cjan

On our med surg floor we never have more than six pt. usually. This is still tough. With admissions, d/charges, total cares, alcohol withdrawal you never know what to expect, and it can fall apart quickly. Med pass can take forever some days. Organization and team work help. Med surg is the heart and soul of nursing, and if you can cut it there, you can make it anywhere. The main problem usually is family members who expect you to be mothers private duty nurse all day. They think mother is your only patient to care for, and that creates problems. Other areas of the hospital do not respect us like they should. Every nurse should spend at least a week on the med-surg floor, and see what it is like. cj

Just wait till they find out what they are in for. Bariatric patients are high risk surgical patients. Many tend to be non-compliant. They will need all new bariatric equipment. The patients are very intensive post-op with many spending a few days in icu on a vent before hitting the floor. Most have had a prior list of major health problems. Our floor added bariatric patients about 8 months ago. For the shining stars that stay make sure they provide adaquate training and education on these bariatric patients as part of the deal. Hope you can come to the right decision. Sorry your hospital has done this.

Just wait till they find out what they are in for. Bariatric patients are high risk surgical patients. Many tend to be non-compliant. They will need all new bariatric equipment. The patients are very intensive post-op with many spending a few days in icu on a vent before hitting the floor. Most have had a prior list of major health problems. Our floor added bariatric patients about 8 months ago. For the shining stars that stay make sure they provide adaquate training and education on these bariatric patients as part of the deal. Hope you can come to the right decision. Sorry your hospital has done this.

I'm not sure where you live, but you can check the local laws pertaning to this. When I lived in PA a work place decided everyone need to purchase the same pants and tops. We had to buy them at the same place, and they were not cheap. Well, a year later the company had to give us our money back, that we had spent--why--because they could tell us a color of pants but not where to get them. They can say everyone must where green , but you can buy the green anywhere you want. Do you see what I am saying? This was PA law. You may want to check into it. It does give you a bit more freedom, but they can not say" we are all getting pink uniforms, and you must purchase at susies shop". good luck

I'm not sure where you live, but you can check the local laws pertaning to this. When I lived in PA a work place decided everyone need to purchase the same pants and tops. We had to buy them at the same place, and they were not cheap. Well, a year later the company had to give us our money back, that we had spent--why--because they could tell us a color of pants but not where to get them. They can say everyone must where green , but you can buy the green anywhere you want. Do you see what I am saying? This was PA law. You may want to check into it. It does give you a bit more freedom, but they can not say" we are all getting pink uniforms, and you must purchase at susies shop". good luck

answering machines, caller ID best invenions ever made. I try to remember that my family comes first. If I have time to go in extra fine, if not I don't answer the phone. At our hospital it goes both ways, they either try to call us off or call us in.

take it soon, you would not believe how quickly you start to forget things, I mean your still in the testing state of mind right? go for it..if you have studied hard all along it will be a breeze. good luck

Hi. can anyone tell me the bonus they are offering? Just curious to find out. thanks

This is not to horrible but I think it happens a lot MY husband was recovering from majoe surgery on a step down unit in a major nearby hospital. The second post-op day, I had been there for 8 straight hours and noticed that no one came in to check vital signs. He was hooked up to a bp monitor so I could monitor heartrate-bp etc. but no one checked temp. At change of shift I told the nurse I thought he was running a temp. Her answer--Well at 4 his temp was normal. I said what was it. 98.6. I told her this was amazing because no one had done it. Well she said it has been documented every 4 hours. She argued with me and stuck up for whoever was charting telepathic vital signs. No offer to check it now. When I called nurse later in evening to check in--guess what? He had a high temp. I work at the sister hospital to this one and did not want to complain. I am careful about checking post-op vital signs on my patients, but felt helpless when it came to my own husband. I later sent back the survey and let them know about it. What could be worse than charting fake vital signs. As a nurse I would want to know if my patients were not haveing them done, even though they were not charted. I,m sure this continues to go on at this hospital.

luv 4 nursing---hey, I live very close to johnston city. Moved here 5 years ago from a big city..boy things are different. Johnston City is the happen place around here. There is one associate program here. It is over satelite and has a big long waiting list to bridge to Rn. I worked at a restaraunt in Johnston City while in school. Hint-major seafood-worked with lots of ETSU students. Good Luck to you and it sure is a small world..cj

Hey Kay, I went to TN Tech in Elizabethton Tn. Highly rated program. Very hard though. we went to class every day 8-4. It was very fast paced. our instructor was very hard, but I'm glad she was. I came out with what I needed to know. I could only work 2 weekend nights while I was in school. Now I am back part time taking core classes to bridge over for rn. There is only one asd program around here and I hear the wait is years. Bsn will be to many core classes and at my age management does not interest me. My best advice is to listen in class, and come home and read over things you don't understand. pal up with a friend on your academic level to help out if you have questions. Don't sweat clinicals. Learn all you can. I've been out of school over a year and I love the med surg floor I am on. Something new everyday. Good Luck, and let me know if you need any help..

I moved to east tn from up North 5 years ago. I will tell you one thing..The pay scale is much less. The cost of living is the same. I don't know why people think it is cheaper to live here. Actually electric, and phone are much more. I make much less here in Tn. I suppose no one does anything about it because they don't know any better. I became a nurse because it has always been my dream. The kitchen help in a restaurant I worked at make more than I do. It is sad but true. Check out pay scales first. Good things are less traffic, no pot holes, and less snow in winter. When my kids finish high school I will go back. Hope this helps.Good luck to you.

When I was in school, I memorized the calculations. I also practiced all the time. I did'nt like our book, so I went to the college bookstore, and found one that could help. It had more examples and extra practice problems. I think I bought it when we did pediatric dosing. Our math teacher was horrible. Instead of complaining I bought the extra book and practiced. I am horrible at math. We were not allowed to use calculators so everything had to be worked out by hand. Keep at it. If I could do it, you can too...Good luck

Sound like the majority of my patients..I would not let her out to smoke ...If she wondered off and got lost, or something happened to her you could be held liable. If she persisted I'd have her sign ama papers before going out. I'd also call the doctor and get an order for ativan. and get psyche involved. Remember also that compassion goes a long way..Perhaps some family would like to come sit with her. We also get patients that call 911 on us. Some call the hospital operator too. Document everything. Did channel 4 ever come to do a story???Merry Christmas

Airway.....Fluid Overload are first to come to mind. Airway is always first.....Hope you have done well

I have spent my first year out of school in med-surg. I would not trade a minute of it. I love it...I have learned so much, and feel comfortable doing just about anything now. I would advice sucking in all the knowledge you can. Ask questions and for help. my teacher told us that med/surg is the HEART AND SOUL OF NURSING, she adviced us to do at least one year of it. I took her advice and am glad I have. Just go to work with a good attitude. Help others, and they will help you in return. Get organized..... I will probably stay a med-surg nurse forever.

On our med/surg floor, many of our elederly patients o2 sats run 90-98%. He may have benifited from rt treatment. also aspiration comes to mind. Is he swallowing properly? I don't think a sat of 95 is anything major. We can apply o2 with standing orders. Many elderly pts. can become o2 dependant quickly. we would have everyone on o2 if 95 was the cut off. A rt eval would be best. They are the experts. hope he is doing well.

on our med-surg floor they never take into account acuity. we get a lot of total care patients and should only get 5 at night. however there are times it is up to 7. i feel 5 is a number i can handle being a first year out of school lpn. we usually have one aid and never a ward clerk after 6. we put in orders when pts come from er or direct admit. Sometimes I feel I can't give best of care. Family members staying overnight can make it hard too. Some states have a ratio standard now. can't wait for tn to do the same......

I worked weekend as a waitress while undergoing a one year lpn course. most in our class did not work and our teachers advices not to work. It was hard but i would carry flash cards in my apron and study any chance I could. Every night I studied. It was just hard when test fell on mondays. I just set my alarm early. It can be done but you must be motivated. some people have jobs that allow them to study at work. Mine did not. If you really want it you can do it. good luck cj

Hang in there--I did an intense one year lpn program less than a year ago. I worked part timeon the weekends and went to school 8 hours m-f. i studied every second I could. My two boys learned to do their own homework and understood Why I could'nt go to sport games etc. Money was tight and it was tough but we made it through. I will start core classes for rn this month. Husbands just have to help out with dinner etc. and the family has to understand your studying is number 1 priority at this time. good luck and I'm sure you will do fine.