Katie803

Hey, we must be in the some of the same classes! PM me your name, I bet we know each other. OB and Peds isn't bad, I actually liked Mrs. Stokes (though sometime she can space out on you) Mrs. Ciuca is...stern, to say the least. Just do your pre-clinical stuff, and for god sakes don't forget ANYTHING about lochia!! The peds clinicals are fun, I loved my kid so much I still keep in touch with her mom. And OB was actually cool too, just remember the women aren't mad at you when they are yelling, they are mad at their significant others lol

Unfortunately, they usually don't post the specific teacher's sections until after registration, and you have to register AS SOON AS IT OPENS! I mean seriously, have everything you want picked out and ready to go, then when it opens at 8:00 am, be clicking on submit at 8:00 and ten seconds. They may have Mrs. Horn or Mrs. Mays as the lecture teachers, but there is no guarantee you will get them for clinicals. I think when I did fundamentals Mrs. Horn taught clinicals in the lower number sections. I would highly suggest just picking a class time that is good for you and keep your fingers crossed. Try to see if Mrs. Horn or Mays is registered as the lecture teacher and that will increase your chances. All the teachers are good, and don't let the horror stories about Ms. Murray scare you. She is a little strict, but she is nice and a damn good teacher. You WILL know your stuff. She is only strict because she wants you to put forth your best effort and learn QUICKLY from your mistakes. And if she does anything that intimidates you, just let her know. I am not a shy person and I realized after about 3 classes that the other girls were afraid to ask her to listen in with them on the double stethoscope to make sure they were auscultating in the right place because they didn't want her to react negatively. She was out of the room at the time and I told the other girls to watch how it was done. She came back in and I walked right up to her and said, "Do you think you could listen in with us? Some of us are a little concerned and we want to make sure we are doing it right.' She was very nice about it and listened in with everyone. Then after class I waited until everyone left and told her that while she was a good teacher she sometimes came off as a little intimidating. She seemed surprised and told me she hadn't realized that she came off that way, then in the next class told us to speak up about anything we didn't know and if she was being ****** to put her in check! She is actually pretty nice, but she was in the military for a long time and used to doing being authoritative. Good luck and keep us updated!

IMPORTANT UPDATE: The amount of support from the people who have read this was overwhelming and GREATLY encouraged me. I am back in clinicals now, having just started back to where I left off this semester. Everything is going wonderfully, and I am pleased to inform you all that when it came time for the dosage quiz, I passed on the first try with a score of 105, meaning I got everything right including the bonus questions! It took the full year, but it was worth the wait. In the meantime, my husband and I have mended our marriage. He realizes now that while he was supportive of me emotionally, he was lacking in the "physical" aspect. By this I mean taking our daughter off or being in charge while I locked myself in my room and studied, taking care of dinner, and picking up around the house (though his definition of cleaning and mine seem to be very different lol). My family has also stepped up in their support. I have always been very independent, to the point of being just plain stubborn sometimes. They offered to help before by babysitting and such, but I would politely decline and tell them that I could handle it. But now when they offer I accept and use the time proactively to do ANYTHING school related. I guess we all want to be superman/woman, but last year's experience taught me that I do NOT have superpowers, even though my daughter seems to think I do. She can't figure out how I make all of her toys magically disappear into her toybox, nor how I always seem to know when she has done something wrong even when I am nowhere to be seen. I also learned something very interesting on my first day back to class. After the lecture I went up to my teacher to express my concerns about the quiz and explain the situation from last go round. But before I could do more than introduce myself, she knew exactly who I was and why I was walking up to her. She is the same teacher I had last time for lecture and remembered me, a little too well I thought. Strange. But she proceeded to tell me that last year when I got the test grade from "Ms Jones" (I will use anonymous names for the teachers for this story) she had actually been outside the room while I was crying and begging for some kind of sympathy. Ms. Jones was very indifferent to my pleas, even a little disinterested. I was put off by her callous reaction and said to her "You know, I wanted to do Nursing because it is a field of compassion and caring, but your attitude towards my situation really cuts me to the core. It makes me think that if I am going to get to the point where I react the way you have, cold and indifferent, that maybe I should rethink my career choice". What can I say? I was devastated, angry, and very upset by her unsympathetic attitude. I left the room sobbing and "Ms. Doe" (my lecture teacher) stuck her head in and asked what was going on. Ms. Jones very non-chalantly told her that I was making up excuses, trying to blame it on my social life and my nervous breakdown in the test room. Ms. Doe was a little put off by her attitude as well and decided to look into the situation a little further. She spoke with several of my past teachers who were upset about what happened and all told her how good of a student I was, and how they didn't understand why I failed when it was VERY unlike me. They took it to the director (the same one who told me I was incompetent, and yes I know she didn't really mean it in a derogatory way) and told her that they didn't believe that it was due to my lack of effort or understanding. The director told them it was out of her hands, that the only thing to do at that point was take it up with the school board. They had a meeting and several of my past teachers and some teachers I hadn't even had yet showed up to speak on my behalf. They argued that the test question about the grains wasn't fair because of the directions to round up to the nearest hundredth, not whole number, so it was unclear that it was supposed to be rounded up. Even though it is common sense that unless it was a pretty big pill giving 0.8 might be impossible, it could still be viewed as a trick question and it wasn't really fair. They brought up the point that the answer I gave, while technically incorrect, was not an unsafe dose, nor was the drug unsafe (it was some kind of vitamin supplement). They argued that I had not been given a chance to review my previous tests, something that is MANDATORY for the teachers to do. The board agreed with them on some points and disagreed on others, but came to the conclusion that it must be a unanimous vote to allow me another chance and the opportunity to come back. All voted yes except one. Can you guess? Yep. Ms. Jones. My teachers were outraged. They didn't understand why Ms. Jones was being the way she was. She didn't know me, had never had any personal interactions with me, and had only ever talked to me once before for something completely unrelated. I had not been rude or impolite nor had ever given her any reason to dislike me. So why the animosity? My teachers went back to the director and expressed their concerns that I was being treated unfairly, and even the director agreed it was a little strange. So they launched an investigation. They discovered that the teacher had not only not shown the previously failed tests to me, but 3 other girls were in the same position. But some girls had been shown their tests. So why not us? A little more research brought something shocking to light. The teacher, a black woman, had helped all of the black students. But not the white ones. BEFORE I CONTINUE, PLEASE DON'T THINK I AM TELLING THIS STORY TO START A RACE ISSUE!! I AM NOT, BUT THIS HAPPENED AND IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT IT HAPPENS TO ANYONE OF ANY RACE!!The teachers were stunned and very upset. Ms. Jones got into a lot of trouble and faced some serious consequences of her actions.

For pharm you should be able to choose your teacher. I had Mrs. Kennedy and I aced it. Her tests are EXACTLY what is in her study guides. BUT DO NOT TAKE IT ONLINE IF YOU CAN HELP IT! It's a lot of busy work. I didn't even use my book but 1 time for pharm and that was something I just wanted to look up on my own. Good luck!

yeah, sorry, accidentally pressed send before I was done. I agree though. Please see my revised answer above

Geez! what a can of worms this has opened! I think that anyone going for Nursing should choose whether to go for an ADN at a CC or a BSN at a University BASED ON THE CREDENTIALS OF THE COLLEGE, THE PERCENTAGE OF THOSE PASSING THE NCLEX OF EITHER COLLEGE, AND THE OPINIONS OF LOCAL HR REPS WHO WILL BE HIRING YOU! For example, in SC (where I live), there are two colleges to choose from close to me, one with a BSN and one with an ADN. Both are good colleges with excellent curriculum options and pass rates. However, the BSN program, while good in it's own right, focuses more on the management and delegation aspect of Nursing whereas the ADN program at the CC is more focused on the clinical, hands on aspect. The CC with the ADN has a higher pass rate on the NCLEX, and every HR rep I've spoken with at the 4 major hospitals in my area agree that if given a choice between the newly graduated RN from the local ADN program and the newly graduated RN from the local BSN program, they will pick the one from the ADN program because they are aware of the CC's higher focus on clinical experience. Please keep in mind this is what they told me based on the assumption that their options are two people who are freshly graduated, have no working experience in a hospital other than school, and no other medically educated background, so don't come back and say "well what if the BSN RN has a phlebotomy certification, would they still pick the ADN RN?". The ADN program at the CC here is just higher rated and has a better NCLEX pass rate than the BSN at the university. Most people where I live get their ADN from the CC and go back for their BSN at the university, or they do most of their clinicals and then transfer. And yes, even though most places prefer to hire someone with a BSN, around here EVERYONE knows the local ADN program's reputation and I have never met someone locally whose ADN held them back from getting the job they wanted. Everyone has different preferences, financial needs, and home situations that may affect their decision, but in the end it should be the college's pass rates and statistics that should be a key factor in their decision (in my opinion anyway). And who knows? Maybe whoever reading this lives in a place where the BSN program is better, or maybe the ADN program is better. CC is not a lower status place for dumb people. That's very derogatory to assume and you should stand up and say so if it offends you. I am proud to go to a CC. I'm proud to be in college period. If you would have met me ten years ago, you would never think I'd be going to college. And I do plan to go back to get my BSN after a few years in the field. That way I will be well prepared from my education (at my HIGHLY rated CC) and my experience in practice. Not to mention I will only have to go a few semesters more vs 4 years. If I didn't go ahead and get my Pre-Nursing certification (another thing I HIGHLY recommend) I would only have to do 5 semesters at the CC and 4 (maybe its 5? got to double check that) more at the University. That's less time than going straight through the 4 year program. But once again, that is up to you. Don't let others look down on you for your decision if you go to a CC, they don't know your situation and you might be in the position where your local CC's ADN program is better academically. And don't let them tell you that you are unwise to choose the BSN over the ADN either. It may be the better choice for you. BUT I do agree that even if you do go for your ADN that it would be a smart move to eventually get your BSN. Everyone is going to have to get one eventually from what I hear and the more education you can get, the better. That's why you chose to go to college in the first place, right? P.S. Rumor has it the the University in my area is going to stop accepting fresh students and will only accept transferring students from a CC or returning ADN students because their program's success rate isn't making the grade (no pun intended). So take that people who look down on ADN Nurses who graduated from community college! lol jk :rotfl:

I know sometimes dr's will teach family how to give injections, have you learned this yet? this is a certain technique to it, otherwise it could have uncomfortable results for your grandma. or maybe you have experience from another place? if she insists that you give it, then thats up to you, but just remember that you have to be careful. Is there a 24 pharmacy around you? maybe they can help. Or if she went to the ER, you can call them and explain the situation and they should be able to help. another thing to try if your grandma got it from her dr's office is to call and see if they have an after hours nurse or dr on call. Just because the pharmacy where she got it filled is closed doesn't mean that you are out of options until they reopen. Try to do whatever you can to find the answer, if her dr feels IM antibiotics are the only way to go then she needs to start them as soon as she can and finish them up instead of stopping before the med is out just because she feels better. Don't think the people on here are trying to be rude, unconcerned, or unhelpful, but even giving advice on here can cause a lawsuit. And it's all the sue-happy folks out there that make it harder for everyone. Goof luck!

Does it absolutely have to be a working RN? I am a student in my second clinical semester, but I have a REALLY good example of ethical dilemma that I encountered during my first semester. I was working in a state nursing home that had a lot of patients that were either veterans or had to be at this place due to court orders. They weren't necessarily dangerous, but several residents were there because they were unable to stand trial due to mental impairment. I was at my clinical site and received a large, bulky file for the next day's patient. I opened it up and was surprised to see that the first pages were official letters and statements explaining the the patient's family refused to maintain contact and had asked that no more letters be sent. I was stunned and a little upset. It was sad to think that this man's family wanted nothing to do with him. But then I saw a typed letter from the man's sister explaining why. Apparently the man had a history of mental illness that a psychiatrist thought might be partially related to a stroke the man had had many years before. The woman's letter was very strongly worded and my curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to read the whole thing. The letter explained that the man had been placed in this institute because he had been declared unfit to stand trial for the crime of child molestation and 1st degree rape and sodomy. As I read on, I was shocked and appalled to discover that the man had been accused of committing this crime on his two young daughters. He had begun raping his oldest daughter when she was 7 and his other daughter when she was 4. This apparently continued for several years until somehow it came to light when the oldest daughter was 12. At that point I stopped reading because I so upset. How could I possibly care for a man who had raped his own children? As a mother this hit me especially hard. I could only think of my own daughter and what my reaction might be if something like this happened to her. After gathering the information, I was still very upset and conflicted. I pulled my teacher to the side and told her about my concerns. She was sympathetic, but told me that as a nurse this would NOT be the first time I was confronted with such an ethical dilemma. Upon deciding to enter the field of nursing, I had made a vow to treat EVERYONE with the same compassion and equality. I didn't have to be his buddy, but I did have to treat him with the same kindness and quality of care that I would anyone else. As I cared for him the next day, I felt torn. I smiled and was pleasant, but made little conversation. This man I was caring for had done something that was totally unacceptable and terrible. The hardest part was when I had to give him peri care. Awful thoughts kept going through my mind as I cleaned him, and I was tempted to give him a good slap on his...man parts. But I did my job and got out of there as quickly as I could. As a nurse you will face all sorts of dilemmas, some terrible, some heartbreaking and sad. But in the end it is your job not to discriminate regardless of the situation. It may be VERY hard (TRUST ME) but you are bound to do your best. if you have any more questions, feel free to send me a message. Good luck with school!

I'm curious as to what the protocol is for quoting a patient and "politely" documenting refusal, etc? For example, one of my previous nursing teachers said that she doesn't like to use "Pt refused" in her documentation because it sometimes makes the patient seem uncooperative or difficult. How do you document these things? For example, if a patient has constipation, would you put "Pt complains of constipation" or "Pt states he is constipated"? See what I'm getting at? I want to be as accurate as possible, after all it's my fanny on the line. But at the same time I want to be professional and don't want to make a pt look like he/she is just a pain when maybe at that particular time they are just a little stressed but perfectly pleasant otherwise. I figure if I read a chart where there is a whole lot of "pt complains" or "pt refuses" I might assume they are not a very pleasant person and I don't want to go in a room treading on eggshells when it really isn't necessary. Another thing I was wondering about is documenting family member statements or concerns, even if they aren't worded so nicely. Please provide a few examples of ways to document such things. Here's a couple more to preen over: Pt complains-yay or nay? Pt states "I hate you m*$&@(!" or Pt is verbally abusive of staff? Pt refuses treatment-yay or nay? Anything else you might think of would be helpful! Thanks in advance! -Second clinical semester ADN/RN student

Gosh you guys, thanks so much for all the support! I got teary eyed reading all of the posts, and to anyone reading this post now, the more encouragement and stories you share, the more you can help not only me but others who can relate to my situation. I think you are all right, I've been in college with no breaks (no summers off or anything) for nearly three years and maybe I am a little burnt out. It's time to take a breath and a step back. My best friend and I have decided to save a little money each week and go on a nice vacation towards the beginning of next year, and hopefully afterwards I can come back refreshed, prepared, and ready to start anew. As for my issue with math, I have always been mathematically challenged, but this dimensional analysis they teach us now actually clicks with me. The only problem I have is grains. for example, one of the questions I missed was: you have on hand gr 1/150 per 2 mls. The order calls for gr 1/100. How many milliliters will you administer? That one threw me off, if anyone can set it up to show me how to do it that would be great. The question that broke me was: The order calls for .0006 grams. You have on hand gr 1/200 tablets. How many tablets will you administer? (I think that was it, I might be wrong, but that's what I remember). Any other problem I can do no sweat. Looking back on the second problem, I realize my mistake. I tried to convert grains to grams when I should have done miligrams to grams and then milligrams to grains. See? Now that I'm calm I can do it! I'm still disappointed, but as a spiritual person I have to have faith in the fact that God has a plan for me and whether or not I like it this set-back is part of his grand scheme. Maybe there would have been some terrible accident on my way to school one day where I would have died and this is His way of making sure that doesn't happen. Who knows? Keep the stories and encouragement coming please, it really helps me when I get depressed. Thanks so much!!:)

thank you, rn4weeones. Let me also add that I do not take my mistake lightly, I am well aware that a miscalculation in medical dosaging can be dangerous and even deadly, but I am also very upset by the fact that it was because I didn't round up to a whole number (something that with certain drugs could also be dangerous) that ultimately hurt me. I begged them to let me withdraw instead of failing, but was told that it was not an option. I even took my case to the head of the department, but she was adament that I recieve the failing grade. it hurt even more when she said that I was incompetant to do clinicals. I dont think she meant it in a degrading way, but boy did it hurt. no one likes to be called incompetant, especially when they tried so hard to succeed and failed anyway...

:nuke: Hello all. I am 23 year old student and mother of a toddler. I have been in school for two and a half years and have finally reached my second clinical semester...well, was in it anyway. I failed the drug calculations quiz for the third time and was told I would recieve an F for the course. It literally broke my heart. I am a good student, have never failed ANYTHING before, even before the nursing program. In introduction to pharmacology where we learned to do drug calculations, I never made anything less than a 96, even on the final. I had to make 90 or above to pass the quiz, and on each try I missed one too many (20 question test, missed 3 each time). It's not like I went in there blind, I studied really hard and refreshed myself. One day I studied calculations for 4 hours straight with no breaks. I had my first ever panic attack only moments before turning in the third test. I am so mad at myself, the question involved grains and the instructions said to round off to the nearest 100th. I got 1.802, answered it 1.8, and was told I was supposed to round up to 2. The answer form was tablets, and while I know it's not really possible to give 8/10s of a tablet, I was afraid it was a trick question, like maybe if I put 2 tablets it would have been wrong because that would exceed the safe dosage or something. The worse part about it is that I may have to wait a whole year before I can retake the class. This means I will have no classes to take, which means my grants will stop and I will have to begin paying back my student loans if I am not enrolled at least part time. Lately I have been really stressed. My husband and I are having problems and are going through an on and off trial separation. I feel overburdened between bad financial struggles, lack of time to study without interruption from my three year old, an inability to keep the house from looking like anything less than a disaster (it's either clean or study) and a kind of quarter life crisis. I'm a 23 year old mother in college with no time to myself to be a young adult. I'm terrified I'm wasting the only chance I will ever have to enjoy my youth and have had a hard time coping with all the stress. I'm really hoping for some words of encouragement, maybe some stories from people who may have failed a class before and everything turned out for the best. I can't stop crying and any advice on how to deal with my stress in a healthy way would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance and send a prayer out for me please

Wow, really? That's terrible, why would you sue your friend for saving your life? I didn't mean to come off as rude, really, I was just clarifying the law for some who may be curious about it. My state takes the Good Samiritan law very seriousy. My mother was a police officer for several years and she is the one who taught me about it. I then went to my teachers and found out more about it and in my state the "duty to act" law is implied heavily. Maybe it's because of the whole "Southern Hospitality" thing lol (I live in SC). Please don't take my post as trying to be argumentative, I didn't mean it that way. Yes, there have been cases of people being sued here (SC) for the GS law, but they VERY rarely win unless they tried to do something crazy like perform heart surgery on the side of the road. However, I would really hope that every person who is medically trained would perform their duties responsibly and well inside their scope of practice. As someone else mentioned, what if it was you or your family member who needed help? And in my personal opinion, if you were present and needed and you didn't act, then maybe you should find another field of work! PS, anyone ever hear of the story of the guy who had a heart attack at a cardiologist convention? Look it up, it's a pretty cool story!

Please see the definition of Good Samaritan law and keep in mind each state has a different variation. in my state, if you are caught not helping in an emergency, your license will be suspended or revoked. Police officers and firefighters can be fired, etc...definition taken from http://definitions.uslegal.com/g/good-samaritans/ A good samaritan in legal terms refers to someone who renders aid in an emergency to an injured person on a voluntary basis. Usually, if a volunteer comes to the aid of an injured or ill person who is a stranger, the person giving the aid owes the stranger a duty of being reasonably careful. A person is not obligated by law to do first aid in most states, not unless it's part of a job description. However, some states will consider it an act of negligence though, if a person doesn't at least call for help. Generally, where an unconscious victim cannot respond, a good samaritan can help them on the grounds of implied consent. However, if the victim is conscious and can respond, a person should ask their permission to help them first. Some states offer immunity to good samaritans, but sometimes negligence could result in a claim of negligent care if the injuries or illness were made worse by the volunteer's negligence. Statutes typically don't exempt a good samaritan who acts in a willful and wanton or reckless manner in providing the care, advice, or assistance. Good samaritan laws often don't apply to a person rendering emergency care, advice, or assistance during the course or regular employment, such as services rendered by a health care provider to a patient in a health care facility. Under the good samaritan laws which grant immunity, if the good samaritan makes an error while rendering emergency medical care, he or she cannot be held legally liable for damages in court. However, two conditions usually must be met; 1) the aid must be given at the scene of the emergency, and. 2) if the "volunteer" has other motives, such as the hope of being paid a fee or reward, then the law will not apply

I don't know about identifying yourself on a card, I would assume it was a personal preference really, but I do know about the Good Samaritan laws that protect you if you assist in any medical situation from being sued. As long as you don't do anything you are not trained to do and adhere to the RN scope of practice, you would not be liable for anything bad that might happen. As a matter of fact, if you do not help in a medical emergency and someone finds out that you were there when it happened, you could lose your license!