moliuchick

My 21-year-old niece just found a big mass on her neck since early July due to extreme pain to her neck. A neuro doctor found out this mass from her MRI and he claimed that mass is invasive and it has spreaded to one side of her shoulder already. She was put in ICU for 3 days and she was given antibiotics, steriod and pain meds. They put her in ICU mainly because she had problem swallowing and they didn't want her to aspirate. She is back home now and she had a needle biospy two days ago. The doctor said no cancer cell was found but as usual something like this cannot be 100% sure. With the help of antibiotics and steriod, her swelling on the neck has gone down a bit but not completely gone. The ENT doctor said he will observe her to see if it is just a cyst (benign tumor) with imflammation or if it is cancer related. He said he will perform an incision to the mass to get a better look at it eventually. Now my concern is: 1. this ENT doctor is very young and not sure if he is good. 2. the neck is so vascular, cutting into it may cause bleeding and complications. I am posting this to see if anyone has similar experience. Also, I want to know if someone can refer some good ENT doctors or oncologists for my niece. She is in Minneapolis, MN, my sister doesn't mind driving far for her as long as the doctor is good and experienced. Please let me know as soon as possible if you have any informations. We are very desperate for an answer and we don't want to delay her surgery any more. I am a nurse myself but I feel helpless in this situation because I work in TX and I don't know any good doctors in MN. Thanks and god bless.

I know what you mean, I am a hands on person. I learn more if I actually work in the hospital settings. If I decide to work on the "floor" or "er" I will have to start as an "trainee". I will probably get paid $19 per hour and go through tons of dumb classes before I start working. And the sadest part is that I will have to work 12 hours per day and never get my christmas off. I don't think I will ever what to work on the floor or ER . It is a nightmare. My family needs me more than anything.

You started working for a clinic as soon as you graduated? And you also work for agencies? What kind of work do you do for the agencies? The reason why I asked is that I want to work for the agencies too but I only have endo experience. One of the agencies that I contacted asked if I had experience in pre-op and recovery. I would say yes but only pre-op and recovery in the endo center. I have never done that in a hospital or same day surgery setting. I wonder if they will take me as their agency nurse. I can't wait to do agencies work, they pay like double for whatever I am doing now.

I have a very weird questions for all the nurses who work for ambulatory services out there. I know my specialty and I know what am doing day in and day out. I have been in my specialty for 6 years, I am the most experienced and the best nurse in my place ( I just got a reward for that) but there is one problem. Since I have not worked on the "floor" for so long, I start to forget about meds that you give for cancer pt, HTN, Diabetic pt.... I want to be a good nurse and I really want to keep my nursing knowledge. Can anyone suggest any good website? or books (easy to read ones) that i can use to help me remembering all the clinical nursing stuff? Please do not tell me to go back to work on the floor because I am too spoiled now at my work, I don't think I can ever do floor nursing again. Thanks!

Did you really die? this story is sooo funny. you are making me LOL!

What if you die at 23? or you got pregnant at 24? Things will change over 10 years of time. I was single when I was 30 and I am a mom for two little kids at 39. You can never never really plan out things that way. My suggestion is enjoy your life. Nursing is not a easy job. When I was in nursing school, I thought everything will get better once I graduated. After I graduated, I've found out that everything is not what i expected to be. I have a lot of disappointment in the floor nursing. Now I only work for ambulatory service and I think I like my job a little more than before. Good luck with whatever you are going to achieve. Good thinking but it is definitely hard to do.

I am currently working in the OR and I used to work on the floor. After 3 months of the OR training, I am already sick of the verbal abuse from both surgeons and anesthesiologists. I am wondering what will be the best job in nursing that... 1. I don't have to be on call 2. I don't have to work nights 3. I will have regular day shift hours 4. I will get Sat and Sun off 5. I don't have to take care of 7 patients and break my back 6. I don't have to stay 2 hours extra every day to chart 7. I will feel that I have accomplished something at the end of the day 8. I will not be yelled at by some doctors or surgeons I feel like I am in the wrong field. What should I do? Do you feel the same as I do? I am depressed most of the time and I drag my feet to go to work. I want to call in sick all the time.

I am going to take the NCLEX this coming Monday and I am still very confuse about the PTT & PT level. This is what I know: PTT is used with heparin therapy. norm PTT is 20-45 sec and if you are on heparin the theraputic level should be 1.5-2.5 times 20-45 sec that means it takes longer time to have blood to clot. PT is used with Coumadin therapy. Norm is around 9.6-12 sec and if you are taking Coumadin, the therapeutic level should be 1.5-2.5 times 9.6-12 sec? Am I right? How come different books said different NORM? Then what about INR? is it always used with Coumadin and heparin therapy? Is the Norm for INR 2-3 when you are on blood thinner? Or is 2-3 Norm for normal person without the blood thinner. Sorry that this is a dumb question but this is all I have learned about PTT & PT from my nursing school.

I only have 11 days to study for my NCLEX and I am currently doing the Kaplan self study. I have been studying since May and I just feel like I know nothing at this point. My problem is I keep forgetting the stuff that I studied a while ago. I am so worry now. I did the Kaplan NCLEX-RN Exam book 180 questions for the "2nd" time yesterday and I got 85%. My results on the NCLEX question trainer were brutal. My first test was 43%. Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge-48%,Comprehension-45%, application-0%, Analysis-N/A. My #2 test was 65%. Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge-74%, Comprehension-63%, Application-50%,Analysis-0%. My #4 (I skipped the 3rd test) in which I just completed was 57%(OMG:crying2: ). Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge-67%, Comprehension-64%,Application-56%, Analysis-45%. I tried to interpret my test result but I just don't understand if I need a 50% or 65%. On the Kaplan question trainer CD, it said that if I can do 50% of the harder question, I will have a bigger chance to pass the NCLEX. Does the Bloom's Taxonomy shows how difficult the test is? I don't get it. Can someone help me to analyze my test results. I am very nervous now. Do I need to study at least 8 hours a day now? or do I need more time? I need to pass this, I cannot fail. Please help!!!!!:rotfl:

Hi there. I am currently looking for a PDA software where I can listen to some med term pronounciation. I am so sick of not being able to pronounce some of the med terms correctly. I have been in the states for about 14 years. I have no problem speaking the language and I don't have too much accent either. I am just having a lot of problems pronouncing some of the long and difficult med terms. I have a book to study for my med terms but I would rather get a program on my palm so that I can listen to it right away when I do my clinicals. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks~:rotfl: