Kialya

Good luck with your finals :)

When I was studying, I audio recorded the lectures, took my laptop to class and typed in anything I felt I needed during lecture. After class, I took my rainbow of highlighters and I would highlight the dickens out of my textbooks. I then took 3x5 note cards, but cut them all in half. I would write a question on one side and then (here is the trick) word the answer in the form of another question on the backside. For a poor simplified example, front side would read "How do you convert kilograms to pounds?" The back side reads "2.2 pounds equals how many kilograms?" You get the idea. This does multiple things: It forces you to slow down and write up questions from your text book and it does so in a meaningful way that drives the point home since you are required to think of the question in a way so that the answer also forms a question. When you have a whole chapter of these small notecards, you 'speed study' them. You can do this anywhere because they are tiny and portable. Read the question; if you know the answer right away, you confirm the correct answer, TURN THE CARD OVER and place it in the back of the stack. If you did not know the answer immediately, put the card still facing the question you missed about 20 cards back in the stack and keep going. This will make sure the questions you are getting stuck on will be ones you return to repeatedly. Once you have mastered the stack you will start to see the back side questions. Mastering the whole stack means you have them all down back and front. Do this for each chapter. I got straight A's in college nursing school with this method. Is it fast? Nope. Does it require work? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely.

Let me start off by saying I do NOT work in a magnet hospital (I have friends that do). From what I am told, the hospitals know exactly when the surveyors are going to show up, they beef up the staff and supplies a week or two before inspection so they look well staffed with happy people then the day after the survey it is back to bare bones staffing etc. Yuck.

When I was studying, I audio recorded the lectures, took my laptop to class and typed in anything I felt I needed during lecture. After class, I took my rainbow of highlighters and I would highlight the dickens out of my textbooks. I then took 3x5 note cards, but cut them all in half. I would write a question on one side and then (here is the trick) word the answer in the form of another question on the backside. For a poor simplified example, front side would read "How do you convert kilograms to pounds?" The back side reads "2.2 pounds equals how many kilograms?" You get the idea. This does multiple things: It forces you to slow down and write up questions from your text book and it does so in a meaningful way that drives the point home since you are required to think of the question in a way so that the answer also forms a question. When you have a whole chapter of these small notecards, you 'speed study' them. You can do this anywhere because they are tiny and portable. Read the question; if you know the answer right away, you confirm the correct answer, TURN THE CARD OVER and place it in the back of the stack. If you did not know the answer immediately, put the card still facing the question you missed about 20 cards back in the stack and keep going. This will make sure the questions you are getting stuck on will be ones you return to repeatedly. Once you have mastered the stack you will start to see the back side questions. Mastering the whole stack means you have them all down back and front. Do this for each chapter. I got straight A's in college nursing school with this method. Is it fast? Nope. Does it require work? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely.

Acutally, management would prefer it if the patients thought it was a lazy nurse. Then they just say, "Oh her? Yes, we addressed that problem. Thank you for letting us know." That way, they can pin the lack of customer service on YOU instead of THEM and make you look like the bad guy.

When I was in nsg school I made and wore a giant blood pressure cuff.

I only read a few pages of responses, but one of the biggest classes I would recommend if available is Medical Terminology. That bit of Latin was a godsend later and I actually stumbled on that class by accident when I was toying with the idea of Health Info Management before I decided on Nursing. I use that info every day - even today after being a nurse for a few years now.

I had the surgery 2 years before I graduated and became an RN (this was about 6 years ago). Like your aunt, my BMI was over 40. I had tried and failed with multiple diets and exercise. To this day I am happy to report the surgery was a complete success. I have lost over 100 pounds and kept them off. My health has improved and I was able to have children whereas before I was infertile at 284 pounds. I have had NO side effects at all from the surgery. My husband also had the surgery as did his sister. We are all doing very well. My husband has had no side effects from it either. His sister does get anemic though. If you want to be a help to your aunt, just be there to support her with whatever she chooses to do. Best of luck to your family.

Patient teaching is a real biggie I can see here. For example, prevention education (to prevent future needless ER visits for oh, say signs of a viral infection vs. bacterial infection or diabetic teaching for control of blood sugars to prevent future loss of limb/eyesight kinda stuff).

Correct me if I am wrong, but legally can LPNs even assess/reassess a patient? How are you supposed to get around that problem too? Please do not put your license in jeopardy.

This is with health benefits.

Here is a day in the life of a psych nurse where I work: I work 3-11 pm. I have a 5 pm and 9 pm med pass and care for up to 10 patients directly. I get out of report with the day shift around 3:30 pm run and get my meds pulled, go find whatever patients I can find before 5 pm and assess them. (suicidal? anxious? hallucinations? detoxing? any medical problems I need to address?) Give the 5 pm meds. The patients go eat dinner at 5:15pm Go down with them and chart while eating with the unit. Get back on the unit around 6:15. More charting and assessments. Put out any 'fires' (pts who are anxious/restless/out of control/borderlines). Re-assess anyone who had pain and was given any pain meds earlier. In the meantime, complete new patient admissions (which take about 1 to 1.4 hours to accomplish for each one) and discharges as they happen. We usually do about 3 admits on the evening shift. Answer the phones, do paperwork (here we are unit secretaries as well as RN's). Pull the 9 pm meds. Our facility has almost no computer anything so all our charting is done manually and we kill trees by the forest. You blink and now it is 9 pm and time for the night med pass. By the time you finish the last med pass you realize it is actually going on 10 pm and you still need to chart on 4 patients. Update your census and acuities and brief the PM supervisor of any 'problem' patients. Help with the billion small tasks that are never accounted for ('I need socks!' 'Where do I get a bandage?' She just turned the channel and we were watching that show!' 'That tech over there is just texting and I already asked him 3x for a blanket!' why didn't my doctor give me an order for Vicodin?' 'When am I going to be discharged?' etc.) Sign all the BHT and LPN paperwork. Look at the time and realize it's going on 11 pm and the grave shift will be here any minute. You haven't taped report yet and still have 3 patients to chart on. Looks like more overtime again. Go home and be thankful you have a job that is rewarding and pays well. :bowingpur Return the next day.

Wow I feel wanted. I make $36/hr after shift dif. is added in. (located in Phx, Az. for profit facility) (Not a hospital).

I think you might be trivializing your nursing classes. I was a 4.0 college student (even with my pre-nursing classes like Biology and A&P. Then came nursing. I still managed to finish with a majority of A's, but nursing is a whole different style of learning. For example, with most nursing questions, every answer is correct - you must decide which is more correct. I still remember my very first nursing exam. It was quite the eye opener!

I love my job too :) Glad to see others are doing well too!

Best of luck to you :)

In my area, psyc nurses are paid better then most.

Pink22 pm me.

Thanks!

Annual Membership Dues (Institutions) Membership dues for Fiscal Year 2009 (July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009) are $3,778.00. Schools of nursing that have never been members are eligible for AACN's half-price introductory membership--membership dues for the first year are only $1,889.00. (Individuals) Individual Membership Award Criteria and Nomination Procedure Individual memberships in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing are awarded at the discretion of the Board of Directors in three categories: Emeritus, Honorary, and Honorary Associate. Emeritus Membership Emeritus membership may be conferred upon former AACN institutional representatives who have retired from the deanship and to whom the AACN member school has granted emeritus status. Honorary Membership Honorary membership may be conferred upon former active AACN institutional representatives who have retired from the deanship but who continue to further nursing education or health care. Honorary Associate Membership Honorary Associate membership may conferred upon any individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the goals of the Association. (Interpreted from AACN Bylaws Article III, Sections 3 and 4.) Selection Criteria In evaluating whether or not an individual meets the following criteria for emeritus, honorary, or honorary associate membership, the Board of Directors will give primary consideration to the contributions of the individual toward furthering the goals of AACN: Significant emphasis on: Service on the AACN Board of Directors, committees, or task forces Regular attendance, participation, and presentations at AACN meetings Other criteria for consideration: Contributions to AACN publications, such as the Journal of Professional Nursing Involvement in and recognition for promoting nursing education, research, and professional development at national, state, and local levels Mentoring and leadership qualities Nomination Procedure The nominator is responsible for securing the following information and forwarding it to AACN headquarters: Letter of nomination that outlines how the nominee meets some or all of the criteria listed above At least two letters supporting the nomination, from full institutional members of AACN If nominated for emeritus membership, written confirmation of emeritus status from the nominee's former employer institution A current curriculum vita with nominee's home address For more information about the individual membership criteria and nomination procedure, please call the AACN membership department at (202) 463-6930.

I agree that the shift wars really don't solve much. It sounds as though you believe in doing a good job at your work and kudos for that! Where I work, you get paid more to work the graveyard shift so that in itself may be worth your extra hassle. Keep up the good work!

I work at a psyc. facility in Phoenix (Glendale, actually) that hired me with no nursing experience at all. Been there almost a year now :)

With her attitude and grades, she may find it difficult to even graduate from a nursing program as difficult as they can be. I would let Karma decide her fate. Good luck to you and your studies.