colnurse

at my facility they are not a restraint, but are only used after we try many other methods like covers over their ivs. but we do have to chart their use and in my experience with mitts, they are easy to get off. my little old lady the other night took them off as quick as they were put on. and then another patient bit them open and then took them off and told us(nurses on the floor) if we put them on she would take them off. they are usually only used for the folks that pull ivs out, foley out, ngs, dobhoff, etc. i don't like to use them but if it keep sme from having to use real restraints I will do that anytime. and thankfully the other day, after my patient repeatly took off her mitts, i was able to talk her into leaving everything alone and was able to keep her safe.

you cannot get medical advice on this site, if you are worried go to the and try to get into a derm sooner.

we don't get orders 85% of the time, down in the er it is decided whether or not to admit the patient to hospital on a form they fill out it is obs or inpatient. but orders rarely unless the patient needs to go right to surgery, then there may be orders already and sometimes not, sometimes the doc comes up right away because the hospitalist was informed we need clearance, but usually we get a faxed report from the ED and then when the patient gets to the floor we call the admitting doc, let them know they arrived to the floor to the admitting paperwork that needs to be done for all patients regardless of their admitting status and hope the doc gets there soon

at my hospital the only policy restriction that I think off the bat is pt/ot won't work with a pt until after the doppler is done to say whether or not they have a dvt then, the doc is called and we go from there. some of our docs want bedrest for a specific period of time, some do weight based lovenox, some heparin drips and some ivc filters. but once we are able we get them up again out of bed continuing therapy and being ambulatory. So i don't know if that helps you, but where I am it is very doc dependent.

we do bedside reporting, and i like it because you meet the patient and the off-going nurse has a chance to say good-bye and if they are going to be back for the next shift. it is nice when you have blood going or they have already starting replacing lytes or not. you can also talk to the patient and see if they want to add anything and the patient knows what is being shared, and for some patients we always wake them up, to see changes of confusion. sometimes we will share info outside the patient room, if it is diagnosis the doc has not shared or mentioning difficult families, etc. i like it and think it helps to improve patient care because you can see what is going on with your patient, pain, alertness, if they need anything right away, etc.

I started as a new grad on an ortho floor and have learned more than I could have expected. we also have tele, so we get that mix too. you do pain managment, pressure ulcer sore management since many an elderly falls breaks a hip and may come in with a sore. you have your elective surgery core, which is nice because those patients want to be at the hospital at least a few days and they are motivated to get moving. you get very good at getting your patients up and my hospital the docs like the ortho floor getting the fractured hips because we get those folks up and moving. you will gain a good working relationship with multiple disciplines in the hospital, pt, ot, st. these people are med/surg patients because most have other medical needs than their elective surgery or fracture that they have. you will have trauma patients, you will give all sorts of blood products, deal with all the hypotension.hypertension, lyte imbalances, possible dvts/pes and preventing them is key. you are going to learn so much, so don't worry it is not called med/surg because you are going to come out if you ever do with an amazing foundation that you learned and will be able to apply to so many other areas of nursing and that is just the ortho side

we just had jacho, make sure you don't have much of anything in your pockets-especially meds or ns flushes. be able to answer their questions or where to find their answers. at my hospital they followed patients from one area to another so for my floor pre-op, pacu, the floor and then asked the nurse questions regarding her plan of care, medications, pca sheets properly filled out and completed. also make sure work stations are clean, they check that stuff too. do what you know is right for patient safety and you will be fine.

here in colorado you can take the cna test after nursing foundation, go ahead a take the test if you think it is going to be hard to get a job at least you will be working somewhere and people will get to know you. But I would not put off taking your nclex until september. the sooner you take it the odds are you will do better and more likelyhood of passing the test because the info is more fresh in your mind. So my advice take your nclex because you cannot work as a nurse until you have your liscense and with all the time you put in school you want to pass your boards the first time, go on pass your boards and start working as nurse, and if you need to get your cna