hcox1975

Here is what I have concluded in my scrub quest. I am a petite (5'2) and weight is around 120. I am shapely with large thighs and butt. I also am narrow in the shoulders and some of the tops swallow me there. Cherokee are ok, they run big though and feel like they swallow me. Urbane has a great style but the tops are too short, not enough pockets and the pants make me feel like I have plumber's crack. Med Couture (I think they are made by Peaches) are the best. They are plenty big in the stride but not too big and they fit me perfect. Laundau and Peaches pants run big too and I feel frumpy. I haven't tried Grey's or Blue Sky but I hope to soon. I don't buy petite because I don't feel they are long enough but regulars are too long in some brands. I think it's to each his own, and you just have to see what fits you best.

Alegria hands down...

I too wouldn't take the harder patients when I first started. If you can choose your assignment, I would listen to report and try to choose a patient that you were comfortable with. I also would try to go back to the same assignment if possible because I was familiar with the patient and their family. We have a split partner that we share a patient with and I would also choose an experienced nurse to split with. I work nights and my unit works really good together so we are usually not alone when we get new admits or have a critical situation.

I too hate to be interupted but this comes with nursing. Take it as a learning experience. Being interupted will prepare you for what is to come. It takes time to establish your way of doing things. Everyone gets stressed during orientation.

Personally, if I knew where I was delivering my baby didn't have a nursery, I wouldn't have my baby there. I have never even heard of this until I read this post. This doesn't sound safe.

You also have to be aware of drug interactions, correct medication orders, and lab work. I work at a teaching hospital and sometimes the doctors aren't familiar with what is needed for the patients. Once you are familiar with the type of patients you are dealing with on a regular basis, this will become easier. For example, with liver patients there are certain medications they might not be able to take due to how the body clears the drug. Even though you have 2 patients or less, you are extremely busy. These patients are in ICU because they are critical and could take a turn for the worse at any second.

The hospital I work at, you can wear whatever color you want. I personally don't like the cartoon prints but that just me. I do like the idea of color coding. Or name tags with your title in large print. All of our doctors wear white coats so we are discouraged from wearing white. I don't have a problem with piercings as long as it's tasteful. If you came at me at a white uniform, I would wonder what psych hospital I was in. White uniforms scare patients.

I think these strong ladies will make wonderful nurses. They will be able to have compassion for the harder to deal with patients. Kudos to these women and I pray that they will continue to have productive and happy lives.

This whole story about this child breaks my heart. There is no way possible that a child can be diagnosed with bipolar at 2 years old.I am not a psych nurse but this topic really upset me, so I had to get on my soap box. As a mother of five and someone who suffers from ADHD, medications should be the last resort. I didn't medicate myself until I was an adult. I do however have several children that are showing signs of ADHD, but since it's not affecting school work, I have decided to wait until they are old enough to decide if they want to take meds are not. There are so many other theraputic methods to treat children. Diet, routine, sleeping habits,homeschooling, etc that can help these kids. I would take this child for a second maybe even a third opinion. Then I would research other ways to help this family cope with the situation. With my kids, when all else fails, I pray, and pray hard. Sometimes our environment affects our outcome. As a parent, if we see our children struggle we need to step back and look at their environment. Is it healthy or dangerous? I promise you if you went to a psych ward and asked the patients questions about their childhood, 99% of them had a disturbing event or events that made them the way they are. If this is the situation now, I would hate to see this child in 10-20 years.

Recession hits everyone, including nurses.:spin:

I like to know why we do certain things too, and there are people on your unit you will learn to trust. I also carry post it notes in my pocket and write things down to look up later.

Sure you can email me. No problem, glad to help.

I have worked in LTC and ICU and I encounter this quiet a bit. There are plenty of people out there that are nice and civilized. Remember to always show them respect and if all else fails, try to make them laugh. Sure there are patients that will drive you crazy but there are plenty of nice ones that cancel them out. A lot of times people don't realize if you talk to someone in a harsh tone of voice, more than likely they will recipocate :spin:

If you will email me, I will send you a report sheet I made up. The other RNs on my unit like it so much, they asked me to please leave it with them so they can use it in rounds with the doctor. I work in Surgical ICU. So you can tweek it to your specifications. my email is hcox1975@yahoo.com

I once took care of a very large patient in clinicals that took 5 staff members to turn her. When we were through, I asked her if she would like me to turn the tv on. She couldn't move her rather large arms so I offered to turn the channel for her. When I asked her what she wanted to watch, she said "food network please". All I could think of was, "OMG! Really?!" Where I work now we have these prevention measures we take with new admits. We apply a Meplilex pad to their sacrum and it seems to really help with breakdown. Of course, if they already have breakdown, this doesn't work. I think every unit should have a wound care RN that just take care of wounds, dressings and turns. But this is real world nursing :spin: