Calfax

Carmel99 (Nakeshia), Don't do the assignment. It's BS. Tell your teacher that you expect a better quality educational product than that. You (or your parents) are paying for a good education...you need to demand that your teachers don't waste your time.. Tell him or her an assignment like this is evidence that you should sue the university for breach of contract. (why such a fire-breathing response? I will explain further below. I know you really have to do the assignment but it is a waste of your time. ) How far ahead is the year 2030......about 25 years from now. An entire generation away from now and at the long end of your professional career. How can you project what nursing will be like then? You can't. Too much variability between now and then. It could be a bright shiny future...or another dark age. In the 1970's they thought we would all be space-commuting to the moon or something based upon the success of the Apollo missions. Obviously that hasn't happened. But we became a "global village" which was totally unforseen. Such a request to speculate as to what nursing will be like 25 years from now is easy to fulfil. "Nursing will be done entirely by robots who will keep your cloned organs in tip-top condition....blah, blah, blah." or words to that effect. Two pages of what you imagine would be neato is easy to come up with. But as an exercise, it has no value for you beyond creative writing. Anything that has "vision" or "mission statement" in it gets deleted from my email because it has no meaning. It will not help you prepare for the backbreaking, mind-numbing hard labor you will be slogging through when you get your license and go to work. You will be busy. However the assignment could have been valuable to you if it had been worded more like this: "Choose a current issue or trend or process in nursing. Identify any technological aspect relating to the above..i.e. what technology is involved with that issue, trend or process. Research current and projected developments in that technology and describe how such these developments will alter the issue, trend or process. Develop a plan for implimenting the technology at a department, hospital or industry-wide level and calculate the cost to do so. Use a cost-projection model to extrapolate the future cost of the technology against future developments." If you sat there and went "Huh?", don't worry. You will learn to do all that naturally. It is a lot easier, tho, if you don't have to learn on the fly. You can do the above assignment using MS word and an Excel spreadsheet and you will have a cool graph or 2 as an attachment. Basically it breaks down to this: let's say you want to monitor blood sugars. How do you do this now? How much does it cost now? Who pays that cost? What developments are underway in blood glucose monitors? Maybe there's an automatic implantable monitor under development. How much does it cost now? In the future? Compare it to an alternative development....maybe there is a transcutaneous monitor like a pulse-oximeter? How much does that cost now? In the future? Who is the payor? This is a little harder assignment than "Nursing will be done entirely with holograms and genetically-engineered monkeys in 2030". But you would learn a whole lot more. Like a process for developing and implimenting a particular technology. You can then apply similar processes across many different types of technologies....and you go from daydreaming about the future, as your teacher has requested you to do, to actively directing it. That way you control your future....not the other way around. Someone like me will be your future boss and believe me, you walk in with a "vision" and it will get shredded. However, you walk in with a process proposal that includes cost analyses and projections, I'm going to look at you in a completely different light. You aren't completely worthless. Now if you ask how that relates to nursing, it does directly. You are the end user/administrator of thousands of technologies. Therefore your input, evaluation and needs within the technology are actually important. Unfortunately nurses are not taught nor encouraged to be involved in that process....so changes are made to nurses not by them. So....print this out and show it to your teacher. Tell him or her to stop giving you crap assignments because it won't help you succeed. I will concede that yes....speculation and vision are important in a broad sense "In 2030, nurses will be the primary loci of healthcare access for patients, producing customized care plans based on a spectrum of treatment options and disciplines. Americans will never be so healthy nor have they ever have such control or choice over their healthcare options...". Such a vision is a philosophical and passionate thing like JFK's Rice Stadium moon speech: " We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." What your teacher had better be teaching you is tools you can use to achieve your visions. Remember that your teacher is just some poor schmuck working a job like most of us and sometimes they need to be challenged a bit if he or she is going to become a better teacher. If he or she does not accept the challenge, then get a new teacher. As a student, push the bar a bit too. That's how you succeed. How you win the future you envision. Got it? Cool.

Hello Batmilk, You have to look at your questions like this: How much access to the device will the user have? (all the time? shared with others? how many users per device?) How often does the user need to access the device? (>1 * per hour? >1 * per shift?) How long does the task your user performs take to complete? (5 min? 30 min?) Is there a lot of writing involved? If so...consider a laptop. If data entry consists of point-n-click choices...then consider a hand-held. Is the user constantly moving around from patient to patient? Consider hand-held or tablet. Laptops are heavy. Once you define your parameters, you will then know what kinds of devices you need to choose. Neither a hand-held nor a laptop will last in an on-state thru an entire shift in a completely on state. Handhelds have better battery management because the underlying hardware is simpler than a laptop. Consider your network connection....wired or wireless? What options exist? As far as security? How do you monitor your narcotics counts? You already know how to make people accountable. Good luck.

Ok....so that's a bump? Sorry...I haven't checked on the website lately. I am a navy nurse going on my 5th year (wow..that went fast) of active duty. I have served both overseas and at home. My impressions are my own and I make no apologies for them. Feel free to post a reply should you disagree. You will work hard as a Navy nurse....because you have 2 jobs. One: you're a Naval Officer. Two: You are a nurse. You will be expected perform both jobs simultaneously....and both are equally important. You will only have the bare minimum of adequate resources and staff to do the job. You need to watch some old MacGuyver reruns. You will still be able to give adequate care but it will take more skill and ingenuity than you know. Your staff consist of 18 y/o kids who didn't go to college.....and who's parents consistantly voted to decrease funding at their local public schools. You must mold them by education, rewards, intimidation, and competition into intelligent, thinking corpsmen. You will depend on them for everything. You are expected to pass the physical fitness tests. This consists of doing some pushups, running 1.5 miles and some sit-ups in the dark, twice a year. If you can't do it, don't join. No one cares to hear you whine. You are expected to know how to swim.....it's the Navy. Water's involved somewhere....except at 29 palms out in the Cali desert. You will have many options for free training.......and can get all your certs for free. The extra military training you can go to is also worth it. You will be required to learn a lot. If you want a cush job....get a clinic job. If you work inpatient, you will always be understaffed and will never get holidays off. Again, no one cares to hear you whine. Your patients will be the same, except overseas, they will not speak English. This can be overcome by speaking English very slowly and loudly and dropping all the verbs out of the sentences( why Americans do this, I don't know)....or by learning the local mumbo-jumbo wherever you are. I can do a pretty good assessment in Japanese now. Overseas assignments are better than stateside assignments. You *don't* want to be stationed at Bethesda. Your patients are US Congressmen and their inbred dependant hellspawn. The politics border on the merely trite to the ridiculously inane....and that's the staff. You do want to be stationed in Spain, Italy, Japan, Florida and California. The people there are very cool, very chilled out and friendly. If you join the Navy...you can and most likely will be deployed. That's the point of it all, see? Deployments last 6 months or so at a time. It will be hot and miserable whereever you are going. No one cares if you whine. However, by joining the Navy Nurse Corps, you will have pride, self-respect and a sense of honor and duty. You will be respected not only for your clinical skills and knowledge but also that you are *not* a self-serving and clueless airforce nurse. Just because you wear "footie-pajamas" doesn't mean you know anything. Navy nurses are "street nurses" which means you get down into it and get your boots dirty. You put your hands on your patients, you get puked on, bled on and at the end of the day...you will make a difference in the life of a servicemember or their family.

Ok.....if you want to go work at an overseas military hospital, join a service and go do it. We're so strapped for people, you can get waivered for just about anything these days. C'mon, we need anyone with real nursing experience. Now...if you *really* want to make a difference....if you want to be able to say that your life actually counted for something.... then go to Doctor's without Borders: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org Then there is also International SOS. You've never heard of them because they don't advertise. http://www.internationalsos.com They do a lot of things overseas with offices all over the world. Oh and dude: .....Europe's boring. You gotta come to Asia. "One night in Bangkok....." as the song goes.

Take it easy on the little dude, dude. She's brand spanking new....you know? There's this word.....uh, oh yeah. Inspiration. Could change your life, you know? Maybe invent a machine that showers, de-Marlboros, Motrinizes, and collects urine from all patients as they walk in the door (and wouldn't they think twice about it?)

Checking in from Okinawa, Japan where all the women are beautiful, the weather is always warm, and the Orion is always cold. Crumbwatcher.....all hail "Sweetmeat", Monday night metal, Smash, and Leonard Skynard every day! You better EAT-RITE or not at all.......and make mine a slinger. Sorry to hear the union got busted up. Shame. Do you bring a Leatherman or a Gerber to work? Palm pilot or PocketPC? Whatcha got on it? Besides that Kama Sutra thing.... "The charge nurse, a staff nurse and a grad nurse were sitting around the break table eating chinese take-out. The grad nurse opens his fortune cookie, which reads "You've been granted one wish......use it wisely". He wishes alound to be a billionaire on a tropical island surrounded by luscious bikini clad babes to cater to his every wish. And poof! He disappears. The staff nurse opens his fortune cookie which reads, "You have one wish...use it wisely". The staff nurse wishes to be the CEO of Bass Pro Shops and married to Rachel Ray. Poof! He disappears. The charge nurse reaches over and opens his fortune cookie. Yep...one wish, use wisely. He sits back and takes a sip of coffee. After a second, he looks up at the ceiling and says, "You know those two turkeys? I want them back here in 20 minutes...."

I think back to when I was in nursing school....and my OB rotation. They were really rude, ungrateful for help and couldn't start IV's worth a damn. They didn't seem to want any students there and definately not any male students. That's OK, because I didn't want to be there, either. But afterwards, my clinical rotation took the time to meet with the dept supervisor to inform her that none of us would be willing to come to work there after graduation because of their attitudes and we recommended that the university terminate that clinical site. However, I am a military nurse.......and there are simply more male nurses in the military and therefore more male nurses on the L&D and OB decks along with male corpmen. Most of the male nurses don't really want to be there.....although it's a toss-up whether the nurses or the military wives have the better tattoos.

Oh....the food channel. Yeah, she's a babe. Nursing has ruined me for food.....having eaten most working meals standing up, with a tongue depressor and warm diet coke. So here's my contribution to the single man's culinary arts. Breakfast: Poptarts: prep time 0 minutes. Sleep is precious. Lunch: Supermarket sushi: prep time 5 minutes in check-out line. Raw fish is healthy for you. And it's always fresh.....and if it isn't, well you do work at a hospital. Dinner: Cajun clam chowder: prep time 5 minutes. microwave 1 can of clam chowder. Throw a handful of cheezits in it. Add Tobasco to taste. Desert: Cereal-killer ice-cream. How-ever much ice-cream you want. Count Chocula, Cocoa Puffs or Cookie Crisp are best but whatever stale cereal is lurking in the cupboard will work just fine. If you're on a diet you can substitute frozen yogart and Craisins. Pot-luck dinners: I got yelled at because I brought a box of Ding-dongs to the ER Christmas dinner. So I learned this recipe from a guy named Dave. You need a crock pot, tho: prep time 5 to 8 hours. 2 Packs of Smokie Weenies. 2 bottles of barbeque sauce or 20 McDonalds packs. Throw in crock pot and cook. If you bring them in to work at 7, they'll be ready about midnight. Make sure you set the crock pot on low (important). If you forget toothpicks or and forks.....break some CTA's in half.

When I consider as to whether nursing has been worth it these last 7 yrs....it's a mixed bag. I've gotten to see and do a lot amazing things and work with a lot of amazing people. For that I'm grateful. But the stress, the insanity, wierd hours and seeing the awful state of humanity day after day take their toll after a while. I drink too much, sleep too little, and have a deep abiding resentment of both the complete lack of responsibility and the incredible sense of entitlement people seem to have regarding their health care. Spending so many hours with screwed up people....damages you. Makes you jaded, hard and cynical. But nursing is something you are.....in your soul. In your hands. In your eyes. It doesn't matter whether you are male or female. And like it or not, I am a nurse. It's what I do....and I'm pretty damn good at it. So.....what is my advice to the guys considering the profession. The pay's good, and unfortunately, the work's steady. I recommend travel nursing.....go hang out in NY for a few mos........then go skiing in Aspen.........bum around Waikiki six mos after that. Date a coked-out stripper while working in Vegas. Serve a "tour of duty" at Charity in New Orleans. As a nurse....you are still subject to the whims of your corporate or government masters....and it gets both ridiculous and dangerous sometimes. Your salary is considered part of the room and board and you are looked at as an expense, not an asset. And what do you try to do with expenses? And if you complain or try to upset the status quo....you can kiss your job goodbye. On the other hand, the need for nurses is strong enough for you tell your cretinous boss goodbye if you want to. Nursing remains largely female and as so....still gets exploited, and taken advantage of. Expect that of your administration.....your doctors...and the public. And its 100 times worse in most other countries. This is what you will be walking into (did I mention I was cynical?) but it doesn't have to be. Nursing needs a good kick in the butt. A call to arms....and a call to unite. Nursing needs some teeth. Some muscles. Some juice. And that's where you come in, brothers. Nursing needs us. Hard talking, no-crap taking, smart, ruthless nurses with skills and the ability to make a deal. And we need to spin this profession on it's ear with an army of NP's, CNA's, clin. specs, fee-for-service enterprises, individually tailored life-style maintenance plans. At the same time, we should be lockng down institutions with nursing unions, pushing legislation to mandate safe nursing standards/staffing thru congress and generally not taking crap from anyone. I've crossed the line. I'm now a nursing technology entrepeneur and, even though I still have a day job, I aim to get my "ends". A patient chart is really just a relational database, yo. I challenge not only the newcomers, but all the men in the profession to innovate, invent and re-invent this profession. We need a 400 hp hot-rod and we're driving a rusty 1989 Dodge Neon with an automatic and a coat hanger for an antenna. I'm taking it, boring it out, putting DOHC and long headers, a supercharger, nitrous and changing up the gear ratios on the rear differential. When I get done....yeah I know, it'll still be a Dodge Neon.....but it'll run 10's and corner like it's glued to the ground. Show your patients your smile.....but give it some teeth....and git 'er done!

Dude......you'll get used to it. I came out of EMS into nursing, where we had an actual uniform with a shirt, pants, and boots....so to wear "pajamas" to work was kind of odd at first. But, they're really comfortable and ....no dry cleaning, no ironing, and relatively minimal out of pocket purchase. Also, after the fourth or fifth child throws up Motrin or Tylenol on your nice shirt (hey it stains...) or you get blood spats all over from irrigating a wound or a hairy lab draw....you'll appreciate how nice it is to be able to change your scrubs out in like 5 seconds. If you're still uncomfortable...you can try looking in a professional uniform store (like for janitors, repairmen, police, "orderly", etc...) for a pair of white pants. They do make them and it might be an alternative that will work for you. This isn't a suit-n-tie kind of job.....unless you're admin or a drug company lackey. Now it you wind up working in a clinic or something.....just wear a lab coat over whatver you want to wear and be done with it.

Again, You just can't beat a nice pair of steel-toed combat boots as the choice of footwear while working in the ER. Altama, Bates, and Danner make a nice selection and with the right cushion, they're very bit as comfy as Birkies

We need a clinic!!!!!!!!!!!!! Me too! Yeah, clinics, clinics, clinics. The thing is how do you make the place profitable in a place with no money? In the places where ppl need clinics the most (inner cities, rural areas) they ain't got no money. Otherwise, they'd go to a doctor and a pharmacy like everyone with a decent co-pay. In order to have a clinic be successful, it either has to be subsidized (Govt, private charity, etc) or it has to make money....and enough money to pay & retain competant doctors and nurses. Govt subsidies come with all kinds of strings. When I was an EMT, before I became a nurse, we'd transport ppl into and out of some of the worst neighborhoods in my city. Nothing there anymore but crumbling tenements, Chop Suey shops and storefront churches....the occasional McDonalds and chicken joints.....junk shops. No more industry. No more trade or commerce....save a few pawn shops and heavy-industry hold-outs. You'd wear rubberbands over your pants legs to keep the roaches from going up your socks as you lifted ppl in and out of bed. How are you going to make a profit in a place like that? What liquid cash there is is involved in the drug trade and not particularly accessable for a variety of reasons. There are 2 answers. One is to provide for a national basic level of healthcare....the basics free for everybody with several tiers of fee-for service health care for anyone with enough cash for that service. This is expensive but everyone at least gets their insulin and dialysis. The other is to break everything and force everyone to compete with each other in free market free-for-all.......an open market...with negotiable price on everything. This will effectively shut out the very poorest from healthcare....but will have the immediate effect of lowering the overall cost of healthcare for everyone....theoretically allowing more ppl access to any particular service. The pathway lies within whether we view healthcare as a basic human right....or as a service to be bought and sold like any other commodity. There is no easy answer....except that it's almost summer and there's 4 whole months of barbequing, beer and golf to come.

What's an LVN?

Let's see.....I think he should have a mullet like he did as He-man in Master's of the Universe. I've seen I come in Peace about a hundred times, but that 80's Punisher movie is arguably the worst superhero movie ever......excepting maybe Buckaroo Banzai.

Years ago there was a sitcom called "Nurses" where they worked on some kind of ward or something.........never about the work, always about the drama of the ppl involved. At the time I was probably about 12 with no interest in nursing, sick ppl or anything that didn't have Nintendo on it. I caught an episode a few years back.....dreck. I think back to some of the really great medical movies i've seen "The doctor", "Gross Anatomy", "Article 99", "Awakenings". There are no great nursing movies....well, except for Mash....and it was mostly about doctors too. Everyone knows what cops do, what doctors do (or rather what we wished they'd do), what lawyers do....but not what nurses do. Except for the L&D shows cluttering up TLC daytime slots. So this is what I propose........a really great movie about nursing. Local gal graduates.....goes to work....horror at shocking malpractice and depraved indifference of hospital administration. Dates resident and is dumped. Organizes union......takes 51% of common hospital stock and fires CEO. CEO has heart attack and winds up as pt in former hospital....next to stroked out JCAHO inspector. Pt's allowed actual dignity and humane care all due to plucky young lass...in front of whom the former resident is forced to grovel. Second movie......guy movie......dig Dolph Lundgren out of retirement as travelling nurse in a new town. Cleans up trashed ER, tossing drunks, drug dealers, assorted losers and whackos out of the ER.....saving incompetant MD's butt several times while preventing a major epidemic and managing an MCI due to carnivorous alien invasion downtown. Falls for plucky young but tough and competant stripper turned nurse.......thinking brittany murphy or Jennifer Love hewitt. Spectacular fight scene and huge ambulance chase scene. Steamy love scene. CEO is revealed as both evil mastermind criminal and head alien and is gruesomely decapitated. Four sequals then follow Third movie: comedy. Gerbils & surgilube featured prominently. Jackass meets Jim Carey. Cameos by Cheech Marin and Tim Conway. Picture Steven Wright as your lovable oddball ER doc, accompanied by Kris Katan as the resident sidekick. Throw in a madcap search for 1 million dollars located somewhere in the ER and Martin Lawrence as the hapless kidney stoner thrown into it all and rate R for the hot-tub scene. Reality show: 5 new nursing grads, including a community health nurse. Follow them for 2 years as they make their way thru the trenches, navigating the crucial apprenticeship we all go thru. See them win, lose and draw....and go back to grad school. What do you think?