Greetme2

No. This site doesn't make me a better nurse. It discourages me from praising my profession as freely as I have in the past. That's how I feel after reading posts here for over a year. I can definitely praise some of the respondents who have replied to threads here and others make me wonder what got them a degree in the first place. Any site that depresses me as much as this site does, well, I don't believe it makes me a better nurse. I keep coming back hoping to leave it with a new outlook. It hasn't happened yet. But cheers! Here's to 2010!

We used leech therapy for a patient who required a muscle flap following an extensive mastectomy due to advanced breast cancer. It worked out really well for her. She had Ativan PRN and just looked away whenever she had to. We kept a close watch on the leeches so that we could quickly collect them once they finished and detached. It's quite interesting having leeches loose in a patient's bed linens! They're quicker than you think.

I was in charge of opening the outpatient area and a closed unit in our hospital for evacuees from New Orleans following Katrina. Some "patients" refused help from staff of other races and refused to be in shared rooms with people of other races. I don't think this was just because of the ordeal they had been through. They were racist, plain and simple. You are handling it the best you can--brush it off. Be a good example and continue to do good work. Sometimes it's not worth the fight to argue or simply disagree openly with racists in a healthcare setting where lives could be at stake.

No, I don't. You'll take a spot in that class that someone else might need. If you are worried, get the textbook early and start reviewing what you think you have the most difficulty with. Also, see if you can find someone in the class that will either share their notes or notes and class handouts so you can get more comfortable with the points the instructor will cover. Also, it never looks good on a transcript if you have to take classes repeatedly to pass and it will look like you threw in the towel on the first try. I just don't think you should follow this path. Good luck.

Think of this as training for the real world. You may see or know of something in your career as a nurse that you may need to report. In this case: Follow your heart, not just your head. Like others have mentioned, talking to your roommate about future consequences (such as a setback in the program to retake a class or never being able to retake a class to raise the grade & ultimately final GPA) might be the best solution. It should lift your burden and ease your mind. You never know. By improving communication with your roommate, you may open a door that could greatly benefit you both in the long run.