Murse406

When a nurse realizes a med error, he/she notifies the physician immediately and later follows up with a report to management prior to being prompted because they have to by another.

How many lives have I saved? Well...I was carving notches into the wood of my desk for each one. Unfortunately, there were a couple of times when I forgot to.... so let's see.....On second thought, maybe the question should be..."how many lives haven't you saved?"

It's the quiet ones that scare me......

Here's the deal....The sky is always falling when your party is not in power, such as when this bill was crafted. Is it the best bill? NO but the reason for that is all of the opposition and haggling incurred by the right. You have to remember this was their idea not too long ago...think Bob Dole, Kansas Republican. The bottom line is that you are paying for it anyway. You pay with your monthly premiums and your taxes. Where do you think medicare/medicaid comes from? Think about it. Hospitals charge so much because a lot of folks aren't paying customers and a lot that are, via insurance private and public, are getting discounted/negotiated rates. The cost of healthcare is greatly exaggerated and inflated due to the current systems (already imposed by our government's regulations) lack of reasonable execution. Those of you who say it's not the gov'ts business are already to late and living in a fantasy world if you think today's system isn't governed by that model. Before you right wingers start trying to flame me....I'm an independent and try to think for myself. I don't let the Glen Becks/Al Frankens of the world direct my opinions. I think Lewis Black said it best when he said, "Democrats stand up and say, ' I've got a sh@#ty idea.' Then republicans stand up and say, 'I can make it even Sh@#tier." Just my .02. Current healthcare economics cannot sustain us. A lot of you may be healthy now and not care about insurance. However, medicare is running out and many of our generation at this rate will be SOL when we reach retirement age

You need ICU experience to be a CRNA. All of the ICU's I have worked in/done clinicals in require total care. A lot of ICU patients are on stool softeners. My point is to get where you want to be will require a lot of "butt wiping." With that said, I hated 90% of my nursing (most in school) experiences but found a home that I enjoy in the ER. There is something for everyone in this field. Keep an open mind. BTW.....Who is a fan of "playing in poop?" You just get over it. Certain areas don't do it as much as others. Good luck, you'll find something. School is the worst part. I remember thinking in school, that I did not want to be an RN and was considering many different changes mainly because school is geared towards the female and I felt like a fish out of water. Hang in there.It gets better

Because the drug in question is for gram negative bacilli . Cold sore's are typically herpes simplex virus

First of all you have asked two different questions. How do male nurses "feel" and then you asked IF we actually do it. The answer to the second is yes we do clean the perineum...as far as how we "feel"..... we usually "feel" with our hands, wow what a creepy question ....if you were referring to actual emotional feelings...everyone knows male nurses have none.

Wait a second.....are some of you implying that Glen Beck may not have his "facts" straight? How can you turn a deaf ear to a man willing to show his sincerity by crying on his show that is on the most "fair and balanced" channel in the world? The sky IS falling. Stock your basements with water, spam, and vienna sausages. I know this because a patient in my ER is friends with a woman who went to high school with one of Pat Robertson children and he said the Bible clearly predicts that Obama will lead an Army of brown homosexuals to overthrow the United States in an effort to gain control of Area 51, where we hide the aliens. Why you ask?......The answer, as we all know, is that....liberals appreciate parades and abortions just a little bit more than freedom and low taxes. For this reason my wife and I have decided to not to give our daughters the Gardisil vaccine or let them watch any movie that does not star Mel Gibson. Oh great, I just realized the CIA is now monitoring me because of this post. If I disappear from allnurses.com ....you know why.

As a former civilian LEO (and soldier medic) to RN (ER) I can tell you what people have already posted is spot on. For starters you have a track record of being a "professional." A real big point is that communicating with a diverse population thing. In the ER, alot of the population you have already dealt with will be similar. I think your prior-experience will be valued by co-workers when those less than savory patients come in the door. The point I tried to get across through my resume and interviews was that unlike what you see cops do on TV shows, the reality is that we have to know how to talk to people and show them respect in order to gain our objective, regardless of the personality of individuals. It can take along time to develop that skill as a new RN...but you probably already have that down. Good luck

By AKANurse4 "The comments here really BLOW ME....." I am pretty sure there is a joke here somewhere...oh nevermind

@ badphish I couldn't have said it better myself. I think that is what I had been trying to say all along.

If you are focused on getting a tech job right now, do the phlebotomy class. As a tech, you won't be allowed to interpret EKG's anyway as assessment is a nursing function. You more than likely will be able to draw blood however and in the ER or anywhere else, a valuable skill. Even if you can't get on in an ER as a tech, you may be able to go elsewhere in the hospital. As others have said, you can get the EKG class in nursing school in the future. Schools simply don't teach/give students enough experience with venipuncture. Good luck

I received 18 Cr hours at a well respected community college for my medic training to include 5 of those for the A&P combined course, the rest EMS credits. I was irritated because most nursing programs required A&P separately for 8 hours of Cr. So I jumped through their hoops, took them separately, and am now very glad I did. Had I not, I would not have been prepared for future course work no matter how much I thought I knew at the time. As a lot have previously said, you don't know what you don't know until you get there. Others and I will also tell you, school is just the tip of the ice berg. If you want to be an RN, go to school for it. Your previous experience will serve you well, but it is just that, previous experience.

Having it before I graduated definitely helped me get interviews/offers in a tough market. just an extra note: The above is true but although it has been more difficult lately due to the economy, my region hasn't been as hard hit to get jobs as a lot of other areas in the country

That picture that people have of the traditional nursed is objectifying. If Administrations want traditional looking nurses I guess they better get rid of us dudes. I'd like to see what their patient satisfaction survey looks like when all the nurses have quit due to ridiculous uniform requirements. Obviously they didn't survey my old man because he would have picked the naughty nurse outfit.

You could "burp" the bag. First spike the bag, then un-spike the bag. Squeeze the bag while holding the spike port up as if forcing the fluid to squirt out the port (but don't squeeze hard enough to do it). While the air has been forced out, re-spike the bag and flip over to prime the line. You must do this of course while keeping the tubing spike from touching anything. That should take care of your free air in the bag problem. Good luck

SanDiegoNavyDoc, With all due respect sir, this is a nursing forum so what is your point? If you wanted us all to know that your prior experience made you better, mission accomplished. I hope that is the case for all of us. The problem that the OP doesn't seem to understand is that civilian licensure and the privileges it brings does not care what a FMF corpsman knows or doesn't. As an MD, you should understand that if you want to practice as anything alphabetical (RN, MD, EMT-P, etc) you have to jump through those hoops. You could scream and whine all day about how you can do skill x y and z because you were a corpsman, medic, or have a boyscout sewing badge (next we'll have one these complaining that no one at the hospital will let them put in stitches) but the fact of the matter is, legally you cannot. I for sure know that FMF Corpsman are highly skilled, does that mean I would let them use it in my ER? If I want to keep my job I won't. MD's in the nursing forum, interesting.

Sounds OK to me. Usually before attaching, I just lick the port. You used alcohol....Potayto/Puhtahto. Seriously..you'll laugh at this Nursing school crap later.

I hope the economy improves by the time you graduate as many anticipate it will (fingers crossed). If that occurs, opportunities will be there. However, I want to add, keep an open mind. I wanted to work only in critical care before and during school. I had a job lined up prior to graduation in an ICU. When my senior year rolled around I had the opportunity to choose my capstone in almost any setting to include the ER or ICU. Because I already had an ICU job lined up, I figured capstone would be my chance just to play in the ER and have some fun. Well, it didn't take long before I wished I'd pursued an ER job instead. Luckily, and I mean very fortunately, an opening presented itself while I was in capstone in that ER. The ICU was nice, but the ER felt like home. So my answer to your question is yes and no. Keep an open mind through your travels. I had many classmates that changed their minds based off of their school experiences. Good luck.

Sailor, Let me qualify first. Army medic (NCO) now civilian ED RN. Military roles are completely different from the civilian world. One of the biggest things about being an RN is knowing your legal limitations. Skills sets/duties can vary greatly even by state within the same title/license/profession. I understand your training and what you have been through but what are you doing getting into an argument outside of your lines with an RN (if he/she is an officer, you really stepped out of bounds). You are trained to be the end all medically speaking when and only when a higher level of care is unavailable in the field, when in garrison you know you have limitations. You and I both know there are plenty of situations that are above your scope and skill level. Do you know the RN's role/training etc? Now do I think it was appropriate for her to be bashing your skill set? Absolutely not however, you need to understand that if you are to be working in the U.S. at hospital military or not, there are things you can and cannot do and it sounds to me like you don't like someone telling you that. I have never been spoken to in a demeaning manner by nurses/physicians about my service job at the same time I had to understand my role/limitations when I was in their house. Remember she may only have one year of experience, but in that setting that is one more than you. I know you Marines (including Corpsmen here) have a lot of pride and you should (you have my respect for that) but check that attitude before you come out of the field or you are going to have a tough time readjusting to the civilian world. I am not saying you are.... but your post makes you sound immature, so be careful because this community is smaller than you think.

I am a long time reader, first time poster. I am a new grad RN (May) and former LEO. I was welcomed with open arms into a busy ED. I also had experience as an Army medic. I definitely think that helped me. I tried to go through school with an open mind, even though I really didn't care for about 90% of the other areas (no offense). I guess it is in my blood. I think law enforcement experience can translate to the ER and all of nursing because you have to able to communicate with a wide variety of people from different cultures. As an LEO that comes pretty easy. I think the hard part is to convince some managerial types (not mine of course) that cops aren't like they are on TV, yelling at and beating suspects. I think you are making a good choice, I know I did. For the record, I'd rather get tased than sprayed with OC any day, it doesn't hurt as long.