JRN72

How long post op do you wait before turning your open heart patients (CABG, on and off pump, Valves, etc)? I am talking before you turn them to wash their back, change their sheets, etc?

hmm...well. Being an RN who just completed a year of Stage 3 colon cancer treatment...which started less than a month after I turned 40...and knowing that I will be getting waaay more than the usual number of colonoscopys...I can say there is a lot that is worse. And a lot that is more embarrassing. Six weeks of tomotherapy and concurrent chemo wrecks you. The radiation causes a diarrhea that likes to strike about a minute after you pass the last gas station. I took a change of clothes everywhere. The first couple of weeks with an ileostomy...ish. Nothing like being at the optometrist and realizing a leak has started (Eakin seals, people. The wonder solution.) My colonoscopy was with a GI tech I knew from working in the OR...just what everybody wants at their colonoscopy...someone you know. It ended up being a blessing because I too woke up when the GI MD was talking and said, "Mass highly suspicious of cancer". I can still see my friends face, her beautiful eyes with all of their concern, helping me to settle back down while the RN loaded me back up. The first days after ostomy reversal...OMG. THAT is embarrassing. When you know ALL the residents and RNs and have to call them to help you because you couldn't make it up to the bathroom in time...and there is poo on you and on your bed and your gown and the floor...Having your friends in PACU being the ones who clean you up after your LAR and your epidural has failed and you need a new one...so you are sent to PACU where your friends find out that the floor hasn't cleaned you up or turned you for the 24 hours after surgery. Well, at least at that point you know who your friends are as they hold you while you cry after they clean you up. And yeah...six months of FOLFOX makes you feel a lot worse than some versed. Laying there at 2am with that little pump whirring away, wondering if it's going to work, and, if it does, will it be back? We do have a family history of colon cancer, but as a group of cousins, I was the "healthy" one...another, age 41, went for a colonoscopy because of me, and had a precancerous set of polyps removed. I am sooooo happy that my experienced saved her. There is nothing about a colonoscopy that is worse than colon cancer. Nothing. That said, I'm quite a libertarian. Make your own decisions, do what you choose. Be able to live with your decisions.

I said I had always been attracted to the environment, and felt I was more attracted to "procedural" nursing rather than "educational" nursing..actually, that was what she asked me, was I more "procedural or educational" and I said I had always found myself trying to go with patients to procedures rather than staying on the floors and that was what held my interest.

Wow, that was a spectacular response! I start my new OR job on Monday..been out of school for a year, working on a kind of subacute vent unit, LTC, and also still at my previous healthcare job, so this is the first "real live, full time" RN position for me. I am so excited! I loved OR and ICU before and throughout school, but OR is giving me the chance, so here I go. I think it is a good fit for my personality and what I do and do not like about nursing. The OR staff and surgeon where I currently work agree. :yeah:The position and the facility open up a world of possibilities to me. I can really envision myself there (and never leaving!), I was impressed with the supervisor who interviewed me, who really seemed to embody what I think management/supervision should be. I am thrilled to be going, scared at times, but not so scared as to back down.

I am leaning PA, because from what I have seen here in WI, I have noticed, as pointed out on an earlier post, that PAs are hired more into the areas I have the most interest in. Also, and flame me if you will, I have found nursing education to be pretentious. I have an ADN and a BS in dietetics, which is an extremely competitive program and gave me all the coursework needed had I been medschool inclined (god how I wish I was focused when I was 20...anyway) with heavy emphasis on hard science courses...as well as all the leadership and management (they just didn't call it "leadership for RDs" and try to call it something special, such as I see with nursing education). They will not force me to get yet another bachelors degree before they deem me qualified to apply. Thus far, I think the PA program more closely meshes with my previous experience, my personal characteristics, and where I want to go. I'm open to changing that opinion, and will certainly be watching carefully as I start my new job on Monday (OR in a large facility), and get a chance to really observe the roles I have future interest in.

I finished my ADN 12/2009. I have taken one year away from school, because after two years of working FT, plus school plus commute, I needed it. I had applied to start now in January, but because so many things happened at one time (moving again, new job), I am putting a delay on it. Now I am thinking fall, because my new job orientation is 7-8 months, and I think I'd just like my brain cells to focus on that! I had gotten a casual RN job 4/10, but it took until now to get the real deal, FT RN position. The facility I'm going to won't pay for it, but they will do loans that you work off per hour worked, so I will consider that route when the time comes. I have a tendency to rush everything, so this was a conscious decision to slow down and enjoy my life a little, not do everything at once. All.The.Time. I also have a bachelors in science/healthcare field, and won't have much at all to take for completion. I will need to do it for future career goals.

Yes, if he was the right person, I'd forgive him for being a doc, lol. My only "requirement" regarding employment is that there IS employment, lol! Having been married to someone who decided, the minute we were married, that he no longer really needed to have a job, this is important to me. However, I'm not *looking for* a doc, I'm just looking for someone who has a brain, makes me feel comfortable, safe, valued, etc. Who knows what package that may come in, regarding career choice. Regarding money and marriage, if I ever hear another man say, "All we neeeeed is looooove", I will be sure to run far, far away. I earn my money and support myself, and I expect a man to be able to do the same, and it's hard to be in "love" when someone is running you into the poorhouse. Regarding emotion, if I ever hear another man say, "But i neeeeed yoouuuu", I will also run far far away. I want to be with someone because I want to be, not because I *need* to be (emotionally and financially), and I want someone who is with me because they want to be, not because they *need* to be (emotionally and financially). I see enough people married to docs who are happy, some who are not, some who have ended it (including docs who were married to other docs). The same as I see in every other profession. Which reminds me, though, of a girl I was in nursing school with. We were hanging in L&D, and some male resident came through...her response when he left- "Cute, no ring..." as well as some other assessements. I just though, you gotta be kidding me...I would never ever look for one specifically, I know that.

Spent the last year working on a vent dependent unit of 22 pts. Most long term....very long term, others in for weaning. Inner cannulas, when they had them, were changed daily, each had an order for prn as well.

Um, yeah, although this might not be what you had in mind... Enjoy your summer. Do not spend it reading textbooks and the like. You have enough to come and while I *totally* get the concept that you want to get to it, because that is what I'm like...take this chance now to read fiction and watch movies, because it took me months after school was over to be able to sit and watch a movie without thinking I had something else to do. It took several months for me to read and enjoy fiction for the same reason, and also because my brain was in such a high drive it couldn't enjoy anything. So if you just have to read something nursing related, at least make it simple..."stories from my time in the hole" or whatever. Or watch old episodes of Scrubs (they may be silly and make you laugh, but honest to god I remembered test questions from out of that show, plus they are surprisingly realistic when it comes to "life lessons" on making it through health care, and some of the "personalities" you will encounter).

My preceptor was sooo terrific...always looking for variety ("We've had enough neuros, I want to get an MI for you to work on"), so I would have lots of experiences. Asked just enough questions that I would always be thinking, and critically, but not so many I felt on the spot all.the.time. She encouraged me to go do my own research, then come back and discuss. Also, as mentioned by mom2michael, she was my mother hen:) always protecting my from some of her ruder peers. As a student, you are kind of in a place where you can't really stand up for yourself in an effective way if there are staff members treating you like crap. She definately had me under her wing, and as a senior staff member with loads more experience than most of her peers, and as a person not afraid to say what she thought, lol, I was protected. She also did not allow for them to "find the student" when they just had some crappy thing they didn't want to do. As she pointed out, "You have a limited time here. Cleaning somebody up is not the best use of your learning time. I know you know how and I know you are willing...so the best use of your time is assisting with this balloon pump removal." I loved her:redpinkhe

LOL...I was thinking about this while on the treadmill today and may have come up with some ideas...but still think it would be fun to put "Don't suck" down as Goal #1

Well, I got my first choice of having a CCU placement for the next 7 weeks. The anticipation almost killed me, but was sooooo happy and relieved to get the spot. Graduation- December 21. YIKES! I think this is a HUGE opportunity for learning...and I intend to take advantage of it! I have finished all of my "pre-internship" assignments but one...and am feeling a little stumped. I will be talking this over with my preceptor as well, but...we need to do an assignment regarding what our goals for this time are. Obviously, I want to learn as much as I can and not suck! I also want to present a good, professional image and be a competent beginner looking ahead to new levels. Those goals are a little broader than what I think our instructor contacts are looking for, so I guess I am asking for realistic ideas. They told us to think big, but this is an area of course where thinking big could be totally unrealistic. But- I tend to sell myself short wondering what I can do, capability, etc- just getting the placement is a nice little positive reinforcement as there weren't many spots to be had. The unit is titled CCU but is also probably combined with MICU patients- they have a separate SICU, but sometimes it just depends on who has a room. I spent two days of advanced clinical there, and really enjoyed the discussions, the atmosphere, and the learning, and especially the way those I was with took on their role of teacher. Somewhere between selling myself short and delusions of grandeur there needs to be a happy medium! Anybody got any ideas?

I finish my ADN in a few weeks...have a BS in dietetics, but plan on getting to work on a BSN. I was just looking over some of the UW Green Bay program information. It will take a while to figure out where and when, so I may as well start shopping now!

Thanks for the links!

Thanks! I had printed the info packet from the website, but your description of scheduling clears up some questions I had.