shieldanvil81

Alcohol? Where I work (an ER in Texas) I was taught to use chloraprep instead of alcohol swabs for sites where you're going to obtain a blood culture. Seems like you'd want to use the same precautions on the bottles.

Thank you so much for that awesome reply, kyboyrn. It's great to get advice from an NP! Congratulations and good luck to you! My preceptor (I'm doing a 12 week internship) gave me much the same advice about the preferences of providers and prioritization. As for the certifications, we need to maintain BLS, PALS, ACLS, and TNCC . I think that's all. On a side note, this is the most amazing place I've ever worked. Teamwork is the name of the game here, and I'm constantly amazed by the atmosphere. It absolutely REEKS of caring, camaraderie, and patient safety. I feel like the luckiest nurse (holycrapIstillcan'tbelieveI'manurse) in the world.

Hahaha that's ok, I know my name isn't very clear on that. I guess if I really cared about people knowing I was male, I'd have named myself RNhasamember or ERmanlyb*lls or something. Thanks to you all for the replies, btw.

I'd love to know what my fellow new grads have learned since becoming nurses. I'm a brand new RN and I've worked in a level 1 trauma center for 3 weeks now. Here are the most important things that I've learned so far: 1. Knowledge is your best weapon. 2. Manage your time carefully. 3. CYA. 4. Ask questions. Lots of questions. 5. Don't let yourself get pushed around. 6. Everything is different in the real world. What have you guys learned?