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Hello everyone! I noticed that there are several nurses posting here who have worked both in the U.K. and U.S. I was curious about the differences in practice that a staff nurse would see. For example, the differences in ancillary staff. Do U.K. hospitals utilize specialized disciplines such as respiratory therapists, physical therapists, phlebotomists, etc. or do nurses cover those tasks? What are the relationships between nurses and doctors? Is there a collaborative effort or more of a top-down model? What are the typical staffing ratios? What country did you prefer and why? Forgive me if there are previous posts addressing this. I did a search and couldn't find much recent information. Thank you very much!

You know, 100% of divorces started with marriage...

Stewart/Colbert 2012!

Hey five_marshalls, We're in the same boat (somewhat). I'm completing my package for fully qualified med/surg (active duty) and the deadline is 27 Sept for submission to the board. The "Fully Qualified" board I believe meets sometime at the end of October but I don't know the exact date. As for the reserve requirement for package submission, I don't know if it is different. In other reserve AFSCs (job descriptions) you do apply specifically to a job in a specific unit. Do you know what that job/unit is? Since you say that you will be active for a year for training and then go reserves I am assuming you are going into flight nursing (due to its long training regimen)? USAFblue is right, you'll go to COT instead of OTS. I don't have to go to COT because I went to OTS in '99 and served 4.5 years active duty as an officer in another career field (space and missiles). I'm sure you'll do fine in COT. Hope this helps. Recruiters can be tricky to track down but stay on them. They'll eventually get back to you. There's probably some ambiguity as to active duty verses reserve recruiters. Good luck!

If your pump cassette has a piggyback clave, after you've primed the line take a 10cc flush and squirt out the contents and attach it to the piggyback clave (keeping things sterile with swabs of course) and backprime the air out of it. If this doesn't work, keep the flush attached and draw back about 10ccs of fluid from the cassette/line and it should work. Done this many times and one or the other seems to work. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info. Yep, got my BSN last year. Right now, I have 1+ years of full time Med/Surg experience. And personally, I would feel more comfortable with another solid year before looking to go into an ICU program. My recruiter seems to think he can get me into the Sept boards but I am very doubtful. But I know this process will be a slog so I'm prepared and motivated. Thanks again.

Here, Here!

I've gotten the ball rolling with my recruiter to join the Nurse Corps and I've got a few questions that you esteemed allnurses folks might have answers to. The recruiters, bless their hearts, don't always have the most current or accurate data. -I discharged in March of '04 as a Captain, did NOT resign my commission, and went IRR...will I keep my same rank? -I'm nearly 100% positive I won't have to attend COT.....? -Does break in service affect retirement calculator? -My eventual goal is to get into Critical Care. What is the general wait time to train into Critical Care from Med/Surg? BTW the recruiter told me there are 77 open med-surg/clinical nursing slots. This seems very high. Any thoughts? Thanks for your time.

Excellent topic. I too am about 9 months into my nursing career and luckily I've had two previous stressful occupations that taught me some hard-learned lessons. I try to evaluate each shift by asking myself these questions as I head home: -Did I make my decisions with integrity? -Did I keep my patients' well-being and best interest in the forefront of that decision making process? -When in doubt, did I bounce my thought process off a trusted, competent coworker and asked for advice? I usually am able to leave things at work. It's not always easy... We new grads are taught to be sponges during our first couple of years. Most of the time we are not reminded to wring it out.

Ok...way off topic...but dude, I love your screen name. Such a great SNL skit... Sorry for the interruption...

Freaking hilarious! Ruby Vee, I get the frustration, but is anyone making you visit this website? Are mouse-clicks that hard to pull off? "HELP ME" posts are never well thought out and, for the most part, obnoxious. This is a FREE public forum that can and does attract anyone who can use google...expect some stupidity. I love your posts. I just think you're wasting your ire on this one.

L&M refers to a Leadership and Management course. I'm in my last semester and this course allows us to work with a nurse manager to see the ins and outs of management within a unit. I think some schools call it a Capstone course. The reason I asked is because I have the opportunity to work with an OR nurse manager this semester so I'm hoping that will help my chances of getting into the OR. During L&D, I was ALWAYS bugging my instructor to get me in all the C-sections I could (I was able to see 5). With my special rotations in both M/S courses I was able to swing shifts in the OR. I wish my school had the OR option!

Out of curiosity, for those of you who have landed a New Grad OR job, what was your background/experience? Did you do your L & M/Summer internship in an OR? I've gotta say...I'm a little jealous! Congrats!

Actuall post-op/ortho DOES interest me as well as OR. I loved my clinical rotations in both of those units. At this point, I'll take just about anything other than OB. Got any openings for a not-so-green new grad?

I'd get sprayed with OC once a day and twice on Sunday rather than get hit with that Taser again...but I really like spicey foods so that maybe why it didn't bother me that bad. I still shudder when I imagine that clicking/popping sound.... When I was in the military, I was "volunteered" to don the REDMAN suit and take some baton licks from the trainees...I had bruises the size of a footballs on my outer thighs. In fact, I still have tiny calcifications there from the blows....and I would STILL take that over the Taser. Oh the memories...

Sadly, my handwriting is pretty crappy. I have to really concentrate when in a time crunch. Not only using the taser, but getting shot with the taser! Those who were certified to carry a taser had to get shot in the back with one. I recommend avoiding that experience at all cost... People have told me I'd be a good fit for the ER with my background but, honestly, I'm not too keen to delve back into the world of the serially inebriated. These suggestions are great! Thank you guys a bunch!

These sound excellent. Thank you so much.

Hey folks, I'm a former cop who will be graduating in May with my BSN. I've been putting together my resume and I'm curious if anyone knows some good bullets to convert police experience to good nursing qualities. I'm also prior military so any suggestions on that front would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks a bunch. P.S. I know some of you are itching to throw in some jokes...let er rip!

5,000 bucks an hour, free cocktails on your 1 hour lunch break, soft yet inspirational music when you walk into a patient's room, and doctors who give monthly speeches touting your exemplary achievements. And you thought memorizing the muscles of the forearm wasn't worth it....

Thanks for your comments. You're right. I've witnessed so many ******* contests from the type AA folks I know how to slough them off and pull the gist from their rants. I guess I'm more of a type AB. Some things absolutely need to be controlled and by-the-book but most stuff is fluid and multiple methods to accomplish a task will work. I just know every time I'm in the OR I feel truly "engaged". Not only from the complexities of the surgery but witnessing the "quarterback" role of the circulator. Only time will tell. I must get the BSN first though...

I've tried to read way more than I post, so forgive me for yet another "New Grad OR" post. Thus far (graduate in May with my BSN) the only clinical rotation/nursing practice that has really gripped me has been the perioperative environment (pre, intra, and post...the whole bit). I'm going to give you my background and see if you experienced OR nurses would think me a good coworker/employee. 1. BSN will be my second Bachelors (first was a BS in Psych) 2. 4 1/2 years as a military officer (Air Force missilier: lots of technical, computer based, butt-pucker stuff) 3. 2 years as a civilian police officer before entering BSN program I really like every role of the RN in the OR theater and I feel inspired each time I get to observe (during my OB/L&D clinicals I was able to swing 5 c-sections because I kept pestering my instructor). I know it's hard to tell, there are so many other factors involved, but do you think I'd be a good fit? Thanks

Wow. That took some major cajones to come on a site like this and admit your mistake and subsequent cover-up. I'm glad no one was hurt and your admission may help others avoid similar situations. I wish you the best.

Maybe this is the one... You know, everyone else is worried about HIV, Vanco-resistant super-bugs, Swine flu, Bird flu, global warming, water supply depletion, diabetes, saturated fat, mercury, etc... And low-and-behold it was the little ol' bedbug. Ah, can you imagine? Human civilization taken down by a lowly insect....tsk,tsk,tsk.

His/Her age will prevent military service and probably prevent USPHS (provided there is no previous military service). IHS may be an option but I believe they have an age cap as well.

Thank you. Thank you oh-so-very much. Woops...I'm just a student but, my goodness, you hit the nail on the head.