wanjik

Thanks guys. Great advice about checking the progress notes. Will pay more attention to that next time.

Hi all, thanks in advance for your replies and I love you all Ok, so last night I received report from a nurse on patient A. Patient A has had a craniotomy to remove a tumor and now he has three incisions with sutures which are clean, dry intact. The nurse informed me that one of those incisions was leaking csf but that the Dr. was aware, there were no new orders and so all we were to do was place 4x4 sponge gauze over the incision to contain the leak. She said that the dr. stated that it would leak for about 24 hours. So over the course of my shift I faithfully changed the gauze whenever it got wet. It wasn't getting drenched, but the wetness was irritating the patient so I changed it three times during my shift. Half an hour before shift change I was changing the gauze when the dr. walked in. I showed him and the gauze and the patient's wife said something about the incision dripping "so much!" The dr. glared at me from across the room. I told him that I had been informed during change of shift that he was aware. He said no, no one had informed me. I could tell he was irritated. Fortunately all he did was order some supplies so he could add some more sutures. I documented in my closing note that he had been made aware of leak and that supplies ordered were at bedside. My question is, wha would you guys have done differently? What do you do with a csf leak? what not to do?

I had the same problem in nursing school, always browsing the net instead of doing the 250 Nclex questions that had been assigned. Then I discovered that youtube has some pretty interesting nursing videos on many things e.g. pharmacology, nursing skills and procedures etc. So whenever I was feeling distracted and unable to focus I'd go on youtube and watch interesting nursing videos, that way I was entertaining myself and learning at the same time. I did the same thing studying for my boards - watched youtube and Kaplan videos - never picked up a book :D. Try it. Good luck

Bump!

Hi all, I am from Kenya but married to a Nigerian, so I guess I can claim Naija, lol. I'm a new grad (BSN) hoping to one day become a CRNA. Oh, and my hubby is from Abia State.

Hi everyone, I'm a new grad and have been working on a neuro unit for the past 4 months. So far it's okay except for the usual stress that goes along with being a new grad. However, I already pretty much know that neuro isn't exactly my cup of tea, and although I plan to hang in here until July of next year, I'm considering my options. One of the areas I'm looking at are psych, reason being I absolutely loved my psych rotations. So, here are my questions regarding psych: 1) How safe do you feel at work? Have you ever been attacked by a patient? 2) What's the nurse/patient ratio? 3) What do you love most about your job? 4) What do you hate most about your job? Second option is L&D nursing - another area I enjoyed very much while in nursing school. My questions are as follows: 1) How long did it take to feel comfortable and competent in L&D? 2) Nurse/patient ratio? 3) What you love most/least about it? Third option is OR nursing. Questions as follows: 1) Do you have to have a med-surg background to go into OR nursing or can you go into it straight from nursing school? 2) How long did it take you to feel competent? 3) What's a typical day in OR nursing? 4) How many cases a day on average? 5) Most difficult part of OR nursing 6) What do you like most/least? 7) Would you recommend taking classes as a surgical tech before going into OR nursing? Thanks in advance. I really need all the feedback I can get and all your responses will be highly appreciated.

@ Earthcrosser, Really? Wow! I'll submit another application. Thanks. I'll also try Woman's Hospital as well.

How long have you worked in rehab and how many patients do you typically have per shift? The nurse recruiter told me that once I'm done precepting, I'll have a load of between 11-13 patients per shift cuz I'll be working nights. Is that typical?

Hi everyone, I need some advice. I'm a new grad and yesterday I got my first job offer from a rehabilitation hospital. Most of the patients they have there have either had a CVA, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury etc. This is my VERY FIRST JOB as a nurse. I wanted to know if there's anyone here who's worked in that kind of environment. How is it? Is it a good place for a new grad to start? Is it a good place to improve on your med-surg skills? The nurse recruiter told me that I'll be responsible for IVs, caths and the like. I'd like as much exposure as I can get. PS: I would have preferred to start working in a hospital but most of the hospitals in my area are not hiring new grads until May/June and i don't think i can wait that long.

Congratulations!!! I took the NCLEX last Friday. After 75 questions I started feeling a little down but kept going. At question 95 the computer asked me if I wanted to take a break - I said no. Answered question 96 and the computer went off!!! I was soooooooooooo HAPPY! When I went home I checked the answer to question 96 and found I had answered it correctly! Needless to say, I passed! Still VERY EXCITED!

Congratulations everyone who's passed so far and for those who haven't, don't give up! :) I just did my NCLEX this morning - stopped at 96 questions. Now I'm a big ball of nerves. Can't wait for Sunday. :)

Are there any hospitals in Houston still hiring new grads? All the ones I know are not hiring again till May/June, but I don't want to wait that long. I need to start working ASAP! I will take my NCLEX on Jan 30th, and I'm hoping it'll be easier for me once I have my license. Does anyone know of any hospital that's still hiring? I've decided that if I can't get a job ASAP in a hospital, I'll start applying to nursing homes. Alternatively I might work as a tech/patient care assistant until May. But if someone has any info that could be of help, I'd be very appreciative...

:wink2:All the best. I take mine on the 30th, started to feel horrible as soon as I scheduled the exam. I'm a nervous wreck. I've been doing Kaplan test questions and sometimes I get good scores, sometimes I don't. I just pray I'll be fine. I'll pray for all of you too.