lysharnbsn

Wow! What a jump! Good for you! This will be a definate change, and I wish you luck! I have worked med/surg and pediatrics and let me tell ya those little guys can have some quite interesting medical issues and complications. Taking this job and comming from psych know that there will be much more clinical involvement, such as assessment, medication administration, Gtubes, trachs, etc. etc. I think this is a great idea, yet realize that this new job will take much training to get used to the floor again. Differant aspects of nursing like dressing changes, trach care, and other activities may be intimidating at first, but keep learning.......... you can do it. Best of luck with your new job! Peds is awesome, can be hard at times, but so most definatly worth it! :) Lysha, RN, BSN

This is a very good question. I agree with the statement above...........perhaps shadowing would be benificial for you. The cardio job sounds stable, and would also provide great experiance for nursing school. Cardio can be very hard, and that would be awesome experiance. If you need the stable hours, and the insurance this would be a nice route to go. You could always volunteer at the childrens hospital, to assure that is what you truly want to do. Pick up shifts there too, when available. Becoming a well rounded nurse is very important. Looks like you could have some great experiances set up for you! Lysha, RN, BSN

What are the daily duties of your job? Inserting and maintaining IV's, medication administration, assessment, education of parents/guardians. I work med/surg and pediatrics, and I love peds the most :) What hours do you work? 7 am to 730 pm Did you have to take any special courses/classes to be in the line of nursing that you are in? PALS, pediatric advanced life support BLS, Basic Life Support What does your day consist of as a nurse? It can be just about anything!! When i work peds, winter months we get alot of RSV and pnemonia in the little guys! Medication administration, dressing changes, education with the parents, communicating with doctors and ancillary staff, and other nursing duties. Who do you work with on a daily basis? Registered Nurses, LPN's, nurses aides, doctors, and ancillary staff such as social work and case management. Do you work with the same team of people everyday? No- it just depends who is working :) Who do you communicate with on a daily basis? Parents, patients, doctors, ancillary staff How do you keep the communication open with those that you work with everyday? I remain friendly, and ask others if they need help. I try to help others the best I can, because when you need help, they are more apt to help you. How do you and the others that you work with keep the communication open between each other? Using open communication, and an open posture (when I can anyways!). Smile, and make sure you take breaks, you need relief for your self and dont want to stress yourself out. How does the communication differ with a patient and a patient's family? In the pediatric population, you have to use age appropriate language. Children do not understand the complicated medical terms that we may use. Using a doll, and educating a child that way helps. I have also found that sitting or kneeling at their level helps. This assists toddlers and school age children to trust you. The patients family typically may need alot of education and reassurance when you talk to them. Exhibit confidence......this really helps them trust you :) How do you communicate with your patient when the patient is a child? see above answer :) Using age appropriate language can go a long way......... How do you communicate with the patient's parents? This may be the hardest part of peds. Alot of parents are frightened along with the children. Education is key with parents in the pediatric spectrum. Keep the confidence up and do the best you can to answer their questions. If you dont know the answer.............just ask :) Alicia Smith, RN, BSN, OHIO

Become a sponge..............by that I mean soak up all of the information around you! Ask alot of questions, and pick the experianced nurses brains. Know that you are doing the best you can, and when bad things happen, remeber that you will get through this. You can do it! Keep the confidence up and know that we all have made mistakes, and have lived :) Lysha, RN, BSN

Great question! I started out in a community college A.D.N program myself. I think that you can acheive your goal by attaining your ADN then BSN and so forth. Your ADN helps with the basic skills that you need to function as a nurse and the BSN assists with theory and accelerated critical thinking/ learning. I took an accelerated track BSN program and it really helped alot! I got my BSN 2 years ago and now am in school for my MSN. I was a generic ADN student and I still did it :) You really just need to keep yourself disciplined and keep your eye on the goal............NP. The lady in the post above is correct though:), I think they are phasing out MSN prepared NP's. The doctoral level is the new wave and will be the wave of the future. You can do it tho........keep your eye on the prize!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lysha, RN, BSN

Hello, I will be truthful, the first 2 years as a nurse I learned so much!! I made some mistakes along the way, but im still surviving! Best advice I can give is never be afraid to ask questions, and utilize your charge nurse and experianced nurses to the best of your ability. We are all here to help. Asking a "stupid" question is better than messing things up! And as you all know..........there are no stupid questions:) Good luck! Lysha, RN, BSN

I feel your pain! LOL I am not the best with cardio and telemetry also! I have been a nurse for almost 4 years and recently got a job on a surgical and peds floor at a differant hospital. This floor has telemetry on it and definatly took me out of my "comfort zone". I did not do well with it at first, and had to re-take the class. Much like yourself, I took the class because some pts are on tele on my floor. I definatly have trouble with heart blocks and differentiating beetween each. My nurse educator for the floor has been great along with my charge nurses. I am now telemetry certified and like learning about each rythem. I had a patient with afib with RVR last week and on a cardizem drip.............it scared the **** outa me! But with much education and confidence, I did well! Utilize your charge nurses, experianced nurses, and educators when it comes to tele. While I love peds...............tele is a differant story haha. I just wanna be the best nurse I can be! Lysha RN, BSN