dabears54

I'm graduating with my BSN this weekend and we are having a pinning ceremony the day before graduation. I would fight to keep it!!

Thank you for the reply! That was very informative. Hopefully I'll be at SAMMC doing the fellowship in the next few years!

Hey everyone! I'm in AFROTC and I graduate this May (35 days to be exact). I'm going to NTP in Cincinnati July 2nd, and I'm going to be stationed at Keesler on a med/surg floor. I have majorly caught the ICU bug (especially cardiac patients) through my clinicals in nursing school. I know that I have to do an ICU fellowship to be able to be an ICU nurse in the AF, and that it will be at least a year before I can do this. Could someone explain to me what requirements are needed for the fellowship, and why it is a year long? Do you come out of the fellowship with CCRN? Also, what type of patients do you see in the ICU at a military hospital? I know that this will vary depending on the services the hospital provides, but I guess I've always had it in my head that if patients are really sick that they would be transferred to a civilian hospital. I have tried researching this information, but as I'm sure you could of guessed its not something that just pops up on Google! I really appreciate ANY information/advice you all can give me. Thanks!

Like some have posted, you cannot do a LP if there is any risk of increased ICP d/t the risk of herniation. Such a sucky delicate balance!

Same, purple clip on armband.

In my head I say lub-dub 1, lub-dub 2, lub-dub 3. However, this is very difficult to do when your patient is tachy, and it can sometimes be a tongue twister. Just keep practicing :)

you really should get a book to help you write these care plans. I have Doenges' Nurse's Pocket Guide that works really well for me. Its hard to get used to writing these care plans without one of these books. Good luck!

I have seen these things that snap on the top of a vial and it has a plastic "needle" to access the bottle, and then a port at the top (like a heplock for an IV) to attach a syringe to draw up the med, then we'd carry the needle in it's package to the room and attach it at the bedside. We used them on my floor, especially when state was there inspecting since technically you're not supposed to have a syringe of med thats not labeled.

21 beds, one tech. tech only assigned 11 during day and all 21 from 11p-7a. its very very busy!!

Oh GI bleeds...makes the entire floor smell!!

Community Health. It's all common sense and I feel could be covered in one or two class periods instead of an entire semester!

I'm just about to start my last semester of my BSN and I find getting to know my textbooks before classes start realllly helpful. I'm very particular on my study habits, and it might seem like a waste of time to some people, but this is what I have done that works for me. I like to tab my textbooks for each chapter. Seems silly, but it helps me to stay organized. I also write out the table of contents of my books on notebook paper and put them as the beginning of my section for that class in my binder. I like to use one binder for all of my classes so I never have to worry about not having anything! I love textbooks that have bullet point summaries at the end of each chapter. Since I am weird, and like to read my own handwriting instead of text, I write these out for every chapter of the books that have these summaries. It is tedious, but hey whatever works right? When it comes time for tests I just pull out these summaries which helps me. I have noticed in my classes that my profs use test questions on the companion CDs with the textbooks as well as the practice questions that are in the books. So, I type up the end of chapter review questions (typically they are NCLEX style questions when you're not in your prereq classes). I guess I focus more on getting the mindless busywork that I find helpful done before school starts and just get organized. Once I get a syllabus from a prof I will start getting ahead on the work, but you can never predict what the prof will cover first. You will find something that works for you, the sucky part is that it just takes time. Oh one more thing. If the prof has not already handed out a study guide or chapter by chapter outline, etc, I write out the answers to the objectives in the beginning of the chapters. I know I'm a workaholic, but I do what works for me. I hope this helped and didnt overwhelm you...good luck!!

this is right...my aunt works for them developing diabetes medicines

are you trying for AFROTC, or do you want to go to COT after you graduate? I'm in AFROTC while getting my BSN right now and they do look at your GPA to get scholarships and to be selected for Field training, but generally your 3.3-3.5 GPA should be good! I don't have that, and I will be commissioning in a year.

It really depends of your state’s nurse practice act. I’m going to be a nurse intern in Iowa this summer so I can tell you how it is for me. I have to be enrolled in a class at a college in order to be able to do procedures (IVs, NGs, Foleys) and pass meds. I will have a one on one RN preceptor that I will work under the entire time. Yes the class costs me almost $700, but the internship is paid, and I will be able to do RN stuff and very little CNA stuff. The other internship in town would be better money wise but all you do is “observe” and practice as a CNA if you have a CNA license. Like woahmelly said, make sure you know your duties before you accept. Good luck!