MarkRN

Hello everyone! Just wanted to see if anyone else out there is starting their MSN at the UoP on May 9th? I will be specializing in the nurse educator program, but those program-specific courses will not come until the end of the program. Are there...

By no means do I intend to insult you in any way (if you do in fact have this disorder) by what I am about to write, so please try not to take it personally. I am only speaking from experience in regards to this disorder... There are several reasons...

From my experience, many nurses find patients with borderline personality dosorder, antisocial personality disorder, and substance abuse disorders the most difficult to work with.

I suggest you take a look at your state's mental health legislation (i.e. mental hygiene law). In New York state, we have to obtain a court order for meds over objection before we can force patients to take meds other than PRNs that are needed to de...

I think that those of us in Psych need to frequently do some self-reflection and assessment into what population(s) seem to irritate us the most. For example, many nurses have difficulties with personality disorders (i.e. borderlines, antisocials, e...

We wear white tops and blue pants on our inpatient psych unit. This is the uniform that is expected of all nurses in our hospital. The rationale for this is so that patients and visitors know what role staff plays just by looking at them. I initia...

I hear ya, elkpark! Yes, acute inpatient units anymore are really meant for stabilization and a quick discharge. I would say to look into the outpatient setting (continuing day treatment programs, partial hospitalization programs, mental heath cent...

I currently work on a locked inpatient psych unit in a large hospital and I can tell you that we take care of a lot of medically-compromised patients on our unit. For example, my staff and I have had some post-surgical patients, have ran numerous IV...

From my experience, salaries are mainly comperable if not the same for psych nurses who are employed at hospitals with inpatient psych units as are other nurses in that same hospital. If you plan on working in the outpatient setting, salaries may be...

The hospital I work for offers $6000/year for full-time ($3000/year for part-time) employees who are pursuing a degree in nursing. There is a one-year committment from the ending date of the last class the hospital paid for. They paid for $12,000 o...

Hello to everyone!

It's ok here. Would rather be back down south (came from NC).

Hope you are enjoying Rochester!

A few years ago, nursing staff went to set colors at my hospital. This decision was made by the nurse council after it was identified as a complaint by many patients on satisfaction surveys because they couldn't tell who they were seeing in their ro...

Hello everyone. I will be starting my online MSN in Nursing Education at the University of Phoenix Online next month. I decided to go this route (distance learning) because there are no colleges/universities in my area that offer a masters program ...

ecb, The idea of the STAR (whatever that means?!) program sounds alot better than a staff-chosen EotM. I never thought about having the families, patients, etc. nominate somebody - that sounds neat! Thanks for sharing!

I work on a cardiac stepdown unit where there seems to be an increasing amount of paperwork that we are expected to keep up with. In this age of nursing shortages and having to "do more with less", we are bogged down with increased documentation. W...

Hi there. I can empathize with you on the difficulties of RN classes. I know it is frustrating to not get the kinds of grades you know you are capable of getting, but try to remember that you have a much fuller plate now than you did in LPN school....

Heather, I think something like this could turn out to be a good thing, but quite possibly may not. On one hand, it sounds fair to allow peer staff nurses to choose their "employee of the month" - it keeps the management out of the voting. However,...

As we all are very much aware - there is a shortage of nurses. I don't think that the number of nursing schools is a problem, as it is the decreasing number of students going into nursing. A few years ago, it was very competitive to get into nursin...

To prevent retyping my thoughts on this issue, please read my response in the general nursing discussion - "Do you feel adequately prepared to practice nursing..." Thanks.

I don't think there are many nursing programs in the country that really prepare nurses for the "real world" - whether they are ADN or BSN programs. Of the nurses I have talked to, the ones who seemed most prepared graduated from a diploma program, ...

Paula, I am very interested in what you have to say about financial ideas. What are some key issues that you cover? Investing, stocks, mutual funds, IRAs, 401's, etc? Please elaborate more on your financial concepts. Thanks.

I work on a cardiac stepdown unit where most of our nurses are ACLS qualified. Our hospital calls either a code 99 (meaning an MD is already present) or a code 100 (no MD present - usually the ED doc shows up). In either case, our staff nurses init...

I don't really see any differences where I work. I don't get any special treatment as a male, and I am not targeted to take specific patients just because of my physical strength. I have good working relationships with my female co-workers and mana...