Jen2002

I thought we needed 20 hours in 4 years? We renew every 4 years. You stated 20 hours in 2 years? Does this mean we need 40 hours to renew?

Different shifts will have a different busy. Dayshift sends them to surgery, afternoons gets them back and discharges them, and midnights gets them from the ER. Most patients that come from surgery already come with a PCA or epidural. Monitor closely! They will also have autotransfusers or drains. You give a lot of blood on that floor also. And the neuro people, well good luck they usually need neuro checks every hour or two. Great place to learn and I actually found out I love orthopedics!

Always prioritize nursing diagnosis as you would triage. What will kill the person always comes first.

Welcome to the world of nursing school. I graduated in 2002, but remeber very clearly. All I did was study, attend class and clinicals, and on occasion sleep. I had to quit my job and send my young children to their grandmother for 3 full days during the week in order to pass. There were many of my peers that were used to straight A's and had to adjust to just passing. You are not alone in feeling like it is impossible. You have to continue on after every test. Try not to dwell on a bad grade and somewhat wipe the slate clean after every section. You can and will do it! You will feel as though you do not know what is going on, you are there to learn it. Goodluck and study!

I am taking an organizational change class right now so I can offer some ideas. There are a few change process theories. Kurt Lewin's has 3 phases, unfreeze, change, and refreeze. Kotter has 8 steps: 1) Establish a sense of urgency; 2) Create a powerful guiding coalition.3) Develop a vision 4) Communicate the vision 5) Empower others to act on the vision.6) Plan for and create short-term wins 7) Consolidate improvements and produce more change.8) Institutionalize new approaches. Deciding the need is always a first step. If the need has been decided then finances is the next step. I suck at the business aspects, but falilities always have a budget and monies may be available from this budget to fund the expansion. There may also be funds available through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, or other public healthcare agencies. Feedback from mnagement, staff and the consumers can be used to determine the need or their opinions as to what the best approaches would be to implement this expansion. I hope this helps a little, then again you maybe familiar with all of this already. Goodluck!

If you know what you want to specialize in then go that road. I took the med/surg route I was advised then I couldn't get a job in the specialty I wanted cause I didn't have the experience!

It is true that for our next remewal we need to provide our CEU's. I just can't find how many we need. Is 20 correct? What if we are in school for BSN/MSN? Do we get credits for that? Thanks in advance.

I believe thats true, although I would check with your facility. I have a question on how many hours we need?

Hope this helps you out. My name is Jennifer and I have been an RN since 2002: 1. What brought you into the field of nursing? I was about 14 years old and watched a documentary on drug addicted babies in the NICU. 2. What keeps you actively practicing in the nursing profession? I love being able to help people and if and when I need help I want caring people available to help me. 3. What are the greatest rewards/challenges in the profession of nursing? Greatest rewards are the patients and their families. When I get a thank you or that sincere look from a patient, it's my greates reward. The greates challenges are dealing with difficult patients and/or family members. Work environment can also be a big challenge, specifically lack of CNA's to assist and high patient load. 4. What changes have you seen in the nursing profession over the span of your career? There have been many changes in my short RN career. Staffing levels have bobbled back and forth. In 2003 our patient loads were very high. In 2004-2008 staffing levels were very good. Since last year are staffing levels are horrible. Sometimes we only have 3 nurses and 1 aide caring for 25 patients. 5. What changes would you like to see? There are numerous changes, but I feel the most important are the staffing levels. It tends to burn one out if I am not able to have the proper time to spend with the patients or the tools I need. 6. What advice can you offer a student entering nursing school? You must be very dedicated in wanted to become a nurse. During my nursing school days All I did was school, study and some sleep when I was lucky. So if you are not dedicated and truely have the desire to become a nurse, you won't survive nursing school. One last thing is do not do med-surg for a few years before you specialize, you'll never get into the area you want cause you're no longer a new grad and you wont have the experience. You can keep that part for yourself. Just a tip. 7. What advice can you offer a new nurse entering the profession? Research the facilities before you apply to them, and think about the area before you apply. Try to have a good open communication with your preceptor and manager. This is the time where you will learn pretty much everything that will stay with you during your career. You want to learn as much as possible in a great environment. These are my thoughts and opinions. These answers do not represent all nurses in all healthcare areas.

I will graduate in March with my BSN and will continue on to get my MSN in education. My question is, where do I find teaching jobs that are not affiliated with a college, but more of CNA instructor for a health company?

We just discussed this issue in my current class. I dont think the chicken pox vaccines should be mandatory, especially sine we dont know when the wear off. Our kids need so many other more important vaccines, chicken pox should not be added. My heart goes out to the family.

In our clinical groups we shared pt names when we gave our report to our group, and also very detailed health information. This is not in my opinion a HIPPA violation. All students are there to learn, and sharing health information on our patients for the day facilitates this. Not sure what to tell you about your personal feelings towards him. In nursing school there are the one's you love and the ones you hate. Sorry I can not be more help.

This reminds me of 2 years ago, a neurosurgen gave every staff member a $100 for christmas! We were all so shocked.

Thankyou so much for your hard work. Thats what makes us nurses a family. We love what we do, we are always helping each other out, and won't stop until our patients have the best possible care!

I started out on an ortho/neuro/med surg unit as a new grad. It was the best experience! I learned sooo much that will help me through the rest of my career. I dont know how I did it. I worked midnights and we would always have 8-9 patients. We had an ortho wing, and I would have 8-9 brand new ortho patients. All PCAs, EPIs, autotransfusers, drains, CPMs. Dont know how I did it, but bones was pretty cool. Neuro on the other hand is scary. Drains coming from brains, skulls missing, UGH!!! I could not deal with that. Give me a broken hip any day!!!