pumpkin

I was placed on the alternate list last year, and they sent me a letter to interview......

Thank you all for your replies! I've decided to do the online BLS. There are quite a few training centers offering skills sessions near me. Since I've already expired, I didn't want to have to wait for a course to pop up. I'm going to have put my expiration date in my calendar so this won't happen again!

So I went to make a photocopy of my BLS card today and did a double take when I noticed that I was due to renew back in April. In the past, the nurse educator of my unit would always let us know when we were due. Last year I started working somewhere new; apparently this nurse educator does not keep on top of our certifications. I'm assuming that I need to take the initial course now, but I was hoping I could still take a renewal course. Does anyone know for sure? Thanks!

I'm hoping someone here has some advice they might be able to share with me. I'm planning on applying to school in the fall. Unfortunately, my sciences are now over 10 years old so I decided to do UNE's online organic chemistry class. I've never had much trouble with chemistry before so I thought it would be fine. I was wrong. I am having such a difficult time in this course. I feel like it's too abstract for my brain (I do much better when I'm able to visualize). At the rate I am going, I'll end up with a C in the course. I've been doing well on the labs, but averaging Cs on the quizzes. I only have 4 more weeks to go, and I know the final counts for most of the grade. I feel like a lot of the quiz questions are coming out of left field. I can't find the answers in the book or in his lecture. The prof has been very helpful when I've emailed him after the quizzes, but that's obviously a little too late. I really want to try to pull my grade up on the final. I would be so grateful to anyone who took this course who can give me some tips. Thank you so much.

Thank you all for your replies. Normally, I would never do an entirely online program. But right now I don't seem to have a choice. I come from the ER, but I unfortunately let my ACLS expire. I do not look forward to paying out of pocket for a course that I am going to have to retake in 6 months or so. However, I don't feel that I am lacking in skills - the ICU I'm at is a Level 1 Trauma Center and I have participated in a code almost every week since I've started (and some weeks, more than one code). Thanks again!

I have been in the ICU for almost 4 months now, about to get off orientation. While I am new to ICU, I am not a new nurse. I am having a really difficult time giving report at shift change. If it's the same nurse returning, I'm fine. But if it's someone unfamiliar with the patient, my report seems to be all over the place. I have an especially hard time if the patient has been there for a long time. I have a hard time summarizing what has happened during their hospital stay. I'm also having trouble remembering what happened during the day, especially if it was really busy. I try to write stuff down on a sheet of paper to help me, but if it's really busy I just don't have time. I never used to have problems with report, and I had a lot more patients than two. My educator assures me this is normal, and that as my "ICU mind" develops I'll be able to remember what's important and what't not. But what can I do right now so I don't look like an idiot at shift change? s.

I am in the process of applying to a school right now, and have a question about ACLS certification. I just started in my ICU over the summer, and my nurse educator does not want me to get ACLS until May. She doesn't know that I am planning on going to CRNA school and I don't want to tell her yet. I have been looking for an ACLS course on my own, and I haven't found that many before December 1 (which is application deadline). The only ones I have found are 2 day courses, and I am scheduled to work at least 1 of those 2 days. I have found some online ACLS cert courses, but they are not AHA endorsed. The school website does not specify that it requires AHA endorsed ACLS. Plus, I will have to take ACLS again when my nurse educator wants me to, so I will have an AHA endorsed ACLS before school starts, should I get in (this school doesn't start until fall of next year). Do you think it would be a problem if I take one of these online courses for the time being?

I feel your pain. I worked nights when I gave birth to my son. I thought this would be ideal - we wouldn't have to put him in daycare and I would get to spend time with him during the day. But it was awful. He was a horrible napper, so I would get home after working 12 hour shifts in the ER and he'd nap for 30 minutes at a time. I was miserable, and I felt I couldn't enjoy him as much because I was so sleep deprived. I ended up taking a job in the OR where I work days and rare weekends. My son is now 13 months and even though he is in daycare I feel like I can be a better mother to him with a full night's sleep! I don't feel the OR is my passion, but I don't want to have to go back to nights. It's a tough decision, and I wish you the best of luck.

I'm just curious to find out how people fell into their area of specialty. How did you know that's what you wanted to do? I have only been a nurse for 3 years. I worked for a year on a Med/Surg floor, which I hated. Then I did a year in the ER. I loved it at first, but near the end my ER became very poorly staffed and I became concerned that something bad was going to happen. I entered an OR nurse training program 9 months ago, because I thought OR nursing seemed interesting and something I might enjoy (and the lack of weekends, holidays, and nights appealed to me). However, I don't really think it's for me. I don't dislike it, but I actually miss patient contact (which I never thought I would) and giving meds, etc. And I'm tired of walking around on eggshells waiting for the surgeons to explode. But I hesitate to switch to another position yet again. Looking at my resume it appears that I only stay at jobs for 1 year then move on;) But I really want to love what I do. Lately, all I do is complain about nursing and how I wish I hadn't gone back to school to do it. And I'm tired of listening to me complain! So, how did you decide what you wanted to do?

I just wanted to ask you PACU nurses your opinion. When I graduated I worked for a year on a Med/Surg floor, then transferred to the ER and worked there for a little over a year. It became very unsafe in my ER with low staffing, and with the birth of my son I wanted to work days, less weekends and holidays so I transferred into an OR nurse training program 9 months ago. I don't necessarily dislike the OR. But I don't see myself there in 5 years. I can't stand the surgeons and I miss patient contact, giving meds, taking vitals, all the basic nursing skills. Before I moved into the OR I had thought about the PACU, but there were no job openings. I'm afraid that if I stay here too long, I'll lose my skills and no PACU would take me. At the same time, I haven't even worked here a year and would like to give them more time. Do you think that since I have worked in the ER, a PACU would consider me even if I worked in the OR for 2 years? Or maybe I should try to pick up a few hours in my ER just so the PACU could see that I was continuing with my critical care skills? I'm not looking to make any sudden job changes, but it's something that's been on my mind lately. Thanks!

Hi, I just need some advice. I have been a nurse for 2 1/2 years. I've worked in Med/Surg, ER, and am now finishing orientation as an OR nurse. I was recently speaking with a travel nurse in my OR and was telling her how I was hoping to pick up per diem hours in the ER (as I want to keep up my nursing skills). She recommended joining her agency, as I would be able to do per diem and get paid much more. I am considering it, however, I'm a little hesitant. I'm a shy person, and agency nurses have always struck me as outgoing. Also, do you get any sort of orientation when you start at a new hospital? I'll ask her more about it on Monday, but I thought I'd start here. Thanks!

Hi all, I recently started in an ER after working on a floor for a year. I really like it in the ER, but I'm having some problem regarding organization. On the floor, I was so used to carrying around a clipboard with all my patients' information on it. I'd have the same patients most of the day, then give a written report to the next nurse. It is not so in the ER. We're constantly moving patients from triage into rooms, from rooms into the hall, and to the floors. I'm having trouble keeping track of who's who, and who's where. There's no time to write down info about the patient, and when I give an oral report to the next nurse, my preceptor has to keep interjecting info about the patients that I've missed. So many patients come in with the same complaint (i.e. chest pain), that I'm mixing them up. When a doctor asks me about a patient, it takes me a few moments to wrack my brain about who they're talking about. My preceptor doesn't seem to understand why I'm having difficulty with this, so it's making me a little concerned that perhaps I don't have the memory capabilities to be an ER nurse. Will this come with time? Thanks.

Thanks for the advice everyone! ~Jaime

After paying my dues on a med-surg floor for a year, I will be moving to the ED in about 6 weeks. I observed there and absolutely loved it. But I know that it's completely different from floor nursing. (I'm used to carrying around my clipboard with all my notes on it, but no one down there had one - yet they all seemed to know what was going on). Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! ~Jaime

Hey all, I'm hoping you can help me out. Right now I feel absolutely sick about this. My cousin had a baby girl a little over a year ago. My cousin has been diagnosed with major depression and she goes on and off her meds. She's fine when she's on, but right now she's off. She's constantly taking the baby to doctors and having tests done because she thinks there's something wrong with her. This baby has gone through more invasive tests than a lot of my patients. Lisa limits the time my aunt can spend with the baby because she gets jealous when Emily gets excited to see other people. She refuses to feed her food with "empty calories", including milk and cheese. As a result, Emily is very small and developmentally delayed. Now, I am hearing this all secondhand as told to my mom from my aunt. This morning my mom forwarded me this letter from my aunt: "Emily had another one of the episodes (on Friday)which she gets every few months. She woke up vomiting, very weak, almost in a trance. They called ahead and then took her to Boston Children's Hospital where they have been seeing a couple of doctors for her. I guess she does have a metabolic disorder which is why she isn't growing. The treatment for it is a special diet. She gets really sick and weak when her blood sugar levels go too low (like after sleeping all night). And lactic acid builds up in her body. They took a lot of blood and tested it and tested her sugar levels which were very low. They gave her a glucose IV and by late in the day she was much better. Over two weeks ago they had given Lisa a special diet for her to help her grow and Lisa still hasn't given it to her. It's very upsetting to me and I can barely think about it. Lisa gets mad at me if I even say anything about Emily's diet at all. They have to do more testing to find out exactly what metabolic disorder Emily has. But I guess that's why she doesn't have good balance a lot of the time too and why she walked late. They think it is genetic. Now that Emily has been diagnosed with this, Lisa will be even more strict about not letting us see her. She has already told me that she doesn't want her exposed to any germs and she doesn't want us going over there if Emily is tired or anything. They are going back tothe doctor in Boston in two weeks to discuss all the results of the blood work they did on Friday." As a nurse, I know I am compelled to report any instances of abuse. But I'm not sure what this truly is. I haven't seen any of this first hand, and I have strongly encouraged my mother to tell my aunt to call Emily's pediatrician and tell him all of this. Maybe nothing is wrong, but maybe Lisa is doing something to Emily. For all I know, my aunt is exaggerating. My aunt doesn't know that my mom has been telling me all of this, and my mom doesn't want me to do anything because she doesn't want to start a family war. Any advice?