cougSN

Okay, this might be asking too much, but I am trying to buy the koi scrubs (lindsay pant and harlow top) and would like a bit of advice on sizing. The fact that they say a SMALL is a 6/8 is making me a little nervous. I am definitely a 2, MAYBE a 4 in some cases and thats what they say an XS is, but my inches match up pretty closely to the "small". I am 5' 4" and 115 pounds and I usually consider myself to be pretty fit (ordering a size 6/8 is a little unnerving, though!). Right now, judging by what you all say, I am leaning toward a small in both, but if anyone has any advice on this, I would really appreciate it! Would rather not have to return and get new sizes if I can help it!! Thank you!

Wow, thank you all for posting. allnurses didn't let me know that I was receiving replies so I figured nobody had taken an interest. Yeah, for right now I am looking at being a wellness nurse for Maxim (I know, I have heard all about this company).... People generally don't seem to enthusiastic about Maxim, but I figure doing wellness probably isn't as stressful as doing direct patient care activities. I'm not exactly sure what the job entails, but it sounds like going to corporations and businesses in the area and performing BP/glucose/cholesterol screenings, etc. Anyway, I have yet to even send any information in yet, but its my hope to work with them temporarily this summer. These are all great ideas; if Maxim doesn't work out I will definitely be checking into these opportunities. Thanks so much for your thoughtful responses. :)

Hello all, I am a new graduate RN in Washington state, passed my NCLEX in late February and have a somewhat unique situation. We all know the job market is terrible right now, so getting hired even without any hitches is hard enough. I am currently in Europe, taking some time to relax after almost 5 years of school because my boyfriend of three years is a professional athlete over here. Because of the restrictions set in place by the European Union, I can only stay here for 90 days total over a six month period and am scheduled to return home the beginning of May, where I will be for about 3-4 months until his season begins again. As you probably already guessed, this really leaves me in a pickle regarding job situations. I cannot start a "real" job and just leave it a few months later (well I guess I could, but would never want to do that to a company). I got excited after learning about the Mollen Immunization Clinics because I thought they might be organizing summer child immunization programs or have something for me to do from May until August. However, from looking at the posts on this site I have come to discover that I am almost positive they only do seasonal flu shot/H1N1 clinics? I then got excited after hearing about an organization called "Healthwaves" as someone earlier had made them sound like a national organization (maybe that was just me being hopeful) for corporate wellness (which is somewhat of an interest to me) and it sounded like something that could be done on a temporary basis, but alas it is only in Arizona. Does anyone know of ANY positions or ANY organizations I might be able to try out for a temporary job (May to September, at the latest)? I feel like I have scoured and searched everywhere and right now I am completely heartbroken as this does not appear to be feasible at all. And before some of you say it, no I will not chose REAL heartbreak (ie, break up with my boyfriend) in order to become employed for a longer period of time, especially with our job economy in its current state!! Just was really hoping for some nursing experience and a little bit of money for now and right now I feel HOPELESS. Help me out if you know anything, I would really appreciate it! Hoping to be able to do nursing on a temporary basis rather than having to resort to something like data entry, lol Thanks to you all, hope your job situations and new grad job hunts are working out a little better than mine!!

The Pearson Vue Trick works..... Took my NCLEX on the 17th, got 75 questions and was CONVINCED that I had failed. SO MANY select all that apply and medication questions, you wouldn't believe it! I just checked Pearson's quick results this morning and I am officially an RN!!! Hard to believe, but trust if this many people have done it and it has worked for them, that it works. :] Good luck to the rest of you still taking your exams or waiting for results.... oh no.... just realized my name is "cougSN".... may have to get a "cougRN" name now. :nurse: :nurse: :nurse: :nurse: :nurse: :nurse:

Thanks, this is great!

You think I gave away too much info? Well, now that you mention it, it is pretty specific and I don't know how to delete the post. I'm sorry, I was just trying to be thorough so everyone would understand the situation. Does anyone know how to delete a post?

Hi, So even though my nurse assured me that I did it in the correct location and I talked to another trusted nurse who said I was fine, I just wanted everyone's opinions. I am a senior in a BSN program in my practicum in OB and today I gave my first Rhogam injection NOT in the deltoid. In the clinic, I did one in the deltoid and this is the first one I gave in the gluteal muscle. In my BSN program, we were taught to give gluteal injections in the ventrogluteal area (trochanter as a landmark, anterior superior iliac crest, blah blah....). I "confirmed" with my nurse that I give it in the "hip" when she told me to give it and she said "well, you give it in the upper outer quadrant of the buttock". I wasn't about to start controversy or anything so I went with it and she said "also, I never really aspirate injections" and so I was like, okay, if this is the guidance she is giving me, then I will go with it. She watched me earlier aspirate on a vaccination and the shot took a little longer than I think she would have liked, so this is why she said this. Either way, I went into the patient's room (in postpartum unit), my nurse came in with me, I gave the injection in the upper outer quadrant, as she said, and I did not aspirate, as she said. The patient did not jump or even move during the injection, so I assumed all was well and okay, did not see much, if any blood when I pulled the needle out. A while later (after being in and out of her room several times), we go back into the room to check on her, she is walking around the room, no problem and she says "by the way, I have this sharp pain on my left hip" (same side as the injection). My nurse double checked the site with me (and confirmed I put it in the correct spot, according to where I placed the bandage) asked her to describe the pain and she said it was "sharp pain", she felt like it might have been in her bone (I did not hit her bone, I am sure of it) she rated it an 8-9/10. We asked her to walk and she walked just fine and was even walking around the room when we came in. My paranoia is that I did not give it in the correct location and have caused her sciatic damage or because I did not aspirate, I got it in her vein and this pain she is feeling is a function of hitting her vein. She requested pain relief for it, so we gave her oxycodone for it (because of the outrageous number). Later, we went back in, my nurse said "how is your hip?" and she said "it's fine, better". Anybody have any suggestions or can anyone else further put my mind at ease about this situation? I feel as though I may not be able to sleep tonight very well because I am so worried about it. I am afraid I have done some damage and will be in trouble for it, and I have 8 hours of practicum left before I am offcially graduted. Help, please!! I really appreciate it.

Sorry, I would have posted on the student OB section but I am unsure how to do that. :lol_hitti Really would appreciate any advice.

I am so very excited to actually get to post this and ask for advice because I have FINALLY been given the final word that my senior practicum for nursing school will be in L&D (with floats to postpartum floor if L&D is slow, I guess) which is what I was crossing my fingers and waiting with bated breath for. SO, this being said, I do not have a mentor and probably will not have a mentor assigned to me until the first day of practicum (for some reason), so FIRST of all, I guess I want to know what any mentors/preceptors who have had practicum students recommend to be reviewed prior to the start of practicum and what concepts are the most important for me to know? Besides the obvious "be willing to learn and do anything" mentality, what did stellar practicum students in the past do to impress you? What sort of expectations do you have for practicum students in terms of "flying solo"? And things I am supposed to be asking my mentor before practicum starts are the top five medications, treatments, diagnoses, lab values, skills and pain medications to be aware of. I know this may vary from unit to unit, but any advice you can give would be VERY appreciated. I am so excited to learn and to be in the specialty that I enjoy the most!! Thanks so much.

Okay, so I am nearing the end of my career at nursing school and there are a few (actually about four) instructors/teachers at my school who really made an impact on me, and one was even like a mentor to me. I wanted to get these people special gifts before I leave but I am having difficulty coming up with ideas or finding gifts that are nicer and not cheap (aka "world's best nurse t-shirts", hahaha). Have any of you gotten a gift as an instructor or as a nurse that you found to be a nice gift, rather than saying "gee I'll probably throw this away in a year"? One is an OB theory teacher, one an OB instructor, one a peds theory teacher and one a peds instructor (the mentor-like one, even though I won't be going in to peds). Any ideas? I could try and tailor something to each of them, but I really only know the OB theory and peds instructor well enough to do that. Thanks so much for any ideas you might have!!

Wait a minute.... I just remembered my instructor said to me in an email: " I'm working one day a week for planned parenthood. Had to get clinician hours or lose my license.".... Hahah now I am confused....

Wow! Thank you so much, that is very informative.... Because my parents would absolutely die if I left the country without taking the NCLEX, plus a friend from another state told me to keep it active if I could *just in case* I can get a job at an American clinic, school, embassy, etc. So that would mean that I would continue to have my RN, even if I am not practicing? I'm sure I will have to take a refresher course when I get back, but I just want to make sure that I don't slack in terms of my licensure.

Okay, so I feel like this is a fairly simple/easy question to answer (or at least it should be), but no matter how much I google it, I can't find the correct answer anywhere. I am in my last semester of nursing school (BSN) and after I graduate in December, I am planning on taking the NCLEX-RN in the state of Washington in January. However, I do not have immediate plans to do nursing for perhaps a few years because I am going to be in Europe and I'm pretty sure that because of the language barriers and as a new nurse with no experience outside of clinicals, I will not be able to get a "nursing job" (unless you guys know of otherwise, I would love to know about any opportunities). Anyway, my main question is, after I get my RN, how long do I have my license before it is no longer valid because of not practicing nursing? I tried looking it up and I found terms like "inactive" and "expired" and I'm not sure what everything means if anyone has ANY insight or knowledge, I would LOVE to be enlightened. Thanks so much!

Hello everyone, So I am in my last semester of my FOUR years of pre-nursing/nursing school. I'm getting ready to do my senior practicum in a little and I am about 99% sure that it will be in the NICU. I have been more interested in L&D than NICU, but really liked NICU as well and thats where there are spots available in the hospitals for practicum students, hence my position. So, this is why I am asking this question... I need to build my knowledge on NICU stuff before practicum so I can make a good impression... I have only had two shifts in NICU during OB clinicals, as most of them I had in L&D and mother/baby. Long story short, for any NICU nurses who may be able to help me: If you were precepting a practicum student, what would you want/expect them to know and what resources would you recommend that they read to be prepared ahead of time? Any advice/resources would be GREATLY appreciated.... this is my last time to be the "nervous nursing student" rather than the "nervous new graduate". THANKS A MILLION!!

This week I am beginning my pediatric rotation, which I am very excited for as I have been looking forward to this semester for a long time. However, I am a little lost as to what I need to concentrate on for pediatric assessment. I have gone through my med-surg rotations already but obviously the assessments I did on adults will differ at points for children. Do any pediatric nurses have a checklist of the things they assess for a shift assessment? Obviously a full head to toe is not necessary, as this takes about an hour to do, but I would like to know the daily things and specifics I should be looking for. Have searched online and cannot find a checklist or guidelines of any sort. Please, help me rifle through all of this!! Thank you!