hallcrest

This post has been really helpful to me. I just accepted a job in a peds CVICU, and I am incredibly stoked and more than a little intimidated at the learning curve i face. If anyone has recommendations for pediatric-specific cardio materials, I would be very grateful. As a new nurse, it's an amazing opportunity to graduate and have a job. I am so thankful!

I would talk with your clinical instructor about specific tasks and duties that you are responsible for week by week as you progress. That way you can know ahead of time what to expect and avoid some of the on-the-unit insecurity when you feel that it is all piling up. Also, you can just tell the RN assigned to you that you are feeling a little overwhelmed and could they keep an extra eye on you today. That might not be the coolest thing to have to do, but in terms of patient safety it needs to happen. And if your teacher gets wierd on you about it - tell em straight up - you were feeling a little overwhelmed and you knew that your patients safety was 1st priority. So you asked for help.

banana hammock.

I believe that Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock hires new grads into the PICU and into the NICU. This hospital has been on Forbes' 100 best places to work for years. Awesome place.

haha - well, no it doesn't embarass me...we just have different learning styles i guess. anyways, great thread, and i am learning alot too. take care.

I think the best answer to this issue has been given, and shouldn't be especially bothersome to anyone involved in this conversation. Is it acceptable for a nurse-patient relationship to transition into a peer-to-peer relationship? YES. Once the patient is not a patient anymore, this is fine. So Silentmind, nobody is a de-humanizing jerk. I'm a student like you, just a tad further along. One thing I have learned quickly is that this is a place to learn and a place to listen. Why would we argue with someone about a subject with which we have no actual experience? The thought is embarrasing. These are nurses who understand that what patients need most during their treatment is not a peer-to-peer relationship. They need a healthcare professional who acts like a professional.

This is what Whole Foods Market does. If you smoke, fine. Your insurance will cost $10 more per paycheck to offset the eventual health care costs. That seems like an excellent option, because nobody is denying that smoking leads to higher health care costs. And that, after all, IS the issue at hand. Not prejudice or discrimination or and of the rest of it.

i text my patients instead of actually talking to them. their families too. just kidding.

our class started out with around 200 and now we have about 150 I believe. Tests with 'critical thinking' questions caused most of the failures. Definitely a weed out time.

I'm in nursing school, and that is what I have to do for my clinicals. Paperwork while at clinical? Not a chance! I guess there is a lot of variation between programs.

Thanks for your reply babyktchr. I have had one and only one experience with a doula, and that was the birth of my baby girl just shy of 2 years ago. It was fantastic, but I am not so naive as to think that every doula or every birth is as delightful as ours was. I am especially interested to hear from L&D nurses how a possible shift toward embracing the care of a doula might practically alter the role of the nurse, and how this shift might alter the role of the nurse in the delivery room.

wow babyktchr....strong words! how many doulas have you worked with?

"dona international is pleased to announce that a new code for doulas in the united states has been approved and defined by the national uniform claim committee. this code will come into effect on october 1, 2009 for services rendered after that date. pat burrell, a birth doula and registered nurse from south carolina, was successful in lobbying for the assignment of the code, which will allow doulas to be assigned provider numbers to submit claims to both medicaid and third-party payers for their services." http://www.dona.org/ what are your thoughts on this? how might it affect nursing practice and patient care in hospitals?

i'm not sure what you mean... by buzz i was referring to the crna hype that is ever-prevalent. not sure what you mean.

Thanks WeeBaby. I am a 1st year BSN student and have been spending alot of time considering where I'll land - or where I would like to land - when I graduate. My mind wanders often to the CRNA track...but the truth is, and I was just sharing this with my wife, that I was drawn to nursing originally because it would allow me to really exercise the care-taker role that is so natural to me and a part of my personality that tends to try and come out in whatever setting I find myself in. I have spent a little time shadowing a CRNA, and I do understand that they do have some degree of relationship with patients and their families. But it is not the same degree of ongoing relationship capacity that is found in the NICU, for instance, where you have the patient and their family for a longer period to provide holistic care to. Although it's not quite 'the buzz' in the same way that being a CRNA is, I am getting back to my roots and remembering why I started this whole thing in the first place. And folks like you help me remember that. Peace!

I'm in a BSN program too. I pay $82/semester, but I also had to pay $107 during the summer term. So I guess I am paying $270 this year - maybe you have access to some materials that I don't and that's the cost difference (?). The ATI books are pretty helpful, though, because they give concise info that is easy to reference by topic. I have used them to study for exams from time to time. We are doing an ATI exam instead of HESI, and it's right around the corner...Oct 10. Does anybody else have that?

New york city! Oh nooooo!!!!

NEW YORK CITY

Thanks Adonai!

thanks for your thoughts guys.

Hi everyone - Dos anyone know of any CRNA programs that offer clinical rotations local to the program? I have issues with spending time away from family...well, it's alot more complicated than that, but I'd prefer to just leave it at that. I'm also curious as to any SRNA's or CRNA's experience of having schools work with students to select clinical sites that are convenient for students with families or extraordinary needs. Say, getting clinical sites that are nearby home, etc. Any thoughts?

My wife had our daughter nearly two years ago. She had a natural birth in the hospital and we had outstanding nursing care as well as an outstanding doula who happened to be a L&D nurse. I should note that the doctors and nurses are relatively accustomed to having doulas at the hospital we delivered at - so that probably helped in terms of the 'too many hens in the henhouse' situation. A fantastic experience and great teamwork by all. Thanks nurses and thanks doulas!

this would be a fantastic question to pose to the editor of the publication. i am curious how he/she might respond.

i kind of joked with my wife that we were going to eat hers...then i saw the damn thing. no thanks!

i'm a first year nursing student. although, nursing is a second career for me. on the first day of class an instructor asked for a show of hands of how many individuals in our class of roughly 200 planned to continue to at least a master's level of education. i was shocked to see about 75% of the class raise their hand. so many people say they want to be crna's but then made sub-par scores on the first 2 exams. sub-par as in "C" anyways, i'm really interested to see how people's plans will change as the reality of the demands of education play out.