doublehelix

I am looking for a week by week development chart that is aimed for nurses as a pocket guide. Sort of what you could find for moms like at what week organs develop but more geared for nurses. Ie, age you are concerned about lung development and will most likely need surfactant tx, what week is considered viable and percentages of mortality, etc. A chart to basically let you know what you can expect when workin with a specific aged neonate.

Hopefully someone can help us out!

Hi, I'm wondering if anyone has a great chart they would be willin to share on growth and development of the fetus. I have found some based for teaching with parents, but am looking for something more specific. For example, at what age reflexes have been developed, lung development, etc, to be able to use this regarding gestational age of a prem and how this may complicate care in NI. I will be doing senior here in June. If you have any other resources you think may be helpful as well for a new student, please let me know! Thank you! My email is also [email protected] in case you would prefer to email.

Good Morning! For those who may remember, I posted months ago about wanting to do my senior in NICU following a job shadow. I applied for a NICU spot as my #1 choice for senior practicum, and was told yesterday they are only accepting one student, and I have been chosen! I was so ecstatic!! I feel like all of my hard work and studying has finally paid off. For those who say grades don't matter, they do! I will have to do a phone interview with the unit manager beforehand, my understanding is they will take students who have a high preference for this area and want to seek employment following senior (high expenses to train, etc). I've heard the phone interview is quite general, and am excited to have the opportunity to speak with the manager beforehand, I have some questions prepared I would like to ask, too. I am going into finals next week, then have a week off following. I have been searching for books and journals to feed my mind. Does anyone subscribe to the Neonatal Network? I have been trying to track down articles or a handbook on neonatal assessment, but mostly come up with books. Any recommendations? This is probably the most relevant one I have found. http://www.amazon.com/Physical-Assessment-Newborn-Comprehensive-Examination/dp/1887571175/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361457284&sr=1-1&keywords=neonatal+assessment

Not a problem. Most of Canada is experiencing a nursin shortage, over the past few years they have been bringing nurses in from the Philippines. We are very fortunate there should be many positions upon graduation.

Hi, I'm from Manitoba, Canada.

This is true! Try doing job shadows, or look into other options for nursing... Home care, clinics, etc. I'm sure you will find something. All of us have felt discouraged at some point or another. Nursin school is not for the faint!

We have a fairly good job outlook here, currently there are around 800 nursing vacancies in my city, with 5 open positions in NICU currently. Thank you for sharing your story

I'm also wondering, for those that did your senior in peds/neonatal areas, did you find it more difficult to write the RN exam, which I assume is mainly on adults? Thanks again.

Hi everyone!I've been working as a HCA since before starting nursing, and always knew I loved acute care settings. I had my heart set on emerg for senior. I did a job shadow in NICU an ER at a nearby hospital to get an idea of some options I could see myself doing. I have worked in children's pacu and or, but had no idea how awesome NICU is. I had previously debated applying for a adult icu program as well, but now I think I'm hooked! I fell in love with the teamwork, that holistic care of caring not just for the baby but the parents and family ws well and respect for the nurses by everyone in the department and the constant learning. I must've filled a notebook full of things to research when i had gotten home. I am not sure how many students will be applying for this program, but I know that if I chose it as my first option and don't get it, I will be very discouraged. I have a high GPA and have received A's for all my clinicals, as well as a reward this year for clinical exellence ( only given to two students ). What does NICU and schools look for of someone applying there? I'm also concerned that if I put my last option for emerg to fall back on, it will be harder for me later to go from Adult to peds/neonate care. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated! I am stressing myself out about making this decision for my future.

I'm in my second term of first year nursing in a new BN program, and for our very first rotation i'm one of the 7/225 students on a surgical unit. I have experience working on ortho as a HCA at my local hospital (geriatrics) which i'm hoping will benefit me quite a bit! I'm still a little bit nervous but mostly excited. We had orientation today, and covered alot about the kinds of surgeries that comes through our units (mostly hips and knees), weight bearing restrictions, pain managemtn postop, etc. A lot of information to digest. So, we don't have any surgical theory experience, or pharmacology, and we're just learning injections now in skills. (IV's will be next term, after this rotation.) I'm hoping someone has some information or experiences to share that would be benefical to me! What things should I research ahead of time? What are some things you wish someone told you before your surigical practicum? We are on Christmas break starting monday, so I plan on looking more into the fractures and the process of hip & knee surgeries. Are there any sites that really helped you out? Thank you! Amber

I just need some support... I just started term two of my condensed 3 year BN program on Monday. Our lecture videos for skills class was posted Sunday night, so I figured I would get a head start and watch one of the videos and do some medmath for an upcoming dosage test on insulin/injections in two weeks. I've been working everyday from 1pm (after morning classes from 7:30AM-12:30PM) till 10:30 at night preparing JUST for my skills labs... We had 3 lecture videos 1 hr 40 min each to watch on top of in class lectures for prep for tomorrow's lab and five drugs to research. Tomorrow's lab is on blood glucose, surgical asepsis, and subcutaneous injections. I don't understand how we can get a good understanding of performing these skills in just four hours of lab time. I haven't even found time to do any more dosage calc or review notes from other classes. Some of my friends left all of their work to do until tonight, and I just can't understand how they could manage to complete it in time. I don't understand what i'm doing wrong; I don't know if i'm preparing too much, reading too much into the material or what... I try to use multiple sources for researching drugs and skills, but not include things that aren't necesasary or I already know. I don't know what else I could do to better prepare myself. I get A's in all of my courses, and would like to maintain that as much as possible... I'm prepared to accept a lower grade, but I gave up my job to go to school so I feel I have to do my best as a result. Does anyone else ever feel like no one understands how time consuming nrsg school is? My boyfriend works full time evenings as a custodian at local schools, and we get into fights almost daily because he says he is overtired. We've had various talks about it but he doesn't seem to understand we are both tired at the end of the day regardless of our workload... I am also basically "in charge" of household duties because of two family illnesses, and have a pet dog, diagnosed with SAD in highschool, so I guess it also doesn't help that it's already winter and dark at 4:30PM here in Canada. I don't feel as if I can talk with any of my friends at school about this because many have their own life issues, some of them have min. life commitments and only study the night before and end up with B's. I'm just hoping someone can share some words of wisdom with me, any tips on what you do when feeling overwhelmed and depressed. Sorry if that ended up as a little of a rant. I guess i've been bottling things up for quite a while.

Since when do you give an insulin injection into the finger? Maybe I need to look in my book again. My bad, I misread the entire thread as checking for blood glucose levels, completely missed the injection especially after seeing comments about cleaning with soap and water. Oops!

There was a girl in my class who failed her skills (min of 60% to pass) by .7 of a percent, No joke you're going to have your good classes and your bad classes... even your good semesters and bad ones as well! Hang in there!

My class was taught NOT to use alcohol swabs because people will rarely let the finger dry before sticking & cause irritation, alter the result (not majorly but I guess still noticeably.) As with anything, soap and water is the best method so it makes sense to me. As long as you teach your patients the proper way to wash their hands it should be fine. You have to wash your hands as well before giving the injection, so you may as well do some teaching! We were also told that it really depends on hospital policy, so It will differ with which school you're in, and the hospital you are doing your clinical

*shrug* I just respond to the content of the original message... I don't think I've ever gone to someone's profile to investigate their other posts. It wasn't my intent to be rude, but it would have made more sense if OP specified they were in highschool. The majority of "pre-nursing" students here seek advice regarding entry + pre-reqs...

We do take nutrition as one of the courses, but as a nurse it isn't your duty to give advice & prescribe the diet. I would say nutrition is very important for pt education and to help them understand. You could be interested in a career in dietary?

Yes, i'm confused. No information was given to suggest she is a highschool student, and since this is a nrsg forum, the assumption is the grade is regarding nrsg related courses... Knowing that she has Mono and has been home for three days is not enough to prove "she is lying." If you were a nursing student you would know that everyone responds to illness differently, and we rarely accuse anyone of "lying" about a condition, unless they have a diagnosed somatoform disorder.

Wow, there really are a lot of posts similiar to these lately! I feel like a broken record... :lol: But NRSG school is a lot different from highschool. Even if you prepare, and memorize all your notes, you need to utilize critical thinking skills. You will receive a ton of questions which the answers won't exactly be "spelled out for you" from your notes. I was an A student in highschool, and maintain that A-A+ now, but I study for 6-8 hours a night. You need to hope for that A, but prepare for a B. 94% is still an AMAZING mark!! Congratulate yourself... My class average is 63-70% in the majority of my classes.

LOL, sorry but I literally burst out laughing... an hour?? I study for 5-8 hours a night, and thats a good night. Nrsg school is way different from highschool. I had friends that study for 30 minutes-1 hour a night thinking that will be enough. You will hear this a lot, but you really need to put the time and work in. If you were a A student in highschool, prepare yourself for Bs.

Honestly, your posts really doesn't share much information to be able to give much insight... Personally, If I had felt something an instructor said was incorrect/I had a different view on it/studied or read about it elsewhere as being something completely different, I wait until after class to talk to the instructor one-on-one about it. Put yourself in that position, I'm sure you wouldn't want to be put on the spot in front of an entire class, and regardless if you think you are right or not I think it is just more respectful to wait and talk privately. again, you're not very specific as to what you said/how you corrected your teacher... But there's a huge difference between saying, "thats wrong, I know the correct answer is __" as opposed to "I read/elsewhere __, can you clarify this?" Teachers are people too, and they don't know everything. Not just that, but you need to consider the different views and opinions on subjects..Maybe the teacher really didn't know much about the subject personally and is basing her information off textbook material and such, and would appreciate your input to improve her lecture. But I wouldn't say that everything has a "correct" answer..

Ah, I always forget about stats. I feel awkward on this site constantly because in the US you guys have your pre-reqs, where as in CAD they are all part of our program, not offered seperately. Stats didn't even cross my mind... But again, we aren't allowed a calculator for stats either... just expected to use formulas!

All of us either have, or will have experiences like this at some point! At least yours has a rational reason - i've had friends who have fainted while preparing a shower for a patient! :lol: but really... I know its hard to believe but we all go through things like this, some of us just don't show it as well as others. I used to HATE needles, like i literally passed out a few times in highschool while receiving shots. With all of the shots I had to get to become a HCA, I learned to suck it up, and now I just take a deep breath before the insertion of that needle. I know some practicing nurses who still are uncomfortable with blood... Either this gives you an opportunity to learn your weakness and overcome it for another encounter, or you might decide not to work in an area with central lines. It's okay to say you need to step outside for a minute.. The pt is freaking out just as much as you are!

What exactly do you feel like your struggling in? You need to assess both your strengths and your downfalls... Nursing school is tough, and you will hear this a lot; most A students usually receive B's or C's in nursing school. C's are perfectly acceptable - they are a pass!! I know it's no fun, but the stress you are experiencing is greatly affected by your perceptions of your grades. My outlook is that I try for A's, but will accept B's. The more you put yourself down and think you are going to fail, well, you really will. One of my closest friends gets really upset when she receives B's and C's - but honestly, she doesn't put the work in and she knows it. If you are struggling with one particular subject, ask the teacher for advice, pick up some "___ for dummies/made easy" books, get a tutor, etc. I study around 5-6 hours a day, depending. Keep up with your material, one of the best ways to learn is to go over your just-learned material within 3 hours of class. When I get new material, I will go over it, then go through all of the old material just to refresh my brain for that course. Bottome line is you need to find some studying techniques that work for you... There will be courses in Nrsg which you will excell in, and others no matter how hard you try, it just isnt your strength and you need to somehow accept you can't be perfect!

I'm in an accelerated program, I took A&P over the summer which I am extremely thankful for doing so.. I have four classes now without the A&P and the lab day that goes with it.. It's do-able, but I know a lot of students that are regretting not taking it seperately. It is a large amount of material to cover, and you really need to understand everything in it!