really

Off the top of my head, my inclination was to say it's unilateral, but I decided to look a little further. From Barker's text on Neuroscience Nursing (pg. 505): "Right-sided nerve involvement is found twice as often as left-sided involvement and rarely bilaterally. This disorder is characterized by sudden, severe, electric shock-like or stabbing pain, typically felt on one side of the jaw or cheek." So, I guess the answer to your question is it's typically one-sided, but rarely it can be bilateral. Hope that helps. Just curious, what were the other options? Sounds like it was a bad question, unless she specifically addressed the "sidedness" of the disorder.

http://www.nursesbooks.org/Main-Menu/Certification/ANCC-Resources/Medical-Surgical-Nurse-Review.aspx It's a comprehensive overview of Medical-Surgical nursing. I will keep it for reference for sure because it really is a great text. No offense meant to anyone regarding not having reviewed for the test. I didn't physically have the time to review given the fact that I work two jobs, have two small kids, along with about a million other things. I wasn't patting myself on the back, just trying to reassure anyone who takes it that it's pretty straight forward (unlike other certification exams I've taken).

I just sat for my AACN Med-Surg cert last week and it was pretty straight forward. I didn't study at all and did just fine. Of course, i'm teaching pharm to ADN students and do a lot of disease/patho review before starting certain classes of meds so that was review in itself. A lot of what was in the AACN certification text was not really on the test, but it's a good reference to have if you don't mind spending the money. Don't go crazy buying other review materials...it will be a waste of your money. I did it because I've begun to teach and I think that the letters look good on the syllabus - adds to credibility. It didn't get me anything in the way of a wage increase at work (I'm a floor nurse too), just a pat on the back from my boss and a little blurb published in the quarterly nursing mag. It may help to distinguish me from other candidates should I choose to pursue another position, but that's not in my near future. If you're feeling ambitious and think the review will help you brush up your knowledge, go for it. Check with your facility because they may pay for it! Good luck!!

Thanks to all who replied. Believe it or not, I was floated to our transplant unit (livers/kidneys) just a few nights after I posted this. It's definitely a very different discipline...the labs, meds, etc. are all very specialized, just as neuro has it specialized areas of knowledge, I guess. I'm sure I would find it interesting. Never got a call back on the job I applied for. Seems to be the case...jobs are scarce. I'll continue to ride it out, pray I don't get too abused and keep my eyes open for something different!

I just had a repeat C in September. Policy in the hospital was 18g. The nurse that started my IV did a little numbing with lido and she put it in my right forearm. I am a TOTAL BABY about IVs, but this was a piece of cake! Thank the dear lord for lidocaine!

Background: I have worked as a neuro nurse for the last 4.5 years (with a little N(eonatal)ICU stint thrown in the middle). I have been spit, hit, kicked, nearly bitten, scratched, etc. by poor, scared souls who aren't in their right minds and I've had enough. :angryfire Additionally, there are management issues where I am currently that leave many of us nervous about our future livelihood. Being the soul breadwinner in my family, I can't stand the stress of the threat to my employment. Not to mention, the stress is negatively impacting our nursing care, but I don't see a change in site. So, I recently started talking with a friend about a Transplant Coordinator position, which I really think I would be interested in. There is one available, but they require experience with transplant, which I do not have. Miraculously, a transplant nursing position just opened up at a facility much closer to my home. I'm wondering what the work is like. How heavy are the patients (I'm used to total care - trach, peg, flaccid, incontinent, etc.)? How challenging are the patients (I'm used to people being totally disoriented requiring frequent contact to help them feel secure)? Can you actually communicate with your patients and can they do things for themselves? Any information would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!!