CherryAmes_RN

I didn't. I thought about it my senior year of high school, but was holding out on coming across something more... "Fun..." Yeah right. Became an aide @ 18, went to nursing school @ 22. 10 years in healthcare & can't see myself doing anything other than taking care of people. It's what I'm good at & it's a decent paycheck, provides benefits. Not fun, but I'm not complaining

Are you putting a dry dsg over the xeroform? What about securing with a bunch of large tegaderms?

Wow. Ok, I'm not going to parrot what everyone else has already wisely told you- it's starting to sound like you really don't want the advice that you came here seeking. I am going to answer the question you posted in all caps up there... YES. It will. I worked at a SNF for about 2 years, no hospitals wanted a new grad when I came out of nursing school. I learned some of the extremely valuable skills that you've been told you can learn in those settings. I could've advanced into management if I wanted to. I opted to start applying to hospitals instead. I was hired at my first interview- from my first application. Because I brought something to the table. I'm on a telemetry unit, I now float to ICU & also do charge when needed. And just putting this out there, I'm a diploma nurse. Do not presume that something will be of no value to you unless you truly know it's value.

For narcs I use a 3ml syringe to draw it up, draw a couple of ml NS from a flush unless they've got fluids going & then I just push slow into the lowest port without disconnecting. Cardiac meds I draw up with a 3ml but inject that into a flush after getting rid of the appropriate amount of NS and LABEL it. Of course flush-push-flush if it's a lock.

We have a 71 BMW R60/5... A few old Hondas in various stages of disrepair. I've been wanting to pick up a nice little scooter to ride to & from work in the nice weather.

Very sad to hear. Sending positive thoughts into the universe.

Nike shox, always. They're pricey, but I only wear mine to work & they last about a year.

Wasn't an actual CNA, but was an aide or 5yrs before becoming an RN. Not require by any law that I have ever heard of, some schools do require it as a prerequisite. Don't know a think about the University of Washington. I personally feel that every RN (or LPN) should work as an aide prior to becoming a nurse. It helps develop bedside manner, feeling comfortable with patients who are feeling- uncomfortable, gets you over the yucky stuff (the poop, pee, blood, wounds, snot, dying people, dead people, etc), builds "customer service" skills, familiarizes with medical equipment/devices, gives some insight on the day to day things that are important in caring for patients with certain disease processes, gets you used to the culture of healthcare, teaches you to be a team member... Nursing assistants recognize & are forever grateful for the nurse that will toilet or help someone with the bedpan, change someone/help them change someone, help reposition someone, empty that foley or colostomy, set up that dinner tray, if time provides- feed someone... The patients & families see it & appreciate it too. Rant over. One more thing though...depending on which area she ends up working, there might not be an aide to do these things. Many ICU's are primary care, meaning the nurse does everything. Good luck to your girlfriend!

Oils from the neck/hair break down the tubing over time.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Its crazy & its demanding & its sad & it'll make you laugh & want to cry. It gets easier with time and then you'll have a minute or two to sit with your patients & realize how truly awesome these little old ladies & gents are. And if its not for you, its not for you.

Before becoming a nurse I was an aide at 2 seperate MH/MR facilities. Many of the patients had pica, 2 of my 3 stories involve this: 1. Resident with colostomy would constantly pull off his bag. One day I went in to awake him & help him get ready for class. I found him sitting up in bed, picking undigested carrots out of his colostomy bag like popcorn. 2. Two residents sitting on couch next to one another. Resident A has a large emesis, and as I get up to assist him, Resident B reaches over, grabs a handful of it, and slurps it out of his hand. 3. Female resident in her 20's would be inc. of BM, while on her menses & fingerpaint with the "mixture" on the wall, bed, and in her braids. 4. In clinicals on med surg, I go to do my very first solo dressing change. Remove bandages, maggots fall off of this mans leg, he proceeds to tell me that they "came from home." At this moment, his doc enters room & I ask him about it. He tells me to leave them in the wound bed. (I know that they are used for wound therapy, but really? How about getting some lab bred, sterile maggots!) I've seen a lot of gross stuff, but those are the only stories worth telling. Cheers!

mmm- sarris. i dont like crocs, but ill eat em all.

well im a little late in the game but ill share too anyone bipolar? why yes, yes i am. i was diagnosed with BP II at 18. i went through hell as a teenager, starting @ age 12. i saw a total of THIRTEEN different psychologists & psychiatrists. not a single one would listen or take me seriously, wouldnt take my very extensive family hx of MI into account, wouldnt even look @ my "mood journals" (that they suggested i keep) so i went in & out of doctors offices, refused to go, took the meds they threw @ me- the wrong meds for this disorder & also for my age & size (10mg valium QID for a 100# 13 y/o? ok!) that made me sicker & quit taking them everytime on my own, making me physically sick. finally, i found a doc that would listen, she diagnosed me & started me on depakote. it worked, i felt better, quit going. felt bad again, went back &/or found new doc because i was embarrassed... repeat as necessary x2yrs. finally i had enough & accepted that i needed help. now, i take my meds (depakote & PRN restoril), i go to my appts., i take care of myself & try to keep stress from getting to me. i have started to have anxiety like i havent experienced since i was a teen- im not quite sure why, but its something ill be addressing quite soon. i still have verymild cycling but its managable. my brain is not "normal," nor will it ever be & thats fine. im stable & im not a zombie, works for me. im not embarrassed, ive talked to a few people @ work about it... its not something i feel the need to disclose to an employer. i wouldnt have a problem to bring in a doctors "clearance" if an employer asked but i honestly dont think its any of their business. quite honestly, my IBS would effect my work performance 100x more than this ever will

yess, i have an unhealthy relationship with caffeine of all sorts... coffee, tea, sugar free red bull & diet pepsi. sorry, kidneys. since ive started my 1st nursing job, ive become a java monster & also require it on days off before doing anything involving interactions with other human beings. my tastes arent complicated... coffee @ home or gas station coffee? 16oz with soymilk/3 creamers & splenda. caribou coffee, starbucks or a local shop? venti/large cafe latte with soy milk & splenda. i am a big fan of a soy chai tea latte, but not to get me going. :heartbeat :hotchocolate:

I think I'm going to go into nursing, but I am hardheaded. no, this wouldnt be a problem in the nursing field. provided that you would be able to work as a team member. in the field (just as on this forum) when you ask for advice/opinions from a seasoned nurse, then become upset because you dont like their advice, it will blow up in your face. it shows a lack of willingness to learn, as well as a lack of respect. On the job, I have to be told more than once to do things, my attention to detail is not that strong. I tend to make mistakes, though not fatal errors usually. Do you think this might be a problem in the nursing field? I like to cut corners and do things that are easiest for me instead of going by policy. yes, all of these attributes would be a (huge & dangerous) problem in the nursing field, as well as in nursing school. instructors dont "pick on" weak or "different" individuals. they get paid to educate individuals & prepare them to become nurses... they will not ignore the fact that someone is resistant to education & guidance, unwilling to put forth the effort to pay attention to detail, cut corners & therefore makes mistakes (which in nursing could quite easily equate to fatal errors) nurses are responsible for paying attention to detail and doing the right thing the right way. if thats not something youre capable of, or willing to change about yourself, then no... nursing is not a good career choice for you.

absolutely not. i own my practice, as should everyone else.

I think the OP meant that the MD was verbally short (terse/curt) in speaking with him. JOJO beat me to it

after reading so many of yours, i feel comfortable sharing a few "experiences" ive had, and had shared with me, without you all thinking im crazy :dzed: ...in chronological order, present to past... i work at a SNF/rehab... i havent seen anything personally but one night one of my A&Ox3 guys was very upset/anxious. he told me a woman came into his room the previous night, he said that he thought she was a new CNA who didnt know he was independent for toileting, told her he didnt need @ which point she came closer- staring at him as her face became increasingly distraught. she then vanished. he described her to the housekeeper, the next person he saw. she said, "i know her, she used to work here." when he told me about this, i mentioned it to one of the CNAs on duty with me, who has worked there for about 10-15 years. she told me other people have seen this woman @ our facility, that the woman was restorative staff about 10 years ago & worked alot because her husband was abusive & she preferred overtime to going home to him. she murdered by her husband. the above experience by that resident led a bunch of us to talking. one of the nurses told me she was working 11-7 one night and that there was a married couple on one of the units. the wife passed away and about a week later, 2 nurses & a couple CNAs saw a woman in white go into the room that the couple were in. they started to walk down the hall to investigate, the call bell went off. when they got to the room, there was no woman but the man (the husband) had CTB. i live in a side by side duplex, across from a HUGE cemetary. since we moved in ive gotten "weird" feelings. one night i was trying to fall asleep in bed- my fiance was downstairs on the couch. one of my dogs was sleeping with me & he jumped out of bed & was staring in the hallway, which kind of roused me. then, i swear something pulled my hair. hard. it freaked me out, i tore down the stairs & promptly had an asthma attack because i was so freaked out. our neighbors (2 girls, 1 guy) moved in about 2yrs after we did. when they first moved in they asked if anything weird has happened, because the one girl had a really bad nightmare. she was walking to the guys room afterwards, he was already awake because he heard a scream... the 2nd girl was awake in her room, in between the 1st girl & the guys rooms- she heard nothing. my best friends younger brother, who was also my fiances best friend was killed last march. the following things have happened since then, i dont know if its related to him or not. our ipod docking station has turned on twice by itself (once to a track on the ipod, once to the radio). another time, we were sitting on the couch, and heard "at the next turn make a left, then turn right..." our freaking GPS turned itself on. from in a basket on the bottom shelf of the coffee table. the only thing that i truly believe was related to our friend, was a shooting star i saw one night, when i was outside talking to him a couple of months ago. i texted his mom & she told me she had seen one about an hour prior. i was an aide for individuals with MH/MR. one of my residents had a bowel obstruction, he perfed & was sent out but it was too late & he died. he was one of my favorites, he would hide my pen under the couch. he also had pica & would get on the ground if you werent looking to pick up lint. there was this one block that he always picked out of the bin, he didnt try to eat it but he would mouth it & roll it in his hand over and over. after he passed, i started nursing school & was working 11p-3p on the weekends. at about 1a i would start cleaning, there were a couple times where i would look @ the floor & note that it needed swept, go on to dust & when i got the sweeper, all the lint was gone. i found "his" block under the bed that he used to have on multiple occasions. and wouldnt you know, my i lost my pen & found it under the couch (that i never sat on) @ least once a weekend. when i was a teenager, i spent many nights awake in my room. i would hear childrens voices- playing, singing- coming from the vent that led to the basement. im bipolar & i started to have symptoms in my teen years, so i never told my mom about the voices because i was afraid she would think it was psych related. (ive been diagnosed & stable on meds since i was about 18)... well when i was about 22, my aunts friend came for thanksgiving & he was talking about ghosts & stuff. he said he felt a "strong presence of children" and asked if he could take pictures in our basement. no lie, he was a weirdo & i do think he was full of it BUT if he didnt bring this stuff up, my mom wouldnt have ever told me that she used to sometimes hear children playing as she fell asleep. oh & by the way, we found an old headstone in the backyard- it probably was stolen from a cemetary but hey... an aside, its interesting to me... alot of my pts do talk about kids. one in particular has gotten herself in a tizzy a few times because of it- "what are we going to do with all these children?!"... i just figured that she thought the other oldies were children, but after reading all these stories about "the children," im not so sure.

you cannot be denied a schooling, a license, or a job for a diagnosis. theres not a list. tips: stay on your meds & see your doc as needed... take care of yourself- sleep, eat healthfully, find something positive to help you decompress. as far as drug testing, as long as you have a current script you should be fine (i dont know if lamictal would show up, but its not something schools/emmployers would be concerned about)

if the pt is their own responsible party, we tell them... myself, i always explain the N/O with rationale & make sure they understand. and document, document, document! something like... N/O: cipro 500mg PO BID x 7days, res. own responsible party & informed of N/O. res. verbalized understanding of ABT therapy as tx for UTI OR... N/O cipro 500mg PO BID x 7days. res. own responsible party & informed of N/O. res. agreeable however is unable to verbalize understanding of ABT therapy despite education"

responding to the OP... i work at a SNF/rehab & have recently been assigned a steady hall on the acute rehab unit. i work 3p-1130p (1130 if im lucky )... i have 25 patients. 99.999% of the time, when one is discharged on 7-3 i get one on 3-11. (we have no computers- paper charting & paper admission packets. good times.) besides my 2 med-passes & the "easier treatments..." staples, sutures, oxygen & nebs... narcotics... heres some other stuff to keep me busy- my patients "this month" have... 11 blood sugars (with sliding scales... about 4 also get lantus @ HS) 2 woundvacs 1 external fixator 4 PICCs- 2 with IVABT 1 colostomy 1 urostomy 2 foleys 2 casts 1 recently graduated from a halo to a miami j 3 dialysis caths 2 AV fistulas as a new nurse, im definitely learning time management i know alot of people think itll be hard to get into a hospital- that we dont getting med-surg experience @ facilities like this. i didnt see half of this stuff when i was on clinicals in the hospital. i did 150hrs in the ICU & loved it & ultimately do hope to end up there. but my orifice this isnt good experience! (as an aside... for my 1st 3months working here, i floated & spent most of my time on the long term units- those are crazy too. still 25pts... less narcs, less IVs, more confusion... wounds (some woundvacs), colostomies, GTs with bolus/continuous feedings, trachs, SP caths, etc.

wish i could... again, not qualified & also have to work for $

nope. i work at a SNF/rehab & i believe that theyre policy says as long as the tattoos isnt offensive or vulgar, its ok. im a RN with 1/2 sleeves & forearm tattoos that will eventually be full sleeves. as far as piercings, i dont think were supposed to have facial. i have my septum & flip it up while im @ work but other nurses & CNAs have their nostrils, monroes... no problem there either. i have 1" lobes & 2gauge conches & they dont care about those either.

i LOVE my shox. they took a couple days to break in, but didnt hurt my feet in that period. now, my feet feel awesome while at work AND when i come home. my fiance bought them @ lady footlocker, with the "special" insoles they offer, for about 140$... totally worth it!

hmm... my employer doesnt give holiday pay til youve been there 90 days. im so glad i started in october, worked thanksgiving & am scheduled for christmas & probably new years too. (batman25, i :redbeathe your screen name... i have a batman tattoo & just made my appt. for batgirl & robin to join him)