fredthecat

I have two dreams to tell. First, background. We carry cell phones at work so physicians can call us back directly. Now this first one is sort of a dream. I was at work and I kept hearing my work cell phone go off. I picked it up and answered it, but no one was there. About 9 minutes later, it rang again. I answered it and no one was there. After about 5 times of this happening, I woke up to realize it was the alarm on my cell phone at home, and I was going to be late for work. The second one is a dream. I dreamed that my fiance's grandmother was very ill at home, but would not agree to a home health nurse. So we went to visit her so I could help. I took her blood pressure and she was 90/52. I told the family, "Don't give her her metoprolol." But they disagreed and gave her metoprolol, lisinopril and a few other blood pressure medications. So my fiance and I left to go to the movies at the mall. While we were watching Birth of a Nation in 3D, the family came running into the theatre. "She's very weak! Help!" So we flew on an airplane the five miles back to the house and when I took her blood pressure again, she was 64/26. According to my fiance, that night, about 1 a.m., I sat up straight in bed and screamed "64/26" and then laid down and went back to sleep. I have no recollection of such a scream... but I remember the dream vividly!

This just happened a week ago. And we're still laughing about it at work. I had a patient who came to me from the ED drying out from a binge drinking episode. He came up in soft restraints, was on fall precautions and strict detox precautions. He was barely oriented, extremely anxious and jonesing for a cigarette. I'm in another patient's room - who was an extremely devout Christian - starting her IV, when the tech comes in. "Room XXX wants to know if he can go out for a cigarette." I look up and without thinking said, "Oh, HELL no!" Oops!

I agree we all need to have tolerance for our fellow students. The scoffs and groans have kept me from opening my mouth until Tuesday - and shut me up very quickly. And I'm pretty sure I have some decent questions. What gets me giving the look, though, is the rudeness of other students talking and talking and talking when the teacher is talking and answering questions. When I was getting my first degree, I never experienced such rudeness in any of my classes. But it seems as if in my nursing school, disrespect for the teachers and other students is the standard. If the rudeness and immaturity I see out of my fellow students is what I will see in the workplace from them, I hope and pray I am never a patient in their care.

Anatomatrix - Because I am a student who is TERRIFIED (and after Tuesday, even more so) of speaking in class, I talk to the professors after class when the lecture is done. How do instructors feel about students like me?

I've kind of skimmed this thread, so excuse me if I have missed something, repeated something, etc. Also, please excuse the fact that this is going to be a long post. I need to get this out. I'm in my last semester of an ADN program. For the three previous semesters, I have listened to one student talk several times each class period about her personal life, as if every detail relates to the lecture. I have listened to another act as a know it all. I have listened to the girls in the back talk incessantly. Now, I have had my differences with these kids. Last year, I was accused of stepping on someone's toes during a clinical (I didn't) and of turning in a group of girls for a HIPAA violation (I didn't). These girls publicly yelled at me and spread the rumors that I had gotten them in trouble. I took it all in stride and just ignored it. But it left me with no friends - or associates even - in the program. Yesterday, for the first time in this program, I raised my hand and asked a question. The responces I received WHILE the professor was answering my question included "SHUT UP," "Was that really a question," "Eccchah," and "You really don't get this?" I want to tell them all to shut up, but at the same time, I was the girl that was told to shut up.

OH THANK THE WORLD! After reading through this entire thread (and that's a lot of posts), I now feel so much better. I'm finishing clinicals for my second semester in the ADN program. On Saturday, I got my first needle stick, and I somehow got it in my head that I am the ONLY student to ever make this mistake! Here's how it happened. At this particular hospital, we use the novolog pens. I have administered it a number of times now, but my instructor was standing over me, which makes me very nervous. He likes to direct step-by-step even if I've done it before, and this makes me very flustered. Needless to say, I forgot to take the needle off before I recapped the pen, and since the cap doesn't fit over the needle, well... You can see where this is going. Yes, I had already given the insulin to the patient so I had to go through the whole process of filling out the paperwork and waiting for the patient's blood test results to come back. That never concerned me. I was far too concerned with the fact that I had just given myself a needle stick because I am clearly the ONLY person to ever do this before, and how would this affect my clinical grade and my ability to become a nurse if I already got my first needle stick? Wheh! I knew joining this site was the best thing I could do to keep my sanity during nursing school!