ClimbingNurse

Prior to entering nursing school I had done all of the following: -Completed a BS in computers with honors -Run a videoconferencing network for the executives of one of the world's largest pharmacuetical companies -Worked as a consultant for what was...

Just in case no one believes me that teachers make more than RNs on average, you can get the facts straight from the Dept. of Labor: http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/ncbl0727.pdf Average Hourly salaries: RN: $27 Teacher: $31 And just for reference, MDs ...

Are you guys under the impression that we make more than teachers do now? Where I live new nurses make a little more than new teachers, but teachers' salaries advance much quicker and higher. And of course, this is for working 9 months of the year....

I went to nursing school with a gal who was a practicing MD in Ethiopia. She was a fantastic person to have in class and I'm sure she is a fantastic nurse now! My only advice is to not expect nursing school to be easy. She had just as much trouble ...

Damn near everything we do in the ED is a JCAHO violation. We just stop doing it for the 1 week that they are around every 2 years. We got evaled a week ago and passed with flying colors. The biggest change was locking up all the IV carts so that...

Some of this is unique to the ER: -Trauma shears (Biggish scissors for cutting off clothing) -Carpujet (Sorta syringe type thing for morphine and some other meds) -1 or 2 granola bars (lunch breaks are not a given and I'll pass out if I don't eat) -P...

To elaborate: For cardiogenic shock it is almost always given IV or down the ET. Anything else is too slow. Usual dose is 1 mg. (I don't know about PALS dosing though.) As an aside, it can also be given IC (intra-cardiac) but I don't think people ...

I graduated nursing school in May and have been working on my unit for 3 weeks now. (I had a summer job as a wilderness guide.) Before becoming a nurse I was a HS teacher and an IT consultant before that. I think it's all unit and person-dependen...

I have heard this debate time and again and I really don't get it. If you are going to require male nurses to be escorted while doing vaginal exams then do you require female nurses to be escorted when doing rectal temps or putting foleys into males...

If you have legitimate reason to be concerned about passing NCLEX on the day you take it then I think the problem is more than likely with your nursing school, not you. It is their job to prepare you to be a nurse and a basic part of that is to pass...

I just graduated from a 2nd-degree BSN program in the DC area and will be heading to Denver in September to start work. I'm doing the new grad program at University of Colorado Hospital in Denver (http://www.uch.edu) which is fantastic!! For what it...

Well, I'm about to leave, but I was born and raised here. I would reccommend that you take a look at the Mt. Pleasant and Columbia Heights neighborhoods. Both are close to CNMC and at least as affordable as the Montgomery County Suburbs. If you ar...

I just got one for christmas. Can't believe I waited this long! It is sooo much easier than trying to find the drug guide (especially in the ED). I have the prentice hall drug guide on mine. I like it a lot, but there's one thing that bugs me. W...

Umm... Yeah, we're all terrified. Don't worry. Tomorrow morning I start my senior clinical in the ED at a trauma 1 center. I am just as excited as I am completely terrified. My instructor basically told all of us that the training wheels are off...

I will also graduate in May. I've already been in contact with one hospital and plan to fly out there in March (spring break) to interview. I should have a job lined up by end of March at the latest. About a quarter of my classmates already have j...

I'm still in nursing school. Both of my clinical instructors this term went over snow policy last week. They both said "Look out your window. If you don't see the four horsemen of the apocalypse, come in." This is in DC, which usually doesn't get...

I've started collecting memories of finer moments. If anyone is interested, you can read them here: http://www.livejournal.com/users/climbingnurse/

Oops. Sorry. Mods please let me know if this is not kosher and I'll delete the OP. Thanks, Keith

Yesterday I got the best answer yet to the "Can you tell me where you are?" part of the A&O check. This was an 80+ y/o Pt c/ Alzheimer's and Dementia. She had no trouble with her name, but when I asked her what year it was she just said "I have ...

I recently made up an assessment cheat sheet, and it has made my life WAY easier. Before, I'd always go to chart and realize I'd forgotten something. Took me forever to get an assessment done, especially with a Pt on Contact Isolation. Here's my...

My cousin just graduated from med school at King's College. I visited in March and went to the Florence Nightingale Museum. Very cool! Anyway, over hear you can spot med students because they travel in groups of 5 or 6 trailing behind a "real doc"....

I did say in my OP that you'd have to adjust for your individual and facility needs. Right now I work on a surgery floor, so cap refill and pedal pulses are usually pretty important. Obviously you'd need a very different list for a maternity floor,...

It's been my experience that the only nurses who get snippy with me are the insecure ones. A lot of the time they are insecure for good reason. That being that they are not very good nurses. I know I sound like an arrogant SOB when I say that, but...

Work Of Breathing ie does it look like they are working a little harder than they should to get a breath in?

I'm going to put in one more to get everyone started: I always write down my vitals on the previously mentioned notebook (because I'm bad with remembering numbers). Of course, this becomes a problem when you have a Pt on Contact Isolation because yo...