jammin246RN

Well now RNERHOUSESUPOR with the comment regarding the post master vs the ceo of fedex and ups that is like comparing apples to oranges. UPS and FedEx are private companies, the USPS is a government entity more or less. UPS and FedEx make money, USPS loses money every year and is propped up by taxes. UPS and FedEx pay their employees very well already. If the postmaster was given his pay based on profits such as UPS and FedEx... he wouldn't be paid. UPS and FedEx offer better service and garauntee your package will be there when promised... USPS offers no garauntees.... climbing off my soapbox.... I took an assignment with Aureus... it was a disaster... put me up at a rundown motel where they forgot to reserve me a room, and cops showed up on a daily rate to break up fights. They forgot to send me my name badge to my new address...6 times, every time I asked for it to be sent to where I was staying, they sent it to my home address.... they could figure out where to send my pay stubs but not my name badge. They decided that they would only pay for 1/2 my gas to get to my travel assignment(after stating that travel expenses were reinbursed). After multiple calls to get me to stay at a place I felt safe, they moved me into a half finished motel room currently being remodeled at the Best Western in town (maybe they got a better rate?). And when asked to give 10x the recommended versed to a child and refusing... they didn't back me.

I worked for Select in the St Louis region quite a few times through agency. They were one of my choices in areas to work. The staff treated each other well, the workload wasn't too difficult, and if you prioritized, it wasn't that difficult to get everything done on time. But this was a couple years ago too.

I totally agree with this statement.... Smokers aren't a protected class.... but neither is obesity.... and employers can be sued for discriminating on that aspect. I see no real difference between the two. Both are detrimental to your health, and both cause increased insurance rates. Also I agree with your second statement about facilities taking the middle ground.... no problem there.... the people who choose to smoke, are making a choice which will affect their health and their insurance rates should reflect that. However it should not affect whether or not they are hireable.

You know you are a good nurse when you can critically think and solve a situation with the supplies available... and when you don't dread going to work. For example applying bucks traction when you don't have a boot, or cord.... but you do have ace wrap and tape! For time management I can give you some tips on that. When I see my patients to start off I pop in and spend 1 min with each patient to see each of them and ask how they feel, any n/v pain? Then I make a note and move onto the next patient until I have seen all of my patients in the first 15 min. Those who have pain or n/v get the meds and while I am passing their meds I am doing their head to toe assessment, and making notes. Med pass time on the floor is 2100 so at 2000 I grab the patient's meds, give them, do a full assessment. Try to group everything together. If someone needs something that isn't urgent I make a note of it, finish what I was doing and then see to the matter. Using this strategy I can usually get my assessments done, meds passed, and everything charted by 2200.

Testing for nicotine for insurance I get... since you could have lied about it to get a better rate.... But since smoking is still legal last time I checked, and you don't have to smoke at work, how can it be legal for the employer to pick and choose which employee they higher based on a legal activity. It would be like telling someone who was overweight that they didn't fit the model of nursing perfection, or you must abstain from alcohol at all times. It's plain rediculous, I hope these hospitals wind up getting sued.

Go with the small rural hospital. The big reason is to be an OR nurse at almost any bigger hospital you need a couple years of OR experience. If they are offering OR experience Jump on that like a tomcat on a field mouse!

How is the nursing industry right now? The nursing industry is somewhat depressed d/t the overall economy. Hospitals are hiring nurses.... but they must have at least 1 year of experience. Overall nursing is a stable field to be in though. I know things are unstable in general but what about nursing? Nursing as a general rule is pretty stable. How many months/years have your worked at your current job? 3 years at my primary job, 1 1/2 years at my secondary and 4 years at my agency(strictly as needed...1 shift every couple months). How much time do you work a week? How much OT? What about paid time off? 36-60 hours. I can work as much OT as I want. Since I only have 6 years experience it pays for me to cover my own health insurance and take the PRN pay rate which is around $30/hr. Since I am PRN (even though I work full time) I currently don't get PTO. Is it okay to ask what the general salary is for an RN? Varies from region to region. California is one of the higher paying states... Missouri starts RNs off at 18/hr.... But cost of living is quite reasonable, and if you play the system right, you can make 27+/hr after 1 year experience in missouri. Salary for masters level nurses can easily hit six figures. CRNAs which is a masters in nursing easily gross 250k a year. I was considering attending a community college. Is this recommended? Any caveats? My father got his RN from a community college. However I believe you would be better off going a fast track since you already have your bs degree. You would have a duel bachelors and nursing all rolled into one! I graduated with a computer science degree. Are there nursing technician jobs that can utilize those skills? Sure there are. Most hospitals are going to computer charting. As such they need someone to tweak their electronic medical records and computer imputs. Our technition is a Nurse with a computer background.

I tend to agree with commuter. Being accepted into one nursing program without having to be put on a waiting list is a blessing, 2 is awesome. Hedge your bets!

Well with ADD it is hard for me to concentrate on any topic for any length of time. Since nursing textbooks are written to build upon a thought, and flesh it out, my mind saw it as one long continued thought. As such my mind would shut down and I could not read past a couple paragraphs.... Let alone keep any of the information. By reading back to front, it broke up the thought into separate ideas. This I could handle. Small different ideas my brain could process... one long thought it couldn't. Hope it helps!

I don't know about the right brain damage.... But I do know I have severe ADD. I visualize concepts as well and usually have about 5 things going through my head at a time. During nursing school I found the only way I could read the text book was to read the chapter back to front, starting at the last paragraph and working my way back. You can do it if you put your mind to it!

A dumb question I know.... But can you hear lung sounds in both lungs? What about when you reposition her?

Try places you may not think of... such as LTACs, Acute Acess hospitals, plasma banks, ocupational health nursing, drug rep companies, prison nursing, plasma banks.... The list is literally endless... also check out craigslist and apply for a few positions there! Good luck and congrats!

1. define a nurse leader, a nurse follower, and a nurse manager. a nurse leader is someone who while has a position of authority still practices bedside nursing. for example your charge nurse, or the house supervisor are both nurses who are leaders, but are still grounded in basic nursing practice. a follower is someone who is under them or basically a staff nurse. they don't have much say as to if they get a patient, or what team they get. a good leader will be fair and help the follower. a nurse manager is someone who is usually good at politics and is usually removed from the bedside nursing. they field complaints, keep morale of the team up, and fight for better nursing ratios. unit managers and dons are examples of this. the don is usually part of administration and they walk a fine line between budget constraints and optimum staffing. 2. what qualities do you think are most important to be an effective nurse leader or manager? fairness, willing to go the extra mile, be encouraging, and be there to help out nurses under your care. for manager a good sense of political savvy, and helping other nurses feel as though they are truely important. 3. what qualities do you think are most important to be an effective nurse follower? time management, hard worker, organized, task orientated, a good attitude. 4. how do you see yourself making a contribution to the nursing profession? through excellent patient care, knowledge, and helping out my team.

Volunteers can do many things such as wheeling patients to tests and answering phones. Usually they don't get too involved in the nitty gritty of patient care though. I know of quite a few people who took their CNA during highschool and worked as a CNA thru college.

There are quite a few things that could happen to lower costs, and provide care for everyone. In England everyone has healthcare... however this is at public hospitals.... semi private rooms, new grad RNs, New grad docs, longer wait times, rationed care. If you would like to purchase medical insurance you can go to a private hospital with a private room, seasoned nurses and docs, and more frills. Even in India there is the same type of health system. The docs donate a set ammount of their time (tax deductible) to the government institution, and make their money at the private institution. Put caps on malpractice lawsuits. Enforce the law such as if its not a medical emergency (case in point a meth addict's chronic toothache) don't treat the patient in the ER. I know of a few hospitals who do this and their bottom line has improved since the non emergency patients have learned that it is not a "quick dr's office" at the ER. Make use of current proven technologies such as insulin pumps for diabetic noncompliant patients.... Sure it costs $8,000 to put in BUT it's cheaper then seeing that patient every other week for a blood sugar of 600 in DKA and hospitalizations. There are quite a few things we could do, but it's not politically savvy for the politicians.

We do it because we care about our fellow man.... or woman. We like to see that what we have done has made a difference for good in someone's life.

Pandora isn't a widely used name for a street drug.... From what I understand it can refer to the "game" of throwing a bunch of prescription pills (usually stolen from their parents) in a box shaking and everyone reaching in for a handful... you never know what's going to happen.

Oh I don't know.... Our hospital is run pretty well... But I think I would implement a room or two in the hospital with 4 beds where we could stick a CNA and 4 climbers. That way it wouldn't hurt staffing ratios too much but may decrease falls. I like the fact that we have decent staffing ratios at our hospital, we have Resp Therapists, Lab for blood draws, CNAs for VS and help, and Comp charting can be somewhat effecient. Possibly work out kinks in a new issue before mandating it.... Case in point scan all meds prior to admin to patient.... Except 1/2 the meds don't register in the system, and the name band almost never scans.

I find it can also help if the canister is placed on the bedside table vs the wall.... sometimes with low suction it doesn't have enough oomf to pull it up to the wall. You can also try switching it to Low Intermit Suction for a time and see if that helps.

I know I was mortified of an incontinent patient when I started nursing school.... But you live and learn and find out that its not as bad as it seems..... When I got my first child I was more afraid of changing his diaper then of cleaning up a little ol lady lol.

Gotta love drama queens.... We have a Dr who orders 1mg of haldol for agitated patients... IM. Usual dosage as you may recall is 5mg.... Ah well just enough to upset the patient. Keep your chin up, you can't please all the patients all the time. I have had patients scream at me for being 20 min late with their pain meds while we were working a code. No worries, when you get off enjoy a movie

I wouldn't discourage you from doing the pct route.... for 2 reasons. First you will get your feet wet and see what nursing is all about. Second if you find a job as a pct often times your employer will pay for your nursing degree AND offer you a job on completion. This will allow you to be sure of a job once you graduate. Currently new grads across the country are having a hard time finding work and this will work to your advantage. Many nursing programs are booked 6months to 1 year out and in this time you can look at getting your cna/pct. Being a pct you will have a solid grasp of the first 6 months of the program anyway (changing patients, making beds, emptying foleys, doing vital signs, etc...). Also if the employer is footing the bill they will often times work with your schedule. Either way you go, good luck!

There is a percieved glut of nurses everywhere.... I say that because stay at home mothers are still in the nursing business until their hubbies find a job, and retirees are still in until their retirements bounce back. Your best bets are places with large open areas. There is something called Acute acess hospitals. They are reinbursed at a much higher rate then standard hospitals. You will find these hospitals 30 miles away from other hospitals and they contain under 25 beds. Towns which have 1000-2000 people which are quite a ways away from other hospitals will typically have these hospitals. Most of these places staff 2 nurses at all times whether or not there are even patients in the hospitals. Because of this they hire more nurses then may be in the surrounding area.

Craigslist is a viable option for HR since it's free.... Indeed, monster, and the rest charge BIG TIME to hospitals. Also alot of the stuff on monster and such isn't worth the ink it's printed on. I agree you will get more jobs from craigslist then the others every day of the week.... I mean when a website is still offering jobs from 3 years ago?! come on update already!

Education is always worthwhile.... however the economy is picking up and once this happens there will be another nursing shortage.... most likely worse then the last. In every institution I have worked BSN, ADN, Diploma all paid the same (BSN may pay 0.50/hr more). BSNs are having no easier time of getting a job then ADNs. A hospital will hire a ADN with 2yrs of experience over a new grad BSN every day of the week. Many hospitals in missouri at least offer experience for LPN. For example one facility offers a 5:4 conversion for lpn to RN experience. Other facilities offer 2:1. Experience as an LPN is experience as a nurse albeit a Lowest Paid Nurse.... but a nurse all the same. If I were in your shoes I would go for the BSN part time while searching for RN jobs, and keeping my full time LPN position.