Klimpys

Run screaming in the other direction! I say this as a mother of a Type 1 son who diagnosed at age 13. I agree with everyone else. The kid should be doing his own injections. My son took command the moment he left the hospital. He is 16.5 now. The only thing I do is his 2:30 am blood sugar check. Are you prepared to get up in the middle of the night and check this kid and decide whether or not he needs a juice box or glucose tab to keep him alive during the night? Extra exercise on vacation can wreak havoc on BG numbers. Are you prepared to look over his meal choices and count carbs, and then decide on how much insulin he needs? Going to a theme park with my son requires patience. If his blood sugar decides to drop then he feels like crap. Everyone else wants to hurry and do things and his butt is dragging. I am fine sitting with him. Is your family prepared to deal with a person who is going to need extra, extra attention? Believe me, at times it is like having a toddler again. You have to make sure you always have snacks, meter, test strips, insulin, cotton balls, alcohol swabs, glucose tabs, etc...oh, and the insulin, and strips can't get too hot, so if you are going to the beach you have to be prepared. If the kid could take care of himself it might be different.

Glad to see I am not alone! I envision a committee sitting around with thesauruses coming up with a bunch of BS. My favorite from the Ackley Nursing Diagnosis book is Disturbed Energy Field.

My teacher taught us the desired over have formula. Once you got it is a piece of cake! Everything is metric, which is a breeze as well. If the desired is in grams, and what you have from the pharmacy is in milligrams, you just move the decimal on the grams to change it to milligrams. Then you divide the desired (what the doctor ordered) by what you have. There is a little more to it than that, but that is the gist of it. Much better than dimensional analysis!

I am in my first semester and in fundamentals as well. The only thing I have found useful so far is my recorder. I find it easiest to print the power points and take notes on it during class. I have a kindle fire that I can download articles that my teacher posts. She told us to either print out or bring on a kindle the other day, and she barely referenced them I was glad I hadn't wasted paper and ink printing them. It was a bit of a pain trying to figure out where she was in the article on my Kindle though. I have a droid phone with apps. Haven't really used it much, but I might when I start clinicals.

Thanks for sharing more info. I am sorry I came across rather cranky. Parents of a CWD tend to circle the wagons when care for our kids is being questioned, and it doesn't take much to make us feel that way, lol! I must say though, I have often felt that some parents go over board when it comes to the demands they place on the school system. This woman falls into that category. Some accommodations are good, such as being able to carry a BG monitor and check BG anytime. Others aren't doing our kids any favors for when they get out in the real world

Interesting timing of this post. My son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes two years ago at age 13. I homeschool my children. Always have, and always will. But sometimes it is not easy, since I am also a student in nursing school. However, this evening before I saw your post I was thinking how good I have it in that I don’t have to deal with the school system and 504 plans. It has made homeschooling worth it! I say this with kindness, if you want to see what parents of children with diabetes go through, not only with the crapfest that is T1D, but dealing with their schools, check out the ChildrenWithDiabetes.com forums. “She always wants to know his IOB (Insulin on Board) numbers when he is low and to be nice the aide usually writes that down (I was covering for the aide that day as she was absent). But I've been told by the pump manufacturer and the doctor and the nurse handling his case that this is not important or necessary.” OMG!!! Is all that I can say! IOB means that the pump is still going to give him insulin!! If he is low and there is IOB he is going to go lower! From CWD website: Insulin On Board (IOB) Insulin on board is probably the most valuable feature in the latest smart pumps. When insulin is administered via a bolus from the pump, it has a timeframe where it can effectively lower blood sugars. For example, if a 10 unit bolus is given the first hour, 30% is used up in the body (minus 3 units leaving 7 units still working in the body), the second hour another 30 % (minus another 2.1 units leaving 4.9 units still working in the body) and the third hour another 30% (minus 1.4 units leaving 3.4 units still working in the body) and finally the fourth hour the last 10% (minus .3 units leaving 2.97 units still working in the body). The only problem with this analogy is that not everyone fits this profile. Like basal rates, not everyone have the same rates in a 24-hour period. The latest smart pumps have adjustable time frames to accommodate these differences. Some individuals may set their insulin on board feature at 3.5 hours or 5 hours rather than 4 hours as mentioned in the example above. One way to see what works best for each individual is to check blood sugars each hour after giving a bolus to see how blood sugars react. Stacking of Insulin Before the insulin on board feature was available, many individuals would have a high blood sugar (i.e., 250 mg/dl) 1-2 hours after eating (postprandial) and consistently give a correction bolus to bring their blood sugar down to a normal range. The problem with this technique is not accounting for the insulin on board in the body and often going low by overcorrecting. Now, after inputting a blood sugar of 250 into the pump, the pump will account for the insulin on board and possibly suggest a different correction bolus, which will help avoid a low blood sugar. For example, a person who has a target of 100 mg/dl and an insulin sensitivity factor of 50 (1 unit of insulin will drop the blood sugar 50 points) in the example above would normally give a correction bolus of 3 units to get to 100 mg/dl. Now, using the insulin on board feature on the pump, the pump may only suggest 1 unit based on how much insulin is still working in the body rather than 3 units. Insulin on board calculation can also work when a blood sugar is only 95 mg/dl an hour or two after eating. It is common for blood sugars to rise 60-80 points higher than the pre- meal blood glucose reading even when a correct dose is given. If a blood sugar is taken 90 minutes after eating showing a 95mg/dl that may be a red flag knowing it is common for levels to go up somewhat after eating. Looking at the insulin on board feature on the pump may show 4 units still working in the body, which may indicate the need for carbohydrates to head off a low blood sugar. She shadows him to keep him alive. As he gets older she will loosen the reigns. My ds does most of his own care, but puberty is wreaking havoc on his BG numbers. These are things you don’t learn in nursing school. The pediatric endocrinologist and the certified diabetes educator haven’t taught me diddly compared to other parents in the trenches. You sound like a caring and competent school nurse. Sadly there are some that aren't and that is why parents of Type 1 diabetics become anal retentive.

I bought mine on Amazon.com

I agree with a math prerequisite. An idea could be to have potential nursing students attend a workshop and learn how to read drug labels, do metric conversions, and how to do the "desired over have" method of calculations. Give them "x" amount of time to practice and then test them. This would be before they have been accepted into the program and spent a butt-load of money on everything. It is not that drug calc is hard, it is just making sure to read the all the little details in the question. Sometimes the questions would say per dose, and sometimes they were in a 24 hour period. I passed with a 100, but it was a little tricky trying to decipher the poorly xeroxed copies of med labels on some of the questions. Speaking of money, at my school we started plunking down cash this past May. We had to get background checks, uniforms, and a lab kit. Then in August we all spent over a thousand dollars on books. Oh, add tuition to that. So, if people had taken the drug calc test before even being accepted, then it would have been so much better. FWIW, I passed with a 100. People I knew who took it the second time said it was much harder.

Believe me, I am not underestimating the importance of the drug calculations test! I guess what is really bothering me is that so many students I know can't survive nursing school, but I know they did really well in A&P and Microbiology. The number of second year students has dropped about 80 percent. They have two more semesters. At this rate, they can not only carpool, but they might be able to fit in a Smartcar! Is the school failing them? I know that schools do weed students out, but 80% is ridiculous!

I posted on another thread recently how nursing school is like "The Hunger Games." Today was a particularly rough day. I heard the cannon sound for several of my fellow classmates. They failed the required drug calculation test and have been dismissed from the program. I feel so sad for them. It just really, really suck to have put in so much time and hard work, not to mention money, to be admitted into the program and then get dropped the first month. I can still see the tears. Blerg!

YESSS!!!!!! The reason I found this thread is that I googled something like "The Hunger Games is like nursing school" to see if anyone else made the connection! I am in my first semester of a community college program. The number of students who make it to second year is pathetically small. I consider them to be in the "quarter quell" and as my daughter just said, they were "reaped from the existing victors, " (those that managed to survive the first year.) My program is really good, and well respected, but it does seem like they don't mind if the weak get knocked out. It makes the stats look better for how many students pass the nclex on the first try. I feel like Katniss looking around and seeing the other competitors. You don't really want to befriend too many people because they may not be there after the next test. Unlike Katniss, I want to form alliances (study groups) and help and encourage my fellow students so the Capitol doesn't win! Ok, so the Capitol will benefit...

I bought a Batclip to use with my Littman classic II SE. I haven't used it yet because I just started classes. I liked the concept of it and that it is well made.

I start in two weeks as well. I agree with the others regarding getting your house in order. I plan on doing a thorough cleaning of my house so we can just work on maintaining it. I am also trying to come up with some menu ideas and work on doing large amounts of cooking on the weekend so I don't panic at meal times. My kids are older and they do chores, but I need to get them on a schedule, such as Tuesdays is vacuum day, Thursdays is clean the bathrooms day, etc...I also need them to learn to cook for the family. They can fix themselves stuff like eggs, and quesadillas, but I haven't really pushed them towards fixing a real meal for everyone. Now is the time! Regarding husbands. I have been a stay-at-home mom for 19 years. I have always done the housework because I felt that was my contribution to the family, and my husband takes care of yard work. My husband is willing to help more, but I have this guilt feeling about how hard he works and I don't want to pile more on him. Plus, I think it is a control issues as well. I feel that I know how to do it the right way (my way), and he doesn't. But I am going to get over my feelings and ask him for more help. I know that he would like to make my life easier, and it would be a blessing for him.

i just got a littman classic s.e. ii with the rainbow finish chest piece. it is awesome! my previous stethoscope was a cheap prestige brand from the college bookstore that came with a blood pressure cuff. i agree with previous poster, make sure you are putting it in your ears the right way! i never knew that until i was reading my littman instructions. the ear things curve forward for a reason! my prestige brand did not. also, make sure you have twisted to the tube at the bottom so it is either set to bell or diaphragm. after i put the things in my ear, but before i put the chest piece on someone to listen for sounds, i always tap the diaphragm to make sure i hear something. if i don't hear something then i know that it has been knocked out of place. yep, i learned that from experience, lol!

Thanks for posting this! I have printed it and put it in my helpful hints file. I start nursing school this fall and I will definitely use some of these tips.

I will be starting nursing classes this fall so I can't comment on those books, however, when I took A&P and Microbiology I always bought new books. One of the biggest reasons was that I like to use the online supplemental resources that the publisher provides. If the access code has already been used you can't use it. Also, I would rather be using the exact same thing the teacher is using, not trying to decode which page in an older version matches up with the newer version he/she is using. Just my .02:twocents:

I agree! Our program does require it though. I already have one due to my Nurse Aid I and II classes. We did use ours at clinicals in the nursing home and hospital. Our teacher wanted us to do manual vital signs and we only used the "nurse-on-a-stick" occasionally. I ended up buying my own pulse-ox because the hospital never had enough for us to use. Our teacher would send us six students to various rooms at the same time to take vitals. That is not easy to do when there isn't enough equipment to do it.

i agree with showing a little bit of individualization! i just bought a littman c[color=#464646]lassic ii s.e. stethoscope at allheart.com. they are on sale right now for $69.99, i decided to go for the glory and pay extra for the one that has a rainbow finish chest piece. i will definitely be unique! i got it engraved in case anyone else decided they really liked it...when i did na i and ii clinicals patients loved my blood pressure cuff that was purple with green frogs on it. i decided to order a leather batclip hip-clip for my stethoscope from amazon.com. what a great idea to wear the stethoscope on the hip! i didn't know there was such a thing until brillohead mentioned it. i got so tired of wadding it up in my pocket. i also order a clipboard with a calculator built-in from all-heart that also has assessment charts printed on it. sorry, i don't mean to sound like an infomercial for their site, but i had never been to it before, and i am excited about purchasing things for class this fall.

I will be starting an associates degree nursing program this fall. I eventually want to become a CDE. My son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes almost two years ago. I have looked at some of the websites regarding getting certification and I got a little confused. Can anyone share with me how they did it? How do you get the required hours teaching someone if you aren't a CDE? Thanks

This thread has been very informative. I start nursing school this fall, and I will definitely keeps some of this info in my mind. I took a Nurse Aid II class fall and looking back I feel so sorry for one of the poor nurses that we helped in clinicals. It was an LTC and she must have been fairly new. She seemed to always be a little behind. When she was passing meds we would help out by taking blood sugars. We could never find anything in the supply closet so we would be constantly asking for gauze or lancets, reporting stuff to her, etc..thanks to several of the threads I have read on AN, I realize we were probably messing with her train of thought. I will be more considerate during my future clinicals and definitely think before I ask questions, and write non-emergency ones down. Hopefully our instructor will inform us of proper clinical etiquette. I would have been like the OP, asking a bunch of questions because I would want to know what was going on in case it happens in the future when I am on my own.

This could be an interesting concept, but I think it would depend on how it was administered. When I took my Nurse Aid I certification I had a written test and skills assessment test. I usually do not have test anxiety, but I admit to being a little freaked out. My class had heard horror stories of people failing because of forgetting one tiny detail, such as forgetting to lock the wheels on the bed when helping the "patient" (other test taker) out of the bed. We were given five random tasks (out of the 25+ we learned) to do such as washing hands properly, feeding "patient", mouth care, using bed pan, ambulating patient, etc...that were different from the other test taker. If we messed up we were not told until the very end that we failed. However, if we were towards the end of a task and we remembered we forgot to lock the bed wheels earlier and we admitted it to the teacher we could get checked off on it, as long as we had not moved on to the skill set that was different. Oh, and no trying to help the other student if you were lying there being her patient and you knew she just screwed up! No whispering, or trying to make eye gestures. The poor girl I was with knew she messed something up and was crying while she was attending to me. She must have fixed it because she passed.

Thank you for this comment! I have just finished my pre-reqs and will be starting the nursing program this fall. I am a fairly good test taker when it comes to T-F and multiple choice. I can memorize and regurgitate with the best of them. However, I was recently talking to a guy who flunked out of the program and he was giving me pointers, and he mentioned the NCLEX style questions. I realized that I my way of learning isn't going to cut it. I have ordered several books that will hopefully help, and your comment made a light go off in my brain regarding the need to understand "why" things are done a certain way, etc..

I am just a nursing student at this point, but I thought I would share my humbling experience. BTW, everybody that I tell that I am in nursing school says I will make a good nurse. Why? Who knows. I think they are just trying to say something positive. Thankfully they don't ask my husband. I think he whines too much when he is sick. Seriously, do you have to moan when you aren't feeling well? Anyhoo, I digress...When I was doing my Nurse Aid II clinicals we had to check blood glucose levels on patients. Well, I thought this was an area that I would rule supreme since I have a Type 1 diabetic son and I check him every night at midnight (he does all the other checks). As it so happened, I forgot to tell the patient that I was going to stick them at the count of three, and then I forgot to wipe off the first drop of blood! My brain left my body! My teacher told me that she would not sign me off on that skill that night! I didn't whine, I took my chastisement and kicked it's butt the next time. My point is that it humbled me in a good way. I can't assume that I know everything and that I will do everything right. I need to be teachable and when I get reprimanded I need to learn from it.

I just wanted to add to my previous post regarding the NA course and phlebo. These classes are offered in the Continuing Education department and were two nights a week. They lasted anywhere from four months (phlebotomy) to six months (NA II). I took them at the same time I was taking my curriculum classes. They did/will not slow me down from getting my RN.

I have being doing pre-reqs for the nursing program of a local community college. I will start actual nursing classes this fall. One of the pre-reqs was to get your NA 1 license. My adviser said one of the reasons they started requiring it was because they only accept 25 students a year, and they always had some that later dropped out because they didn't realize that part of their job was to wipe butts, make beds, clean vomit, etc...When a student eventually dropped out, the school could not fill that open spot. Our NA 1 clinical was at a nursing home. My school also decided to give a extra points towards being accepted into the nursing program if you earned your NA II, which I did. During that class, my RN teacher told us how she learned to do blood draws (in a break room with fellow classmates sticking each other.) I decided that I would take a phlebotomy course. I am so glad I did, because I have learned of the damage you can do when you don't know what you are doing. These side classes have cost me some extra money, but I feel they will help me in the long run in feeling more confident in what I am doing during my nursing classes. If I can land a part-time job at the hospital as a tech it will help me get my foot in the door.