jallen5

I tried to go through nursing school with my Mosby, and then when I saw the Davis, I dumped my Mosby fast. Davis is a whole other species of drug book and really has what you want to know for your drug cards.

I am doing prereqs are Harding U in Arkansas and am considering going to the LPN program at Baptist Health so that I can get out in 12 months and start working. I would continue on, but I am unsure what the best way to move up would be--whether I should go with an online or campus-based program and whether I should go LPN-RN or LPN-BSN. I have all of my prereqs done except micro and already have a BSA. I need a program that will: A. Not cost too much, and B: Not take too long, and C: Help me pass the NCLEX when its time. Thank you in advance.

okay after what I saw today at the hospital in day 2 of clinical, you are 100% right. I learned an important lesson about how serious it is that a nurse be able to think and understand for themselves and not just "follow orders." It looks to me like critical thinking skills and compassion are the most important aspects of being a nurse. I have a whole new respect for this darned paperwork I have to do.

I am a pre-nursing student and did my first clinical last week. The patient had a medical diagnosis of hypothermia, hypotension and hypoglycemia. My teacher had me do my care plan on the hypotension and sepsis. I am supposed to write a holistic problem list, and in researching the internet trying to figure out what the heck that means, I have been struck by this question that is really nagging me: Why do nurses have to create a whole other nursing diagnosis? Why can't we use the medical diagnosis to create care plans? When I read over the NANDA list of nursing diagnoses, it just looks so strange to have to choose from those to work out a care plan. Can anyone help me understand this please? Thank you.

I have learned that there are 3 medical units and one is not deployed as a UNIT but individuals can be selected to be deployed. They also said if you don't want to be deployed, don't join. I am still tempted though. Thanks for your input everyone!

I am very interested in joining the National Guard. The recruiter told me that if I join as an RN that I will not be deployed unless I volunteered to do so. My husband is afraid that the recruiter is not being honest with me. Does anyone know the truth? I would be stationed at Camp Robinson in Arkansas if I do join.

Thank you so much for all of the thoughtful input everyone. I am so grateful for all of you!

I am 40 years old and am doing prereqs for nursing school. My husband and I just started actively planning for retirement and I just realized that my parents are broke, in debt and in pretty bad health. I believe that we will be taking care of them as primary caregivers, and I don't really know how to plan for that. I am possibly interested in getting a DNP in geriatrics, so putting two and two together, I think that will help me give them the best care possible. Does anyone have any experience in taking care of elderly parents as an advanced nurse practitioner and the financial impact on the family aside from just the paycheck?

I'm a medical transcriptionist, and I hear doctors mess up all the time which can be amusing, but sometimes it is dangerous for patient care. I have a speed-talking ER doc who cannot or will not pronounce medications correctly. He will pronounce some of them in such a way that it could be one of several different things, so I have to put a blank there. I get dinged for the blank, but you can't take chances with meds, and I would rather the doctor have to answer for it than make a wrong guess.

when i was in the hospital last month, the LPN that took care of me in the ER (and one of the NICEST caretakers of my stay there) was a dude. He was great. Then on my last day in the hospital, the LPN that took care of me (and also one of the NICEST caretakers) was also a dude who had been a truck driver before. They were both so great. All of the females who had been caretakers paid almost no attention to me. When I was giving my answers to the inpatient interview on the floor, the RN neglected to write down that I was lactose intolerant, so my first meal there had to be sent back and I had to wait 2 more hours for food. When I needed to take a pill, one of the other RNs came in, handed me the pill, and walked out. I had to wait there saving up spit to take it with. The CNAs were supposed to be doing my I's and O's and never emptied the pilgrim hat thing. One CNA said she would bring me a drink and kept forgetting. It was horrible. If I'm ever in the hospital again, I hope that I just have dudes. I was 39 when I started back to school to get my BSN. I have a BSA and was a healthcare auditor and a controller. There are a LOT of 2nd-career nurses out there. Go for it.

I'm only in pre-reqs, but I brought my laptop because the textbook was online and when the teacher would refer to photos that weren't in our book, i was able to quickly find something comparable. that was all i used it for in class. For notes, I use my iPulse Smartpen. I love it so much. I can't listen and write at the same time, so it catches all the info for me. I listen later and get anything from lecture that wasn't in the reading. This has really helped me study for exams especially since the teacher is VERY specific about wording on short answer and essays.

"abominable cabinet!" I am going to laugh about that one for years to come and quote it frequently--no offense to your grandma--it is just so cute!

telling the nurse that his wife just fell, ok? of course you are going to be suspicious, right? But there is no reason to be suspicious, you hear me!!!! You hear me!!! I bet you are going to go over there and tell the cops I tried to kill my wife aren't you! Aren't you! etc...

I'm a transcriptionist, too. If I don't type things exactly right, I can lose my job. A dictation is a legal document that has to be perfectly correct so it can withstand in a court of law. When dictators mispronounce words and use incorrect grammar, it is very difficult especially when the dictation is in a specialty area, and you have to determine if he meant "x" thingie or the other "x" thingie. After a full day of it every day for weeks and then months getting hammered on our reports if we misplace a comma, it starts to crawl all over you that someone who can get paid more in a day than I will get in a week will say "oldtimers" or "phenergrin" or something like that. Ai yi yi. I have had doctors change the sex of the patient a dozen times, change the broken arm to a broken leg, change the kidney to from the right to the left, change the age of the patient, make him allergic to something and then not allergic to anything, and so on and so forth. When someone is in a position of authority on a subject and is supposed to have our faith in their ability, it is just not professional to pronounce words incorrectly such that even a lay person knows better.

Thanks for the reply. The abundance of options is just overwhelming.