Virgo_RN BSN, RN

I'm sorry, I am truly not trying to be hard on you. It's just that if I were precepting you, and you kept offering "yeah buts" whenever I tried to give you feedback, and I heard you saying "I think med/surg is harder than this floor", I would be hav...

A little piece of advice. To me, this looks like a lot of "yeah but". As a new grad, when being offered constructive criticism, I would try to avoid the "yeah but". There is a time and place to stand your ground and defend yourself, and a time and...

Never mind.

Doesn't matter. The deltoid site is so basic, you should have been taught that and checked off on it in a skills lab in NS. Again, it's not your fault that your program apparently neglected to educate you in this, and you were right to speak up. ...

Okay, don't take offense, but here goes. Please bear with me: I would be shocked too, if a new grad had never been taught IM injections in NS. IM is a route of medication administration that falls well within RN scope of practice. Having said that...

At my facility, we are required to fill out IRs for IV infiltrations. IRs are for the purpose of process improvement. So, if enough information is collected about IV infiltrations at our facility through the IR system, then processes can be changed...

I agree with this. You have to nip this in the bud, like yesterday. As his mentor in this, it is your role to guide and counsel him, and also to protect him to a certain extent. He doesn't have the job, so why should he have to sink or swim at thi...

Mine says "I need something that starts with a Vic...Vico...Vicodin."

This really sounds like an untenable situation. I have no advice, but I think whether you decide to stick it out or walk away, either would be reasonable and understandable.

Anybody have an "Aha!" moment when you knew you were an ED nurse?

There is a world of difference between those who offer constructive criticism to assist us to learn and grow, and people who just make you feel badly about yourself. My advice is to try to learn this distinction, and surround yourself with people wh...

We're not replacing staff. :-(

If I had to put them in sequence, I'd say heparin gtt, TEE, cardioversion, daily warfarin. Think about what the major risk of atrial fibrillation is.... What does heparin do? What does TEE show (hint: Left Atrium)? What is cardioversion? What does wa...

I guess I don't really understand the question.

It sounds like you're just worn out, Tait. The fact that you are aware of this, and feel badly about it, tells me you are just fine. I think maybe you need a bit of a break. Caring for others is extremely draining, physically, mentally, emotionall...

I agree, you should not blame yourself. It is interesting how different children from the same set of circumstances can respond so differently. I do agree with the person who mentioned lack of a good male role model being a contributing factor here...

Google. It's a wonderful thing. Positive hemoccult: http://www.gihealth.com/images/imgHemoccult6.jpg Negative hemoccult: http://www.gihealth.com/images/imgHemoccult7.jpg

I don't know anything about HMA hospitals. You might try posting your question in the ER nursing forum.

Yeah, I never watched TV in NS either. Eat, work, sleep, school. That was it for two years. Hang in there, you'll make it.

Haha!!!! Thanks for the laugh! Though personally, I can't decide between Sawyer and Sayid. Maybe I could have both....

Also, keep in mind that they probably use a question bank to formulate their tests. Whatever textbook package they had you buy for your courses probably has practice sections at the end of each chapter, with many of the same questions or types of qu...

Doing clinicals and working are two completely different things. If MH is what you want to do, then I say do it. Tasks can be learned. Knowledge is what takes time and experience to develop. Why "do time" in med/surg if MH is where your heart is?

Very cute! Thanks for sharing...

Normal. I remember once as a new LPN, priming an IV line, family in the room, so nervous....the RN had to come rescue me. Keep your chin up! You'll get there. It totally stinks to feel so inadequate and incompetent, but we were all there once too...

You use a whole different skill set when doing mental health. This is a huge area of weakness for me. Also, even those with mental health issues have physical health issues as well. You still have to take VS, administer meds, and monitor side effe...