TDub

I'm working hospice now and I have seen that too! It really shakes you up, doesn't it? Edit: I replied to the person who described a "glow" on the face of a pt that died; a minister. Sorry for misplacement and formatting. I'm not very techno savvy.

I have seen this as a hospice nurse. It's uncanny in the original sense of the word. I also had a nun at the sisterhouse look THROUGH me, get really excited, say "Oh, it's YOU!" and then lie back to die a few hours later.

Do not not not do it. I am a Christian and never say anything about unless I am asked directly or my student says something directly and privately. Not everyone is a Christian and many people feel any attempt at sharing faith is hard-core proselytizing. Unless you teach in a completely privately funded college, that can be considered mixing church and state. Remember, the Bill of Rights guarantees the ability to worship as we please, not to express religion as we please. No one can tear down your church-by witnessing, you are treading on their worship/belief system and metaphorically tearing down their church. And yes, atheism is a belief system. They have just as much right to think the way they do as we have to think the way we do. You will also lose the respect of every student & colleague who do not adhere to your beliefs if you do this.

One caveat: If you want to be an MSN in Maternal/child health, you had better know your Pathophys backwards and forwards. OB conditions can mask serious diseases you will need to be able to catch. Just sayin'

Well now that I've graduated, I find teaching jobs that are FT/pay anywhere near a living wage are few and far between. I'm looking to network and have given up on getting a decent job in academia. Anyone have any leads in the private sector? I have an MSN, NE emphasis, will take the CNS certification exam soon and next year am thinking about taking the hospice and palliative care ANP exam. My area of expertise is OB. I'm teaching OB clinical right now but only making 6 to 10 thousand a term depending on the class load. Full time at this world renowned institution of learning is a splendid 54 K a year in one of the most expensive areas of the state. Any ideas? I have to find decent work soon!

Peed on by a dead man... hmmm, I'd say you are in the front runners for grossest.

My mother said "Boliver Shagnasty" or if a person was really big, "Man Mountain Dean".

We have to explain pelvic rest means "nothing in there, nothing ON there and especially no orgasms' No orgasms for the threat of pre-term labour.

To find Christ in every person I meet.

Man, I shoulda proofed that last post-sorry for the spelling errors.

I had probelems with students doing inappropriate things and then saying "I never read/heard/knew that." I had a sheet made up with important data, all the things lk washington mentioned and had them sign and date it, saying they had read and understood it. They had a copy and so did I. The compalints and offenses dropped. I still had some crazy things go on, but it was greatly improved. Good luck.

I would have really wanted to yell, "Oh my gosh, a snake!" and proceed to whack the bejebus out of it.

Exactly-better 'n her, anyway!

These stories have made me feel less alone and a little braver... I am currently waiting for results on a sinus bx. I cracked a tooth; when it was pulled the dentist discovered a growth on the root that had destroyed an area of my upper jaw and perforated my sinus. Since then, it seems as though I am moving underwater and feel slightly stoned and disassociative all the time. The chances of actual cancer must be very low but all I can think of is how it will kill my mother, my husband and brothers, my kids, my dog even if I die. I'm only 51 and still have a lot of plans. I think being a hospice nurse makes me think of all my patients' worst scenarios and really, I'm overreacting. I hope I'm overreacting.

And this is why I love being a hospice nurse. Truly a privilege.

On that note, anyone know anything about graduating with an MSN, (but not a CNS) and where to go to complete CNS training?

I agree going for the CNS with emphasis in education is the wisest choice. I am finishing a master's in nursing education and to my horror found halfway through a mere nurse educator is not considered an Advanced Practice Nurse. I felt like the proverbial red-headed stepchild. A CNS is an APN.

Some of the best advice I got in nursing school was "You don't have to like all your patients." I was so grateful I could have kissed that professor! You can care deeply about doing a good job, being there for the patient, caring about them as a human being deserving of the care and consideration every human being deserves and being an ethical nurse and STILL hate their guts. I think it's stupid to expect to "care" about every patient like that. Some you click with and they become dear to you and others don't. You still give them everything you've got, right? Because that's the essence of a nurse: that all patients are treated with equal dedication compassion and intellectual rigor. You don't have to like anyone. You just have to do a good job and live up to your end of the bargain: I will take care of you to my utmost ability. Remember: a theory is just that. There are plenty of theories that border on the ridiculous. Martha Rogers, anyone?

Mission Impossible during codes...that's a riot! There's one I sing all the time by Rufus Wainwright: My phone's on vibrate for you God knows what all these new drugs do I guess to have no more fears But still I always end up in tears So call me Call me in the morning Call me in the night So call me Call me anytime you like My phone's on vibrate for you For you The first two lines especially are so pertinent as a hospice nurse.

Pace yourself. I would seriously urge you to have much more than a year of nursing before you go back to get a master's. You need 5 years at least in different paths, investigating different areas and getting some hard core experience before trying to be an expert in any field. It takes at least 12 months of working full time in each position to evolve into being a competent, well-rounded, good nurse. Get there first, work a little more and let it percolate before going back to school. You have your whole life ahead of you-don't plunge into it unprepared and burn out. Time and experience are your friends.

Wow, I like that! I think of "nurse" more as lying in the frame of "nurturer" or "one who intervenes on your behalf" the same as counselor, gardener, coach, soldier, marshall or leader. None of those are gender associated. Men and women do all of those jobs, so "nurse" doesn't stand out to me. Except of course in the way that it is superior to all of them. :thankya:

I'm in an online program and I can tell you right now it is a ton of homework and reading. Unless you go without sleep I don't see how you could do all the reading properly and get the assignments in on time. Now this is just me, so you may be more organized and together than I am (although that wouldn't be hard...) but I work 3 12 hour day/week and basically I am either working or doing schoolwork. Anything else I am stealing time from meals or sleep to do. I.e. it's 1 am here na dI should be asleep.

I have the feeling if bird flu ever really got going it wouldn't be likr the Epidemic of 1918. It would be more like the Black Death in the 1300's. I think things would collapse.

After this, I'll quit posting... Herein lies the rub. It worked for somebody. (Did you pick that name on purpose?) BUT just because it worked for somebody doesn't mean it will work for everyone else. I'm right there with Suesquatch- I weighed 160, ate organic food, did yoga, walked every day, was happily married and loved my life. Then (cue ominous music) I got pregnant. Everything changed. I gained weight far too rapidly for what I was ingesting, was exhausted despite the exercise, had to quit yoga because I became so anxious I burst into tears in the corpse pose and laid on the couch all day sobbing, begging God to let me die in my sleep. The only reason I didn't kill myself was that I am religious and I knew it was a sin. Nothing, I mean nothing worked. The doc finally figured out pregnacy had changed my endocrine system enough that I was insulin resistant and severely antenatally depressed. While I was still pregnant I took Prozac before it had been approved for pregnancy. I didn't want to but as she pointed out, "Do you want your child incubated in a stew of such overwhelming misery and despair you want to die, or are you willing to accept the studies that say it doesn't affect the fetus and live to deliver this baby?" Both my kids are fine despite growing in a bath of SSRIs and sucking them down with breast milk for 3 years. However, I will have to take Wellbutrin and Celexa the rest of my life. Pregnancy ruined my pancreas (Metformin and Topamax), created GERD(Protonix), weakened my heart(Lasix and aldactone), screwed up my clotting factors(Coumadin), wrecked my thyroid (Synthroid) and thanks to all these stimulants, I usually take Ambien to stay asleep at night if I don't want to stare at the ceiling from 3am to 7am. Oh, and I weigh 290.:uhoh21: I'd still take big fat wrecked me :pumpiron:plus kids over childless 160 lb me any day. But it is hard (and I'm not talking about you, somebody. I know you aren't making this judgment.) when I hear, "Oh if you just changed your diet, all your problems would be solved." If I lost weight, most of my problems would go away, but a diet only helps so much. Although I do agree healthy eating habits and exercise would do all of us a world of good!

I'm 9 years younger than you and I wanted to go to Woodstock so badly! I was a little wanna-be hippie in the fourth grade.