miss_vtRN

I have the same problem! I keep a little stash next to my computer: water bottle, 2-3 energy bars and a banana or clementine. They are my emergency snacks! Kidz Clif bars and LARABARS seem to work best for correcting my blood sugar- both a packed with fiber and nuts so they don't cause a sugar spike/drop. It takes 30 seconds to scarf one down and I don't have to worry about when my break is. :-)

Honestly, I've found that nighttime is often a tough time to start titrating O2 down. A patient might be find on 3 L during the day when they are alert but at night can drop quite a bit and require more O2 to maintain sats. (lying down, partial tongue obstruction, mild sleep apnea, etc). Since he had an episode of needing more O2 during the previous day, I would probably not feel comfortable tweaking with his O2 overnight. Let the poor man rest! It's easier to titrate and monitor sats during they day, without waking him up and risk interrupting his sleep. Day nurses sometimes forget how important SLEEP is in the healing/recovery process, and part of the night nurse's job is to make sure patient can safely accomplish a good nights sleep, sometimes no small task! I know, I've worked both shifts...

Just to play devil's advocate here: I know plenty of nurses with awful schedules who feel worked to the bone; I am continually amazed that even nurses with years of seniority are still forced to work every other weekend! And I know several MDs who have awesome schedules. Ex: an anesthesiologist who works with my MIL is on for one week, off for two weeks. (The one week is crazy (call, etc)...but two weeks off every month??!!!) Depending on the MD specialty you choose, you can have a lot of power over what kind of lifestyle you want. I think we need to reconsider the "work like a dog" stereotype....we all have choices!

If you are questioning this at all, I say go for MD! I am in the exact same boat, taking my MCAT in a few weeks and applying to DO schools. RN friends are questioning "Why not NP?" but I really want the depth of scientific background I have always craved since my first foray into healthcare as an EMT-B. This all started when my husband pushed CRNA school back when I was still doing my ADN! I figured, if I was going to spend time working for a few years in the ICU then spend more time in CRNA school, I may as well just spend that same time + a few extra years on becoming a doctor! I can't imagine a better provider than one with the bedside skills of a nurse and the clinical skills of a doctor. GO FOR IT!!! :-)

So glad to find this discussion! As an EMT-I, I was taught to always aspirate IM's and was shocked to find this not being taught in nursing school because I had always understood it to be very important...I actually stopped aspirating because the clinical instructors marked you as wrong if you did it that way! sounds like I should start doing it again...

Hehe...Scrubs scrubs! Love that show. Try Koi : Koi - The home of designer scrubs. If you find 'em on sale they are pretty reasonable...and super cute!

The NYT author could have gone far worse places with this topic!! What about grown women walking around in hot pink crocs and disney scrubs?? I see some nurses wearing pretty ridiculous outfits around my hospital (no peds floor either, that's the exception)...I'll take the Grey's anatomy scrubs any day, at least they look professional!

As far as I've heard, charting by exception is a lawyer's worst nightmare...they prefer having proof that you actually did something, in WRITING, not just a check mark...so sounds like your new nurses are just trying to cover their butt, whether or not it creates more work in the end.

I've been seeing the same thing in my hospital...our NM has been splitting open full-time positions on all shifts into two or three part-time positions. I think it's probably to increase the available floor labor pool so that (costly) float and per-diems can be used less....and of course, the hospital doesn't have to chip in for benefits if you're not full-time, so that's a huge cost-saver for sure....

We have a patient at work right now on overnight peritoneal dialysis, something we do not routinely see on my floor. The patient complained that one nurse had him drain into the toilet instead of a collection bag! Always leery of germs and according to the patient's preferance, I set him up to drain into the bag...but the oncoming nurse c/o having to lift the heavy bag in the a.m. and seemed surpirsed that he wasn't draining into the toilet. So I'm confused...What is common practice among those of you with experience in this area? What is your hospital policy on draining peritoneal dialysis? Any EBP/research on this? thanks!

Are you sure that you need EMT-B and not Outdoor Emergency Care certification? When I ski patrolled before nursing school I needed to be OEC certified, and they let me challenge the exam as an EMT-I, so I can't imagine they would have a problem with you challenging as an RN...there was an ED MD who trained at the same time for a volunteer position and he challenged as well. Worth checking into before you drop the money on EMT-B classes, but I will say that, yes, the mindset is very, very different and it would be worth your time...

Rehabilitation medical unit @ a medium-sized city hospital. I previously CNA floated at an inpatient rehab hospital...not really what I want to do but I'm so happy to have a job after six months of looking! If I didn't have that CNA experience I don't think they would have looked twice. As it is, they didn't even interview anyone else.... :-) OP, if you have any type of CNA experience I would think that would be helpful in getting hired per diem...also, this time of year I think employers/managers are willing to be more flexible r.e. new grad training because there are no "new grad" programs this time of year...so your trianing will be tailored to you specifically!

Like the above poster, I am a new grad who just got a per-diem job. I was hired partly because i had previous CNA experience in the same type of nursing...but they are willing to give me a full new-grad-type training experience. Even though I am a per-diem employee, I can train full time if i want to get that done sooner. They are having me work closely with the nurse educator to fill in any gaps not met by "new grad program" type training. If I had a child, i would try for a per diem position. You can self schedule all your training AND shifts, which is great.

You can list you BLS, and list all of your clinical experience. I just finished an ADN program and my list of clinical time actually ended up looking kind of impressive for a two-yr program. That said, still haven't found a job AND I have lots of work experience! just remember, your clinical experience counts, too. Did you do anything in high school? Baby sit, nanny, retail, anything? Under an "Other Experience" heading, you could list other things that you've done and how they've contributed to your work/people/organization skills and character...