coola

Since this is about pronunciations, I want to say my amazingly brilliant (deceased) father pronounced centimetre that way (sawntimeter)...and I would give a million dollars if I could just hear him say it one more time! "Orientate" though cumbersome is a completely legitimate word. All these "drive me crazies" display a certain lack of cultural competency and simple human respect. Life is hard enough!

For early nursing students o start IVs on fellow students and NG tube insertion on same?!! If that isn't against the law it should be!

"... do you think i should try and stick it out? thanks for any advice...it was really nice to just vent!" without details of what makes your unit so stressful, it's hard to advise specifically. however, i also found my first year the hardest thing i had ever done(and i have done a lot of hard things!)! i was fortunate to have my first rn job in a great place with great staff and supportive management. people can make or break your experience and socially unskilled or unprofessional interaction can be very confusing to the new nurse. looking back, i know the difficulty for me was the accumulated technical, physical, and emotional onslaught. all this and the responsibility to do no harm while under incredible pressure! however, i challenged myself and got the benefit of the suggested 2 years med-surg acute care experience which laid the groundwork for having confidence in my skills and abilities. so assess your situation. engage constructively with rns you respect. if your work situation is just "really crazy" and not toxic then stick it out and be absolutely sure to get some balance with healthy activity outside of work. limit overtime as much as possible. otherwise, check out a better situation and make a lateral move. do not give up. best of luck. i think you'll make it and looking back be proud of yourself.

Be more active. Make sure you have a good resume. Print it up and track down nurse managers in units you want to work in that have vacancy. Try to get an appointment but definitely leave resume and call back in a week to get a response. There's often a disconnect between HR and managers, so go to the source (ie. manager). Meanwhile, develop HR connections - get them working for you. Get involved, do something in the field- do volunteer work in hospital, put it on your resume. Hope this helps...you don't want too big a blank space.

And here's another good one on cytokine storm with excellent links: http://www.fluwikie.com/index.php?n=Science.PrimerCytokineStorm

I saw the same video clip, noticed their lack of understanding and/or compliance, and was horrified! They handed out masks on sidewalks, on roadways, at transportation hubs...what an excellent way to spread disease!

POSSIBLE pandemic...the new CNN scare-athon!

Here you are, Canadian nurses helping you with real estate: http://bc.propertysold.ca/stewart/3255/1508-glacier-dr $85,000!....hard to say no! Pics show a town view so you can see it's the epitome of Northern rural! ...a pretty spectacular place to raise a family I would imagine.

If you want more study, you also have the option to go for certification in a specialty once you get working and see your special interests. If you look at requirements for jobs, specialized training as well as experience seems to be the ticket, not necessarily degrees. Meanwhile, for a self-professed "nursing nerd", there are always online sites where you can get latest news articles on health and nursing in particular, best evidence practices, do CME/CEs, etc. I agree, no need to get the same degree twice unless you want to shine the second time around. You'd probably be bored anyway! Since you're young you might have time for everything. Obviously you liked nursing school but you have to move on. Also, I recommend trying for acute care first. My teachers always advised at least 2 years med-surg then you can go in any direction you want and my experience has proven them right!

hmmm...family complaints?....perhaps they would like to learn how to do a good basin/sink wash-up with their loved one...why not? I'm just sayin'

Accelerated BSN- with any nursing experience? If you are just graduating, of course you will write the NCLEX in order to get registered state-side, right? The next step is to search the websites of the various provincial nursing regulatory boards. When you choose your preferred province, look at the requirements for "internationally educated nurse" cause you are now in a unique minority of Canadian nurses wanting to bring their U.S. educations home. I was recently in the same boat. It takes a while and can be frustrating; but if that's really what you want it's just a matter of time and $$$. Your education will be assessed and if found "substantially equivalent" to the nursing education required in that province, you will be given permission to write the CRNE which is offered 3-4? times annually. You might be eligible for temporary license at that point and can go out job hunting to see if anyone wants to vouch for you. Meanwhile, you will the study Canadian content, write your exam, feel like you have failed, and become a nervous wreck during the 5++ weeks it takes to get the results I was in the same boat recently. With a 4-year BA, plus 2 years pre-med science plus my 2 year associate degree in nursing from an outstanding program I also had over a year and a half acute care experience from a leading U.S. hospital. In Ontario the program that helps IENs segue is for immigrant nurses who often have to go back to school for an extended period....depends. When you contact the regulatory body, ask to speak with an adviser right away. Don't get overly discouraged because your situation leaves you falling throught the cracks... Want more of my experience? Let me know. Meanwhile search this site for contributions on this and CRNE subjects. A lot has already been written that might help.Hope this does that too.

here's looking at you, kid... Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing gram-negative bacteria are emerging pathogens. Clinicians, microbiologists, infection control practitioners, and hospital epidemiologists are concerned about ESBL-producing bacteria because of the increasing incidence of such infections, the limitations of effective antimicrobial drug therapy, and adverse patient outcomes. from Toronto east General Hospital website: "What are ESBL organisms? ESBL organisms are bacteria that are found in the bowel, urine, blood, skin wounds or sputum. There are several different types of these bacteria. They produce enzymes that break down some antibiotics rendering the antibiotics useless. ESBL organisms can be detected on routine culture of blood, sputum, urine, or stool specimens and can be detected in rectal or wound swabs. We treat infections caused by ESBL organisms with antibiotics the bacteria are sensitive to, but colonization of the bowel is not treated as it does not cause illness. How can ESBL organisms be spread? ESBL organisms can be spread directly by person-to-person contact and indirectly from contaminated surfaces to a person." for example: ESBL-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella- (Klebsiella pneumonia tends to affect people with underlying diseases, such as alcoholism, diabetes and chronic lung disease. Classically, Klebsiella pneumonia causes a severe, rapid-onset illness that often causes areas of destruction in the lung.)

Grasshopper, Well written and very funny! Thanks.

Meeting the dress code while in nursing school is one thing; tattoos, piercings, hairstyle are no longer (only) your personal business. But there are good reasons. Consider this: when you are in clinical settings and handling patients, most acute care nursing will require you to be sleeveless below the elbow. The infection control challenges require that you can wash your hands and lower arms when soiled. Those cute little long-sleeved tees are infection vectors. Bacteria and viruses don't need to develop legs or wings when we are so willing to carry them around!

Wow, daunting job for a new grad! Kinda depends on what you were doing before you became a nurse...maybe a champion phlebotomist, a MASH medic or ER doc?? :icon_roll There's a real future here and special training available at Dalhousie University, possibly (still?) Red River Community College in Winnipeg...I know I've read of others. For anyone interested, do a web search. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Here's more insight into this challenging job from: http://www.medhunters.com/articles/knowThyselfOptionsWorkEnvironments$outpost.html "Outpost nurses are registered nurses who work in Canada's territories and in the northern regions of the provinces. An outpost may be an ambulatory center or a small facility (usually referred to as a health center, but we are using the term outpost interchangeably) with ambulatory services and a few inpatient beds. Some outposts are located in fly-in communities without road access, others are along roads, which require nurses to have valid drivers' licenses in order to travel between outposts. Outposts generally serve villages of 300 to 2,000 inhabitants, with all or the vast majority of the population being Inuit or Native Canadian (e.g., Cree). Outposts are generally staffed by one to four nurses, who function with high levels of responsibility because doctors, if they even visit, come only once every one to six weeks. (Doctors can be consulted via telephone.) An outpost nurse functions in a combined/expanded role of clinic nurse, community/public health nurse, ER nurse, and flight nurse. Due to the high level of responsibility, a minimum of two years of clinical experience is almost always required. Having additional training/certification from a northern clinical program, outpost nursing program, or equivalent is sometimes required and is always an asset. Outpost nurses must have independent, take-charge personalities, and need strong assessment and teaching skills. They are required to perform triage, start IVs, do dressing changes, perform suture/staple removal,provide pre- and post-natal care, perform deliveries, collect specimens, prescribe drugs (according to standing orders), and take/interpret labs and x-rays. Outpost nurses must take call"