JulieW

thanks for the laughs everyone! I agree that all of the above are totally nasty, but I can handle most without gagging (except colostomies, that's gag city). In terms of what 'freaks me out', I really have to say that watching a chest tube insertion ...

Go for it, Amy. Only you know what is best for your family. I chose the same route due to the great schedule of office nursing, and found it to be my niche. I love it. It's a wonderful job. You won't know if it's for you until you try it. I only had ...

Go for it, Amy. Only you know what is best for your family. I chose the same route due to the great schedule of office nursing, and found it to be my niche. I love it. It's a wonderful job. You won't know if it's for you until you try it. I only had ...

Mn.linda, I agree with what you've written. I don't have anything against MAs, and think they serve a wonderful and important purpose in the medical office. I wish our office utilized a multi-tasked MA to help in the front and the back. It would be w...

Hi peaceful2100, I never realized how painful it would be to work weekends, 12 hr shifts (you will NOT see your kids if you work 12's except for long enough to kiss them goodnight), and holidays until I started doing it. I thought having 4 days off a...

Well, I haven't heard of that type of program specifically, however, requirements are certainly changing around here. For instance, 30-unit/two semester options for LVNs withOUT prereqs are becoming more popular (only stipulation is that the grad wou...

good questions chili, I don't have answers, either. I would be interested in hearing a rehab nurse's take on prosecuting/rehabing and who the most common re-offenders (age group,sex,financial class,etc) are.

kday, Thanks for including cigarette smell to the other offenses listed above! I can't stand the smell of someone who has just smoked a cigarette, and someone who chain smokes and has OLD smoke smell on them flat out nauseates me! I can't imagine wh...

Reading your post was an exercise in futility. Take english COMP next semester. It'll help.

Reading your post was an exercise in futility. Take english COMP next semester. It'll help.

Well, I love *almost* everything about my new job! But, not being on time is not much fun. Most days we are okay, only running 30-45 mins behind schedule (and that really isn't that bad for us!), but other times, people don't get seen until 1.5 hrs a...

I think med-surg is a good start just because it's so hectic and you really learn to prioritize. Not everyone starts in med surg, though. Office nursing is wonderful and allows you time with your family, including weekends and evenings and holidays....

I feel for you. I, along with a few hundred others on this board , have gone through the same type of thing. I agree with fergus on the oppressed group theory. My orientation as a new grad was awful. I was nothing more than fresh meat for these aw...

Also Daz remember A-B-C's. Nursing school exams love to see if you can use them to prioritize and you'll see them on boards as well. airway, breathing, circulation. On your softball victim, airway is going to take priority over a rib fx (which she v...

Daz, Focus on what unit your class is on right now. Read class notes. I'm sure your homework correlates with the lessons being taught, and if you compare sympoms to those things you've recently learned about, the right thing will click. Another thin...

Best of luck!! I did nights for only a few months but do remember what it was like for those first few shifts. I think the most important thing is that you take your sleep time very seriously and defintely have arrangements for someone to take care o...

haha Duckie! I have worked with ones that would say such things like "it just screamed your name" isn't that revolting?? Anyway, on the floor I was hired to when I first graduated, my nurse manager was awesome. Such a nice lady and willing to bend o...

We have an office staff of 8 (including the two docs) and everytime someone has a birthday, the docs send us all to lunch on them which is nice. They'll also have lunch catered after a day of them showing up an hour late, which backs up the entire da...

Oh my goodness yankee, I really feel for you. I can identify with some of your feelings, but on a much smaller scale. I started on nights at a hospital (med/oncology, NOT ICU!) and it was very much the 'being thrown to the wolves' mentality. Two two ...

chili2641, First of all, relax! My point was that an associates in nursing DOES require more 'education' than an associates degree in general ed, or in ECE, etc,etc.. meaning that nursing, unlike the typical 60 unit/credit 'degree', requires an addit...

Why doesn't the 'education argument' fly with you? Just to be fair, an associate degree RN does indeed have more education than other associate degree prepared grads, the reason being that there is a minimum of 3 semesters of prepreqs, usually 30-40 ...

I think the "just" portion of her comment was rude. It's a demeaning way to refer to anyone. But, I think her pointing out that you were not a nurse was a good thing. And, if she had not, I hope that you would have. I am a LVN in a Dr. office and al...

Hi Duckie! In school we did 2-10 for clinicals and it was really great being able to sleep in and wake up, work out, run errands, and get to work in an unrushed fashion. I really liked it, but it is no good if you've got school age kids, so now that ...

It surprises me (although it shouldn't) how much negative feedback SubQ's posts receive. Responses to Nursedude's "nursing is pathetic" (would you recommend nursing as a career) is the same story. Both are male. Hmmm. They speak the truth. Don't bl...

Mine were mostly priority, as in they give you a scenario and you decide which pt you'd deal with first. I also had a lot of pt teaching questions which asked how the nurse knows a pt understands the information taught or how the nurse knows thhat th...