Java Mama

Hi Everyone, I am 3 months into a nurse manager position at an independent living facility. One of the biggest problems I see with this facility is the narcotic shift to shift count sheet. I've looked on-line, but can't seem to find what I'm looking for. I want an area on the sheet that has a spot for when receiving medication from the pharmacy and a spot where you could subtract if sending something back (besides the other information that's on the sheet). Anyone have one they could share please? Thanks :)

Hello, I work on a busy hospital med/surg floor with-out telemetry (all other floors have). They are now turning our floor to a monitored floor in a few months and we all now have to take ACLS classes. The problem is, most of us can't read strips, let alone understand the complexity of irregular rhythms. Seems like this could be dangerous for the patients if you don't have experienced RN's that know what they are reading. We have ICU, IMC, PCU x2, surgical and OB's. Just reviewing "the basics" is hard enough to grasp, let alone this other material we have to learn. Can anyone give me some advice on the best way to learn this (a way that it's really broken down easily to learn)? Thanks :)

Hello, I work at a hospital on a very busy med/surg floor. Last week our floor manager handed out a new policy she will implement starting tomorrow. This policy is our new rounding rules. There is a very lengthy paper the nurses fill out on the even hours and the CNA's fill out on the odds and is kept at the patients bedside. Ok, it might not sound like much, but it is a whole paper. I always stop in the patient's room to see if they need anything, but I know I will not have the extra time for this. I run from the time I get there till I get home, so I am worried. They gave us a paper to sign saying we received this and will follow it because we realize WE are putting our patient safety at risk!!! NO!!!!...I don't feel that way, maybe the opposite. It also states that if we don't fill these papers out, we're subject to corrective action. I just don't know what to do.

Hi, I am a fairly new grad (worked 10 months in LTC) and am starting on a Med/Surg floor tomorrow. So, we had 2 days of orientation on Epic and I know it takes a while to learn, but it sure seems like a lot of information. Does anyone know of any links that could help a new nurse set up her day using Epic? Thanks :)

I am in the same boat as you. I am a new nurse and work at a short-term rehabilitation unit. The average patient load is 16 (and I know most are saying you're lucky to have only that many), but you have to remember, being right out of school...it's over-whelming. There is SO much paper charting, admits, discharges, etc. My average day is usually 15 hours trying to get everything done. I am so over-whelmed.

I ended up taking it and it seems pretty good so far. Thanks for all your replies. :)

Hi Elly, Yes, very expensive. I applied to every school in my area and it was a 2 to 5 year wait-list. Since I was 40, there was no way I wanted to wait that long. I can tell you, you will get an excellent education there but you will work your butt off. So I guess it depends if you are willing to wait for an opening in Michigan (not sure what the wait-lists are now).

Hi Everyone, I am a "very" new graduate (just got my license last week). So I have been putting out resumes at hospitals & nursing home/rehab. facilities. I had my first job interview yesterday and was offered a position at a rehabilitation center. I actually thought it was a nursing home, but they said it is short-term care rehabilitation center that centers on cardiac, respiratory and orthopedic rehab. It is a new facility and absolutely beautiful. I was surprised to learn that they said I would be able to place IV catheters, suction patients, wound vacs, etc. I thought that would be the downside (not being able to enhance my skills). They said I would be doing many of the same things as in a hospital. My question is, the shift is 7 pm to 7 am and every other weekend. That's fine, but they do not give any shift premiums for working nights or weekends and I know hospitals do. Did most of you jump on the first job or wait a little longer to see if you had any other offers? Thanks.

My drive was 45 minutes each way and I would have to go sometimes 5 days a week.

Hello, I'm also from Michigan (along with many others) lol. It is VERY SMART that you got all other classes out of the way before starting. Many people took other classes with the nursing classes and I just don't see how they could do it. I had it easy compared to others (jobs and young children). I only worked 1 day/week and my son is grown so I did not have a ton of responsibilities like some. I don't think you'll have a hard time getting in as long as you have decent grades. As far as the teachers, most were good. I think you'll always have some that are not so great. My advice to you is try and work as little as you can and stay organized from the start. The program is so demanding, you won't have much time for anything else. Mercy has an excellent reputation for preparing students to become entry-level nurses. Good luck and let me know if you get in!

I just graduated on the 15th this month. Anything I can answer for you?

Thank you SO much for all your wonderful advice! I am really looking forward to my first day Monday. A friend of mine said the instructor I have is suppose to be really nice, so that is a real plus :)

Hello, I just passed my nursing final and now am doing my final hours precepting in a psychiatric unit. I picked psych because I enjoyed that rotation in school and thought this would give me a better taste of what it's really like. It seems when you tell classmates what field you like, many can't believe I'd want to do that (I'm not sure why). I was just wondering what advice you would give someone that is new to this field. Thanks for your input.

Hi, Our teacher posted some math problems and I have no clue how she got the answer. Could someone please explain this to me? I've never seen an "mu" before either??????? Pitocin Give Pitocin at a rate of 4mu/min Available is 20u in 1000ml LR Answer 12ml/hr

Thanks for the breakdown! Great example to print out and carry with me so I won't forget. :) Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all the help!