alacek

I semi-co slept with my youngest only, and I really did enjoy it. He always started off in the crib, which was right next to my bed. When he would wake up to be nursed, my husband would bring him to me (after he changed the diaper--it was great), then the baby settled in with us for the night. One time, I was so exhausted that when I woke up, I couldn't find him ( I thought maybe he was under the blanket or on the floor). I was in a total panic, frantically searching in and under the bed, when my husband calmly asked me what I was doing. I yelled, "I lost the baby!!" And, then he told me that he put him back in the crib because I fell asleep and the baby was trying to nurse his back :). Ever since then, I am a very light sleeper!

The hospital policy where I work is that if the provider is male, then he needs a chaperone to assist with any pelvic exam. It can be male or female, unless the patient specifically asks for a female to perform the procedure, or asks for a female chaperone. We had a problem with our ER always calling the L&D unit for a female chaperone because they only had males working, and we had to nicely give them a copy of the hospital policy. Since then, they don't call us to chaperone too much, but we still can't get them to triage pregnant people that aren't in labor (still working on that one :) ).

lifted her arms in the air--the most dreadful, burn-the-hair-in-your-nostrils smell emerged, taking my breath away......

"hey, hey we're the monkeys!"

had everyone sign my surgery site with a sharpie......

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"many people think non-nursing courses, non-hands on courses are "fluff". Such as the liberal arts courses, etc. Also, as was mentioned by another person in this thread , "the classes a bsn takes don't have a bearing on the reality of bedside nursing. what does a class on community nursing have to do with being a bedside nurse? or nursing for the family? and these classes are filled with much inane fluff". In my experience, these additional "fluff" classes are very important to bedside nursing, but if you didn't take these classes, you may not know the benefit. Community Health Nursing, for instance--when we admit people to our unit, we ask them questions like "do you have running water?" "do you have electricity?" "is there anything we can do for you while you are in the hospital to make your transition back home any easier?" ....etc. Had I NOT done community nursing, I wouldn't know that not too far outside the city limits, there are people that don't have running water--instead, they have a pump outside their door that gives them access to well water--to them, that is "running water"--many have electricity--an extension cord from the main house to their shack in the backyard (I saw this A LOT in a rural TX community). Now, because of my community health experience, I know the correct way to ask these questions, and I am able to get these people the proper help (or education regarding safety measures) before they leave the hospital with their newborn baby. So, if you see no benefit to community nursing or other "fluff" classes, it isn't because there is "no benefit", its because you do not have the experience to recognize the benefit. And, don't get me wrong, I don't think that not having this education makes you a bad nurse, I just think that there is a benefit to having them, and for me personally, it has made me a better nurse. Back to the original question about more money for BSN vs ADN, I agree with many that there should be a differential pay for a BSN. I really don't know why people are arguing "same job, same pay". Education should be rewarded when it is in your primary career field. I also believe that nurses in general should make more money, but when we are divided amongst ourselves as a profession, we will probably never win when it comes to things like better pay.

I pretty much go with the flow. If the patient is not pushing well, I might suggest counting, but I rarely count myself. I have the dad or the labor coach do it. Gives them something to do, and they are usually more receptive to it. Plus, if the mom doesn't like it, she may not want to tell me, but usually has NO PROBLEM telling her partner to shut up! And, I think that for the most part, open-glottis pushing works great. I just think it is very hard to explain to someone in labor how to do this. If they are doing it on there own, great. Like I said, I just go with the flow:)

Absolutely the difference! Although, I usually have more than 2-4 patients. Well, in L&D, that is about right, but we chart on our patients on average of every 15 minutes, so it is pretty busy. In PP, we sometimes have up to 10 couplets, so this can be very busy, and I find that reviewing the clinical pathways really helps me better care for the patients. As for LTC, I will give it to you guys, because I could never do that type of nursing. Actually, I think I could, but I would not enjoy it. I did home health for a few years, and the paperwork was awful, so I can imagine in LTC. Good Luck!

We utilize clinical pathways, and they are located on the opposite side of our nurses note (flowsheet). I work in OB, so most of our patients have a fairly identical and straight forward POC. There is room at the bottom to add in anything unique to each patient. I actually review mine every day, mainly because I don't work on the postpartum side very often, and I need to refresh my memory on what needs to be done. In L&D, we don't use the clinical pathways :)

I am in the Air Force, and when we aren't busy at night, we exercise! We are mandated to exercise 3 times a week, so we brought some Tae Bo and other exercise tapes to work. We bring the TV and VCR in the nursery (plenty of room, and our babies sleep with mom) and we exercise away! We have mats and everything. Works really well for us, and our unit is set up that we can still keep a good eye on any patients we may have, without disturbing them. Sometimes, if we have no motivation to exercise, we work on our additional duties and other uniquely AF stuff. Sometimes we watch movies. Phase 10 is pretty popular too! Whatever works!

I lived on Vivarin and Mountain Dew for about 2 years! I wouldn't recommend it, because I actually made myself sick a few times! The best thing I did to help with studying was to join a study group. There was 4 of us, and we stuck together all through nursing school. It really helped, because there were many things that we each brought to the group that helped us prepare for tests and boards. And, by the time we hit our very last semester of school, we actually all took turns attending lecture, and then we just shared the notes in our study sessions. This was very helpful for me, because I worked full time and had 2 small kids by then. And, when I did study on my own time, I also usually studied early in the morning. The house was quiet, and I could actually think and study without interruption. Good luck in school, and don't sweat the small stuff. Someone used to put a sign up at school on exam week that read "C=RN". That used to put it in perspective for me!

One thing that you can do with a BSN that I haven't seen anyone else here post is that you can join the military as an officer. I am in the Air Force Nurse Corps, and if I didn't have a BSN, that wouldn't be possible. I am really enjoying the AF so far, although I work a lot, and no overtime pay--lol. But, after working in the civilian sector for 8 years, this is a nice change, and it has afforded me the opportunity to work on my master's degree with 100% Tuition assistance. So, there are options available. Education is never wasted!