msfb

I've been a burn nurse for 6 years and I love it It's extremely rewarding. It's not for everyone. We had an nurse quit during orientation because she couldnt handle the hours long marathon dressings. However, I strongly believe a burn center is not the place for new nurses. At my burn center you are so limited to burn care that when you go to other units it's easy to be overwhelmed. We rarely see drips other than insulin, heparin, dilaudid, and versed. And if they have head or other trauma they got to our trauma/neuro unit. You have to be basically healthy to burn yourself so we dont see a lot of sick patients, other than the occasional diabetic that burns their feet or if a big burn gets an infection. I highly recommend starting on a PCU or Micu/Sicu. The experience you will gain on those types of floors will be invaluable. Ut will be a resource you can tap for the rest of your career. Best of luck in your nursing school endeavors!

Ps while not always appropriate sarcasm is often used in the workplace. I am known for it. Unlike the other nightengale-like saints that post here, I would say that's too bad or how does it feel to want? But only when the humor can be appreciated and to the right individual. And at my facility its not going to get me fired. I also ask for all bad news to be phrased in the e form of a positive statement. Like good news, we get to page the attending, etc instead of constant doom and gloom. Keeping the mood appropriately light.

Nope..kids gotta go. If they are under 18 they can not stay unless admitted. We were fortunate in burn that we always were able to find family or friends but cps would be the next option.

I feel very fortunate that my hospital system does not float adult med surg nurses to pediatrics or mother baby and vice versa. If you refuse to float we get an absence and written up. We have multiple float pools from specialties to general that does all adult needs inclung er and pacu. There are still times that an ortho nurse can get floated to a med surg floor when census the ortho census is low. The float pool is huge but not big enough for all needs when the hospital is hopping.

In my whopping 7yrs of experience I would NEVER claim that I have never made a mistake or wrong call. I wont be saying that in 20 yrs either. That's hubris and will bite you in the butt some day no matter how old and experienced. There is no way a human being can know at a given time 100% of what is going on in a 32 bed unit and wouldn't claim I do as charge nurse. I'm there to assist, delegate, direct traffic and act as a mentor to the baby nurses as needed. Everyone on that floor has a license and is responsible for the care they give. I don't have ESP or a crystal ball to know when a nurse is in trouble before they do and neither do any of the competent wonderful nurses I work with. RE THE OP: They were (probably, sadly) chased out for age. Get the HR policies and a lawyer as previously stated.

A previous post referred to the charge nurse keeping an eye on all tbe patients. I though this reply would be attached to that post. How am I as charge supposed to be responsible for the whole unit? They are your assignment. Do your job and take care of your patients. Don't blame it on charge. I don't like bedside report. Report should be done and then an introduction and drip sign off should be done.

I am certainly appreciating my place of work more and more. Fix what you can, live with what you can and continue looking for a new job, change specialties and consider relocation if you cant find anything local. If you want a desk job you are most likely going to need more schooling. It's a fact of life now that hospitals want BSN's at entry level. It's a magnet requirement. My hospital only hires BSN's now. We are the front lines to the patient, the face they see the most. Yes, we are the ones that get the complaints about the kitchen. Who else are they going to tell? The thread count complaint is ridiculous but you will find those people everywhere you go. I find Trauma patients to be the worst, the most demanding and the most unappreciative. But it is what it is. Lastly, how many of you are 20 somethings and this is your first real job? Job = work. Not 12 hours for socializing with you buddies. You have to earn the respect of the doctors and PA's. Just because you went to nursing school doesnt mean your opinion automatically holds weight. I know a lot of idiots with RN after their name and I wonder how they make it home from work each morning. You get out what you put into it. I'm tired of people complaining about how much works sucks when they arent making any effort. LIfe isnt greener on the other side. I came from corporate america. Nursing is my 2nd career and it is worth it everyday.

Congrats to you too! MsFB (no longer SN either)

LVH is great. I am so excited to start there. I haven't met anyone that is unhappy in critical care there. I'm starting in March but in Med/Surg. I should have picked micu/sicu but I didn't apply early enough and there were no spots left for Jan. The pay is equivalent to the other area hospitals as a GN with shift differential. I live in Allentown and I like it but I'm on the west side. There are lots of places to live but you'll probably want to find a roommmate because the nicer apartments are pretty pricey- $800 or more a month. I'd look out for where you decide to live more than worrying about what LVH unit you pick. PM or email me when you get closer to moving here. :) Look forward to meeting you!

fyrball, if you go into my results on the atitesting.com site, there are some tests that allow you to create custom remediation with the questions you are getting wrong. It's all the column in the right. There will be a CREATE link. The RN Comprehensive, Adult Med/Surg and Pharmacology have it available. It puts together audio clips and pdfs of the material from the questions you missed so you can study it all in one spot. it's actually pretty cool and you can figure out the actual question you missed. i hope that helps.

what about risk for imbalanced nutrition?

It depends on the course. I am in a BSN program & we have a paper in every class that counts for anywhere from 10 to 25% of our grade. The rest is split between exams, quizzes, care plans and skills videotaping. However, the majority is always exams. Our final med-surg class is 80% exams. Clinical is either satifactory or unsatisfactory, with the u being an automatic failure in the course. Clincial doesnt factor into your overall course grade otherwise. I understand their rationale, if you can't pass the nclex, you have a useless degree.

I have managed to keep my full time job of 10 years through all of school. It has not been easy even though I am in a part time night & weekends program. I work 40hrs a week and suffice it to say I support both myself and my husband. I do need loans for tuition but not any of our expenses (mortgage, electric, cable, etc.). I would recommend figuring out the bare minimum you need to live on and go from there. It's not like you'll have time for any fun or vacations! Our local hospital offer PSNA positions (Professional Student Nurse Assistant) that offer great experience and the pay is pretty good considering, about $12/hr. They know you are a student and will be very accomodating with your schedule. Hopefully you can find something like that. I would not live off of loans, I have always held a job when in school, the 1st time around with campus workstudy and now. GOOD LUCK.

I have had a lot of success with Tide with bleach directly on the stain, scrubbed it with a toothbrush, and then followed in the washter with cold water and diluted bleach. Always check it before drying if the stain came out. If not, hit it again. However, sharpie has me beat and bested my white vest yesterday. GOOD LUCK.

I emailed my friend at DeSales last night. I'll let you know when/if she writes back. I'll also ask any DeSales students I may run into while at clinical. Like I said, the accelerated students I interacted with a few weeks ago seemed very knowledgeable and satisfied with their program- but very tired. You have to be prepared to have no life, no matter what accelerated program you choose. When people leave our program they go to DeSales, not that it is a safety school, but because it is close by and comparable time frames and highly affordable.