Amburgerz12

Thank you so much for the responses! Unfortunately in our organization we do not have any nurses with peds experience. I have a little from working as an Ed tech for a few months and my internship in the picu while in school. I was the only nurse willing to take this case, while I may not be the best qualified for this patient I still feel like I can do this family justice in helping them in their time of need. As of now the baby is stable and is thriving. We are taking it day by day. I rely on our nicu nurses and the baby's pcp for assistance in care. I also am very thankful for the advice of my fellow nurses on this forum. Every patient I have the honor of caring for has taught me how to be a better nurse and this patient is another step towards being the best nurse I can be. again thanks for the input!!

Hello! my hospice organization has decided to accept an infant with trisomy 18. The baby is fairly stable at this point only needing 1/2 LPM via NC and has orogastric feeds every 3 hours. The baby has some cardiac defects of VSD and PAD. Also has hydronephrosis in one kidney on profylactic abx. From what I have been told this baby will most likely not make it to their first birthday and that their demise will most likely be sudden in that the parents will wake up and find baby this way. My questions are: what can I do to help support parents? not having barely any experience in peds what should I be looking for? any information for trouble shooting the OG tube? They say that baby will most likely not need comfort meds, what do you think? what has been your experience with infants? thank you in advance for any advice or tif bits!!!

I gradated in May 2010, passed my boards in August and got a position in September at a SNF. I have found the biggest thing is to network and you actually have to go in to the places, not just apply online. You need to get your face out there so the managers can put a face with the resume, your personality can really make a difference. Good Luck!!

I have several nursing school books that are specific to the Maricopa Community Colleges Nursing School Program. Some are in perfect, like new condition and some are well loved and have writing in them and post it flags and highlighting, but all are useable and most of them have the CDs that come with them. I also have a few NCLEX study books. One is in great condition, the other was unfortunately attacked by my dog, however only the front cover page was ripped, the rest is still usable. I am looking to sell all of these books as a package, but am willing to seperate them at a higher price. 200 dollars for all 14 books!!! This is a great price considering I paid 1200 dollars for the bundle plus some for the NCLEX books and study guide books. Feel free to send me an offer on a book if you are looking to buy it seperately! Fundamentals of Nursing Potter and Perry Medical Surgical Nursing Lewis AND Study Guide (Ok condition) AND Virtual Clinical Excursion Maternal Child Nursing Care Wong AND Study Guide (Ok condition) AND Virtual Clinical Excursion (brand new in wrapper) Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Varcarolis Calculate with Confidence Morris Pharmacology and the nursing practice Lilley Illustrated Study Guide for the NCLEX RN Saunders Comprehensive Review for NCLEX RN Memory Notebook of Nursin Volume 1 AND Volume 2 (great tools) Thanks!

Thank you, I know I'm going to need it. The little peds experience that I do have was in the ER and I definitely think that will help out.

I am a new grad with little peds experience and I was just hired as a elementary school nurse. So it is possible.

trina0606 how did your first day go? was it everything you expected? less? how do you like your teachers? my day was pretty good, i'm way nervous because our first 2 blocks were nothing like block 3 is going to be!!! i've got my a game on for sure!!! good luck!

Hey there fellow Maricopa Community College Nursing students!!! I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post this here, but I'm hoping I am! I'm looking to buy a one or two more sets of scrubs for my last year of school at the Maricopa Community Colleges . We wear the caribbean blue scrubs and I need a small in the top and bottom. I prefer the drawstring pants and the top with the two pockets at the bottom. I'm willing to pay, just didn't want to pay full price for scrubs I'm only going to use for the next 9 months . I promise to pay it forward :heartbeat and sell my scrubs or possibly even give them away when I am done with school in May 2010!! :yeah:Wahoo! If you have already graduated from class and are looking to get rid of yours, why not make a few bucks off of it? Thanks!

My bad, I am not sure how to edit my responses... I will be more cautious next time.

Depends on what type of student you are.. if you carry your books to class, I would suggest a rolling cart of some type, here are a few links to the ones I've seen in class: This one has the organizer with it, kind of nice for all your pens/pencils and gadgets. http://www.amazon.com/Rolling-Organizer-and-Saddle-Bag/dp/B000ILNZV2/ref=pd_sim_k_2 I think you can get this one at Office Max or Walmart, if you get it at Office Max, I suggest buying the insurance because our books are heavy and depending on how you handle your cart it might crack and this way you can go back and get one for free! :crash_com If you are gentle with your cart it may not be an issue. http://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-3N83-Collapsible-Cargo-Crate/dp/B0011NCTJU/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1250783456&sr=1-4 This is the one I got, it isn't as big as the carts above, but it has all the pockets and zippers that I like and I was able to buy it here. If you get it at JoAnns or Michaels they usually have a coupon in their ads so you can get 40% off. I think I ended up paying 30 for mine. I also like that after school is over I will pry use this still for my crafts. http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat323863&PRODID=xprd75171 If you dont take your books to class, then I would just get a regular backpack. Also, I would suggest getting a calculator. Just a regular one, doesn't have to be a T9. Infact it might be better to get a regular one because they will most likely let you use that one on a test versus the T9. Highlighters, sticky tabs, and binders to organize all of your power points are good too. The more organized you are, the better off you will be. GOOD LUCK!

I remember that day, they had us buy all our books at once... it was just a little over a 1000 dollars and then you have to buy the lab bag too. You'd think they'd at least make the bag cute or better looking for 100 dollars. Yes, you really do use ALL the books. You will pry end up buying a few more along the way. The only book that I didn't really like in the bundle was their NCLEX study book, we got the Illustrated one, not sure what your class has. I'd much prefer Saunders NCLEX books. If you really think about it, 250 per semester for books really isn't all that bad, compared to what we used to pay for our biology classes! Just stinks that they have you pay for it all upfront. Seems like our schedules are just opposite. We have class Mon-Tues 930-1130 and then clinicals Wed-Thurs 630-230. I'm surprised you guys have two 12 hour clinicals. We only did the 8 hour clinicals and this block if we are doing 12 hour clinicals then we only go for one day, instead of two days a week. Enjoy your weekend, go out and have fun!

Yes, she is mainly powerpoints. We had another instructor along with our main instructor for our Block 1 and the other instructor pretty much dominated the way the class was taught. As you saw, She is very soft spoken and didn't seem to get much say in how the class was taught. Lucky for you, the other teacher's contract was not renewed for the next year. I'm assuming it will be a better year for your class. My best advice for you is to read and take notes. If she teaches the same way, she will give you pointers for the test. You may want to invest in a recorder, so you can record the classes. I know that helped some of my fellow students. Another tip is to start doing your NCLEX questions now!! If you are learning about Respiratory in class, then study that section in the NCLEX. Pay attention when they go over Fluid and Electrolytes... it will be a nightmare! Most of all, just have fun. The first couple of weeks will pry feel boring because you aren't doing too much, but trust me, it gets a lot more intense in no time. Clinicals were the best part of Block 1 for me :redbeathe One other piece of advice... study for the HESI, if you are on the cusp of getting an A or getting a B, it will make or break you. I've received a 91% for both I and II and its so frustrating that a 91 is a B!! They are in talks of having the HESI not count towards your grade and if they do, that would be awesome!! Sorry if this is long, there is just so much to tell! What is your schedule?

Good Luck!!! I'm starting block 3 on Monday and am excited to be almost done!!! one of your teachers for block 1 and most likely you will enjoy her. Wait till you hear her laugh, it will crack you up!

lol, disorganization is putting it politely. i did pretty well for block 2 and did fairly well on the hesi considering the educatoin we received. they are doing a remediation this summer for everyone in our class because a lot of students didn't do so well on it and i'm sure emcc is afraid of losing their program. i'm quite fed up with the school for not listening to us from the get go and for hiring two new teachers to teach the program. i'm sure they were short on time and all, but they should have had their marbles together long before they even offered the program! i'm sorry i'm going on a rant here. i actually dont have the summer off, i'm taking the lpn bridge program which i'm hoping will help me get a head start on block 3 in case the teaching doesn't improve. i think having two and a half months off only hinders the students and is going to make it that much harder come block 3 because if you don't use it, you lose it! i am very pleased with the lpn bridge program that i am taking and it is my hopes that this will give me the leverage i need to finish the rn program and pass the rn exam. by the way, something that was offered to us in this lpn class that i think would be beneficial to every rn student is this: https://www.ncsbn.org/1287.htm under "nclex examinations" in the left hand column you'll see "test plans", if you click on test plans and then click on "2007 nclex-rn detailed test plan - candidate" it will give you a detailed list of things you should be proficient in, in order to pass the nclex. i wish they would have told us this at emcc. there is also a portion on this website that tells you exactly how the nclex is weighted and how it is scored. it helped me understand things a lot better than i did before and i'm feeling more and more confident every time i go to class. good luck!! keep in touch, because i believe you guys get ahead of us this summer. you'll have to let me know how block 3 is going.

If you don't mind me asking, where do you work at? I am very interested in taking the Kaplan class and to have it payed for would be awesome! Thanks, Amber

I'm glad it is going well. I started in August and all the kinks were still not ironed out, but I guess we were the guinea pigs as this was both our teachers first time teaching Block I and they were kind of thrown into the position. It has already been a long road and has been testing our patience, but we all stick together and help eachother out. We start clinicals next week and our final in two weeks!!! EEKS!!! I can't believe block I is just about finished for us!

You started school this week correct? How is it going?

I was not aware that there was a commitment afterwards, but I don't think that is going to deter me away from still trying. Externing there will help me get more experience with what I am doing in class and also like you said, if I like it there then I'm pretty much guaranteed a position when I graduate. I've heard such great things about St. Joes, so I have a good feeling about it!

The externship doesn't start until January 5th I believe, they just require that you be done with block I by December 31st. I guess they start interviewing quite early, it was a total fluke that I found the job posting, but definitely a good one :-)

So I have an interview in about three weeks with St Joe's for their Nurse Extern position. I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on questions or anything for that matter. I've never personally worked in a hospital and I don't want that to hinder me, because I know I can do great! My only problem is that I tend to get nervous in interviews and I don't always find the right words to express what I want... ADVICE!!!

Congrats Stacy!!! First off, I just want to tell you to RELAX!!! I know its hard to do, but honestly there isn't much you can do before school starts. If anything, I would suggest brushing up on your A&P and Biology. What is your schedule like with courses and clinicals? - Currently we have clinicals 2 days and class 2 days (mon-thurs). The teachers you have will be pretty nice, but they both have different techniques for teaching and you may find your self favoring one over the other, but they are both adequate. Any tips for things I should buy (pda, nclex study guide, etc.)? Your bundle will come with a NCLEX Study guide, but you can buy another if you don't like the style of the one they give you. I would suggest buying a rolling backpack/cart or whatever because the books are heavy and you also have a lab tote you have to have with you on clinical days. I was told by one of the instructors to not buy a PDA because you start to depend on it and don't learn the materials that you need, but its all a matter of preference. Where are most of your clinicals at? We have three sites for clinicals, Banner Estrella, Good Sam, and Health South. We haven't started clinicals yet, so I can't tell you much about it. Anything that I should know before I start that you wish you knew going into block 1? If you get your books early, I would read up on the Nursing Process, it is what you will be learning in the beginning. GOOD LUCK!!!!

Yeah I thought today was pretty unorganized, but I don't think there was much the teachers could do about it. Guess we just have to roll with the punches like she said! I too wish we had our books, I wonder why it took so long to get them in and lets just hope that they really do get them in tomorrow. Hopefully with time, the kinks will be ironed out.. if not, we are in for a heck of a year!

I went ahead and got the tote, but then was told that we might not even need the thing, so I'll pry end up returning it! I think the only thing we will honestly need of our own is a stethoscope, so that is all I bought besides my scrubs. Guess we'll find out more tomorrow!

So what did you two think of the orientation?? Are you ready for Monday? I bought the tote and it didn't have the stethescope or BP Cuff inside of it and when I emailed Clarissa to find out what exactly we needed she said that we might not even need the tote now.. ugh I'm so confused!!! She told me to just wait until the first day of class and figure out exactly what else we need.

So what did you think of the orientation yesterday???