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Go for it, apply! Worse case is you don't get it :)

I've always been told, and believe, that your first year out of nursing school as a new grad is your "fifth year of nursing school" cause you learn so much in the first year no matter where you work! I was a new grad, did a year on a med surg unit and then did ICU/ER training...and thoroughly love it! But I wouldn't take back the year med surg experience I gained over anything! It's your basic background knowledge that will stay with you wherever you go to work :) But you have a decision to make that will shape you into a wonderful nurse if you give it your all :) Best of luck and all the best!

I think sometimes you hang D10W with insulin drip so the pt won't go hypoglycemic. Not 100% sure but I think I heard something along those lines once lol.

Thank you for that letter. I have only been in nursing for a year. After reading this letter it makes me want to be a better nurse :)

Thanks for the help!!! Really appreciate it!

Can someone please please please talk me through zeroing a line, such as an art line or cvp line? I'm new to critical care and go so intimidated with all these lines. My biggest issue is when I have to zero the line. I have so many silly questions: 1. Do I flush the line first? 2. When I place the sterile cap back on the stopcock? 3. When do I press the zero button on the monitor? A step by step instruction would really help!!! I know I have to turn the line off the patient (stopcock pointing toward the hard cable) and then remove my sterile cap)...but after that I screw up lol. Any help would be greatly appreciated.:)

Ortho units are heavy units...so watch your back! All patients (except for some of your rotator cuffs) will require assistance with almost everything they do and therefore it's a risky place to injure yourself so don't do any lifting, etc (in any unit really), alone. The great side about ortho is it's a "clean" unit unlike abdominal surgeries or gyne/uro surgeries. You may also get some trauma patients depending where you work from MVAs.

I'd recommend the text they use for teaching TNCC (trauma ER course) as well as a handy reference book I take with me to work all the time. Here's the links: http://www.amazon.com/Trauma-Nursing-Course-Provider-Manual/dp/0935890998/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301230508&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.com/Fast-Facts-Adult-Critical-Care/dp/1889125008/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1301230623&sr=1-1 Good luck!

We use saline for our PICCs and heparin flush for the triple lumen CVP lines (hospital)

Just starting working in ER and ICU and have to say I LOVE ICU but can hardly stand ER...just not my thing. Too unorganized and you don't know you're patient, only the 10 minutes you spend with them finding out why they are here. Staff ratio is horrible, never enough staff and patients don't understand the word "emergency." I dread having to go there these days.

A posterior wall MI could be a possibility if you saw reciprocal changes on the EKG (which I don't know what the EKG was). Giving NTG S/L would decreased their blood pressure due to decreased preload in the RV and therefore decreased CO. Therefore you would need to bolus your patient lots of fluids to maintain an adequate blood pressure. A 12 EKG with a v4R lead indicating a posterior MI could make all the difference in the world.

I've always believe that if you "care" about your patients...follow nursing. If you care about the science...medicine. lol.

I find it really hard to understand how there is such a critical nursing shortage but no job offers. All the places I've applied to have given me many job opportunities right away, although I haven't applied to any major centres such as TO. Good luck!

Just passed my TNCC course beautifully! It was an awesome course and I'd recommend it to any RN out there!

I am an openly gay man at work and have never had a problem with any of my coworkers. That being said, I don't wear a sign on my uniform "Look at me, I'm a fairy nurse!*" either haha. *Also, this was not intended to offend anyone. Sorry if I did. :)