MellowOne

Hey all, Just wanted to get your opinions on the best pocket reference for a flight nurse to carry. I've looked at the ER checkmate, and Kathy White's Fast Facts. The Checkmate is smaller, and has plastic pages, but alot less info. Kathy's FF has alot more info, and has modules that can be added, but it's also larger and has paper pages. Right now I carry an ICU pocket reference that's so beat up I think it's going to disintigrate next time I open it. What does everyone use, and what do you think of it? Thanks, The Mellow One

As a pretty new flight nurse, here's my view: Every nurse that enters flight nursing comes with strengths and weaknesses. I have significant ICU experience, but not much trauma and almost no peds. I fly with nurses and paramedics who have alot of ER and trauma experience, but not much ICU. I find that we complement each other very nicely. I'm learning alot working with them. We all bring our strenths and experience to the table. The main thing is to take your experience to the field, understand your weaknesses, and do what you need to do to strengthen yourself in these areas. Be well... The Mellow One

This class has only 16 slots, and I think it's close to full. Better sign up quickly if you want to get in. Be well... The Mellow One

No The Mellow One

I've actually found that males aren't just welcomed, but openly courted. I've been told a number of times by nurses that they need more male nurses on the unit. Strangely enough, a male nurse on the unit seems to decrease the feline factor that many find on nursing units. My sex has never been an issue, except for the battle axes who were openly hostile during my L&D rotation in nursing school. Nursing's a great profession, and we'd be more than glad to have you join our ranks. Be well... The Mellow One

Well, allow a poor little ADN to throw in his 2 cents worth. In my short 9 years as a nurse, I've worked the units, and been clinical manager on a cardio-thoracic ICU. I'm currently house administrator for a large urban hospital, and have just started working part time as a flight nurse. I hope to go full time with the flight nurse gig before too long. I've done this with my ADN because of my experience and the relationships that I've developed in my facility. It's true that many places like to see the BSN, particularly government and teaching institutions. At these facilities, you won't get into management without at least a BSN. On the other side, at most other facilities folks are far more concerned with your work experience than your degree. I once went into an RN/BSN program. In the second semester, there was a class called "Clinical Decision Making II." It was a 6 credit hour class consisting of all RN's with a significant clinical component. I was really looking forward to this class, hoping to increase my clinical skills. Well, we did such clinically intense things as spend 2 hours in class meditating. We did Yoga, studied music therapy, spino-sacral therapy, and accupuncture/pressure. We had a class in Feng Shui. I am now officially educated in how to ruffle a persons energy field. I got halfway through Depak Chopra's book on healing at the sub-atomic level when I couldn't take it any more. I went to the assistant dean, and explained why I was leaving the program. There are nurses of all levels of education who are outstanding, and nurses of all levels of education who are idiots. I fully intend to go ahead and get my BSN still, simply because flight nurses are expected to advance our education. As far as BSN's wasting their time working the floor... uh, no. Working the floors and the units is what nursing is all about. As house administrator, I still work extra shifts on the floors and units to maintain skills and show staff that we'll get down into the trenches with them. It does a staff good to have their supervisors helping them to clean up poop. Finally, management sucks. I can't count the number of people who've told me, "I wouldn't have your job for anything." Once I'm out of this House Administrator position and flying full time, I'll never go into management again. Being in management sucks. Have I mentioned that I don't like management? Be well... The Mellow One

Well, I personally would like to know more about the situation before I would support a strike. While it is sometimes necessary when a hospital administration is filled with clueless idiots, other times it is not. I went to nursing school at a union hospital. I resolved then that I would never work at a union hospital. A strike is a difficult situation for all. It can strain relationships, compromise patient care, and create many ill feelings that are long-lasting. My hope is that you can come to a quick resolution so that a strike is not necessary. Be well... The Mellow One

Simplistic, to say the least. Like all nations, the U.S. history is a combinatin of greatness and shame. A very small percentage of Americans owned slaves, and a far smaller percentage abused them as seen in the movies. Hundreds of thousands of Americans died freeing the slaves. For every slave owner, there was someone risking his/her life in the Underground Railroad. The Founders, in their genius, crafted to Constitution in such a way that the U.S. would evolve into a freer Republic. Many of them wanted to abolish slavery at the outset. In the culture and circumstances of the times, it wasn't possible. Many of the founders knew that it was, however, inevitable. The evolution of the U.S. has often been painful, but the end product is a society in which all who are willing to work hard, regardless of race, creed, color, etc etc, can succeed and prosper. All who put forth the Americans were/are bad viewpoint seems to forget that it is also Americans who brought about the changes that have made us the greatest nation on Earth. Be well... The Mellow One

The Government should fix the nursing shortage? How? When I hear that the government is going to fix my problem, my first reaction is to cringe. We don't need another bureaucracy sucking down tax dollars to fix our profession. In France? Uh, no. Not a role model that I care to emulate. Be well... The Mellow One

Here's an editorial that I wrote for the newspaper last year. It was on unit refrigerators all over the state. Give nurses a break Demanding job getting harder at understaffed hospitals By Robert -------- CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST The good news is that life expectancy continues to increase. Medical technology is improving at an incredible rate, and despite alarmist claims, virtually everyone in the United States has access to health care. For the uninsured, a wide variety of government and private programs provide access to our health care system. And now for the bad news: There aren't enough nurses to take care of all of the sick people. By 2008, the government projects that there will be a shortage of 480,000 nurses nationwide. The American Hospital Association reported in 2002 an average 13 percent job vacancy rating for registered nurses in U.S. hospitals. One in 7 hospitals reported a severe nurse vacancy rate of more than 20 percent. The average age of registered nurses is 43. Nurses are getting older -- and getting tired. Caring for the sick is rewarding, but the work has many unpleasant aspects. During a 12-hour shift, we care for patients who are confused, incontinent, angry and, sometimes, mean. We care for people who weigh more than 350 pounds who can't or won't do anything for themselves. We care for substance abusers going through unplanned detox. We deal with body fluids and patient conditions that would send the average person to the porcelain altar. At the end of the day, we leave work physically and emotionally drained. Many nurses are working extensive overtime to cover hospital units. I know nurses who will be taking their Christmas holiday sometime in February. Taking vacation time can be difficult on short-staffed units. Managers and even some nursing supervisors are working overtime at the bedside. Here are some things that people need to know about nurses and hospitals: * The nurse did not make you sick. We know that being sick isn't fun, and that being in the hospital is rough. However, being sick isn't a license to treat nurses with anger or disrespect. Work with us, and we'll do our best to help you get better. * Nurses are not doctors. Although nurses have extensive medical knowledge, we are not allowed by law to diagnose or give a prognosis. That means that we can tell you what our experience tells us. We can teach you about disease conditions and medications. The doctor must tell you what's wrong with you and your probable outcome. If a doctor isn't cooperating or won't give a straight answer, it's not the nurses' fault. * Nurses have more than one patient to care for. If you need a pain-killer when another patient has stopped breathing, you might have to wait a few minutes for your Tylenol. * Nurses have what many people would consider a morbid sense of humor. It's how we deal with the stress of our work. If you overhear nurses having an off-color conversation or laughing in what the average person would consider terrible circumstances, remember what we see every day. It's how we cope. If you hear a couple of nurses discussing body fluids over lunch, politely remind them that you're not a nurse and that they're making you sick. * Doctors' years of education and professional standing don't afford them the right to be mean to nurses. One of the roles of a physician is that of educator. If a nurse doesn't know what the doctor is talking about or what he or she wants, the doctor should use the next two minutes to teach, not to curse. And nurses don't want to call doctors in the middle of the night any more than doctors want to be called. The doctor should order what the patient needs and go back to sleep. If you know a nurse, and most people know at least a couple of them, ask him or her these questions: Have you ever been punched or kicked by a patient? Has a patient ever thrown something at you or on you? Has a doctor ever cursed at you? How does your back feel? And the most telling question of all: Would you advise your son or daughter to become a nurse? Most nurses love caring for sick people. It's a profession that a person truly has to be called to. But nurses are burning out from increased workloads, reams of paperwork and the ever-increasing stress that comes with caring for our aging population. When you or your loved one is sick and in the hospital, understand who we are and where we're coming from. We really do care.

Last year I was a contributing columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader. This was my first editorial. It was on nursing units all over the state the next day. (most of my other editorials have been politically conservative views.) Nurses and doctors all over the hospital told me that they loved the editorial. (Administration told me not to write any more editorials related to hospital nursing.) Give nurses a break Demanding job getting harder at understaffed hospitals By Robert -------- CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST The good news is that life expectancy continues to increase. Medical technology is improving at an incredible rate, and despite alarmist claims, virtually everyone in the United States has access to health care. For the uninsured, a wide variety of government and private programs provide access to our health care system. And now for the bad news: There aren't enough nurses to take care of all of the sick people. By 2008, the government projects that there will be a shortage of 480,000 nurses nationwide. The American Hospital Association reported in 2002 an average 13 percent job vacancy rating for registered nurses in U.S. hospitals. One in 7 hospitals reported a severe nurse vacancy rate of more than 20 percent. The average age of registered nurses is 43. Nurses are getting older -- and getting tired. Caring for the sick is rewarding, but the work has many unpleasant aspects. During a 12-hour shift, we care for patients who are confused, incontinent, angry and, sometimes, mean. We care for people who weigh more than 350 pounds who can't or won't do anything for themselves. We care for substance abusers going through unplanned detox. We deal with body fluids and patient conditions that would send the average person to the porcelain altar. At the end of the day, we leave work physically and emotionally drained. Many nurses are working extensive overtime to cover hospital units. I know nurses who will be taking their Christmas holiday sometime in February. Taking vacation time can be difficult on short-staffed units. Managers and even some nursing supervisors are working overtime at the bedside. Here are some things that people need to know about nurses and hospitals: * The nurse did not make you sick. We know that being sick isn't fun, and that being in the hospital is rough. However, being sick isn't a license to treat nurses with anger or disrespect. Work with us, and we'll do our best to help you get better. * Nurses are not doctors. Although nurses have extensive medical knowledge, we are not allowed by law to diagnose or give a prognosis. That means that we can tell you what our experience tells us. We can teach you about disease conditions and medications. The doctor must tell you what's wrong with you and your probable outcome. If a doctor isn't cooperating or won't give a straight answer, it's not the nurses' fault. * Nurses have more than one patient to care for. If you need a pain-killer when another patient has stopped breathing, you might have to wait a few minutes for your Tylenol. * Nurses have what many people would consider a morbid sense of humor. It's how we deal with the stress of our work. If you overhear nurses having an off-color conversation or laughing in what the average person would consider terrible circumstances, remember what we see every day. It's how we cope. If you hear a couple of nurses discussing body fluids over lunch, politely remind them that you're not a nurse and that they're making you sick. * Doctors' years of education and professional standing don't afford them the right to be mean to nurses. One of the roles of a physician is that of educator. If a nurse doesn't know what the doctor is talking about or what he or she wants, the doctor should use the next two minutes to teach, not to curse. And nurses don't want to call doctors in the middle of the night any more than doctors want to be called. The doctor should order what the patient needs and go back to sleep. If you know a nurse, and most people know at least a couple of them, ask him or her these questions: Have you ever been punched or kicked by a patient? Has a patient ever thrown something at you or on you? Has a doctor ever cursed at you? How does your back feel? And the most telling question of all: Would you advise your son or daughter to become a nurse? Most nurses love caring for sick people. It's a profession that a person truly has to be called to. But nurses are burning out from increased workloads, reams of paperwork and the ever-increasing stress that comes with caring for our aging population. When you or your loved one is sick and in the hospital, understand who we are and where we're coming from. We really do care.

I asked that political discussions about the war take place in a different thread. Threads here have a tendency to get way off of the original topic. This thread started as a salute to our fellow nurses who are dealing with the war in the first person. I'd like to keep this thread in that same vein, and as such won't respond to your post. You and I have already debated the war in other threads. If anyone knows nurses in Iraq or know stories of nurses serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, this would be the place to post them. God bless our nurse soldiers and keep them safe. Be well... The Mellow One

Karen, thanks for posting these links. Several people from my unit are deployed in Iraq right now. I've just learned that my unit is on a short list for deployment. We don't want to leave our families for a combat zone, but it's our job. We knew that this would happen at some time when we signed on the dotted line. When orders do come through, we'll do what we need to do. I can tell you that morale in my unit is high. We're well trained, and hopefully ready. I've not heard any complaints about the fact that we're going to be called up. The attitude is positive, and professional. We have the best people in the best Army in the world. We can be proud of our soldiers. Be well... The Mellow One

I just started a job as a flight nurse. The training is incredible, and you can't beat the schedule. (24 hour shifts, 7-8 days per 4 week schedule). Pay's pretty average, but the training, the comradarie, the adrenaline. Our flight service is helicopter only. Around 35% scene flights such as highway accidents, back hills, and other such. The rest are emergency transfers from small rural hospitals to the larger centers. It's hard to get into, but it's a great job. I highly recommend it. Be well... The Mellow One