronic) I am a critical care/ ER trauma float- I worked in Cath lab for a few months because I thought I would really like it- I did not. For the reasons above mostly, and I didn't feel challenged. However, I have a friend Rodney who was a critical care nurse and ABSOLUTELY loves the cath lab and is the consumate Cath Lab professional nurse (his knowledge base is impressive) The cath lab is also very impressive in our hospital because we have times as low as 12 minutes from door of ER to cath lab when pt's are infarcting. I have heard that same sentiment in other hospitals as well. So, depending on your hospital, you could be joining a highly respected team. In the end- you have to do what you like. If you like it GREAT! If you don't- Well the cool thing about Nursing is that there are hundreds of other types of jobs to try. Good luck to you. Just my

Divide your PAO2 by the percentage of oxygen being provided. ie: Your example for ALI was FIO2 of 30% with a PaO2 of 90- So 90/ .30 = 300 .