AGal110

Agree! Go into teaching!

Wow, that was so helpful. Thank you sooo much, you're better than half my instructors

I'm a first-semester nursing student, and on my patient's meds list it says this: "Vancomycin 1,000 mL IVPB trough 30-60 mins before" What does this mean? Specifically, "trough"... I'm assuming it means something like, readminister the Vancomysin 30-60 minutes before the trough (which would be at about 23 hours)... but really, that's just a guess that I made by knowing what the general word "trough" means. Anyone's help would be greatly appreciated :) Thanks.

........ Toxic, your grades are FANTASTIC! Be proud of yourself. FYI, I just had an appointment today to switch my major to nursing. I still have 1 more pre-req to take, but I have a 4.0 overall from previous classes and pre-reqs. I was accepted to change my major to nursing, and the interviewer told me that as long as I get an A or B in my last pre-req (and a good NLN score), then I am basically a shoo-in. Of course this differs between schools but just wanted to give you a little reassurance - your grades are great and I bet you'll be fine.

I have a question regarding the book in the link: http://www.amazon.com/Review-Guide-Entrance-Exam-Pre-Entrance/dp/0763724866/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231638627&sr=1-2 (the link to the book that others have given and recommended). I should be taking the NLN in March of this year, but that book was published in 2003 which could be obsolete. Does anyone know if there is a newer edition, or is the 2nd ed. from 2003 sufficient? Thanks.

Thank you sooooo much!

hypo - I'm taking Micro this semester! :) Start in about two weeks. Yeah, I read that it's the same strep that causes NF causes strep throat. One website said that's how a lot of people contract NF - from contact with someone who has strep throat.

I had just stumbled upon a thread where necrotizing fasciitis was brought up. And I started researching and found out that it is caused by the bacteria Strep A that has invaded body tissue. The victim usually starts out with some type of cut or trauma to the skin, is then exposed to the virus, and within a day could be dead if not treated immediately. This made me wonder what other types of conditions there are that, if not treated IMMEDIATELY, can lead to severe consequences or even death. I have read that NF is relatively rare, but I'm still glad to be aware of it. (If you think it's weird that I was previously unaware, I'm not in nursing school for another semester hence my lack of knowledge) Anyway, please list some of these types of conditions that you think are important to be made aware of. Necrotizing Fasciitis - http://www.nnff.org/ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4062215760649028744 Necrotizing Enterocolitis - Rotting of intestinal walls, usually in newborns. My best friend had this as a newborn and has a wicked surgical scar to prove it. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001148.htm Please share.

Wandering - joining the Peace Corps is a really big dream of mine, I'd love to hear your input (if you could PM me that'd be great)

If anyone has attended or does attend New York City College of Technology's nursing program, can you give me any insight as to how long of a waiting list there is to get into the program? Muchas gracias.

Thanks a lot :)

NurseMike - "I am an avid (not necessarily to say real talented) amateur photographer, and one of the nice things about nursing is that I can work 3 twelve-hour shifts for essentially full-time pay, leaving me a fair amount of free time to go shooting, and enough disposable income to buy some moderately-nice camera gear. I've actually contemplated, and looked into, going pro, but it looks to me like a way to turn an enjoyable hobby into a potentially miserable job." - That sounds A LOT like how I think. Good to know it works out for you. I love the arts and I love helping people, I'd say those are my two main 'passions.' I already tried going to school for business and I hate business and most things associated with it. I'm going to try for nursing school, and if that doesn't work, I'm thinking I might want to try art therapy. Anyway, thanks a lot. FL = I promise if I do get into school, I won't take it lightly and I will be a good nurse.

hahah, ok, thanks.. no sarcasm right?

Coolpeach - Thanks a lot. Really helpful info. I'm going to talk to the chair of nursing at my school hopefully today. I don't think I'll have to retake any classes since it's the same school I've been attending, and I only have one more pre-req before getting into the nursing program. But, like you said, who knows how long I'll have to wait. Your nursing school sounds very rigorous! Congrats on getting through. One thing that really draws me to nursing is the fact that I can work nights... I realize it's the most undesirable shift for most but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of that. So hopefully that works in my favor, haha.

FL, please calm down. Say what you will; I know I'd be fine in LA. I live in NYC! The cost of living here is arguably the highest in the country (San Francisco being a close contender). I live with roommates, go to school full-time, and work a ******-paying part-time job. I use the little money I earn to pay for all my necessities, and during the summers I work my ass off to save up money for the upcoming school year when I can't pull off the full-time job. This is my life, and while I love living here and am very happy, I don't love being poor. So I thought about being a hygienist because I liked the healthcare field and they got paid well and had flexible hours. But then after thinking about it, I thought it sounded monotonous. Then I thought about nursing and it seemed like a much, much better option for many reasons - money and flexible hours being two of them. I was pretty sure that nurses got paid a decent amount but just wanted to verify. I also needed to verify how flexible the scheduling is, because I'm hoping that nursing can take the place of serving - something kind of part-time that can pay my bills while I go back to school and pursue other interests. What is wrong with that? You talk about my desire to pursue multiple things in life and steer clear of the full-time job like it's horrible. Why is that? It might not be your thing, but it makes me happy when I can do a few things that I really enjoy rather than just one all the time. I certainly don't mean I will always be this way, but I'm young and ambitious and I can't see myself just getting a full-time job and throwing everything else out the window. I just can't do that and I'm sorry that's seen as a weakness to you. So, in politeness I'll say thank you for your answers, though your idea of a "real answer" seems to be my idea of little more than denigration.

It seems like most of you who work in NYC have you BSNs... how likely is it to get a job here with an associates? Thanks.

Thanks... Mr. Ian, guess I (stupidly) never thought of that. Makes sense - the last place I worked at was just when the economy was getting bad and everyone was making no money and we were getting no business.

Typically, in NYC, how many years of experience does a nurse need in order to be able to work per diem?

I've read tons and tons of posts on this site, and in the ones that talk about their work environment, there seems to be a lot of drama and politics between fellow nurses and other coworkers. Why?!?! I know every job has it's politics but this career seems to be especially politics-ridden... lots of posts have made a lot of nurses out to be, well, people I wouldn't want to work with. Senior RNs treating newbies like crap, people snipping at each other for stupid reasons, lots of gossip... I know when you're at work you're not having a party but seriously EVERYTHING is better when people get along and respect one another... I've had a bunch of crappy jobs that were made a million times better because I really loved my coworkers and there was a lot of respect and joking and fun. Then I just recently had my first job that I HATED because of all the stupid politics and crap going on. And I've always worked in the same industry so I know it wasn't the work itself; just the people. And I feel like no matter how much I love what I'm doing for work, if my coworkers aren't at least friendly while I'm at work, then it's really hard for me to get myself to go to work. So, does nursing involve a lot of the negative attitudes and disrespect? I mean, for you, where you work?

I'm not a nurse (yet). I'm single with no kids also, and also make enough money just to be able to live (hungrily). It's been this way for awhile though, so I'm used to it. I like where I live and I deal with it and it's not so bad. Sunray - making in the 6 figures, as a nurse, from what I understand, isn't as easy as you seem to make it sound, but to RN Cardiac, I also don't know how much I believe new nurses only starting at 35k from the ads I've seen. But, I only look in big cities where the cost of living is high, and maybe the ads are exaggerating a bit, who knows. At any rate I was under the impression of a new nurse starting around 50k, and in order to reach something around 100k would take a lot of working and experience in the field. I could be way off, though.

That's really great... props to you (and your co-workers) for having such wonderful attitudes. I really really love when people get along, and I think I could work anywhere or do almost anything as long as I'm doing it with fantastic people.

FireStarter - love your post.

OC85 - I see where you're coming from. I get that way (annoyed by compassion) when certain stressful things happen to me, but usually when I'm sick and afraid, I tend to value compassion more.

I think compassion would probably be my number 1 with a touch of humor. Knowledge is important too. I certainly don't know, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like most nurses ARE knowledgeable, but there are probably a fair share who aren't really compassionate or humorous. If I'm a patient in a hospital, with some horrifying problem, then I'm going to be extremely depressed and sad and lonely and doubtful of probably everything. I think having someone to take care of me who really treats me really kindly in that kind of situation would just make me want to cry and be thankful (not sure if 'thankful' is the right word when I might be dying, but you know). And a sense of humor is extremely vital to me, too: just to be cheered up for any fraction of time is invaluable to me, in pretty much any situation in life.

FL - sorry if I offended you, and I completely respect your being a single mom of 5; I can't even imagine that. But honestly, I don't see any point in the post you made, other than for the fun of attacking someone, I guess. Right now, I am 22, yes, I attend school full-time with no financial help, I have a part-time restaurant job on weekends that allows me to pay the mandatory $1,000 a month to live here and that's it. For you to say that I won't be able to make it in LA, I'm sorry but I just don't buy it. I know I'll be fine, all I was asking about was the difficulty of obtaining a nursing job in LA fresh from school, and if I could make enough to survive, which I'm now pretty confident that I can. Please, if you're just going to attack me and belittle me, just keep it to yourself.