MRed94

I certainly will tell her. I tell her when I see her doing something special, and I ask a lot of "why did you do it that way" questions. She is so patient. :)

I started my next to last rotation about 3 weeks ago, and ended up in Hospice for my Home Health rotation. I am the only one in the class who wanted to go to Hospice. I am also the only LPN in the class, and most likely the only one who has experienced a patient death. The nurse who is mentoring me is so totally awesome I can't believe it. She has the most gentle bedside manner I have ever seen in a nurse. She is also no-nonsense, and up front with all the information with the families and the patients, and to watch her in action is a great privilege. Her ability to switch gears in mid stream is fantastic, and she is basically unflappable. I am learning so much, and she has been so patient with my stupid and redundant questions. I'd like to do this kind of nursing eventually, after I have some other experience under my belt. Anybody else having a great or horrid rotation?

I loved my coloring books. I am very much a visual learner, and that really cemented the facts for me. I used a lot of flash cards, the Hole's anatomy site, and various diagrams and sayings and etc to memorize all the info. I also used taped lectures. What ever works for you. M

It's all dimensional analysis. You use the fractions. It's not that hard. Check out the sites, they help a lot. M

My ma makes all my uniforms, tops, pants, jackets. It's nice to have them only cost about 15 dollars for the 3 pieces. And I get to have the special occasions ones. Plus, none of mine look like anybody else's!

Graduated in 88. My poor cap resides very smashed in a box in another box of mementos. Our cap was white, with a narrow light blue and white stripe for the LPN, and black stripes for the RN. I think we just bought our caps that way in the bookstore, and BEWARE if a single hair escaped that hat!!! I only wore it in school, I never had to wear it in a job. Poor cap. M

OH! Had an AWESOME experience in a new facility I started at tonight. EVERYONE welcomed me, THANKED me for coming, and wanted to know when I was coming back to help them out!!!!!! My jaw is STILL on the floor. Beautiful place, beautiful staff, just plain great! Tomorrow I get to go back to the facility from H**L for 3 days, and then back to the awesome place for a month! I can tolerate the old place for 3 more days. Nicest thing is that the new place is 15 minutes from the house instead of an hour. WOW! Life is good. M

Grrrrrrrrrrr. Got there last night (after driving an HOUR), and found out that I had been cancelled.....NOBODY told ME. I couldn't get a hold of my scheduler, so I have no idea if she knew or not. Did get a chance to talk to the DON in this facility and asked her what was going on. As of Weds, I wasn't cancelled. She said she didn't know that it was happening. DUH. I don't believe that. I don't think my scheduler is doing her job for me, so I am looking into another agency in town. I can't exist on 8 hour weeks. Especially when I am booked for 32. This is getting old. We don't have that many nurses available here, there are more than enough openings, but the most I've seen out here for wages is about $14.00 an hour, and I can't work 40 hours a week, due to school. This is getting old. M

We are supposed to answer the phone as thus: "Good morning (what ever time of day it is), G_____ Elder Care, Home of the best care ever, M______C______, This is so and so, how might I help you this beautiful day???????? I kid you not. Most people are lucky if they get , "Yo, what?" out of us. BLECHHHHHHHHHHHH.. M

I find that when I am with a resident, I am the most gentle and compassionate that I can be, and when I get to the linen room is when I start screaming. I have managed to train myself over the years to keep it in until I am out of range and can let it out. Sometimes I go in there and cry until I feel better, and other times I find just taking a short break for a cigarette and a soda help a lot..... It's hard, but I manage most of the time. I just remember that this is someone's loved one, and that they trust me to take care of them. It's never easy, but most of the time it is bearable. M

With this, our teacher gave us a tic tac toe board, and had us use it always to determine what kind of problem it was, and then to determine if it is fully, partially, or not compensated. Let me see if I can get it to work. Acid Neutral Base under 7.35 7.45 over 7.45 Plug the rest of the numbers into the format, and then you can decide what kind of problem it is. To determine what the compensation level is, use 7.41 as the absolute middle of the normals, and put the pH level in the column as acid or base. This shows compensation, where ever the pH is, lined up with the blood gas part that is off. Normals: pH 7.35-7.45 PO2 80-100 PCO2 35-45 (respiratory component) HCO3 22--26 (metabolic component) BE -2 to +2 O2 Sat >95 poo. I can't get the things to stay spaced the way they should. And don't know how to make a table. phooey. Hope this helps anyhow.

With this, our teacher gave us a tic tac toe board, and had us use it always to determine what kind of problem it was, and then to determine if it is fully, partially, or not compensated. Let me see if I can get it to work. Acid Neutral Base under 7.35 7.45 over 7.45 Plug the rest of the numbers into the format, and then you can decide what kind of problem it is. To determine what the compensation level is, use 7.41 as the absolute middle of the normals, and put the pH level in the column as acid or base. This shows compensation, where ever the pH is, lined up with the blood gas part that is off. Normals: pH 7.35-7.45 PO2 80-100 PCO2 35-45 (respiratory component) HCO3 22--26 (metabolic component) BE -2 to +2 O2 Sat >95 poo. I can't get the things to stay spaced the way they should. And don't know how to make a table. phooey. Hope this helps anyhow.

It is all through what we are learning in our ADN classes, but is there more for a guide, not necessarily to be the most important part of the learning. I am finding it is barely there in the background, but still needs to be spewed back at the instructors for the duration. :)

It is all through what we are learning in our ADN classes, but is there more for a guide, not necessarily to be the most important part of the learning. I am finding it is barely there in the background, but still needs to be spewed back at the instructors for the duration. :)

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HI! I am "undiagnosed" ADD, but with a kid who IS diagnosed, I have exactly the same symptoms, and Ma said that I was JUST like that as a kid. I find what works best for me is coffee and more coffee, and I always make out a very detailed patient care list, so I don't forget to do anything. I also keep a small notepad in my pocket, and write down things in order to do. When I am doing something, I put 1/2 a check mark on it, and when I am finished with it, I make the other half of the checkmark. I make sure that my every move is detailed for myself, and that way I don't get too distracted from what I am doing. The other nurses and the CNAs know this about me, and they are really good at waiting for an opportune moment if it is at all possible to interrupt me at something. I think I have gotten really good at prioritizing, and with much practice, I can get out on time. It is hell, but what can you do?? Just my humble opinion. Marla

I don't know if this qualifies or not, but here goes anyway. Last weekend, another agency nurse (from a competing agency) came to the facility where I work the most, and worked a day shift. She was an older RN, and had (supposedly) 20 years experience in a hospital, and had been working with this agency for a while. Anyhow, she came in, with a few hours from the previous day as orientation, and passed meds and did treatments. When I came in the next morning, I found the staff nurse in a much more welcoming mood to me than she has ever been. When I asked her what was up, she told me some very disturbing scenarios from the day before. The agency nurse had been assigned to a patient who has both nebulizer and inhaler rx, and the inhaler was given in lieu of the nebulizer. When the staff nurse questioned why the agency nurse was carrying the inhaler, and the patient had asked for the nebs, the agency nurse stated, "There is a difference????" Well, the staff nurse was really upset about this. Later in the shift, the agency nurse asked the staff nurse where a particular medication was kept. We use all unit dose, so the staff nurse stated that the med was most likely in the patient's drawer. When the agency nurse said there wasn't any in the drawer, the staff nurse looked, and the med WAS in the drawer, just in the generic form. It was SUDAFED. The staff nurse then asked the agency nurse if she had checked the med book for the correct names, and the agency nurse said she couldn't find the med book. It is in PLAIN sight in the med cart. When I started to pass meds Sunday morning, I found 15 instances where there either were meds missing from the drawer for the next shifts, or there were extras in the drawer. The meds are replenished q 3 days, and there are almost ALWAYS no mistakes in the drawers, because our pharmacy is really good. So I pointed this out to the staff nurse, (my RN) and she said, "I am not in the least bit surprised." Apparently the agency nurse was one who had an attitude that, "I am right, and don't NEED to check the med book, etc..." I was really surprised myself, because I am SUPER careful when I go to a new facility, and even after I have been there a while, cause the orders change so quickly. WHat happened to the old "check 3 times" policy? This nurse was so sure of herself, and made mistake after mistake. She left old Nitro patches on the patients, and I found two of them on most of the patients. She also didn't do treatments that she had signed off, and she was marking the meds as given when it was clear she hadn't given them. I just don't know what to think about the carelessness of the agency nurse. I know she will be getting some sort of discipline from her agency, and she certainly won't be coming back to this facility. I just don't get this kind of behavior. And I am sure that this isn't an isolated incident. Nobody makes this many mistakes in one shift accidentally. Even the nurses that I know who have been working at this facility for a long time double check themselves all the time. And I never hesitate to check a med in the med book if I am the least bit unsure about it. I use my med book every day. We as nurses should NEVER get so sure of ourselves that we aren't willing to recheck something. The smallest and most insignificant mistake could cost someone their life. Marla

Just wanted to update you on what happened today after yesterday morning. Seems the new "agency" nurse was the nurse from hell, who made about 15 med errors, (she is older than me, and a RN, AND been doing this a "long time" according to her.) had NO clue as to what the diff is between a NEBULIZER and an INHALER...--gave the inhaler instead of the neb rx.... And so on and so on, must have been the nightmare on Elm street kind of day..... I got to work this morning, and Ms STAFF nurse came running up to me, hugged me, and said, "THANK GOD you are here.....don't EVER leave me again!!!!"" I darn near dropped my teeth!!!! She promised me that she would have a chat with the Nurse Manager and tell her how I SAVED her today!!! So....it ain't all bad... Marla:D

{{{Krista}}} I just wanted to second everything everybody here has said already. YOU aren't the problem, Nurst B*tch is..... I had that happen to me this morning as I was leaving my night shift, trying to help out the new agency nurse that was taking over for me. The "Staff" nurse made a bunch of snide and nasty comments about "Everything she needs to know is in the medix, and if she can't handle it, then she should go home." This as I was attempting to tell the agency nurse who spits, throws food, takes meds with ice cream, etc.... Her "just let her find out" attitude is the same one I dealt with when I started working there as an agency nurse. I lived through her, and will continue to work there in SPITE of her. I know I am a damn good nurse, better by far than Ms. Staff Nurse, and I know that the CNAs don't hide when they see me coming. Rise above, and prove to yourself that you are a good nurse, and will get better with time. As luck would have it, I get to work with Ms. Staff Nurse for the day shift tomorrow. I will think about you and send prayers and positive thoughts to you. Hang in there, Krista. Not all of the nurses you encounter will be like her. Marla

I wear Barco, and they seem to be heavy enough to not show the world your shorts.... Marla

While I agree with the "let's not use it until/if we have to" group, as a mother myself, I wouldn't have the healthy, happy children that I have without Pitocin and an Epidural. Kid #2 was stuck in the middle due to being 8.8, and 19 inches and having her head turned ever so slightly the wrong way. She also had one arm around her own neck, so to speak. Elbow presented first. Took them a while to figger that one out. My uterus gave up about 15 hours into it, and the Pitocin and the epidural saved me a C-section. Kid #3 was 9.6 and also 19 inches long, and he did the same thing as kid 2, but without the arm. He had the cord around his neck. Epidural time again, and doc came in and turned the beastie, and out he came. They had prepped me for C-section already. To tell you the truth, the epidural was wonderful, and I felt sooo good after the kids were born. After kid #1, at 8.7, and 19 inches, I wanted to die, I felt so terrible after that birth. Didn't stop me from doing it again, but I sure wish the epidural had been available for him, too. I think it is all a matter of personal choice, and being able to be up and about without any stiffness, soreness, or other nasty symptoms, to take care of all of my kids without those kinds of things was wonderful! I didn't fight the labor the 2nd and 3rd times, even with Lamaze and coach and etc..... I just didn't have to worry about anything but delivering the kids. I am very small to begin with, a size 5 and about 125 pounds, and having those big babies wasn't a piece of cake.... I would opt for the epidural EVERY time... I believe having a baby is a natural thing, but then again, I tried it and hated it. Why not take advantage of the help when it is there????? As a nurse, I agree that it shouldn't be used for the first twinges, or even the hard labor, but it sure made a difference for me, feeling like a human instead of a bus terminal after delivery. I never felt like less of a mother having opted for some help. Just my humble opinion.

I think I would just have asked him a whole buncha stupid questions.. 1. Is the toilet that big round white thing? 2. What, exactly, is a plunger? 3. What do I do with said plunger? 4. What are all those things floating in the brown water? 5. Is that LEGAL?? LOL Marla

Sounds like all of us are in the same class!!! My teacher's favorite saying when asked a question is: "Don't worry about it! You'll do fine!" and, "Oh don't even bother to read that chapter, I don't know why it is in our book!" Well, I WAS a straight A student, NOT ANYMORE! I have failed more tests than I have passed, and I get increasingly more frustrated as time goes on. I did well in A & P, and now I am totally lost..... I want to know WHAT bug causes WHAT illness, and HOW to treat it.....I haven't the slightest care as to HOW the bug travels about in a petri dish..... Ah, well, so much for my GPA..... I am hoping for a C, and working my butt off for it. Sucks. We use the Talaro book, and I bought the Tortura book off the net so I have something that makes sense. Marla

I wear hearing aides in both ears, and have found them to be useless when doing a BP. I use a double barreled Cardiac scope, and love it. Cost me a pretty $$, but well worth it. I don't use my hearing aids when taking a BP, and I do alright. Check it out. Marla

I am going to second or third the notion that "if you don't open your mouth and TELL somebody that you want to learn or do, it won't happen!" I bet I put in every foley in the hospital while I was on rotations there, cause I let somebody know that I wanted to! Not quite 600, but a few, I meant.....But, I got really, really good at it. All the nurses where I work know that I usually get it in without a bit of fuss, and they leave me notes to let me know when they need them done. They, in turn, help me out with the procedures that I don't do as well, this way. I had opportunities to do and see many, many things while in school, and wouldn't have if I hadn't said anything. I graduated having a lot of hands on skills, but ONLY because I didn't settle for less. Make it happen!