sallee13

thanks for your input. i started asking this morning for the references.

is six months ahead of the deadline for applications too early to start gathering reference letters? the only reason i ask is b/c i was thinking about transferring to another unit and would rather have the manager where i've worked the past xxx years write me a letter. i guess i'd hate to transfer and have my old boss be annoyed i left and not write the glowing letter i'd hope she write now. does it seem too underhanded? i guess i'm trying to not look like a bad guy here.

most of us aren't so testy and judgemental. wow. discuss away.

i'm sure i've seen this subject discussed before but i did a search and no luck. anyway, i'm preparing to take the gre and i'm sure i heard that some schools don't put much stock in the writing portion of the gre. other than calling the specific schools, how would i find out so i don't stress about yet another thing?

your experience in the burn center will depend on what kind of patients they have while you are there. some burns are minor or are in the non-critical grafting stage. this may still be very interesting to you. the exciting ones (for us burn nurses) are the big burns with multiple issues needing to be dealt with. these are the ones that keep us on our toes. most nurses in burn centers are happy to share an experience with you.

are you talking about the unit being verified by the american college of surgeons or the rn's acquiring abls? i work in a unit that has recently went through the verification process and it was a several year process. in regards to abls, all of our nurses are required to obtain this certification soon after their hire. we are lucky to live in a large city and our burn center offers thge abls course. we also go to outlying areas and offer it to others.

sorry to hear about your friend, but there are some things worse than death.

since i work 7p-7a i usually go to sleep by 9a and sleep till 2-3. of course i wake up several times for bathroom trips (which really makes me mad some days!). i would love to be able to sleep later but 50 mg of benadryl only lasts so long. i also work 4-5 days a week. i don't usually have a hard time flipping my schedule back around b/c i am so sleep deprived when a night off comes that i sleep great. if i get 5 hrs i consider that enough.

even on bad days, my cup is over half full. i obviously lucked out in the hospital and unit i work in. come to think of it, before i took this job i worked for several years in a ltc facility that was understaffed and overworked. the building was old and ugly, the food sucked, and the cna's didn't like me half the time. and i still would have recommended the field of nursing. i hope i get a nurse like that if i'm ever in need of care.:)

wow. i must be in a different rn world because for the most part, i like my job. i work for a flexible manager, in a critical care unit that works as a team, and get paid a decent wage for what i do. i've been here long enough to realize that we have our problems but what unit doesn't? no matter what you do in life, there will always be problems to be noticed. i have a 25 yo daughter in nursing school, a 19 yo daughterinlaw doing her pre-reqs to get in. and i'm happy to say i've been an influence in these decisions. i don't tell them everything is hunky-dory but where will it be? your job is what you make it.

having done this for over 5 years i would say no. i know that age and inhalation injury play into the answer but i would say no. the highest percentage i have seen survive is 70 % in a 20 year old with no inhalation injury. we have also had several 9o % burns come through without survival.

Accidently Set Mso4 Pca For 1:1 Mix And The Syringe Was A 5:1 Mix And The Pump Was Running At 5 Mg/hr (that's 50 Mg An Hour For You Tired Soles) Luckily The Patient Had Been Receiving High Dose Morphine For A Long Time With His Burns And There Was No Major Repocussions. It Did Lead To My Action Of Getting The Pump Company To Put In A New Program To Ask The Rn To Double Check Settings As They Were Being Put In Place. All Our Pumps Now Have An External Bright Sticker Stating 5:1 Mix When Appropriate As A Gentle Reminder. Experienced And Still Learning P All Years