bikerRN1

I'm a traveler that rides a motorcycle... My recruiter sent me a copy of the Harley Davidson North American Atlas!!! Love him, he thinks about and cares about his travelers!

That is low ball, I recently completed a travel assignment in Albany, and while the taxed rate was similar, the tax free housing stipend was much better. As a traveler at Albany Med, I took home double what the staff made. Was financially a great assignment. Check with some other companies prior to signing that contract.

I travel alone, but have no problem making friends. Websites like meetup.com offer easy ways to meet new people that enjoy doing the same things and it's not (just) a meat market... I always try to get my days blocked together... that way I have more time to explore my new area. I can always find something fun to do. (For example, about 45 min outside of Bakersfield is a little town called Lake Isabella, fun little high desert town with a warm lake to swim in ) I found Bakersfield a good place to be just because of it's location, it was easy to get to the coast and easy to get to the high sierras. LOL, Bako itself was challenging with the crime, but you find that just about everywhere these days. The more you travel, the more you learn about yourself. Have fun!

7YO with broken arm order of 20mg DILAUDID prior to reduction... when I asked the doc for clarification he didn't even glance at the order and said I calculated it, that is the correct dose. I pointed out that he had written Dilaudid and had the pleasure of seeing him go pale. He stammered Demerol, I meant Demerol... did you give it!?! Did I give it! Heck no!

Sickle cell gal who comes in for her Dilaudid... 4mg, 50 of Benadryl for the itching, and 4 of zofran later, and she calls her hubby who comes down to get her. "seizure" pt who packs a bag and has it sitting at the door waiting to go to the hospital. This one was so good at mimicing a seizure, she could ignore ammonia inhaler. We popped in a foley one time and she miraculously came out of her seizure complaining that it hurt. The next time she came in 'seizing', we grabbed a foley and told her it was going in... she hopped up and said she was better. My mother and aunt have migraines. My ex used to get migraines, all three wanted quiet and dark when they were hurting. My ex was also a druggie and alcoholic... when he wanted pain meds, he would go to the ed and yell that he had a migraine and needed demerol. He who doth protest loudly... Then there was the guy who was on methadone and they were tapering his dose down... He kept coming to the ed wanting us to medicate him to make the pain go away. He would say "I don't want the meds, I just want the pain to go away... But give me the meds" It's hard for me to see a 20yr old being tapered off methadone... not a heroin user... but had already gone through the morphine and dilaudid for chronic pain... This kid had 6pack abs and huge arms!!! Obviously worked out and often. No one could ever nail down where the chronic pain was or what the original injury was... or how long ago it was.

When I have had this happen to me, (after making sure there were not contraindications) I told the pt that she walked in here, she could walk into the bathroom and clean herself up, and gave her washcloth and towel. The bed was clean when she got back and she was reminded that she now knew where the bathroom was if she needed to use it again. There are some things I just can't put up with, ERitis is one of them. I am a fatgirl... I look in the mirror everyday and have no illusions regarding my body shape. When I am called fat in the ED by whomever, I say "yep, ain't it grand". "What can I do for you?" Kill em with kindness... just be aware that for some people, the nicer you are, the nastier they get... just trying to get you ******. Know that what is important is for you to be able to look yourself in the mirror before you go to bed and be able to honestly say that you did your best to do your job well. If you can do that you are doing ok. [and remember "I am in shape, round is a shape!"]

I graduated from Alfred, we had over 100 in the freshman class and graduated around 30. But you know what, I don't think anyone failed their NCLEX!!! It is a tough program but I LOVED it! I was challenged, I learn much better when I am challenged. I don't have kids, but I worked full time at a local hospital (as a PCT) while I was in school. I found all the professors very willing to help, but you had to ask for it. I and a couple of other students had study group every sunday. Exams were always on mondays, and most quizzes were on Mondays, so this helped us by going over the previous week... if one of us didn't totally understand something, one or both of the others would be able to explain it. Skills labs were available during the week for practice if you needed it, and again, professors always found time to help when we asked for it. Good nurses must be go getters (IMHO), and Alfred State Nursing curriculum gets you there.

I went to Alfred, we started iv's on each other but rarely on patients. We did push iv meds in clinical.