StepbyStep

I really appreciate all the posts. Yeah money was never a reason to start. I never did nursing for the money, and traveling would be for the experience of course - i just didnt want to spend my whole savings on a job lol. Again all this has really helped!!!

Yeah really does help alot. I have thought about waiting at least for two years and I am pretty much settled on that. The expenses would be saved; however alot of people (me included) kinda thought that travel nursing was a good way to "save" money...meaning I really thought they paid almost all your living expenses except for of course extra things you do, groceries, etc. I always thought the majority of the companies paid your rent at the minimum. Maybe this is all wrong in general but that is what I kept seeing on other sites.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah I do feel like I am a resource person. I have been put in charge several times and work at a very good hospital that is serious about education and always holding mandatory classes etc to learn more. I have been a nurse for a little over a year..is that typical for travel nurses or do you find that more difficult and usually they want nurses who have worked for at least two years or more? I think my patient care is great and I have good time management etc. I think the floor I work on I have had good experience and we get almost everything (to an extent). Again thanks

I have begun researching but a little background about myself - From the south, have had my license for almost 13 months and technically worked off orientation and on my own since Novemember 09 but was hired in Sept 09 so I dont know what they count as my experience? time i had my license or out of orientation? My experience is on a neuro floor but we are pretty much med surg and monitor other floors tele's etc. do i generally have to have one or two years experience? any advice you wish you would have had starting out? are the places they send you generally safe living environments? is it really likely you and another friend could get nursing jobs around each other? i have applied to certain online websites - american mobile is one and i dont see good posts from other nurses on here about that company. what are some of the negatives to travel nursing? thanks for more information

I dont want you to think no one cares so i will post a reply...I have no idea nor have I ever heard of that. If you find out post some info

Depends on your floors tele level 1,2,3, etc at least that is how ours is. Each floor has regulations as to what you can hang certain meds you can hang only because chest pain but not to control bp etc. Most importantly our hospital will not allow a new nurse or any nurse for that matter to hang drips if they have not had the proper educations (cardio pulmonary assessment, etc). I dont consider heparin, insulin etc a drip but yeah we have those two on our floor as well as cardio drips etc on our neuro floor but some other floors can not have what we can and we can not have some that others can. Hope that helps.

you know your a neuro nurse if.............your back is KILLING YOU

hmmm thats even more stressful. no we dont have people who are suicide attempts if that is the only reason for admission. we have a lock down psych unit however they do not take patients who have other complications going on. so if a patient comes in has a stroke or an overflow med surg type patient has schizophrenia then yup we get them, etc. the majority of our patients have psych issues going on. we have a lot of patients in restraints some due to brain injury related reasonings others due to just being crazy lol. keeps it interesting. lol

I think I have heard this before as an old tale but not sure but that would explain why the person at the entrance would have handed you that. On the floor or a patient that is already in the system etc. we immediatly give ativan etc not really waste the time to do the alcohol under the nose. And to comment on what the doctor told you about the smell of alcohol kinda made me giggle because that is bizarre..if drinking alcohol smelt like alcohol pads I for one would never drink lol. When I go to work tonight I will do a little research...the person was probably done seizing and it was just coincidence that it coincided with the time you placed the pad under his nose. Oh and thats funny the md said he needed suction...what he needed was to go to the er and check in lol

There are a lot of nurse practitioners that work "under" the mds. They make decisions on pretty much the same thing as the doctors. If you call them in the middle of the night they will return the phone call back for the mds etc. I dont know where there places of study were, and I do know the neuro patients are not the only patients that they deal with. I dont know if you will be able to ONLY have those type of patients if you do NP but yeah its possible. Of course like anything else you might not get to start off in neuro - endocrine - or whatever your top choice is right away. Well, good luck!!

Well I wonder if you are working on your project right now? I was smiling when I saw it was due tomorrow cause I use to do the same thing and yes...I am a Christmas Eve shopper too. Well by the time you get this you will not need the information at least I hope not lol. Good luck on it and yes I am sure you are overthinking it and how ironic that like everyone has diabetes but this one guy didnt have it....I think I would have said in my project that he did have it lol. Again good luck

Ok I will try...this is the first thing I thought about and it might not be what your looking for. But how about pt started out with dx of diabetes which leads to neuropathy, then the pt gets leg ulcers which get worse or go untreated because of nursing home/ home health care neglegt/abuse. Or are you saying you have a particular patient already and cant play with the scenerio? Because many pts with neuropathy cant feel a cut on their feet, etc and wounds. And I didnt know if you meant it specifically had to be a trauma that occured and because that trauma it led to neuropathy??? Sorry Im a night shift nurse and cant sleep tonight here at home hope I was somewhat close to what you meant lol

(pinching comment above) hahaha thats a good one...... and this is random but is this symbol a smiley face smoking? thats funny too

Hahahaha yeah thats great! Keep thinking like that and soon a later you will be like dang im fine...there is challanges but a team with me that has my back (some do i promise ) ) and im doing it. Good luck heather

omg rainclover lol hahaha. you know your a neuro nurse when 1. your patient calls you and asks if he/she can be reoriented 2. knows exactly what meds can be crushed with your handheld pc in one good swift bang

Heather, are you an icu or floor nurse? Are you out of orientation or still in orientation? Its ok dont feel like you are drowning you will not know everything, stay open minded to learning and enjoy learning , know when to ask for help, know when to clock out and let it go you survived your patients survived you made it another day/night, get comfortable and confident with yourself, and its ok to tell a pt or family member "hmm im not sure let me check on that for you: its ok. Good luck. I think these two quotes were perfect when i first started - fake it till u make it - and - sink or swim

Yeah, I think that it is really really good med/surg experience. I have learned so much working on my floor - we are a neuro floor but have med surg patients as well. Lots of total cares, very rarely do I have patients that are "walkie talkies" But NO I DO NOT HATE MY JOB - people who have this attitude drive me crazy, I cant stand spending 12 hours with these people lol. I love laughing with my coworkers and my patients - sometimes if you dont laugh you will cry..and there is no sense in crying. Even on a "bad" night I have learned sooo much. I think this is more so a floor for people who still have or do have passion for the career and still love learning etc...

Understood, but of course I was making light of the fact there were little posts in this section, and dont want to know what people are cooking for dinner. Just some comic relief that missed the punch....

As many people as you see on this website it does suprise me that the Neuro forums have very little posts/replies...are we the ugly stepsister? Or is it that so many of us working in Neuro are so tired and exhausted to even sit around on our free time posting about work? Maybe it is that many people dont work in this area long? Well regardless of what it may be, geez can we start some posts about whats going on this weekend or maybe what your cooking for dinner.....I am having Outback

Didnt mean for my reply to come across as overbearing if it did. Yeah be excited cause its something new. Its good to do things that you have never done or never expected to do expecially in nursing because that is how your knowledge progresses or at least that is how I like to look at it. How you feel is the best things about nursing some things you hate some things you love and you can gain the experience and move to something new. Hope you enjoy it - and keep us posted I am interested to see how your job goes. Remember how you feel at the beginning may change for the better or worse hang in there - keep posting

What I hate? The patients who constantly yell and scream and is awake, alert and crazy but yet they damn sure know where that call light button is and call every 2 seconds. The patients who are awake, alert and ****** because they cant have anything to eat (stroke protocal, etc). The patients who specifically ask for 4mg Morphine IV push at 423. The amount of total care patients that you have that requires turning, cleaning, etc - never think because your a nurse you dont have to do it because you cant leave a clinical tech in the room to do it alone sometimes it requires several people especially >500lb patients. ETC ETC ETC BUT WHAT I LOVE - is some of the most rewarding experiences you will always remember and sometimes its rare but those moments are great, the patient who days/nights after taking care of them they say your name without you telling them who you are, the patients who are dying and still make jokes and laugh and the diffrence you can make in their last couple of days/weeks, etc, the awake/alert/crazy people i mentioned before who make you laugh when you really need it and your both laughing together and probably both feeling crazy. ETC ETC ETC No you shouldnt "just apply to nursing homes because you would get paid better." You should apply to a nursing home if you want to work with geriatric patients. Its an experience you will learn from you will make of it what you want to make of it. If you are a new nurse I dont know why you might have replied to that first post with such disappointment ng tubes, trachs - changing inner cannulas, suctioning, coding a trach patient, feeding tubes are sometimes not all that bad id much rather be able to push 50meds at once through a peg than sit and wait on my patient in the other room who refuses to take his pills from a cup and one by one you pour in their hand and some they drop some they cant find in their hand cause they are blind, IV practice and getting good at putting a line almost anywhere. Its great experience - stick with it - we get much much more than just neuro we get plenty of med surg - sorry such long winded

Yeah I would not say that you are stroke certified - that test is just so you have competence when you perform NIH stroke scale on a patient during admission, discharge etc. And on my resume I would say it like that "NIH stroke certification" under like skills or something. If I am understanding you correctly, there is no way to technically be stroke certified besides experience or AANA - American Board of Neuroscience Nursing where you can add creditals after experience and qualifications are met.

I work as a neuro nurse but get a lot of experience in med surg things too. But ortho and neuro are combined because surgery on the back can affect neurological functions (spinal cord connection to brain etc) plus like with any surgeries the risk of clotting and developing neuro symptoms can occur. However, at where I work neuro and ortho floors are not the same floor, I could see this being a combined floor at smaller hospitals maybe

oh no please nothing is wrong with you for thinking this is crazay!!! my father groing up use to get so mad at me for eating waffles with my hands but no the type of food you are talking about AND TO WORK IN THE HOSPITAL....I mean I wash my hands before eating but sometimes I wish I could shower!!!

Yes I will agree with Muramuncles on dont trust your mother. lol. I found myself many times realizing that her overall joy and pride for her child led to many HIPPA violations. lol. Yes I will be writting a part 2 and many more