oblina

i work in an adult burn center on the step down side, but in the ICU and on the floor they use either bacitracin/xeroform or wound vacs. to secure the dressings over the chest area, they use large burn dressings with a hole cut in the side like a t-shirt, then make holes in the sides of it like a corset to wrap around the patient and secure with twill (or ties from isolation gowns). we also use a lot of spandagrip for more mobile patients.

I am currently a Nurse Associate at an outpatient wound center, but have worked as a CNA for five years now. I have never wanted to be a CNA/PCT as a long term career choice, and don't want to stop at my AA. But I am a firm believer that if you are going to be overseeing and delegating to other staff members, you should know what their job entails. I always encourage anyone who is in the health profession to go for it, whatever they want just go for it...there are plenty of options, and time is going to pass no matter what. I worked with someone in her forties who was holding herself back because she would be fifty before she got her RN,...but she was going to be fifty EITHER WAY! You don't know if you don't try... As far as your anxiety goes, I don't think anyone should take the responsibility of caring for someone else's well being lightly...and if you do I honestly don't think nursing is for you! At this point you SHOULD feel this way. Let this motivate you, I'm sure it is what motivated the other nurses you see to achieve the level of competency in their skills that they have now. I'm sure you have also grown in your profession. I know when I first started, I, for the life of me, had such difficulty with changing incontinence products on people who were confined to a bed. But only with time and experience do we become more confident and able in our skills. It's okay, you will be in school doing clinicals for a while....and then you will be a nurse in orientation. Everyone has to start somewhere. And no one knows everything. The important thing is admitting this and knowing when to ask for help. The math and science and skills are things that we learn as we become nurses.....but you will have the upper hand in clinicals because of your experience. There are a lot of people that enter nursing school with little to no clinical experience, and that's okay too, everyone has to learn some time. Remember how things go,...other people make them look easy,....then you try to learn it and it seems difficult,...but then you get the hang of it and one day someone will be looking at you while you make it look easy.

If the patient is identified as a fall risk, a chair alarm is just one measure to prevent a fall. There are other interventions that can be utilized to prevent a patient fall.

Do you know anyone who took this? I'm trying to decide whether to apply for online/hybrid at catonsville or evening/weekend at essex. I'm curious as to how realistic it is to expect to be able to successfully take nursing school courses online.

Try assisted living, adult day care, or even home health aide. You get the familiarity with the patients, but not the extreme work load of a LTC facility. It will get better when you get more comfortable with ambulating patients, and using devices such as the hoyer lift. The best thing to have when getting through your day is confidence, which will only come with positive experience, which takes time when you are learning. Good luck, and I hope you find a job that gives you better experiences with patient interaction and care.

Evening. I am twenty years old, and have been working as a nursing assistant since I was sixteen. I am about to complete the prerequisites for the nursing program at the community college I attend next semester (thank goodness!) And I plan on applying for the nursing program to begin either the fall of 2011 or the spring of 2012. My question is this: has anyone taken the associates degree coursework online? One of the options for enrollment is to choose an online/hybrid model, which could potentially benefit my full time working schedule. I am apprehensive, however, because I do not know what to expect as far as content, and do not want to be in over my head and wishing for classroom time. What are the benefits of taking online courses for nursing? The drawbacks? Would you recommend them?

From my perspective, there is no way to avoid experience in direct patient care if you want to be a nurse. Patient care is at the center of the nursing profession. Nursing caters to the need of patient care, be it from an administrative, educational, or direct patient care. Regardless, in order to become a nurse you will need to complete clinicals which involve direct patient care. I am curious as well to know, "why choose nursing if you do not want to care for patients?" But more curious to know why do you not want to care for patients? Are you apprehensive? If so, id like to encourage you that everyone is apprehensive about starting a new job that involves things that are not familiar to them. Give caring for patients a chance before you let your apprehension get the best of you.