OrthoRN09

Does anyone have any first hand experience with the Army Reserve STRAP program? I am an Associate Degree RN looking to finish my BSN as soon as financially possible. I've been thinking about the Reserves for a number of reasons, not just to get my ...

My facility does not give holiday pay at all. We have the option to take PTO if we want to, whether or not we work the holiday. So if I work 12 hours on Thanksgiving, I can take 12 hours of PTO on top of it to get paid "double time". If I'm not sc...

I work 3 12's a week in a hospital. Have picked up overtime a couple times, but I have noticed that the more I pick up, the less I see it on my check. So it's really not worth it to pick up more than 1 OT shift per pay period. I will clear about $...

I was a CMA for 10 years before going back for my RN. As far as I know, there are no bridge programs for CMA to RN. And whoever is telling you that there is has no idea what they are talking about. I did not get credit for any of my CMA classes an...

Wow! I guess I am lucky. The manager on our floor is AWESOME! She is always in and available. A couple weeks ago, I needed help transferring a patient from bed to commode and she happened to be standing at the charge desk and volunteered to help....

saza323, you seem to be obsessing over this whole Summer III thing. Just go ahead and apply, if you get in you get in. If you don't you don't. It won't be the end of the world. AND if you don't get it, it won't be because you aren't good enough. ...

As an AD prepared nurse, I have managed to get hired TWICE in the past year at hospitals for positions that stated "BSN preferred" in the posting. Looks like I didn't need a BSN to open any doors for me. And as someone else mentioned, we sit for th...

I think that only pertains to patients with spinal cord injuries or in cases of autonomic dysreflexia. But I could be wrong.

I heard of some summer interns getting fired at my facility for posting stuff about patients they were caring for on their facebook. They didn't use patient names, but apparently the info they posted made it easy to figure out who they were.

I cried one time that I can remember in nursing school. It was when an instructor reprimanded me for not being prepared for my head to toe assessment check off. I admit, I was not as prepared as I should've been. But I was able to pull it together...

I graduated from an AD program last December with close to $40K in student loans. Went a private school and the tuition was WAY more than the any other. This school happened to be the only one with an all evening AD program, which I had to do becau...

I have personally never considering giving lovenox, heparin or anything similar in any location other than the abdomen. That does seem like a very weak reason to be completely dismissed from the program. I hate to be "that person", but it seems li...

I work 12 hour D/N rotation. I choose to work more nights than days for all the reasons you listed. Your patient ratio 7:1 seems way too high. On our days shift we get 2-3 MAYBE 4 patients if absolutely needed. Those with 2 patients will get a po...

I would suggest the 1 unit. I was hired as a new grad to an ortho/trauma floor. After being off orientation for 3 months, I was eligible to float to other units when our census is low. So far I have floated to 3 different units and really hated 2 ...

I only did questions to study for my NCLEX and passed with 75 questions. I used to the Saunders review books. I tried to do at least 100 questions each day. As for meds, those were my weakness as well. I was lucky enough to not get very many ques...

I love my ortho trauma floor. I have had to float to a couple different medical floors recently and HATE it. Everyone was jaundice, no ones liver/kidneys were functioning, and most had some sort of bowel issues (rectal tubes, diarrhea, c-diff). I ...

Thank you for being a nurse, Sue.

Can't say what it's like at Mayo in FL, but here in MN they are not hiring. I don't know when they will start hiring again. It's pretty tight for new grads in MN, too.

I worked a 12 hour night last night, and believe me, that extra hour makes a difference. Especially when I never sleep/nap well during the day before a night shift. I happened to be charting at the time so watching the clock on my computer go from ...

Your class lost 10 in one day??? That seems like a really high number. In my AD class, we lost about 3-5 per semester. But we also gained a few each semester that we "resequencing". I have to admit, there were some that I was sure wouldn't make i...

Navy isn't all bad. At my facility, staff nurses wear navy, OR light blue, float nurses green, respitory royal blue, ER black, PCA's teal blue, and there are a couple units that are purple or royal blue. The peds unit staff can wear fun tops, but t...

We self schedule and so far I haven't had anything to complain about. I work 3 12's, mostly nights, and try to only do 3 in a row on my weekend which is every 3rd. As long as I get my schedule requests in on time, I usually end up with pretty much ...

I agree with Talaxandra, when I am on the floor, there is no patient care related task that is "below me". I do it all, empty foleys, suction canisters, ambulate patients, baths, linen changes....you name it, I do it. We have PCA's on the floor and...

You are freaking out over nothing really. On any given shift, there will be at least 4-5 isolation patients on my floor (c-diff, MRSA, VRE). As long as you use the proper precautions, you will be fine. And like others have stated, sometimes you do...

BOWEL CARE!!!! I can't tell you how many times I will come on and have a post op patient for the first time and they will not have had a BM for 3-5 days!!! Please people, address this early with oral interventions. Even if the patient says, but I ...