TheMiss

A nursing friend and I recently discussed what we still learned in nursing school that later proofed to be utter nonsense outright or just became really outdated. I found it quite interesting and was wondering what everyone else remembers? One of the things I thought of was the myth of your tongue having different taste zones.

Experienced CC nurses are in demand. We have the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency - Home which is your point of contact for all types of nursing anywhere in Australia. They will be able to help you with exactly what requirements you need to register with them. You shouldn't have much trouble with your canadian qualification. Nobody will even look at any application of yours if you are not registered with AHPRA. And they do take their time to process paperwork. My suggestion for action would be to do the IELTS test first while you wait for your transcripts from your nursing school and your CC Certificate to arrive, then apply to ahpra and while you wait for them to get back to you (can take easily 6 month) you can have a look at immi.gov.au what type of visa you could get. Many hospitals are happy to sponsor you but it's easier to find a job if they don't have to ( less stuff for HR to do) Hope to see you in Melbourne soon

"I'm feeling overwhelmed by the new information right now and the thought of having more responsibility around these fragile babies scares me. I'm wondering about possibly taking on a CNC roll or an education leader roll instead." Seriously? You think you will have less responsibility if you are an education leader than if you are an NNP? Let's say that i disagree with that statement.

First of all: Congratulations! I hope all goes well with this pregnancy! You are right, it is really hard to conceal a pregnancy in the NICU with all the x-rays you can't do. You should definitely get away from them and NOT do any of them yourself. What most do at my workplace is to tell one other nurse (they trust not to tell anyone else) and have that nurse do their xrays for them. Obviously, from a staffing point of view, your manager won't be happy to find out about your pregnancy later. But thats not whats important here. Important is that you take care of yourself and of your baby. I would highly recommend not telling them as I agree with the poster above - it's just too tempting for the HR people from an economics point to try to see you go. And given your poor obstetric history your co-workers will understand why you didn't tell them earlier - and they won't hate you for it.

Maybe your preceptor just realized that he hasn't done the best job in preceptoring you and sees this as a way to improve. Take it as a chance - it'll be an easier day for you if you go along and shadow him. And you can ask him all kinds of questions. Or he might ask you some. It'll give him good one on one teaching time too. And maybe he is not that good at being a preceptor and giving feedback and found something he would like you to change but doesn't know how to address - and therefore hopes that you pick it up by shadowing him.

Uni libraries tend to have them - maybe you could just get one there so you don't have to buy one. Sorry, but I don't know the difference between the two editions.

Poor OP for being treated so badly here. I bet you most of those of you replying so full of rage have uttered the words "there is no such thing as a stupid question" before to someone. So why not treat this question like a not stupid question?? Shame on you. As for your question "almostmadeit" Physically, working in a nursery is easier than most other nursing jobs as you do not have to lift heavy patients. Psychologically it is one of the hardest jobs as you will encounter suffering beyond believe and ethical dilemma no one should ever have to face. Stress wise - the intensive care end with babies very suddenly about to die and you fighting for hours and hour on end to rescue them - the well baby nursery with 5 newborns screaming and the nurse just running in circles trying to provide for all of them - very stressful. One other point. It may seem sometimes like the NICU nurse job is easy to the untrained eye. That is because we do many tasks which aren't "visible" - most prominently those would be patient assessment and planning of care. Having worked a council job for one season before I agree with some other poster as I think immunization clinics was neither physically nor psychologically demanding nor stressful - as long as you don't have a problem with needles. Good on you for showing interest in your mothers career and health and all the best for her to pass

@ Jory You can NEVER put a baby into an isolette without it being turned on. The Isolettes depend on the aircirculation they create when being turned on. So if they are off CO2 could accumulate inside and the air might become deoxygenated.

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there is no licensed rsv vaccine! - the immunoglobulin given at the moment is a simple injection (synagis (palivizumab)). it used to be a long infusion but those days are long gone. many nurses confuse the immunoglobulin injection with a vaccine though. and just fyi the us immunisation schedule includes mmr at 12 month - which is a live vaccine as well. and you can't give them all individual. dtap for example is always 3 vaccinations in one.

While their work overlaps in lots of areas it's also very different in others. Most people here will value the NNP more, since we all have a nursing background. As a NNP you always remain a nurse, so you can integrate family and patient centered care as well as discharge planning and initiate multidisciplinary involvement easier. Your assessment skills will be better as will be your confidence when starting out. (Just statement research has shown.) Even though you go into Diagnostics and treatment as an NNP you never loose the contact to your patient and their family, you will always have the caring aspect. Starting as a neonatologist you learn how to assess 30 patients quickly, rely on good nurses for continuous assessment and prescribe treatments, do a few technical tasks and run of to the next patient. If you want to work WITH babies and their family aim for NNP, if you want to analyse data ABOUT babies - become a neonatologist. Also be aware that as a NNP you neither fit in with the general nurses anymore nor with the medical staff - so some NNPs have complained about a sense of feeling lost However, you can't climb the career ladder much further once you are a NNP, while as a neonatoloist its easier to progress.

I practice in Australia as a nurse immuniser (we prescribe and administer vaccinations without medical supervision). All our babies receive their first Hepatitis B vaccine right after birth, even the 23 weeker. There is no evidence whatsoever that vaccinations affect neurodevelopment. There is also no proven benefit for spacing vaccinations over several days and it's not recommended. Vaccinations, do not overwhelm the immune system, and the vaccinations given at birth, 2 4 and 6 month are all not live vaccines. It has however been noticed that some vaccinations can lead to an increase in apnoea in some neonates. Also, there is to date no RSV vaccine available. It's RSV immunoglobulin we are giving.

Australia is still facing a huge nurses shortage. The recent situation that there are more grad nurses than grad nurse positions is limited to few cities. Overseas nurses are hardly ever accepted into a grad program unless they did another year of university in Australia. But most of the overseas nurses come with quite some experience and apply for jobs in a different market than grad nurses - and for experienced nurses there is no shortage for jobs. But you are right - it would be nice if the forum could be used more to share Aussie/Kiwi nursing experiences

Hey goats'r'us, have a look at Huggleboos https://www.facebook.com/Huggleboo They are an awesome gift for prems. A friend of mine who works in a Melbourne NICU came up with them and babies/moms love them. They are not knitted but sewn though I believe.

No, things do not always turn out right! Yes, there are a few miracles here and there.The ones the media focuses on. But there is the vast majority that ends up not just fine with varying degrees of intellectual and physical disabilities. Go and ask those moms and dads who suffered through month and years of ICU and have a quadriplegic, trachy, peg, child with seizures at home who can neither sit,talk, walk, nor eat,play or relate to anyone. Who burnt through all the families and extended relatives funds for all the medical bills. Ask if they agree with your statement. We don't know what psychological damage we do to the microprems neither. They suffer through NICU. There is so much pain and so much stress which we can't address. A 24 weeker can turn out okay and those are the ones everyone hopes for- but some times it is in the best interest of the patient to cease treatment.

Goats'r'us - Australia and the US have different categories how we divide our baby nurseries. In Australia a level III nursery is the highest level offering most advanced care to the youngest and sickest babies. Your friends baby will be in a level III nursery where she receives the best possible medical and nursing care. Australia is one of the most advanced countries when it comes to neonatal medicine.(I reckon she's not in Alice) If your friends child has a chance on live - than that is where she is right now. Nobody will be able to predict outcomes - most infants who are majorly affected will show so by missing big milestones and are usually diagnosed by age two with cerebral palsy. Mild learning disabilities can still show during the first few years at school and if they actually go to uni they are probably among the little miracle group. Hang on in there mate...

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@TiffyRN your monitor only does not pick up the babies resp when they are prone if you placed the respiratory lead incorrectly. Most believe that the respiratory lead work by picking up respiration movement. Which it doesn't. It sends an electrical signal through the body. When resistance is high (i.e. when there is air in the lungs on inhalation, as air has a higher resistance than bodyfluids or tissue) it measures this and gives you the upwards curve. When resistance is low (i.e. on exhalation when there is less air in the lung) it displays a downwards curve. If you don't place your leads correctly it monitors superficial skin resistance bypassing the lungs and will either show anoea, shallow breathing or nonsense.

Back when I started we used to have an intercom and when somebody rang the bell we could as them from the nurses station why they rang the bell. If it were something they should be doing themselves (talk about keeping patients independent) we would encourage them to do it. That intercom is sadly missed

You are a nurse! You can be proud of your achievement of becoming a nurse! It's a tough time out there at the moment - but that doesn't influence what you are! Keep on looking for nursing positions and meanwhile proudly call yourself a nurse.

What is current evidence based best practice? If it's spontaneous pushing then encourage that. You do not want to lower your level of care to fit in, as hard as that may be, but your patients deserve the right to up to date care. You might also want o discuss what kind of birthing experience the expectant mother thought of regarding pushing and encouragement - you'll be surprised how many have precise ideas.

I agree with both posts above. If you do not want to burn any bridges you may just quote "personal reasons", thank your employer for the opportunity and investment in you and apologize for the situation. But do not give your real reasons. Thats unnecessary during probation and can only harm you later. You should definitely see your MP regarding the anxiety though!

Where I work you can give the additional 4mg and count the 2 hour window from the 2nd dose given. I have no idea about the laws in Ohio though- sorry. But best stick with the patient or follow up within 10 minutes to see if your medication resulted in the desired pain relieve. If not give the 2nd 4mg then and don't let the poor patient suffer for another 20 minutes. IV morph is fast acting - you shouldn't need to wait 30 min to reassess.

I agree with you communter. And with others. The only thing you can change is you. Be the nurse you want to be. And do not become the nurse you complain about now. I like to show opposite behaviour - and believe me, what goes around comes around also counts for good deeds. Why not tell a patient or doctor next time that you really value the work the previous nurse has done. We get so often told that "The other nurse explained or did it different". Why not turn around and answer "Nurse A is a very qualified and experienced nurse, we do and explain things different because there is not only one correct way. I'm sure she provided excellent care" And tell the nurse directly during handover - best so that other people can hear it. Not faking, but really appreciating someones work. It can be small as "Wow, you did all that during your shift? You must have been super busy, I wonder if I could have done all of that." And stand up to the docs. They know that nurses like to bite each other and use it to their advantage. I do not let any doc talk negative about a fellow colleagues.

Keep your current job! The danger of exposing you and your child to infection, irregular work schedules, heavy physical work, strenuous emotional situations etc. is much higher during bedside nursing. Especially if you have not done it before. I do not know what time frame employers see as too long without clinical experience but have to agree that OR is so different again that it has it's own rules. I'm fairly sure you wouldn't want to be pregnant starting out in OR with all the anaesthetic gases and bodyfluid exposures and the long standing. Forensic nursing? Very interesting, but you need a very thick skin and a very stable emotional status. And it's not the least dangerous job. Maybe also wait till later. For nurse researcher you don't need much if any clinical experience and can just pursue the paht on which you are. Pathology nurse you can do a few courses regarding advanced iv cannulation etc - but you also don't need much clinical experience and can conveniently start this later on. So maybe you just lean back in your current position and enjoy your pregnancy and motherhood. And then everything changes anyway.