RN50

Massrn116 Your first paragraph sums it up for me!! That too has happened to me and it is one of my biggest pet peeves!! I always say in a less than sincere way. "Oh no let me" as I reach over them to get the phone. Then I generally make some comment about how they weren't taught how to answer the phones in med school. I usually get a few looks for that one, but hey, they aren't too good to answer the phone!! As for the OP. Good job! You go! I would have done the same thing!

I have heard that Brown Mackie is not an accredited school. Check that out before hand if you want to go to Brown Mackie. I personally graduated from Owens and I thought the program was excellent. In terms of cost, they are cheaper than UT, or Lourdes. Good luck!

I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your dear brother. I am sending hugs your way. I am also praying that you will find the strength you need to get through this difficult time. I agree with the other posters, you should take time to grieve for your brother, and worry about NCLEX later. I lost my dear father on May 4 2007 and he was my everything. My world shut down at first, all I did for the first few days was lay around and cry. But no matter how bad I felt, I did get a sense of peace knowing that my dad met the person he worshipped his whole life, Jesus. I knew that he was rejoicing in the presence of Jesus, and giving my mother the largest hug anyone has ever received. I know that Heaven is beautiful, serene, and free from any pain or grief. It helped me to know that he was so safe in the presence of the Lord. When things get really bad for you, just think that your brother is also there, with Jesus, safe,rejoicing, and watching down over you and his baby. He protects you and he will be with you when the time is right for you to take the NCLEX. Take care of you. You have a lot of people praying for you here at Allnurses.

I work on Med-Surg Oncology floor. We also get a lot of patients with SSC. They get Dilaudid PCA's and Phenergan IVPB. Of course, every patient that we see with SSC is allergic to Morphine, so they get their Dilaudid PCA's and then they are happy.

I am so sorry for your loss. I do understand what you are going through right now, my own father passed away in May of 07 and it still hurts. I am sending comforting thoughts your way. Congratulations on your decision to become a nurse! It is a long, hard, road but so worth it in the end. One day, I know you will bring comfort to a patient and their loved one just as the hospice nurses did for your father and you. Keep us posted throughout your journey, and I sincerely wish you the best of luck.

Two RN's check the order, and then check the chemo. Then we recalculate the dose on paper, then we use a reference book written by one of our oncologists to determine if the dose is within the safe limits to administer. We don't usually check the pump though, but that is a good point that I will bring up at work.

LOL!!!:lol2:

Congratulations! You should be very proud of yourself!

I had a horrible day on Saturday! I was giving a pt FFP for an INR>4. She needed to get her INR down so she could get a GFF placed because she had a clot in her right thigh. I started the FFP around 0930 and the I.V. started leaking and when saline was flushed through the line, she c/o burning, so I had to restart an I.V. and then start the FFP again. It was about 0945 then.I started it out slow, about 25ml/hr, and got vitals just the same way I do for blood. I have only done FFP one other time prior to this, so I asked another experienced (almost 30 years) nurse and she and I checked out the hospital policy for FFP. I stated that we could start the FFP out slow for 3-5 minutes then if no reaction, could advance to 200ml/hr or as fast as pt. could tolerate. The policy also said that rate could be slower if potential for circulatory overload is present. The patient has colon ca with mets to the liver, she had edema from her waist to toes, and had diminished lung sounds but they were clear. She denied any SOB, but I still wanted to be cautious. After about 15 minutes though, she was still fine so I increased her rate to 50ml/hr. I checked vitals Q15 min x 1 hour then q30min x1 hour and then q1hr. In the meantime, I had 3 other patients who needed assements, meds, and a nursing student who was asking me a lot of questions because her instructor was helping other students. Then another doc wrote for another one of my patients to have phlebotomy done. I knew I would be insanely busy. I had been on the phone with the surgery resident, letting her know that the FFP had been started, I had to give my FFP patient some vit k stat. Okay so the first unit finished about 1200 and I set the pump to flush the iv line with saline before starting the second unit. I then got supplies around to do my phlebotomy, and started on that. When that was completed, I then went back in to check on my FFP, by this time it was around 1315 the line was flushed so I went to the desk to get the paperwork for the next unit of FFP. While there, I spoke with the nursing student again, spoke with a physician about the nursing students patient, talked to a physician who had called about FFP patient, and went and checked on the nursing student's patient,(again clinical instructor was with other students.) Then I finally went down stairs to get the second unit of FFP. It got started about 1415. Again starting slowly and advancing gradually. Patient was to get another INR after second unit if it was less than two then we were to call the surgical resident. Then the surgery attending called about 1515 to yell at me and say that I had cost the hosptial thousands of dollars becuase he had to call the cardiac cath team in twice and send them home twice because the FFP was still not done. He told me he had called the nursing supervisor and the Head of the entire nursing department. And when could he expect his INR? I said it would be done around 1615 when the second unit finished. I also let him know that I had three other patients that needed me and he told me that I should have asked for help. Well the only other nurse that was working up front with me was assisting the MD's with a central line placement on one of her patients. Needless to say, I went in and sped up the infusion of FFP and it finished at about 1545. I got the INR and called the MD with the results around 1600. She was theraputic so then around 1700 she went for her procedure. Looking back through the chart, the patient had not been NPO the night before, and the doctors knew she had eaten both breakfast and lunch that day. My question is why did the MD call the team in before he knew what the INR was? What if she had still been above 2? Then the team would not have been able to do the procedure then anyway and still would have been called in for nothing. I don't know how that was my fault. I felt as though the potential for circulatory overload was there so I was thinking of the patients safety. She came back from the procedure around 1800 and was complaining of SOB that she said started when they laid her flat on the table. She was satting 97% on room air but I put her on O2 anyway, and called the doc. When I listened to her lungs, she then had some crackles in the bases. This was around the end of my shift and so the next nurse told me to go home and she would take over which I did. Yesterday, I noticed that the patient had an EKG done and cardiac enzymes which were WNL. I only worked 7a-11a yesterday, but the doc was getting a CT to rule out a new PE when I was leaving. I am worried that I am in big trouble with my nursing director. She is sort of a "yes" woman and tends to do everything to please the "higher ups" and dosen't back the nurses up. My fellow co-workers said they would not have done anything differently and do not feel that the delay was my fault. I was thinking of the patients safety and I feel that my actions were justified. What would you have done differently?

You have every reason to be proud! Congratulations!

When I was a nursing assistant, I walked in to a resident's room to find her teeth were black and she had a black "chunk of something" by her head, I asked one of the other aides if they had given her anything to eat (a brownie) maybe? No of course not, further inspection revealed it was poo! Had another confused lady reach into the back of her brief at lunch time and pulled out a turd and sat it next to her plate! A confused old man had smeared his poo all over the walls and down into the heater! It was winter and the heat was on!

dierks bentley sings it.

I have been unfortunate to have to deal with rude patients. When they are screaming obscenities at me I will walk out, come back in a couple of minutes later, and politely remind them that I will be more than happy to do what ever it is that they need, but they should ask me politely and without the swearing. I have gotten an apology and then kept my end of the bargain and got them whatever it is they were requesting. In fact I try this first with all of the rude patients I have dealt with, and I have almost always gotten an apology and I had one patient ask "Can we start over again" I said "sure", I walked out, walked back in, reintroduced myself and the rest of the time we got along very well. Generally the patients feel really bad about how rude they have been, and I just let them know that I have accepted their apology, and it is now "water under the bridge" it will have no affect on how I will care for them the rest of the day. When that dosen't work (and it hasn't worked on one or two people,) then I just do what needs to be done, and as another poster said, limit my exposure to them. I also try not to take it personally and tell myself that they are just generally not nice even when they are not sick. Oh of course I have silently thought that pillow therapy would be helpful, but NEVER would I act on that! As for rude doctors, I don't bend over backwards to help them out! If they ask "who is this patients nurse?" I point to the assignment sheet and tell them to look there. No I am not going to hand them the chart, no I am not going to go get them what they want. I remind them where the charts are, and where they can get supplies and that is it. They can get it themselves. When they are rude on the phone, I also don't take it, I will hang up (and have hung up) on a rude MD. We are all co-workers and they are not on some level above us, although they would like to think they are. I treat them how they treat me. I don't take anything from other nurses, or PCA's either, but the patient dosen't suffer because of it.

I posted as well.

Joaquin Phoenix I dont know what it was, but I thought he was sooooo hot in "Walk The Line"

Hello! Have you checked out Excelsior College? Google "Excelsior College" and see if there is a website and check it out. A lot of the "book work" can be done at home at your own pace. It's a possibility if night school is not an option.

I meant Kevin Bacon like the "Ren McCormick" type.

I cant believe I forgot this one! KEVIN BACON!

Rodney Atkins sings that song. A couple of songs that come to mind are: Bad Medicine by Bon Jovi ...when you find your medicine you take what you can get cause if theres something better baby well they havent found it yet. Then theres the song by Rascall Flatts called Sarah Beth. (I work on an oncology floor and it reminds me of how scared the patients are right after learning they have cancer.)

When I worked in LTC as an aide, I had a resident ask me if I could see the black carriage that was outside to pick her up. She died the next day.

My Dad grabbed me by the arm one day while we were standing in his kitchen and he looked me in the eye and said, "I just want you to know that even when I am not here anymore, I will always be with you." It threw me off. I replied "I know that but youre not going anywhere for a while anyway so stop talking like that!" Ten days later, his wife found him dead on the bedroom floor. He had also been talking to his dead sister, and told my cousin at her wedding that he was glad he got to see her and her children one last time, because he would not be here at the end of the week. He died on May 4 of this year and I miss him everyday.

Generally, when someone gets 75 questions and the computer shuts off, it is a good sign. I have never personally known anyone who has failed after only 75 questions. BUT it could happen. You can also check your BON's website, (if they have one) and see if your license has been activated. Keep thinking positive thoughts, and let us know how you did. Wishing you all the best! Bye for now.

:lol2:

I once took care of this lol who's granddaughter claimed to be in nursing school, anyway, the granddaughter had the nerve to ask me why grandma wasn't on a diabetical diet.

I agree with E.J. Wells from Days of Our Lives, but who could forget Apollo Anton Ohno and Joey Fatone! They are all hotties!