curlilockz

I agree with the above... there's always going to be a new medicine that you don't know, and you need to know how to look it up... some of the drugs I give commonly are Lasix Colace Digoxin Flagyl Ambien Lopressor Lisinopril K-dur I could go on for a while, but I guess this all depends on the types of patients on the floor... It might help to ask one of the nurses on the floor or the nurse manager... In school we had to do standard drug cards for certain drugs, and it always seemed that the patients didn't take those drugs...

that's just wrong. :barf01:

My most difficult might have been the patient going through DT's who chewed through the IV tubing and sucked the NS dry because he thought it was vodka.

I've taken HESI tests every semester of school. For me, our finals are so much harder than the HESI. At our school, if you study for the final, then you've studied for HESI. We're in an internship class where all we do are Saunder's tests. If you do those and the HESI questions, you should do okay. It's not about answering the practice questions correctly, it's about understanding the rationales. I'd rather miss a lot of practice questions and know the rationales. But that's just my opinion. HESI tests change each time they are taken, so it's just a little of everything. It sounds like you're on the right track. Good luck and congrats on making it this far. Hopefully we'll both pass the NCLEX this summer.

Is this your first semester of nursing school? That sounds like something a Fundamentals instructor would do. If a patient says no, then you can't give them a bath. You could always try to convince them, but with some people, it's just not going to happen. One thing I do with patients to help them bathe is instead of asking, "Would you like to bathe today?" is saying, "It's time to get cleaned up. What do you need help with?" This way, it promotes independence, and if they are just adamant about it, they can refuse. I think most instructors are like that because a lot of students try getting out of giving a bath. It's not really fair when the patient refuses though. Sometimes you can convince them to get a bed change, and get them a warm washcloth to wipe off their face. Maybe that will help. I used to be really nervous about giving baths my first semester, but after working as a tech in the summer, you just get used to asking. Good luck with nursing school!

Okay, that makes more sense.

This is something that I have wondered about for a while. With CPR, what is the point of the rescue breaths? It doesn't make sense to me. The patient is not getting oxygen, they are getting CO2. So why rescue breaths? I understand in a hospital where the patient can be bagged with 100% oxygen, but on the field, why breath CO2 into their lungs? And many times the air goes into the stomach, not the lungs. I'm a student, and would like to know the reasoning behind this. It's been something I've wondered about since my first CPR class years and years ago.

New grads where I live start out at $15.65/hr... This is RN, not LPN. The bigger cities in AL pay maybe $17-19 an hour for new RN grads. Cost of living is much lower, but it's still grossly underpaid...

haha! Too funny! I can't believe you did it... I would have said some sarcastic remark and got reported.... I had a pt joking with me because I kept bringing him coffee (I'm a PCT), he said he would double my tips for the day... ahh... if only....

Mine is right now... I've been studying for MedSurg finals for the past week... hmmm... but seriously, no... not like an arm or leg.... arms and legs fall asleep because of lack of blood supply... if the head is not getting a blood supply I would worry about unconsciousness.... Or are you talking about the face? The head is a broad term.

Dumpings Syndrome: related to gastric surgeries; reduce carb intake, do not drink liquids with meals, lie down after eating; S/S vertigo, syncope, sweating, pallor, tachycardia 5-30 min after eating Ammonia levels rise in cirrhosis because the liver cannot break this down. Leads to hepatic encephalopathy. Ammonia is the end product of protein - low protein diet. Give lactulose to decrease ammonia levels and bowel pH. Pancreatitis: severe pain in epigastric region radiating to the back. Give Demerol becaue morphine causes spasms in the sphincter of Oddi. Avoid lying flat because this streches the peritoneum, causing more pain.

That's funny. I'm a PCT in the summers and our census was low. So I picked up those antimicrobial wipes we have (I can't remember what it's called, but it's very strong) and cleaned the siderails in the halls. Our supervisor thought that was great. There's a lot of things I do to help out housekeeping if there's nothing going on, they usually are really thankful for the help. But I don't think they are from a union.

A BSN is a bachelor's degree in nursing. A RN is a registered nurse. A person with an ADN (Associates Degree in Nursing) takes the same NCLEX as someone with the BSN. I have no clue if there are pay differences between the BSN and ADN. If there are, they are not much. The ADN has fewer prerequisites, but that does not mean it is easier. In fact, at my school, many people going for a BSN go to the local community college for prereqs. ADN and BSN have 2 years of nursing school. There are very few differences in the nursing program once someone enters. There are many ADN to BSN programs that can be taken online. Most (if not all) Master's programs only take BSN nurses. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. If you are looking to apply for CRNA school, go ahead and get your BSN. It will save you time. ADN is not an easier degree than the BSN. And this is coming from someone in a BSN program. I don't know much about LPNs. The hospital I work for phased them all out. There are only RNs and PCA (Patient care assistants). Many of the LPNs went to a nursing home, let the hospital pay for the schooling to get their ADN or BSN, or found another profession. Hope this helps.

I had a patient who fell and hurt his right hand. He was an older man (>80). Well, he insisted that I hold his member in his urinal while he went to the bathroom. I asked him why he couldn't do that himself. He told me his arm was broken. I told him he had another arm. He insisted that he was unsteady with his left hand and would spill it all over the bed. I told him "If you can hold a fork to eat, you can hold your member. You're not going to get away with that in rehab, and you won't here." I then put towels all over his bed, placed the urinal, and told him to call when he was finished. You know... He didn't spill a thing on that bed.

ENFP... hmm... we really are rare... I think there may have been 5 on this thread.