Spiderella

When you are preparing your admit bed, get a bag of 1L LR and 1L NS ready. You never know which you will need, but if your patient has a low BP, it's great to have your bolus on hand and ready to go. Also when preparing the admit room, write your la...

My biggest issue is delegation. It's okay to ask for help from other nurses, they aren't going to think that you are a slacker...

This thread is just the opposite of what I think. I actually left MSICU for Trauma because I got bored silly taking care of the same ol' ventilated corpses with myriad health problems that you can never get off the vent. And those dressing changes......

Every trauma hospital has a different system. The one I work at now, there are regular ER nurses that support trauma admits but do not have primary responsibility in the trauma bay. The trauma bay is 3 rooms and is manned by 2 CRNs, which are resourc...

FYI you might run into some more financial issues when you file for divorce. A friend of mine was in the same situation, and the husband sued her for spousal support and won, because he had 'supported' her financially through nursing school, therefor...

A couple of nurses have already approached this from the nursing point of view, so I'm going to try a different angle. As a nurse with sickle cell anemia, I have the unique position of understanding the realities of both scenarios. Sickle cell pr...

FYI: There is no blood test that can tell if someone is having a sickle cell crises. The lab work that is checked, is their H&H levels to see if we need a blood transfusion since we are usually anemic. Their Coags are checked to make sure they ar...

Found this quite insightful. 25 Things You May Not Know About What Nurses Know They just forgot to add Superman strength for pulling and moving patients around, and an iron stomach for all the gross things we see and smell.

She better not pay a dime! American Mobile always has these ridiculous rules tryna rip people off. I once worked with a traveler that was with AM who had her contract terminated by the hospital because they were not 'fully utilizing her'. AM charged ...

I was in the same situation last year. I applied to several ICU positions and kept getting rejected because of my small community hospital experience. I finally stopped applying for jobs that required experience, and just applied for new grad ICU pos...

A couple of nurses have already approached this from the nursing point of view, so I'm going to try a different angle. As a nurse with sickle cell anemia, I have the unique position of understanding the realities of both scenarios. Sickle cell prima...

I cosign what StudentGrace just said. I took care of a patient for a couple of weeks. The next month, I left a comment on my friend's FB page wishing her congratulations on her pregnancy. It just so happened that my patient's daughter went to high sc...

Whoa...that totally freaked me out too! Thanks for keeping it real foraneman!

I cosign on what the previous poster said. I don't know how the OR works, but at all the hospitals I have traveled to, I usually get 1-2 days of orientation and then I hit the floor running and am expected to function optimally. Try to get a circulat...

I worked at the Oakland Kaiser. It was really shabby and dingy, but since then they have moved across the street to their new building which is much better. Most of the nurses do 8 hour shifts, so for your 12 hour shift, you will have 2 assignments,...

Yeah, each BON makes it completely confusing. Of the states listed, I only have a Cali license, and I got this before the new restrictions. Since you have your license originally from AL, you are eligible for licensure by endorsement from all the ot...

And remember, if you purchase these items for use when on the road as a traveler, they are tax deductible.

You should ask for a base rate commiserate with other nurses in the area. The tax free stipend is supposed to be on top of that. This way, you won't raise red flags when you file your taxes, and you will still have some extra money to save up. The m...

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To answer you question yes. This is actually when of the best times of the year to look for work. Hospitals are in a new fiscal year, so have more of a budget to hire travelers. I have been a traveler since 2005, and even with the economy issues, I w...

http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentType=GSA_BASIC&contentId=17943 For Denver it's $224 per day for 2010. To calculate, most agencies will multiply per days worked (some might pay per every day of the week) and then divide to...

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great to ask questions...just ask them the right way...please don't make excuses or downplay your intelligence. That's all I'm saying.

I actually disagree with this. Maybe a new grad can get away with it, but this can actually get on the staff's nerves. Downplaying your intelligence will make others think less of you, since you are verbalizing a lack of confidence in yourself---and ...

Yeah for real. I love being a newbie and love traveling. I learn so much, and have to know it quickly, hence have a wide berth of experiences. I can work with pretty much every IV pump out there, and am comfortable with almost every patient populatio...

You should go to the IRS website and look up the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) for the area that you are traveling to. They (the agency) can offer you a lower rate, but the IRS allows a maximum COLA based on the standard of living in the area. My p...