RaeRN30

Did you go to EAMC and apply? What about the VA? The government fiscal year begins Oct 1st-I have a feeling they will then have the money in their budget for new hires.

Don't forget fluid/ electrolyte imbalances:)

I would think dilemmas would stem from different views on The definition of death? Some may think death occurs when harvesting vital organs....just a thought. Try googling "nursing dilemmas with organ donation".

YES!!! Found my first gray hairs.....wonder if they will reimburse for hair color? LOL

All the other nurses I have spoken to hate it as well. I'm not sure if it is a trial run or not...I HOPE SO! I literally came into work one evening and noticed the "funky" looking assignment...no warning whatsoever. I just don't see a lot of team work between the RNs, LPNs and CNAs. It seems that everyone hates each other! I thought about filling out refusal of assignment forms to cover myself? I dread going into work...I try to pump myself up on the drive to work saying "its going to be a great night!"...well that night has yet to come.... Well I'm off for a whole week! Gonna try NOT to think about work at all! We'll see how that goes...lol I'll definately keep you guys updated on how this plays out....I'm so thankful for this forum!!:heartbeat:redbeathe

Exactly my thoughts....my last shift I really believe team nursing led to the amptation of pt's leg. Seems like the nurses I work with don't care anymore and are more concerned with eating their lunch then caring for the pts. The first pt I assessed had discoloration to his leg--you think I got this in report (which is complete chaos btw)?? When I assessed the pt noticed his leg was mottled and cold.... ughhhhh.....HATE team nursing. Feeling like an incompetent nurse at this point. I'm a NEW grad I don't have the experience and I definately doubt myself. The stress of assessing up to 12 pts and documenting is unreal and too much for me at this point. I have been told that as long as RN has assessed in past 24 hours I can just "concur" with assessment and add addendums as needed to another RN's note...well I just can't do that, I don't have confidence in some of the other RNs so I would rather do the full assessments and document my own findings. I appreciate the response I will definately be talking to my nurse manager about my concerns....

Draw from other port. Flush with 10 cc NS, waste, draw sample and flush with 20 cc NS

What are your thoughts on team nursing? I'm about a month off orientation and we have just switched to team nursing. Our " team" consists of RN, LPN, and a CNA (if we're lucky). So far the team has had up to 12 patients at any given time. Only a handful of day shift nurses were given a brief meeting regarding the change and everyone is confused about each team members responsibilities. I feel SO unsafe being responsible for this many pts. Prior to the change the ratio was 1:5 . If anyone does team nursing tell me how your team is organized and duties. Example with regards to safety : took over a 9 pt load at 4pm, questioned previous RN regarding VS...(no documentation).... response "we didn't have time b/c we didn't have a CNA"......last vs documented were from 8 am ( we do q4 vs).....btw we give LOTS of BP meds No wonder the first 2 pts I checked on were low...hmmm.

Do we work together!? Sounds like my floor.....ughhhh hate self scheduling! I was told to make out a schedule with the chance that it could change due to needs....fine with me...but why o why do we always seem to have 5 CNAs one day and ZERO on some days ( most days). Self scheduling doesn't work! Not where I work anyway....

Had 1semester of Pharm in my BSN program. Don't try to memorize everything. I found that learning the mechanisms of action for the classes of drugs helps you to understand all the potential side effects and such. Hope that helps:)

Practice, practice, practice.... I performed head to toe assessments on family members, friends, classmates, etc--whoever would let me!

I found the xs in iguana med fit like xxs in Cherokee brand - I think Cherokee runs a little bigger than other brands?

Passes with 75 questions in 45 minutes- I am normally a very fast test taker and didn't want to change a thing for fear of over thinking the questions. Wishing all the future test takers the best of luck and remember to keep calm. My little heart was pounding so fast and hard - lol

Ok....so took the test 7/2/10 at 1:30pm...A nervous wreck these past 2 days! I did the PVT and did not get the CC page so I was feeling pretty good. Just found out today that.........I PASSED!!!!!

I had an externship in ICU and actually chose medsurg for my practicum just to have that experience. I figured it would make me more marketable....I learned A LOT about time management! It was a great experience and very rewarding....it took some time but I finally managed to take care of all 5 patients! Good luck to you!

Good luck:D I worked for a year in ICU as a student extern and absolutely loved it! Unfortunately they were not hiring new grads:crying2: I accepted a job on a telemetry floor with the promise of moving to the unit when positions open up.

I found that learning the classifications does help....also learn how the drug acts in the body this will help you with side effects without just memorizing

The program I was in used Jarvis....I found reading that studying the abnormals helped me the most

I took the school's coverage as well....they require you to have specific coverage and I doubt you can find a cheaper individual plan.

There are tons of resources that contain this information. Did your program suggest one? There are also care plan books that are helpful when you are stuck- best of luck!

I remember the fundamentals class being a little tricky- I wasn't familiar with nclex style questions and that is how our tests were formatted. I managed to get A's in both classes and I heard a lot of people got an A in health promotion and a B in Fundamentals. I had a book on test preparation that I wish I would have read! They have Medspub questions that you have to do for certain classes so I would suggest doing those prior to tests- I can't remember if we did them over the summer or not...but they do help. Are you going to mcg Augusta campus?

I would say the answer is maintaining the albumin level- if the client gains 1 lb / day you are looking at hypervolemia Average weight gain is like 1-2 lbs / week Albumin levels indicate nutritional status Interested to hear what others say:)

Pinning and graduation on May 7th!! Just waiting on the start date for my new job!! And....studying for the NCLEX. Congrats to the c/o 2010!!!!!!!!

Does anyone want 3 xxs royal blue scrub tops with the mcg patches? 2 are Cherokee brand and 1 is greys anatomy brand ( I don't think I even wore the greys one). Send me a message and they are yours! I may even consider giving away my royal blue scrub pants which were only worn 1 semester- they are also xxs!

I never went by the student schedule listed on pulse...it is not accurate. If I remember correctly we did have class all day on Mondays and Fridays (maybe 3 hrs for each class??) and clinical on Tuesday-Thursday. The first semester clinical is spent in the lab learning the fundamentals of nursing. You are not in the lab all day~the class is split up into groups and you go during the scheduled times for your group. Its really not that bad-there are a bunch of skills you will learn and a checklist that has to be completed. You will find yourself going on your free time to the lab working on the skills and getting checked off. You will get a better idea what your schedule will be first week of school when you go through orientation for each class. It took me a good 3 weeks the beginning of every semester to get organized and to know where I was going on what day! Hope that helps!