hellerd2003 RN

Gosh, this could turn into a novel. High school-- worked at an Arby's. Yuck. During college (undergrad was in psych), I worked at a camp for kids/ adults with developmental disabilities. That was my absolute FAVORITE job. I also worked part-time ...

Does your husband really support your career? If so, then nothing else should worry you. I was married before nursing school. Ironically enough, I was accepted to a PA program, and hubby supported me living there (at the PA program 1/2 a country aw...

Greetings! I am hoping that someone will be willing to help me out with an assignment I have for a graduate-level NP course. We are to ask some questions of a nurse practitioner, as we begin to prepare for our first clinicals (this is my first semes...

My hospital system has the goal of phasing out LPN's/ LVN's in the near future. . . They are not finding a financial benefit to LPN's. . . If you could hire an LPN who needed to be supervised by a RN, and was limited in scope, vs hiring a RN, in this...

I had the RNY back in 2001 and would never recommend it. Anything that reroutes intestines/ messes up absorption of nutrients, etc. . . . I just cannot get behind that. Plus I've had numerous complications-- anemic, requiring IV iron (and I get sco...

When you think about it, your situation is actually pretty desirable if you can move for a job. If they pay for your school and THEN let you out of a contract, you're free to work wherever you want. It's far worse if you are locked into 4 years of ...

I'd like to point out that they have created a new management career ladder-- thus increasing the number of managers in our hospital-- but when I ask for a CNA to ensure that we can give adequate patient care, I'm told it's not in the budget. Just c...

I once worked in a psych unit that required first and last names on badges. All staff covered up their last names with tape . . . easy to remove if mgmt does rounds . . . And we did this because pts that we knew were sex offenders moved into close ne...

You walk into work and have a critical patient crashing/ desaturating, and at the time you are about to start report on that patient, you receive a new ICU admit that is vented, thrashing, blood pressure in the 70's, and it's a fellow RN . . .

We got cookies from outside organizations. We could purchase a 32 oz. soda in a "souvenier cup" (picture cheezy baseball stadium cup) from the cafeteria. I also work at a non-profit who is in the process of purchasing additional hospitals. Yeah, righ...

Following this logic, we need a females in government week (since Hillary and Sarah Palin get grilled at a moment's notice, and Hillary is ridiculed simply because she has a brain, whereas Sarah is the great hope of the Republican party because she h...

Nope. Never have I worked in a profession which is so disrespected, not only by patients and MD's, but also your peers (eating one's young). Nursing was a second career for me, and in hindsight I'd keep the lower pay for the level of respect I had.

I created my own report sheet. I work in ICU, so have only two pts, so each side is for one pt. I divide the paper into four sections, and fold the paper in those sections, so I can fit it in my pocket. On the top left, I have room for pt sticker, a...

There are some things for which school prepares you. How to spike an IV bag, how to administer standard medications as scheduled; how to make the perfect care plan. Yet nursing is not about the perfect care plan, and although one can, as a nurse, pri...

Nursing isn't for you unless you can get over this. Today, I carried away a bag (yes, a bag) of feces, helped clean another patient who soiled the bed x2, emptied 2 foley catheters of urine (multiple trips for each), suctioned my patients' mouths eve...

Yes, you can get a job outside of a hospital with just a 2 yr. degree. If you're in a hospital, generally you'll have to work night shift to get a chance to day shift in my area (SW). Other areas of the country, hospitals aren't even hiring. If yo...

Just treat her within the realms of nursing care. You can't pass judgment on their relationship. He may have been a prince to you, but used her as well and denied it to his deathbed. Treat the patient, not the family. That said, if you believe i...

I have a MSN, CCRN, and nursing is my SECOND master's degree. I still clean up patients. No questions asked.

So true re. the ED and illness. When I worked in an ED, the first 6 months I was sick all the time. After that, I was invincible. LOL. Also true re. the isolation. Someone is colonized with MRSA in the nares, and we freak out. While, to be hones...

You'll still get exposed to any and everything once they're on the floors . . . And you may not know what they have even when they come from the ED. Cultures take a while to come back, and you could be working with someone who has MRSA or acinitobact...

I don't know about the area in which you are, but I was hired in another state, and no one questioned the state driver's license when I filled out my paperwork. By "another state", I mean 1000+ miles away. As long as you can get there, you should b...

I hate to say it, but I think this mess will pass in years, not months. Hunker down, know it will improve, but do what you can to save yourself. This is a depression, no matter what the media states. Reality Bites was filmed during a QUASI-recessi...

If you join AACN, you get access to online courses that give you free CEU's. It also looks good on a resume to be part of a professional organization. AND . . . as a member of a professional organization, you have access to research journals that wi...

I'm not lobbying in Washington, but in a week I'll be lobbying at my state capitol. For free-- lobbyists in my state for nursing rights don't get paid; we get listened to and shot down. But still we persevere. I don't "allow" the poor work environm...