asfreeasabird

Be confident in what you have learned. You don't need an experienced nurse to check ALL of your work. That being said don't be afraid to ask questions of nurses you trust. Find a good nurse that you can go to like a mentor who works with you often and wants to help you transition from student to professional nurse. Just remember to stick with your first nursing job it will become more natural, give it approximately 6months to feel like you know what you are doing.

Nurses have a huge rate of burn out. Know when not to take extra shifts. Take care of yourself, eat well, exercise, and take regular vacations. Know when you are starting to get burned out, and take some time for yourself. I have quite a few vacations scheduled for myself this summer to help with nurse burnout.

I was an LPN before I became an RN. I worked in LTC and now work on the medical floor at our hospital. I am thankful for the experience I gained as an LPN. I gained excellent time management skills. I worked a 2-10pm shift when I did LTC which was great for a new grad. You only have one meal and the residents are getting ready for bed. The patients who are entering LTC these days are sicker than they have been. They need enteral feedings, intraveneous medications, replacement of urinary catheters, and even a trach. I learned delegation skills, and basic nursing and critical thinking. I had a great mentor who helped me transtion from student to LPN. It is a personal decision. It depends on the job market and how difficult it is to get into either program. When I first started applying to nurisng schools LPN wasn't on my radar, but when I was accepted to an LPN program I thought I would rather do this than wait another year to get into an RN progam.

I understand what you mean I work 12hours shifts on a medical floor. 30minutes is taken out of our paychecks for lunch, but I have had up to five phone calls during my lunch hour. Some days I take the battery out and enjoy my lunch (boundries). If it is absoulutely impertive that I leave my lunch break, time starts over. No wonder we are so burned out.

You could volunteer as a candy striper (if they still do this). Our hospital has something called transport. A transporter will take the patients all over the hospital for diagnostic procedures, wheel them out to their car when they are ready to go home, and fetch supplies. This may be an interesting job to get exposure and make connections.

I have had that happen a few times. I have care planned it so they can do the care themselves. I asked my manager and I had one of my patients reaccess her own portacath because she would be doing it at home and had been doing it at home. I had another lady with a urostomy and colostomy that I just handed the supplies to. It was great because you watch how they like and get some teaching done at the same time.

1. Wear comfortable shoes 2. Be confident in what you know and ask about what you don't 3. the patients can wait, go the bathroom 4. find a mentor 5. have a sense of humor about what you do (somedays this is going to be the only thing that will get you through) 6. don't be discourged if you are not as good as the experienced nurses you will get it eventually 7. pay attention during orientation 8. don't delegate something you would not do yourself (be nice to your support staff) 9. always know how a physician would like to be contacted (cell, pager, office phone) 10. separate work and personal life, set boundaries hope this helps. best of luck

The community college I went to told me where I was on the alternate list.

I was an LPN for a few years at a long term care facility before returning to get my RN. An LPN is considered "the bedside nurse." The LPN will typically care for a more stable patient. Our hospital has phased out most of the LPNs at the bedside. From what I understand the RNs were not adaquately supervising the LPNs and it was more the RN's fault we no longer have LPNs at the bedside. The RN must perform the initial assessment and initate the plan of care. An LPN can hang IV meds,or anything mixed by the pharmacy. They can not mix anything in a bag of IV fluid (which is a requirement in a few of our rural hospitals). When I went to school the IV certification course was part of my training, but a few LPNs had to return to school. In LTC we were able to take telephone orders, note orders. LPNs are also not allowed to draw from a central line. Depending on the facility LPNs can serve as charge nurses. At the LTC facility I worked at if we were above a certain number of patients we had to have an in house RN 24hours. I think the best place to practice as an LPN was in a LTC because you are functioning at your hightest level (at the hospital our LPNs function as CNAs and we call them all "support staff"). It was great experience the patients being dischrged from the hospital into the LTC facilitys today are sicker than they have been and are quite challenging requiring a skilled nurse at the bedside. As for the pay it only makes sense that someone who has more training would make more money. I think if it bothers an LPN too much she should return to school and get her RN.

Just remember people can tell when you are smiling on the phone. I would shoot for all three instead of the oncology dept, you can always transfer later. It is a great oppertunity to work at a teaching hospital. Be calm and courteous to all of them. You might ask your nursing instructor how to prepare for an interview(what types of questions to be prepared for) they can be a great resource. Be happy with anything at this point even if it is not oncology, any of those floor will grow you as a nurse. Congradulations on landing an interview, please let us know how it goes.

If you have the option I would recommend waiting. You don't want to deal with swollen ankles, morning sickness and nursing school exams. At the school I graduated from many of the pregnant gals failed out. One that did not showed up a few days after giving birth to clinical...they let her wear black pants instead of the required white.

My aunt worked as a critical care nurse for 10years and became a personal trainer. Her clients seek her out because she is a nurse. Something about having someone there who knows what to do if you start exercising too hard is comforting to her elderly clients. If you can tie in why somebody would want to go to a nurse who is a massage therapist in the same way you would have a great niche. As for your business card I don't think it is tacky, but don't be surprised when people who are scheduled for a massage show you strange rashes or confide in you about strange things you never wanted to know about their bodies because you are a nurse. If this doesn't bother you by all means put your credentials on your business card.

When mine is down I usually have something to put it up, because as we all know in nursing you never know what is going to happen during the day. Our floor is a little stricter. We are not allowed to wear jeans to on-site education (which is good but it should be hospital wide), we are not allowed to wear sweaters that are not scrubs, they discourage shirts under scrubs (becuase they can't be taken off in a flash), we are also considering hosptial wide uniforms when we move to our new home in a year. They don't require hair to be up, just use your own judgement.

Our local hospital had a pretty bad nickname. A few years ago it partnered up with a chain of other hospitals and has since been trying to improve it's reputation in the community. Most people notice the change, but there are still people who call it by it's nickname. I know that as a nurse I do the best job I can everyday when I go in. It is so important to have a good local medical center. Yeah you could move and join another hospital, but think about how proud you would be working at the hospital to make a change. You stated the "good nurses" were few and far between, if you joined them they would have one more "good nurse". If it not a bad work environment you should try to change the public's perception of this hospital one patient at a time. Many hospitals have committes you can join to make change while you are a floor nurse, this may be an outlet for you.

1. You will learn to see everyone as an equal...everybody is equal sick in a hospital gown 2. You will have a bladder that is like a 50gallon drum 3. You will be able to watch medical dramas and be able to laugh at the dramatic parts 4. You will be able to talk about stool while eating 5. You will spend holidays potluck style in the breakroom 6. You will sign checks with RN after your name 7. You will hear monitor alarms as you are nearly asleep at night 8. You will have a new respect for people 65or older 9. You will learn 30years old abdominal pain usually comes with a high does of opiates 10. You will be able to read many styles of physician hand writing (a skill they just don't teach in nursing school) 11. You will learn how to speak quickly to physicians before they lose interest and hang up 12. You will learn how to hit squiggley little veins on cute old ladies 13. You will have a new respect for people who are twice your age and doing the same job 14. You will learn to have a calm poker face for whiney, or agressive patiens 15. You will learn to have a sense of humor about the nursing that you do Nursing has been an adventure...some days we call it "high adventure nursing" I knew I never wanted a desk job and most days I feel satisfied with the work I have done.

Sometimes the greatest joy in the day is being able to hand them off to the next nurse. You know what patients I am talking about.

It sounds like a classic case of exaserbation of CHF. I don't know anyone who would think about PE given the clinical picture. Even if I was thinking about a PE you don't have to be out of the country to sit for a long period of time. Sounds like a classic case of instructor can't focus. Want to ride bikes.

Our local university is trying to get people in to the nursing program without having to wade through too many prerequisites. The theory is you should be able to get a four year degree in four years. I have not seen any stats on it. All they require is a two semester A&P, math , and chemistry. The GPA from these classes must be a 3.0 or higher, it is very competitive.

I wonder how many of our lawmakers actually read this bill before voting for it. It seems more political than in the best interest of the people.

When I graduated one of my teachers recommended a Kapplan book. I bought the book at barnes and noble for around $35. It went through strategies for the NCLEX. I liked it a lot. I passed the NCLEX with 75 questions in an hour. Hope this helps.

I did the LPN route then transitioned to get my RN at the same community college. I noticed that I needed to study less because the A&P made sense after caring for patients. Nursing is cyclic sometimes there is a huge shortage and ADNs and LPNs are in huge demand and sometimes there is an oversaturation of nurses and entry nurses can not find a position. Long and short LPNs will not be phased out, they may not be able to get a job at the hosptial but they will have jobs. As an LPN you can usually find a job at a long term care facility or a doctor's office. I think if you want to go back for your RN you should seriously consider working in a long term care facility. Although the patients are not as sick as they are at the hosptial the amount of juggling required to work long term care teaches these nurses amazing time management skills. I am very thankful I did it the way that I did becauase I know what and LPN does and have more respect for them. Hope this helps.

It is a different kind of stress. As the charge in LTC I was in charge of my 15-20 residents as well as the 120bed facility, which during the week wasn't bad but on the weekends when everybody wanted to call in it was HELL. I had meds to pass, I was also in charge of call ins. There were several occasions that my CNA did not show up so I had to wear that hat too. I was also the nurse for the dining room. I had to pass out clothing protectors and drinks. As the RN I had to initiate the plan of care on any new admissions perform the initial assessment. I would also have to touch base with my other nurses to see if they needed anything. Many of the LPNs I supervised were great they didn't need much from me. I had to draw from central lines, and help set up an IV pump mostly skills. If anybody showed up during this crazy circus on the weekend and wanted a tour I had to show them around. All this for a few dollars less than I make at the hospital, no thank you. I had 2 years experience as an LPN before I started charging and a Registered Nurse. Maybe if you are hired on with a better call in policy. Find out what your duties are before you take the job. Best of luck.

Some days despite your best efforts people compain. I had a night when a patient was hyperkalemic and had received kayexallate and was up and down to the commode all night. I was charting outside her door and went in there everytime she needed to get up. She was a larger woman with charcot foot. One of the transfers the patient got scared and grabbed for my pants. I told the patient to let go of my pants(I nearly lost them). I was accused of being malicious, transfering without assistance(which I had everytime she was transfered). She and her daughter wrote a complaint, when I heard about it I went to my Team Leader. My team leader said she was not concerned about it she said go in the room apologize to the patient, and offer that a different nurse care for her the second night. I was so relieved my team leader trusted my character. I have been wanting to transfer to a different floor but we have excellent team work on my floor and a good management team, which can be hard to come by, so I stay where I am at. I agree that if family is visably upset when you are there you should try to make it right. Better to eat humble pie in front of the patient and family than in front of the management team. Try to give them possible solutions for the things that they are saying. If she didn't have anything for anxiety is it reasonable in this situation to call for something? Did she need something for pain. Sometimes families need to see you in the room working, if you have all of your work done before they get there they feel like their family member is not being taken care of. Best of luck, I hope you figure things out.

I was RN supervisor at a LTC facility. The job requirements were caring for a hall with 15-20patients many of whom did not need a lot of care. I also rounded on the other halls to make sure there were no problems. If there are any problems you are responsible, which included staffing. I had several days when my CNA did not show up so I was supervising and caring for 15-20patients. In the state I practice in there are a few skills that need to be performed by the RN such as the intitial assessment when a patient is admitted, drawing blood from a central line, or pushing IV medications. Occasionally there would be skills such as how do I work this pump, or can you start this IV. It was a change of pace from the hosptial but the pay was not there for the amount of stress in the job. Like some of the other posts said try it and if you don't like it you can go back on the floor. It is encouraging that you have worked all of the different floors and are comfortable. Best of luck.

Some nursing programs look at volunteer experience and some don't. The one I went to looked at if you were a CNA, LPN or EMT. I think this experience will help you be more comfortable interacting with people, because to be a nurse you have to be very comforable with people. You talk with patients, families, doctors and the interdisciplinary team. You will also see things that are surprising as a nurse and have to pretend to not be surprised until you leave the room.