theantichick

Yep. First time I started CPR on a patient (I'd taken over several times with other patients, but this was my first time to decide to start it)... broke ribs, whole 9 yards... (geriatric patient) Anyway, after about 6-7 compressions, she moans and m...

For those of you in informatics jobs, have you kept your license up? How do you address the CE requirements? Does your employer want you to keep it up, and will they help by either paying you to take CE classes or paying for the classes themselves?...

I thought I'd offer an update, and emphasize the importance of having backup plans with a midlife career switch. I worked a little over a year in the ICU at the LTAC I mentioned in my previous post. Started my BSN online, and then got an offer for m...

A little off topic, but wanted to ask you something about UIC. I started that same program this summer, and have been very put off by the way they deliver some of their courses. I've now had two courses out of four where the days in which I had to ...

I have a concealed carry permit. I would never consider carrying while on duty at a hospital. The responsibility of keeping track of my firearm would distract from doing my job as a nurse. Also, while on duty, I don't feel a particular need. Shou...

Good points, thanks! This particular position doesn't require me to retain my RN, but future ones might.

1)__ Do you take the flu vaccine yearly? If you do not, what is the reason you do not participate (if you don't mind answering this question)? Yes, always. 2)__ Does your employer have a mandatory influenza vaccination policy as a condition of ...

I am incredibly lucky with my current ER. We have a ratio of 4:1 to start with. They staff for someone to cover lunches. We also have the ability to go pee when needed, or go get something to drink. On rare occasions if too many people call in, o...

Worked as an executive secretary/ administrative assistant in a number of industries. Became a Paramedic, after about a year on the streets blew out my knee. Got into computers, did a number of things in that arena including report writing and data...

I'm in the same boat... 15 years' data warehouse/integration then became an RN. Now a RA diagnosis is pushing me back to the tech side of the healthcare world. Feel free to PM me if you want to keep in touch, share tips, critique each others resume...

That's really great. I would imagine that if you needed two extra people to keep your patient positioned to ensure a sterile insertion, that happens too. Places I've worked didn't make it possible to get extra help for placement, and we couldn't en...

Probably TMI, but I had to have a cardiac cath for an ablation, and during my 6 hours flat, I could not make myself pee in the bedpan to save my life. I don't know if I could have made myself go in a pad of some sort or not, but nothing we tried cou...

I find bedpans to be more mess than they catch. The patient's bottom is almost always wet, and if we're using a bedpan then usually they don't have the strength to stay "lifted up" for both the pan removal and drying/cleaning. And that's *IF* all o...

Thanks for the encouragement. Health issues are pushing me back into the I.T. world. Wish I could move to Illinois, I'd jump at it, but alas my husband is in love with Texas. :)

Yeah, I ended up talking to a couple of people in passing who work in Healthcare IT, and they both had one burning question: could I write SQL. I only ate, drank, and breathed SQL for 15+ years, so I had to laugh. They were both convinced I'd do ve...

Good morning! I am posting here looking for some feedback and experience sharing with moving into Informatics. My background in a nutshell: Was a Paramedic at 19, then worked in hospital administration (exec. secretary) and as a legal secretary befo...

I've updated my resume, updated my LinkedIn, and started applying for analyst/informatics jobs in the area. I'm in the process of applying for the online program at University of Illinois at Chicago, which seems like a really good program. No nibbl...

The Kindred I was at didn't have an official new grad program. They offered some extra training and a longer period of preceptorship for me. My Nurse Manager asked if I would stay a year, which I did (barely) and they were upset when I left "so soo...

A(garble) C(garble), RN. My kiddo laughs at me every time I sign a credit card slip and tack the RN on the end. I do EMR now so I don't sign as much as I did at the paper charting job, but once you do it for a while, it kinda sticks. :)

Acute hospitals tend to see LTAC as lower acuity, so they tend to disregard it. I was lucky that they offered me an ICU position at the Kindred facility I worked at. It wasn't acuity like you see in an acute hospital ICU, but I found it to be about ...

Fantastic! Thanks so much!

Mydesygn, thanks for the information. My understanding was that the data mining, drill-down report generation, etc. was at the heart of Informatics, not just EMR implementation and maintenance. I agree that I will be of more benefit on the technica...

I know this is an old thread, but was wondering if the group ever gelled. I'd love to chat with other people in the field. I come from 20 years' I.T. experience, with 15 being a Data Warehouse Analyst/Programmer and working with reporting and extra...

I've only worked in two ED's, but have noticed that both have the same tension between the ED staff and the floor nurses. When we're calling report on an admit, they seem to be really snarky and nasty to us. They'll grill us about why the doctor ha...

Wow. I haven't had a situation that bad yet, but I get annoyed when I do everything I can given my constraints to package the patient and get whatever I can started so it's not all left to the floor crew, and yet they still find something to complai...