Belle Epoque

You can take your prereqs AT the school you plan on doing your nursing program at. High school marks have nothing to do with it unless you're a new high school grad and you took the required Math, English Chem and Bio in high school. Contact the College you wish to attend directly.

We have posters around that show criteria for RR - use it and call it.

Ditto. Thought MI over PE. How did pt respond to 02 therapy and what did the labs show?

Seeing as women in some cultures still cull the rice field, squat and pop out a baby, then continue to work the rice fields, I say yeah.. of course it's doable. We are just a spoiled society by nature.

Ugh. I don't believe in all that nonsense.

No, EMS would NOT be called if patient is rigor mortis. Why waste that expensive resource? Dead is dead. If you come across a resident who is dead, it doesn't matter at that point whether or not they are full code. In LTC nurses can pronounce death, call the family to advise them of death, ask if they wish to come in and see the deceased, provide post mortem care, call the md to come sign the death cert and then call the funeral home for pick up. The only difference in protocol is if it's a coroner's case at which time we don't touch or move the body until the coroner has been in and signed the death cert.

In LTC the majority of time the death is expected so you shouldn't really have to face any melodramatic reactions. I've told countless people their loved one has passed on. Just be polite and compassionate. "I'm sorry to call so early but I wanted to let you know your dad passed away peacefully last night" is sufficient. No need to provide any detail unless asked, then be diplomatic and professional, only answer the question asked. It really isn't that bad.

It's called piggyback because it is given on top of the primary IV solution (NS, LR) and hung higher to allow for intermittent infusion and once finished, switches back to the primary. So no, not possible to have a continuous secondary. I've heard places call IVP piggyback (because it's also intermittent) but that confuses the heck out of things.

I think most dementias fall under this category and when we see it listed as part of the patient's history it is more d/t a differential diagnosis based on set signs and symptoms and likelihood of being, say Lewy Body, or whatever else type of dementia. The actual pathology could only be confirmed through autopsy.

Oh no. Not yet another thread bashing "older" nurses. I just wish these immature posters would do us all a favor and hurry up and grow up already.

But like nurses, pharmacists are also regulated health professionals and have moral obligations in return for the trust given them by society, regardless of whether they are hospital employees or self employed individuals. They are still obligated to act in the best interest of and advocate for the patient, observe the law, uphold the dignity of the profession and practice in accordance with ethical principles and their standards of practice. Instead these pharmacists are allowing their own personal biases to interfere with the code of ethics they promised to uphold when they signed up to be a pharmacist in the first place. Refusing to dispense that pill is in the best interest of the pharmacist, NOT necessarily the best interest of the patient. That is just plain wrong, and I hope that ruling is upheld.

I DESPISE this term, and I'm not male. If a patient asks me, "who's my nurse today?" I would reply "it's John, he's tall with blonde hair and glasses" not some form of derogatory term like "Murse" or the "male nurse." I cringe when others use it, and give them stink eye when I hear it. Do we say "female nurse"? No. My colleagues, male or female, are nurses. Period.

Those hypnotic effects are one of the reasons I dislike Ambien and am reluctant to give it to patients unless they are regular users. The docs don't like it either and rarely prescribe it. Trazadone, Restoril, Elavil or even Valium are better choices for short-term sleep aids.

Your interpretation is far too "perfect world" to hold much credibility. Sure it would be ideal if blood is always hung in an expedient manner no matter who is working but that just isn't always reality. If a JW's patient needs blood it is HER responsibility to ensure these orders are carried out, not another nurse who happens to be working the same shift. Maybe she'll find someone to help, maybe she won't. But that's irrelevant. As the nurse assigned to care for that patient, she is ultimately accountable and liable for all nursing care provided to that patient. If she cannot provide the care needed, then she shouldn't be the nurse. Period. And that applies to anyone unable to provide appropriate care because of personal or religious reasons. Patient is first. You, the nurse with your own individual ideologies, comes second. And as for the suggestion that JW's don't value the lives of their patients, that is your mention, not mine. In case you missed it, the original poster was asking about working in CCU so I highly doubt transfusions would be a rare event.

Finding a desk job after several years experience probably won't be much of an issue, the problem is how you're going to survive the challenges up until that point - especially your clinical training which can be brutal. I would rethink the whole nursing thing.