imafostermom

It comes with time and learning a routine. When I started, I wrote down everything so I could concentrate on my patient and then run it through my head again after I left the room. It really will get better with experience. Have patience with yourseld as you learn.

In our department they often do this and they often write names. I have found that the name thing is usually to thank everyone. I agree, I would still treat them the same. Just like when you have patients that are on TV, politics, or other hospital staff. Very often they are very nervous and scared about being in the hospital. I just try to keep that in mind and just do my job the best I can.

I think so. I teach a CNA program at the high school level and they are able to have certification at graduation. I wish they had this when I was in school.

In south Florida, (if you pass and test out with a certification) at an accredited CNA program and go into the LPN porgram here, they give you credit and you do not have to retake that part of the course. It is usually about a 4 week course. (Lee Couty High Tech)

I did it too, right out of school. It has been 15 years and no regrets. Best of luck. Keep us posted!

All are great ideas, I also have a scavenger hunt list of things for them to find. everything from fire pull stations to PPE's...things in patient rooms, pantry's, triage areas, housekeeping closets, refrigerators, and storage rooms. Things on the crash carts, and tons of things in the clean linen, dirty linen, drawers and cabinets in the nurses stations (P & P manuals, code charts, MSDS books) storage rooms (tons to find there) and rooms specific to various units (like the circumcision room). I also assign them to follow/help a housekeeper, volunteer, unit secretary whenever we are slow.

These are very helpful.. Here are more: http://www.medicalmnemonics.com/cgi-bin/browse.cfm http://www.valuemd.com/mnemonics.php http://studynow.com/mnemonics/ http://www.medindia.net/mnemonics/search_result.asp http://www.scribd.com/doc/19829/Medical-Mnemonics http://www.mudphudder.com/medical-mnemonics/ http://www.technion.ac.il/medicine/Students/Mnemonics.htm http://www.usmletomd.com/smartmd/ http://www.scribd.com/doc/7571245/Medical-Mnemonics http://fliiby.com/file/33847/tgehd20rzm.html http://www.rememberanything.com/medical-mnemonic-resources/#more-132 https://allnurses.com/nursing-student-assistance/mnemonics-memory-aids-146408-page2.html http://www.scribd.com/doc/6129869/Nursing-Mnemonics-1 http://www.scribd.com/doc/2258181/Breastfeeding-Mnemonics-and-Nursing-Care http://www.md4sure.com/ http://www.flashcardexchange.com/tag/mnemonics?t=1&q=nursing+mnemonics http://www.flashcardexchange.com/tag/mnemonics?t=1&q=medical++mnemonics http://flashcarddb.com/cardset/16655-nursing-mnemonics-part-1-flashcards http://www.nursesthoughts.com/2007/08/mnemonic-no-3-hypernatremia.html http://www.rtstudents.com/rnstudents/rn-anatomy.htm http://medguide.jammedph.com/study-tips/pediatrics-mnemonics/ http://www.medi-smart.com/student.htm

FYI: This is now done by Prometric www.prometric.com

You might want to add: c-section recovery, PCA pump medications, incision site care, dangling & ambulating post c-section, pain R/T gas after surgery, post partum depression, care of stitches from episiotomy or staples from c-section, hemorrhoids, circumcision care, post delivery medications and vaccines, hearing test on infant, jaundice, breast vs bottle, cord care, baby bath, bulb suctioning, IUFD and how to handle that... (sorry rambling...just idea) What you have so far is great!!

I would focus on a head to toe assessment on moms and babies and look at common procedures and complications. Get to know the charting and how to read a pre-natal record (each doctor seems to have a different form). Get to know common labs and their values. Practice drawing blood and starting IV's. Learn the setup of the rooms and circulate through c-sections. Everyone wants to see a baby be born, so get that over with and watch what the nurses do (we usually have a mom nurse and a baby nurse, a respiratory therapist and a SCN nurse if needed). Ask to follow the tech if they have one. They will help set up and stock rooms and set up sterile tables ( a great thing to learn).Get into the triage area and see what type of patient comes and goes. You will see a lot there, how we deal with preterm labor, UTI's, URI's, dehydration... Does this help?

If you are still having difficulty hearing: make sure the metal pieces with the ear pieces are tilted forward, toward your nose (the metal parts with the earpieces are adjustable) and make sure they are deep in your ears or you will hear everything else in the room and be distracted. If all else fails, buy a good stethescope. The cheap ones with the hard plastic ear pieces are harder to hear from. The better stethescopes have soft ear pieces that will not hurt your ears and they also usually have one tube from the bell/diaphragm to the earpieces, not a double tubing. I always encourage students that plan to stay in the medical field to invest in a nice stethescope, it makes a world of difference listening through one. If my students are struggling, I let them try mine so they can see the difference. (our school bought ones have the double tubing and hard plastic earpieces and many students say they are hard to hear through, but they are inexpensive enough for the school to purchase for student use)

Thanks, I will include SCD's, suction, and EKG leads. These are not normally taught in a CNA class but will definitely benefit the CNA to know. Anything else??? I am teaching at a high school that has "academies" for criminal justice, education, engineering, automotive, construction, firefighting, vet tech, med lab tech, allied health, and CNA. It is newer in the high schools in our area (our school has had them for 4 yrs) and intended to promote graduation by allowing students to have electives that are job oriented. I cover all the things they will have on the skills test but I wanted to know what else you felt would have been beneficial to know.

umbilical cord has 2 arteries and a vein, I remember a face with 2 eyes (capital A), a nose (the V for vein) A A V

What are some things you did not learn in class/clinicals , that you had to learn after bieing hired?

a great site for practice that I found from a post on this site: http://medicine.osu.edu/exam/