Indus

I disagree with having to get a BSN, at least for bedside nursing. And I'm having some trouble with typing a response because, until I work alongside a BSN, new or experienced, who is 'better', 'more knowledgeable', 'a better nurse' (or whatever phrase you choose)...than someone without a BSN, I'll not agree with the BSN as an entry level for a bedside nurse. I went to a ADN program, and just retired after 43 years of nursing, almost all critical care. I've been hearing of 'making a BSN entry level' since 1972, while working for the VA system in New York. I feel nurses who do bedside care can be up to date, improve their skills, etc., with certifications and seminars, and working in an environment that stresses learning. I've been fortunate to always work in such an environment. I went back to school (after 17 years) and was lucky to attend a university that accepted all my non nursing credits, and also let me test out of other subjects. It was for a BS degree, but not in nursing, but I was unable to complete it due to the stresses of working full time and being a single parent. When I was entering my 50's I toyed with the idea of getting my BSN, but as someone mentioned you have to consider taking out those large loans when you're nearing retirement. And schools will not accept credits that are 8-10 years old or more. I did not want to spend $200-$400 per credit or more to go back to school, esp. with kids going to college. As someone else mentioned above, if they are seriously considering this, then they need to reduce or eliminate the ADN programs, and figure out a way for making it more affordable.

I enjoyed the books by Echo Heron. Oldies I still have in hard back is 'Head Nurse' by Barbara Villet, and 2 books by Peggy Anderson: 'Children's Hospital' and 'Nurse'. Others: 'A Nurses Story' by Tilda Shalof, 'Officer, Nurse, Woman: The Army Nurse Corps in the Vietnam War' by Kara Dixon Vuic..... On my to read list: 'Five Days at Memorial' by Sheri Fink

I have Fibromyalgia. It was diagnosed over 12 years ago. I have not missed one day of work from it. Have been a nurse for almost 43 years. Studies have been documented that what Fibro patients feel, in regard to pain, is real. Recent studies include how the brain processes pain signals, and also skin reception to pain. I have had the tender spots all over, and have had them for over 35 years, and my docs never knew what they were. My husband says they feel like little rounded up tootsie rolls to him. I just lived with them. They don't bother me unless they're pushed on. I have pains and aches all over, they come and go, some last longer than others. They're never severe enough for me to need any kind of medications. I have lots of symptoms that make up the Fibro syndrome, some for over 30-35 years....never knew what it all meant till diagnosed...IBS, sleeping issues, mild intermittent depression, minor balance issues, itchy skin/unexplained small rash areas, etc. When I got diagnosed with my sleep apnea, the sleep study (the part where your head is hooked up to the electrodes to monitor your sleep cycles) showed how my sleep cycles are all reversed....cycles that should be longer are short, and vice versa....So I had sleep apnea and another issue going on ..... I believe it's real... It's hard sometimes not to judge. Why do I not feel as bad as others with FM do? When I was first diagnosed, I was working with a girl younger than me, who I saw doing stretching exercises throughout the day. I asked her why, and she said she had Fibro. She said she woke up every day at 4:30am to get to the gym before work. She said that people with Fibro have to move, and keep moving!! She said if you stop being active, it's the worse thing for Fibro...and I believe her to be correct. So I try to keep active. I treat symptoms that bother me (i.e. IBS) with OTC's as needed. I know my body, and know what things cause it to 'flare up'. An exhausting day at work makes me ache all over. I make sure I get enough rest, and the next morning I feel much better....I had docs that didn't want to put me on meds right away, and I decided I didn't want to take more meds, as I'm on meds for degenerative arthritis (all over), and other health issues. I guess I've been lucky, and lived with it so long, I just deal with it, and try not to make it take over my life.

Hi! Pediatrics > Medical ICU Stepdown > ENT/General Surgery > Cardiac/Gen Surg > Surgical ICU > Respiratory ICU > Adult ER > Pediatric ER/Level 1 Trauma > Infusion/Home Health > Pediatric Cardiac Surgery ICU > Cardiac Cath Lab > EP Lab > ICU > Cardiac Cath Lab/EP Lab (current) I've worked almost 42 years full time, the longest in Cath Lab/EP Lab and dedicated EP Lab. While I have enjoyed all of my career, and have worked with excellent staff, the best of times were in the Pediatric ER and the Cath Labs. I've had to 'semi' retire last October due to health issues, and will fully retire this fall! Best of Luck to All!

Love the posts! I was a Pediatric Nurse for many of my years in nursing! I started in Peds as a new grad, and I was lucky to have two very experienced Peds nurses from nearby Peds hospitals to help me get on my feet. I returned to Peds again in the early 80's....in a Peds Level 1 Trauma ER....and this I did for 10 years, in 2 different hospitals...then I finally went to a Peds Cardiac Surgical ICU...I've had some wonderful and some unusual Peds critical care experiences as many of you have had....and it will always be my favorite place to work.....unfortunately many times working in such areas, I also experienced lack of breaks, meals, and extra long hours....esp. the ICU... To those who are afraid to work in such areas, try it with a strong preceptor for a few weeks! I loved it, and wish it was an area I could go back into now!

hi! 1. what is your degree in? i have an adn degree, from '71; have additional 33 credits towards bs/physics, but never completed. have been a full time nurse since '71. 2. what state do you live in? california 3. what is your job title? currently: staff nurse, cath lab 4. how much do you make an hour? $53.50/hr; plus 'on call' (time and a half if called in); ot 5. how much do you make a year? last year i was on disability for part of the year, but the year before that i made over $128,000 6. what do you like about your job? patient teaching, using critical care skills, teamwork, learning something new most days, technical things i need to know 7. what don't you like about your job? being 'on call' has been tough at my age, some days you could be at work 16 hours or more; the stress; nurses not always respected by the medical staff; all the new changes come from cms, jacho, etc....that are ridiculous and unnecessary, but somehow will put money in someone's pocket; dealing with nurses on other units who show no pride or interest in their work, and don't want to put anything extra into their job!

I'm working in a lab now that has 1 RN and 2 rad techs on a team. That means that the RN circulates, 1 RT scrubs at the table, and the other monitors. At my previous jobs, the teams could have 2 RN's and 1 RT. So we often could have an RN documenting. The person on the monitor charted everything, including meds/treatment/patient changes, etc... the RN would call out. All staff, including the RT's, at my previous jobs, did an outstanding job with documentation. Current: the RN's chart their meds and anything they feel is pertinent (i.e. change in patient status, O2, notifying the MD about something, etc)... I find I document as much as I can, and be as thorough as I can. The RT's will only chart items pertinent to their job! Some don't keep an eye on the monitor like they should, some are not focused, some don't even care/know how to properly put on a BP cuff! When the doc is done with the chart, and it's sitting in the control room...guess who has to go get it??? Don't mean to gripe....but I see changes that need to be done, and it goes nowhere....

I'm not allergic to any meds, but tell whomever, that I'm sensitive to Erythromycin...with my IBS, in the past, it plays havoc with my gut for 1-2 months! I do have an allergy to curry though. After eating curry for the first time, my nose, lips, and tongue swelled up! I actually don't even like the smell of it anymore....it starts to make me nauseous...not sure if the nausea is in my 'head' or if it's the start of an allergic response. The thing is, curry is made of several different ingredients, and can be different from one restaurant to the next...

Hi Angel! I'm a cath lab nurse. Holding areas for the Cath Lab can vary from one hospital to another. Some hospitals have a permanent staff for their Cath Lab Holding area, some places rotate their nurses. Where I work, nurses used to rotate through there on a daily basis, but it was recently changed. Now we have 1 permanent charge nurse who always stays in the holding area. If she is extremely busy, she will also have the 'on call' RN for that day in there with her. We also try to keep 1 Rad Tech in there to help out. The nurse(s) organize and maintain the cath lab schedule, receive the patients, check all the necessary items on the chart, enter the patient in the Cath Lab computer with all the necessary data (labs, nursing care plan(standardized), IV's, VS, etc....), checks the IV they arrive with, checks the ID band, makes sure the patient understands what he's having done, check labs/enter labs or other into the computer, etc.... If the patient is an inpatient, or a transfer, then we also start or connect IVF to an exisiting IV, check pulses, look over medications the patient received/or not, for the day, as well as the above. If the patient is for an implant such as a PPM or ICD, we also have to shave and prep their chest, make sure the IV is on the side for the implant, start their antibiotics, place on the zoll pads, place the Bovie pad (cautery), mix the irrigation meds, pre teaching re: implant, etc. We have a 5 room holding area, though at times we've had up to 7-8 in there...not safe! We also hold admits who are waiting for a bed, who might have had a stent placed, or an implant done. If the person is from the CCU, then they come directly into the cath lab room, and then go directly back to the CCU post procedure. If the person is on isolation, they also do the same. We don't keep any isolation patients in the holding room at any time. We also pull arterial and/or venous sheaths in the holding room. If we have a very heavy schedule, then we can't pull sheaths in the labs. This would hold up turn over for the next case. So the extra Rad Tech, or the extra nurse would be the one pulling sheaths. We have an older monitoring system in the holding room, but it works ok...we monitor the patients needing to spend some time in there as protocol (i.e. Q15 mins VS post sedation,etc) Hope this helps! Indus

I've been working in nursing for 39 years. I've had wonderful experiences, worked with great nurses and supervisors. But now, at almost 59, I'm looking forward to retiring. I will retire at 62, even if it means downsizing, selling my home, and moving. I won't subject my body and health to anymore physical wear and tear. I won't deal with all the nonsense coming down from administration anymore. I won't deal with co-workers who don't want to do what's best for the patient, who won't 'be 100% safe' and slow down in moving patients in and out of a specialty lab....because administration thinks the more patients we do the better, etc........I'm sorry to say I don't like or agree with a lot of changes I'm seeing in nursing. (another subject!) Yes, I'll retire as a nurse. I'm hoping my health will hold out until I'm 62. Unfortunately, I may have to medically retire before 62, because 'you can't work light duty or reduced daily hours in a critical care/specialty lab area'....

Drumwidow, Wow, you have been through a lot!! I hope life gets better for you, and you find some relief from all the pain. My husband deals with chronic pain all day, and he had to medically retire. After I read some of the posts, like yours, I consider myself lucky! Please take care and keep us posted as to how your doing. Indus!

S: Thanks for the post, and I'll fill you in on things after I get to see the ortho doc! Yes, I do have short term disability, as well as long term disability. Not to get off the topic, but when I was working at another hospital, they refused me long term disability because they said 'Fibromyalgia was a progressive disease' !!! Yet at this job there was not problem at all getting the long term disability as one of my benefits! (And another: I was refused by my health insurance 3 years ago to get a dexascan to check for osteoporosis, as they said 'family history is not risk factor'.....well, my maternal grandmother had it severe, my mom has it, and 2 of my 3 younger sisters have it, and the other younger sister has osteopenia. One of my sisters is a Down's Syndrome with the osteoporosis, and she's already had 2 fractures in her thoracic vertebrae!) Anyway, I'll keep you posted! And thank you again! Indus

I was diagnosed in the mid 90's with Adult ADD after attending several years of family/individual therapy with my son, who had/has ADHD. And after attending a couple of conferences on Adult ADD, it sure sounded like me. I'm not on meds, had only a brief trial many years back. I also have FM and Sleep Apnea, so I'm not sure when those symptoms end or begin and the ADD kicks in. I find as I get older, the symptoms are more pronounced. It takes me longer to do things also, and I feel I have to concentrate more and structure my 'environment' more in caring for my patient. I've done this for years, and now my supervisor noted it on my evaluation (but not in a bad way). Thanks for your posts! I'm glad I'm not the only one out here dealing with some of this.

I have been reading all these posts related to FM, I thought I'd add my '2 cents' worth. :twocents: About 11 years ago, after moving to my current location, I had a very bad respiratory viral illness. I missed 3 weeks of work, had 3 courses of antibiotics. Several months later I started with fatigue, unable to concentrate at work, weight gain, etc. I also had lots of aches and pains. The docs couldn't 'figure it out'. About 5 years ago, after talking to the NP at my docs office, she concluded I had FM, and placed that on my chart. Of course, that didn't make dealing with it any easier. I also have other issues that go with FM: IBS, Sleep apnea (recently diagnosed). I've been lucky. I've continued to work, though some days I feel like going home and curling up on the couch under a blanket. I have to deal mostly with the Fibro fog, inability to concentrate, fatigue, and of course the pains and aches. I've gained 60 lbs over the last several years because I've been unable to exercise. I now know that having Sleep apnea may have contributed to some of this. Work takes all my energy. My pain has not been near as bad as some of you as I read these post. I have not missed a day of work because of the FM. As someone posted, we all have individual and specific symptoms of FM we deal with, at different levels. I too hear lots of skepticism related to FM. I try to explain to anyone who may be interested some of the ideas of what causes the symptoms we have. I try very hard at work to stay focused, concentrate, so that I don't create problems for me or my patients. I find however, as I get older, it gets a bit more difficult. I wish you all the best! Keep posting, these messages serve as a source of comfort and knowledge for us who come here. Indus

Hi, I've been thinking of taking a NICU job, due to issues I'll mention below, but all of them want experience. I have lots of Peds experience from years back. And would love to work with the NICU babies. I'm currently working as a Cath Lab nurse, and have been doing this the past 18 years. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia about 5 years ago after many years of symptoms. However, I've been able to work, the only issue really effecting my work was the fatigue. I've had osteoarthritis in various joints for years, but was told about 5 years ago my arthritis got worse. Was having lots of pain in both knees and right hip. Was having problems bending knees and sleeping on right hip due to pain. Had several courses of cortisone in both knee joints and right hip joint. Was put on Celebrex 1x/day. That helped me till recently. Four years ago, at work, I badly broke my shoulder/rt humeral head into 3 pieces, linear fracture of humerus, broken displaced clavicle and severe soft tissue injury to rt elbow. My orthopedic doctor played it conservative, and with much (7 months) of physical therapy and early immobilization, I recovered! I do have some very slight residual pain (chronic tendonitis), but very little limitations with it. Last fall, after having several episodes of SOB, my primary sent me to a pulmonary doc, and after a sleep study, found I had sleep apnea! So since February I've been on BiPap. So far I'm still not feeling that 'wow' feeling like I did on my 2nd sleep study where I was tested on my mask and woke up feeling wide awake and rested. So I'm still dealing with the fatigue and sleepiness. Then the end of March my arthritis in my knees and right hip flared up. My doc took me off Celebrex for a short period, and put me on Prednisone for 2 weeks, which I hated, too many side effects. Got set of knee xrays. Brought them to my doc, he looked at them and said 'You're going to need knee surgery!'.... I'm still waiting to see an ortho doc ( long story). So, here I am, wondering what's going to happen if I need knee surgery/replacement. I'm the main bread winner, my husband is medically retired. I can not see myself returning to cath lab after knee replacement surgery (if that's what is needed). I'm already having problems getting through the day, with the knee pain. I've had coworkers taking my call, to reduce my standing and working too long. If I switch jobs now, I'm not sure if I can pass a physical with this knee issue. And then I would have to take time off from a new job if I have surgery. So I'm thinking I need to stay put right now. But it is affecting my job in ways, as well as my paycheck. I'm hoping I get good news from the ortho doc..... Anyway, sorry to ramble, but thanks for listening/reading! I'll have to keep checking back here to see how everyone is doing. Oh, and I don't have a BS degree. So teaching, or supervisory jobs, etc. are not open to me. Thanks!