westieluv

westieluv

Med/Surg, Tele, Dialysis, Hospice

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All Content by westieluv

  1. ADN vs. BSN - patient mortality rates

    westieluv replied to Katniss88's topic in Diploma, ADN, BSN

    I am a diploma RN of 23 years who graduated from a well-respected, hospital-based RN program. I have never, in all these years of working on Med/Surg and Stepdown units, had a patient code or crash,...

  2. ADN vs. BSN - patient mortality rates

    westieluv replied to Katniss88's topic in Diploma, ADN, BSN

    As an RN who has been practicing for 23 years and has worked until very recently on various acute care inpatient units, my personal experience has been that ADN nurses are every bit as competent as...

  3. New Grad: feeling defeated

    westieluv replied to maine28's topic in Diploma, ADN, BSN

    I have been an RN for 23 years so I'm not in your shoes, but what I see in my area is very odd, because it seems that there is no rhyme or reason to who gets hired by our local hospitals. I have...

  4. New grad RN and dialysis

    westieluv replied to KJM-RN's topic in Dialysis, Renal, Urology

    I started working for Fresenius this past May as an inpatient/acutes RN. I love my job so far. I know that they don't normally hire new grads to do acutes because of the acuity of the patients, but I...

  5. Laws Regarding Training

    westieluv replied to jschut's topic in Dialysis, Renal, Urology

    I don't know the laws in Indiana, but how in the world can a tech train an RN when your jobs cover different responsibilities and scopes of practice? How can you learn how to supervise the techs or...

  6. Is the hour long questionnaire from Fresenius a good sign you may get interviewed

    westieluv replied to SWRNUSA's topic in Dialysis, Renal, Urology

    When I got hired by Fresenius, my manager mentioned that they take that survey pretty seriously and that my results showed that I was a 95% good match to be a dialysis nurse, so I would say that it...

  7. I want to leave Acute Care Nursing

    westieluv replied to hrae's topic in Nursing Career

    After many years of acute Med/Surg nursing, I was offered a job as a hemodialysis nurse in the acute setting. Basically, I go to various local hospitals and give dialysis treatments to patients with...

  8. Manual for dialysis machine?

    westieluv replied to Turtles2's topic in Dialysis, Renal, Urology

    It's not going to help you much to memorize how to use the machine if a.) you don't know which machine you would be using, and b.) you don't have the rest of the education/training to go along with...

  9. Help

    westieluv replied to mvgg76's topic in Dialysis, Renal, Urology

    What kind of RN experience do you

  10. Will I Ever Get This?

    westieluv posted a topic in Dialysis, Renal, Urology

    I am two weeks into my new acutes job at Fresenius and so far I enjoy the work and think I will be very happy here, except...I am feeling overwhelmed by everything on the days that I am in the...

  11. Which nursing areas are most in demand?

    westieluv replied to sourapril's topic in Nursing Career

    Hemodialysis nursing is a growing field because of the increasing number of people with unmanaged diabetes and hypertension secondary to an unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle and noncompliance with their...

  12. New to Dialysis

    westieluv replied to Isitpossible's topic in Dialysis, Renal, Urology

    Our Fresenius outpatient clinic has the patients apply the EMLA cream at home and put some kind of protective barrier such as plastic wrap over it for the ride to the clinic to keep it from rubbing...

  13. Will I Ever Get This?

    westieluv replied to westieluv's topic in Dialysis, Renal, Urology

    Thanks for the support, Chisca and TEXASWAG. After I posted this I was allowed to spend half a day in the chronics clinic doing nothing but setting up machines. Even though I am still far from adept...

  14. Bladder Scanning Question

    westieluv posted a topic in Medical-Surgical

    I took care of a patient last week who had almost zero urinary output on my night shift. I bladder scanned her and it read 601 ml, so I called her MD who ordered a foley catheter. I inserted the foley...

  15. Not Sure What to Do...Fresenius Nurses?

    westieluv replied to westieluv's topic in Dialysis, Renal, Urology

    I should update this thread: I did accept the position doing acutes for Fresenius. Two weeks in I love, love, LOVE it! ITA about the strong education, especially since in my last position (the float...

  16. RN Contingent @ Henry Ford or DMC

    westieluv replied to MarcoSteRN's topic in Nursing Career

    I have worked as a contingent float nurse for a large healthcare company in Ohio that owns several hospitals and as a contingent inpatient nurse for a hospice company in SE Michigan. In general, in a...

  17. RN Contingent @ Henry Ford or DMC

    westieluv replied to MarcoSteRN's topic in Nursing Career

    You might want to post this in the Michigan nurses' forum or do a search for it there. Just go to the "U.S." tab at the top of the page and choose Michigan from the drop down menu. I live in SE...

  18. Dialysis Training Program in the New York City Area

    westieluv replied to Royalty01's topic in Dialysis, Renal, Urology

    Thanks for the encouragement, NurseRies! I agree, we can't complain about getting hours in these times when so many people are out of work and would give anything to be getting any hours, anywhere. I...

  19. Dialysis Training Program in the New York City Area

    westieluv replied to Royalty01's topic in Dialysis, Renal, Urology

    Hi NurseRies, Thanks for asking! I have only completed one week of orientation so far, but I do find it very interesting and I am really enjoying it! I have a very nice, patient supervisor who has...

  20. Dialysis Training Program in the New York City Area

    westieluv replied to Royalty01's topic in Dialysis, Renal, Urology

    I just got hired by Fresenius as a full-time inpatient/acute dialysis nurse and I have zero dialysis experience, just several years of experience in med/surg, intermediate cardiac, and hospice...

  21. Best Schedule for Mom's with Toddlers

    westieluv replied to jk82's topic in Nursing Career

    Well, this is what worked for us when our two kids, who are now 19 and 21, were small. My husband worked full-time days with a start time of roughly 6am. His job covered us for benefits, so I took...

  22. Flushing Foley with cold saline????

    westieluv replied to HelloM1M1's topic in Medical-Surgical

    I've never heard of that either. It seems like that could cause clots that would occlude the tubing. FWIW, I just googled it and found an article on eHow.com (which I realize is not a medical forum,...

  23. Just need to vent :(

    westieluv replied to k-flo's topic in Nursing Career

    I have worked on a contingent basis for most of my nursing career so that I can arrange my schedule around my family, and even though I have often picked up several shifts a week, I have never been...

  24. Out of all the nursing specialties, which ones would be the least amount of stress?

    westieluv replied to AliDrewThis's topic in Nursing Career

    Being an RN in a doctor's office can be very stressful, the pay is considerably lower than in other areas of nursing, and there is no 9-5, you stay until the last patient leaves in the evening and...

  25. Not Sure What to Do...Fresenius Nurses?

    westieluv replied to westieluv's topic in Dialysis, Renal, Urology

    Lazykittye, thanks for taking the time to reply and thanks for your encouragement! I know going into this that quitting is not an option, because I have worked for a couple of different companies in...