Erin RN

I really never got bored doing it. The pay was okay..basically either similar to the hospital with benes or pay per visit which was lucrative when the visits were 1 hour or under but if they were long infusions like Cytogam or IVIG and it took 3 hours you basically didn't make much. Usually the long visits didn't happen much. We made 30 a visit and 60 a visit for an admit plus we were remimbursed for our mileage..it was a pretty fun job. The best day I ever had was a 8 hour day in which I did 12 visits and drove about 120 miles the usual was 8 visits a day so not too bad..:)

I have not had the surgery although I do have a mild case of it. I am currently a worker's comp case manager and have 3 files of workers who have had the surgery and several others that I have closed and they have been released. If you have bilateral, the MD will operate on them one at a time. The first wrist is done and you will be off work for about 10 days, until the stitches are taken out. Then you can return to light duty ie; limited use of that hand. One month after the first one is done then the other will be operated on, again you will be off work for approx 10 days and be able to return light duty..usually a full work release is 4-6 weeks after the last procedure with a full medical release at 1 yr post op. Of the 6 claimants I have managed, all have done well and the release has been successsful. If you do it I would recommend you go to a hand specialist that does a lot of these procedures. Have you had an emg done? If you are having problems even holding something you probably should. You can do permenant damage to your ulnar nerve if it being compressed too severely and yes, it will get worse especially if you are still doing whatever repetition that has caused it in the first place..

ITA!!! very good post! I remember early on in my career not taking breaks since I was "too busy" and the patients "need me" to much. I think that good nurses learn that we must take care of ourselves in order to take care of others..that is a healthy balance. Of course there are always the ones that take breaks frequently and leave their work for the rest of the staff (the lazy I am only here for a paycheck nurse) then on the flipside you have the ones that never take breaks even though it is feasible and then proceed to bi*** about it loudly and constantly (the martyr nurse). There were times in the ED when we were running behind but our nurse mgr stood firm on us taking our breaks and our charge nurses made sure it happened..we all need pit stops, if we don't get them we will either run out of gas or blow a tire and hit the wall...

I agree with Teeny... I spoke with one of my friends tonight who is an OR nurse and this is how things are run in the hospitals here also. She has very little clinical type contact with the patients. I guess it is different everywhere. The point I was trying to make is that is ANY speciality you will be faced day in and day out with similar challenges and then once in awhile you will have to deal with a skill that is not as common to you and not second nature. In my opinion that is why they are called specialties..you know "jack of all trades master of none"... The good news is most skills are like riding a bike...even if you feel nervous and are not doing them by rote, they do come back to you...:) Erin

I agree with you, Jemb. Critical thinking is monumental to being competent as a nurse. I also noticed that most of the OPs threads were "help" questions. I think a better way to phrase these would be; this is the scenario this is what I think..critique me. When you don't know something looking around for the info will teach you the resources that are out there for when you are practicing not to mention finding different sources and reviewing them will not only give the answer, you will learn..what for, why, when, how... all of this information is critical to your success. If we answer each individual question for you we are not doing you any favors when it comes time for your boards and also when you get into the real world of nursing. If critical thinking is your weak point NOW is the time to work towards developing it..part of being able to do that is getting questions wrong.

HOme IV infusion..as a dialysis and ICU nurse you have great experience. The perks..autonomy, one patient at a time, limited contact with your co workers (just enough to be friends) and you will make a difference from the chemo patient to the pain management patient to the ABX infected incision patient they will welcome you into their homes (here is the only downfall..some of these homes are less than clean ). You will get to deal with all types of lines..SQ, PIV, Ports, jugulars, piccs ,subclavians. You will also get to do a huge amt of teaching as many times the families flush these lines when you aren't there. Days mon thru Fri with usually one weekend a month call and maybe one eve a week call but they usually have a PM nurse so you would only get called out if she was swamped. Anyways just a thought..Erin

Yes, I would have. I really would have liked to of been a plastic surgeon..working on burn pts, birth defects etc..too late now though, I am looking at putting 2 kiddos through college. Erin

I think whatever specialty you go in to you are going to "lose" some skills but you will become incredibly proficient at others. It really just depends on the focus of your speciality. For instance, I did ER nursing..did I remember how to read fetal heart tones?? No! I could however read an ekg quite well. I would guess that most L and D nurses can read the FHT and deliver a baby without a thought but that an EKG or cardiac enzymes or lavage might be a little more difficult since they aren't faced with it daily. Conversely..give me a laboring mom and I was running with her to the elevator to get her up to those L and D nurses..Good luck to you!! Erin

12 hour shifts in the ED go incredibly fast!! I worked 10 hours "officially" but inevitably something "bad " would come through the door right beofre it was time to go home (I worked 5pm to 3:30 am)..I can honestly say I was never tired when I was there and ran my a** off the whole time..I worked at the busiest ED in our city. I did however wake up the next AM feeling like a train ran over me most of the time. It was fun and exciting and I learned more in a month in the busy ED than I did in 6 months on the floor. On the floor I would perhaps start a couple of IVs a night in the ED it was more like 25 to 35 a night. We usually each had between 4-7 pts which of course were constantly changing and rotating...overall I liked the longer shifts since I had more days off of course I needed an extra day just to recover after my nights on..Erin

Thanks guys!! I know it is a stupid and question and I am in total agreement with all of the posters. When I worked in the hospital, many times the CNAs or nurses would place the new linens in the chair then go room to room and change beds. I have also seen extra pillows (that the pt is using) in the chair. Heck, we used to put pillows in the chair for the pt to sit on if they requested or to put them up higher to eat their meals. Now it is a question of safety but common sense is not a pre req for all of the pts and/or visitors in the hospital. I was just curious if in anyones facility putting pillows on the chairs is an absolute no no..:) Erin

Do you ever have extra pillows that are in the chair in the room..I am trying to gather some information on safety in the pt's rooms and whether or not having pillows on the chair that someone might sit on would constitute a safety risk..another question, pillows on the heat register I would assume that would be a big no no but you know what they say about assuming things! Erin

Quick question for all of you hospital nurses. Do you have specific policy on where linens, specifically extra pillows can be kept in patient rooms? Is it okay to have spare pillows sitting on the chair in the room? Thanks

Just for the heck of it, I did a salary wizard search on OT and PT salaries in my area..the median salaries are 52k to 54k..I, as an ADN nurse, will well exceed both of those salaries this year and did exceed them last year. I guess I am just not convinced that the BSN will be of benefit to me, personally. Again, I am not against continuing education as I have stated over and over BUT as I move forward the BSN will NOT be the degree that I seek. IMO education is a personal decision as to what will benefit the student most and which way they want their life to take them. I know nurses who have their bachelors in Health promotion, business admin, biology..all of them attained those degrees for a purpose, to move in a specific direction. The BSN by itself will do little for me professionally. I am not saying that further education would not benefit me only that the BSN would not. As I believe I stated previously, I am currently a case manager with a legal nursing business. I have already done the legal nurse certification, I am working on the life care planning certification then on to the case Management certification..eventually since I would like to do all independently, I am thinking more about a degree in marketing or business...That would be a degree that would round me out much better. Community Health nursing and management classes will not as I never plan on doing hands on nursing again in my lifetime..

I agree Deb..if you look at the article the reasoning behind making the BSN mandatory states nothing about elevating our profession rather it is thought to be necessary due to the increasing complexity of nursing and that BSNs tend to be able to advance further. I am not sure how additional general ed classes would make a new nurse more able to deal with the complexities of nursing pratice and I think we have all agreed that those that have just graduated have only the basic knowledge, BSN and ADN alike. Are they going to change the curriculums to teach more about nursing/ critical thinking and the like? Also as far as advancement, although it has brought up over and over, in my experience I have been able to advance to whereever I have wanted without the BSN..If we all aspired to climbing the ladder who in the he** is going to actually be a nurse in the traditional sense? Advancement is a personal choice and if additonal schooling, classes or training is needed ti should be left up to the individual to attain the necessary skills etc to go where they want. Eventually I would like to do case management independently..in order for me to do so, I will need to take the CCM exam. I am also doing the life care planning year long course and will sit for that exam....if I had the BSN I would STILL have to do these things in order to achieve my goals so please tell me HOW the BSN would benefit me???

In my opinion nursing probably won't land you on the "most wealthy list" but I have no complaints.. I have been in it for 13 years started at 14.50 and hour. I am now salary plus bonus..and awesome benefits that my company pays for as well as a 401k which they match to 6% AND a pension that they put into for me. I'll make around 60-65k this year..plus I do the med mal review and usually bill out between 6-12 hours a month on that so another 5-7k...I am more than happy with my lifestyle. My hubby makes close to what I make so we do fine and although it is sooo tempting to go out and buy that big dream home we live in a middle class split level in a nice neighborhood..our house is very nice but again..it is tempting!! We drive nice vehicles..new accord and newer chevy truck, have a nice boat and vacation once a year. We could really go crazy and get into some real debt since we are over double what we were 7 years ago when we bought our house but instead we have decided to become debt free and have paid double house pmts..the house will be paid for in 7 years and I will only be 45..I have nurse friends that live much more extravagantly than we do but they are in debt..personally, I would rather be able to go out and buy what I want when I want and pay cash...