Apollorn

This is definitely not a drama queen post. Alcoholism is a mean disease and it is awesome he has the support he needs.

Waht do I wish for in my break room? Natalie Portman. Though in a more semi-realistic way, I'd like to have a cocktail bar... that'd be nice. It's 5 o'clock somewhere.

Absolutely not. Depression is a clinically diagnosed syndrome. Unless it affects the safety and well-being of others, you should not be impeded. If it does, appeal it. Depression is a syndrome. They wouldn't exclude you if you had ACS would they? :)

I'm an RN student that challenged, and successfuly, passed my LPN exam. We have the opportunity to challenge the LPN exam after our second year of the BSN, which is kind of nice to gain some experience and much needed money. I find myself using all of my BSN assessments and skills (without the odd psychomotor skills LPNs are not permitted to do) as I work as an LPN. I enjoy learning a lot more and therefore I chose to complete a BSN. In BC, Canada, it's hard to differentiate who's the LPN and RN in a hospital. They're both full scope. RNs, however, work in the speciality areas and act in the resource role. So, if you don't want to read all that, basically here it's like: LPN have the assessments and psychomotor skills. RN have the in-depth assessments, more complicated psychomotor skills, and the ability to work in specialties.

I guess I should shave my legs. lol PS. I'm a guy.

Wow! Thank you for the overwhelming response. One of the main reasons I love this community. Thank you to everyone that shared their stories - they are definintely not easy to talk about. It was interesting to hear some stories from nurses talking about medications, particularly orientation-affecting drugs (eg. narcotics). I've discharged many patients with hydromorphone, oxycodone, and percocet prescriptions but have never talked about driving whilst on these drugs. I think I'm going to start doing this now because I see under-the-influence driving as an umbrella term that includes alcohol, drugs, and anythign that affects your orientation. Nonetheless, thank you again for the response!

I'm still in school and I work as an LPN on the weekends. So I work roughly 24 hours per week while taking four classes and a practicum this semester. I can't say it's too stressful considering I'm posting here right now, can I? :)

I work as an LPN now whilst I finish my RN degree (we can challenge the LPN exam in our 2nd year of the BSN). It's tough to really see the difference between scopes of LPN and RN besides the IV and critical care stuff. Although, RNs do get a lot of theory which is priceless. A lot of students say the "touchy-feely" classes are useless, but in my short LPN career I've come to realize those classes are essential in being a great nurse. Back to topic here, I think it'd be worth it to upgrade to an RN role. It definitely opens up alot more opportunies - specifically to the critical care areas, maternity, and possibly even into graduate programs if you'd like.

This is a rant. [rant: on]So a 20 year old girl was admitted to my ward yesterday with a fractured tibia sustained in an MVA. She was t-boned by a drunk driver. She had emergency surgery to fix it (forgot the name of the surgery). Anyway, she developed compartment syndrome. We spotted it right away and the surgeon was informed and she came back to our ward from surgery with four fasciotomies. Over the course of an hour she became very dyspneac: 25 resps/min, 92 sats. Not fifteen minutes later her sats dropped to 64%. Gave her 10L oxygen which brought her up to 92%. Chest pain was noted on inspiration, so I suspected an emboli. Sent her down for a CXR and CT on 10L oxygen, full tank. She returned to ward with no tank and no mask with cyanosis up the ying yang. Got her back onto oxygen and more concious. Results of her CXR and CT came back and were positive for a fat embolus. I reiterate, this patient is 20 years old. [rant: off] Maybe I have thin skin (still a student, practicing as an LPN on days off) but boy was I mad. Soooo young and all this crap happening to her... all because of a drunk driver. I HATE drunk drivers. Thanks for letting me rant.:bowingpur

According to BCNU, they foresee RNs adopting a more administrative/education/resource/advanced practice (coming soon: suturing) role in the future.

I lol'd quite loudly.

Group projects are awful when other members don't pull their share. I'm going through it now and was fortunate to have a good group. My previous 3 were absolutely atrocious. Grit your teeth and perservere!

Not necessarily a funny phrase, but this is my ice breaker with patients: Pt. wakes up in his room after surgery with the blinds closed. Pt. asks the surgeon: "Why are my blinds closed?" Surgeon says: "There's a fire outside your window, and we didn't want you to wake up and think you were somewhere else."

It's a sad reality that nurses are overworked, underappreciated, and used. But it shows our character when we perservere and still are there for our patients. Kudos to us! PS. At the hospital I work at, nurses scold other nurses for not taking breaks. I like that :)

$22.94/hr as a 3rd year nursing student.