lookingabove313

Thank you all for your support and encouraging words! It's a relief to know that there are others who have felt the same way and got through it! :-) I live in the Memphis area and all the nurses I've talked to have 6-8 patients. There's a real nursing shortage, but the funds are low and the hospitals can't afford to hire nurses. It's a vicious cycle. My love is L&D so I'm really praying I nail that interview in a couple of weeks! They only have 2 patients and I love OB. Anyway, thanks again - it's a new day!!

I feel like such a dummy! I will have my BSN in 2 weeks and this summer I have been taking my leadership/management clinical. I need 180 clinical hours and I have total patient care of 6 patients. Every shift I leave feeling defeated. This past shift I forgot to give an IV medication and fortunately my nurse preceptor saw that it hadn't been given and it was just 2 hrs late. What if she hadn't been there? I forgot to flush a central line too...I was late on my accu checks. It terrifies me that I'LL be the real nurse in a matter of WEEKS! I'm so paranoid about screwing up that I literally psych myself out. :-( I was discharging a patient and removed her wrist IV. She was wearing her bath robe and I asked her if she had any others IVs...I know now to NEVER take the patient's word and to check myself because the floor got a call a 1 hr later and she still had a hep well in her upper arm! I feel like such a failure!!! I want to be a good nurse, but at the moment, I'm doing good just to leave them breathing about 12 hours. I feel like I'm a chicken running around with its neck cut off! Please, I need some encouragement. I'm so afraid. I am utterly overwhelmed and paranoid about messing up.

My patient has a hemothorax due to a gunshot wound. These are my three ND and I need to know if I have them in the right priority. thanks! IMPAIRED GAS EXCHANGE r/t ventilation-perfusion imbalance aeb blood carbon dioxide level of 55. ACUTE PAIN r/t recent injury aeb patient report of pain being a 7 on a 7-10 pain scale and visible discomfort on face. DEFICIENT FLUID VOLUME r/t blood in pleural space aeb increased pulse rate of 112 while resting and a BUN level of 30. Also, he has a minor infection at the wound site (minimal purulent drainage) along with a 100.8 fever but I figured it wasn't important enough to make it to the top 3 ND. What do you think?

I am about to finish my first semester of nursing school but I have to complete a care plan evaluation before I do and I haven't gotten a "satisfactory" yet! I have a question about the actual format of the care plan. Do the outcomes have to come out of the book? I have been using outcomes from the book and making them measurable/specific, etc, to my patient but then she said that I did not mention how I was going to lower the HgB/HCT levels. (patient had anemia/renal failure) I'm not sure where that should go or how to implement it. I also have a hard time with priorities. I know that ABC's come first and then pain but beyond that, I need help. This is really stressing me out. My instructor gave up a brief lecture on how to construct CP's back in early september and I still feel like I'm just now starting to get the hang of it. I have 48 hrs to complete this one and it's my last shot. Please help! btw, the book I use to get my outcomes/interventions/rationales is a nursing diagnosis handbook, authored by Ackley.