Loloberry

Thank you so much for your response! You just explained what many who I've spoken to have not been able to answer! Most of the answers I've gotten have been along the lines of, "There isn't much research, and we've always done it this way, so...". This makes so much sense.

Thank you! That is very helpful. I am finding some hospitals have wildly different practices for their burn patients as opposed to their non-burn patients. It is interesting that your hospital follows the general SOP! I am trying to determine if routine line changes reduce CLABSI in burns patients. In the general population routine changes are not at all recommended.

Hello everyone, I am a Vascular Access nurse who has been tasked with reviewing a central line policy for a hospital with a burn unit. Burns are not my wheelhouse! Would anybody mind sharing how lines are cared for where you work? Are central lines routinely changed out? Are peripheral IVs routinely changed out? What kind of dressing do you use? Any insight would be amazing and I would be forever grateful!

I am also a military spouse and an RN. I went to nursing school 5 years ago and unfortunately had to live separately from my husband. There was only one school near where he was stationed and it was on the lottery system. I just never won the lottery so I applied where my parents lived. He knew it was my dream to be an RN and so we made it work. It was hard but so very worth it to both of us. I wouldn't trade that decision for anything. I honestly am not sure how to complete a nursing degree before a PCS would come up, but hopefully you can make it work. I also say skip the LPN if your goal is RN. That seems like too much of long road when you already have the time crunch of impending moves. Good luck to you!

I work at a hospital with a lot of residents who probably need more supervision. I had a patient with a BP of 195/100 or something close to that. The admitting diagnosis was Hypertensive Crisis. The patient was prescribed 6.25 of coreg bid. This didn't touch the blood pressure of course. I called the resident and asked for a prn and if he wanted to up the dosage of coreg or add a second med. He didn't change the coreg, he wrote an order for NS at 100/hr, and gave me prn hydralazine for a bp of 215/110. Um, what?!

Oh man it sounds like I may be spoiled. The last floor position I had was pcu tele and we only had 5 on really busy days. I love bedside nursing, but I'm not sure how long I can keep this up before I decide the stress isn't worth it.

I have only been in the area four months and in my current position almost three of those months. I accepted a job offer right away because I wasn't sure how good the job market was in the Charleston area. I am definitely not loving this position I accepted because the ratios are just too high for me to feel comfortable. I work on a tele unit and every shift I expect to have 6 patients with 1-2 cardiac drips. Most nurses have to stay late to chart (sometimes for several hours) because pt care prevents any real-time charting. Is this normal for the area? I moved from a state with a really active nurses union who put an emphasis on lower ratios, so maybe I'm just spoiled. I don't want to apply for other jobs in the area if they will all be this way. Thanks for any help!

Hi everyone! I am new to the area and have two interviews coming up. One is telemetry at Trident. The other opportunity is at MUSC, but is not necessarily what I want do to. Cardiac nursing is my passion. People keep telling me to run away from Trident, but nobody can give me any specifics as to why this isn't a great place to work. Can anybody give me any real information about Trident Medical Center? Thank you!

Hi everyone! My husband is in the military and it looks as though we may be moving to SD next September. I love California as this is where I am originally from (I live in WA currently), but I'm really nervous about the job market. By the time we move I will have about two years experience, 7 months acute care, and the rest at an ASC. I really would like back into a hospital setting. I am also working on my BSN but will not be finished until November. Since I will have no choice to move there whether I have a job lined up or not can anybody give me any insight into what I'm walking into? Thanks!

I am currently a new grad tele RN with about six months under my belt. My husband is active duty military and stationed in another state. Despite looking for jobs for almost a year where lives, I have found nothing. We have been apart for two and a half years because of school and me being offered a job where I live. It is really taking a huge toll on my marriage. I am considering looking for a non nursing job so that we can be together. My student loans don't allow me not to work. I would continue my nursing job search however. Is this a terrible career move? I am nervous that if I move at this point, potential employers may look down on me taking a non nursing job while I have such minimal nursing experience. I feel like I have worked too dang hard to sabotage my nursing career, but I don't know if my marriage can take the distance much longer. Do any more experienced nurses have any advice?

We get questions thrown out all the time. We don't see grade inflation in our program though because if you got it right your grade actually goes down. It really kind of sucks. The people who got it wrong benefit while the people who got it right are essentially penalized. Oh we'll, only three more months and I'm done!

My husband is in the Navy and just got stationed at NAS Whidbey Island in Washington. I graduate in June and am starting to look more into job opportunities here. I am getting a little worried. As far as I can tell there aren't very many places to work. It is a pretty rural area. There are two dialysis clinics (Davita and a non-profit) which interests me a lot, but is not where I would like to start out as it is so specialized. There are two hospitals within half an hour of me, but one is a 35 bed and one is a 42 bed. Both are hiring "acute care" RN's which also seems a little scary (but exciting!) as a new RN. Do I know enough to care for anybody who comes through the door? My last option is a much larger hospital with lots of job listings on their website, but has an hour and a half commute one way. My only concern about this is getting enough sleep if I have to work two days in a row. Any advice from seasoned nurses on where would be the best place for a new grad RN?

Thanks for your reply! I don't really expect to be hired in an ICU as a new grad, I just was thinking that it would be a really neat experience to have while I am still in school. I also feel pretty honored that I may get chosen for one of the few spots available on a specialty unit. That said, it probably is smarter to get onto the type of floor I hope to get hired on, even if I feel my heart is leading me to critical care.

During the last quarter of my ADN program (spring quarter) we have an integrative practicum where we are basically on the floor with a preceptor full time. I was told today that because of my grades and clinical performance I was one of the students who might be chosen for a specialty unit such as ICU. I would love that opportunity as I hope to work ICU someday, but I am wondering if it would be more beneficial to choose a med/surg floor. I am moving after graduation, and if I choose a med/surg floor it would be at a hospital that is within the same hospital system I hope to get hired at. Is it more beneficial to have the ICU experience or have done my practicum within the hospital system I hope to be hired at? Thanks for any input!

First of all, congrats on getting in! My biggest piece of advice would be to make sure you get enough sleep. It is impossible to memorize every little detail that you are taught, but you can think your way through almost everything. If you aren't getting enough sleep this becomes much harder. You also really don't want to get sick if it can be avoided. My next piece of advice was given to us by the second years last year. They told us not to beat ourselves up if we don't get A's. This was really hard to do because we were all so used to having to get A's just to get into the program. Unless you have literally nothing else going on in your life (no significant other, no job, no kids, no friends, no life) it will be really hard to get straight A's. It is definitely not impossible to get A's, but don't beat yourself up if you don't. If you have it in your budget I would recommend getting Lippincott Manual of Nursing Practice. I think it was about $70. It REALLY helped with my clinical prep forms which you will become super familiar with in winter term. It literally shaved hours off of my clinical prep. I know quite a few other students bought it as well and it helped them also. This of course will all make much more sense once you start the program. Make study groups. Get yourself connected with your fellow students. It really will help you prepare for exams. Practice doing NCLEX style questions as all of your exams will be given this way. There will probably be two answers that you can disregard right away, and two correct answers. You have to figure out which answer is more correct. Also don't hesitate to ask questions during the exams. The instructors won't give you the answer, but they may help you find a way to think through it in a different way. And probably most important, don't give up! The first year of nursing school was very possibly the hardest thing I have ever done. Make sure your family and friends understand what a huge time commitment this is. The hardest part of nursing school is not the content, it is the fact that life is still going on outside of nursing school. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and you will get through it. If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask! Once again, congrats!