Luciole

Thanks pasha and Tweege :)

OMG, I know what you mean. I went to a walk-in clinic (read between the lines: cheap) and it still cost me $250.00 for the exam and shots/tb test. Next I was sent with my little prescription to Omega for bloodwork. Another $90.00 there for the titers, CBC etc. Hopefully the titers will come up the way I need and I won't need a chest x-ray for the tb test... I'm paying this all out of pocket and it's really starting to hurt!

I have the 2 out of 3 requirement for the Hep B series also. However, about 3 years ago I actually got the series as a requirement for a non-nursing job. I called the occupational health provider who gave me the shots to try to get proof my immunization, but they've yet to call me back. I'm really hoping that my Hep B titer comes back showing immunity (as it should); if not, you're right on and I'm going to have to rush to get the series done. At the moment I have 4 bandaids on my arms so I'll just keep my fingers crossed

Heya gchickie! Close, but no bullseye I'll be going to the School of Nursing at Reading Hospital (Reading PA). It's ashame we're not going to the same place... it would have been nice to already have met a classmate. Best of luck on your education though... I hope to see you around the forums :) As for the whole epic adventure for my immunizations, I called the school of nursing today and made sure that it would be cool for me to have it checked with blood titers. It was--and the school nurse was REALLY nice and even advised me to just state that I must have had the polio vaccine as a child since I attended US public schools. So I ended up getting two titers drawn (for chicken pox and hep b) and 2 shots. It wasn't so bad in the end... the worst part was that the whole process cost me considerably more than it would have had I had my records. Thanks again to everyone who replied!!! I think I'm going to make the deadline no problem now :) *fingers crossed*

Thanks SO MUCH for sharing all of your experiences!!! I'm really glad I asked here at the forums; reading all of your responses has made me feel a lot better. Tomorrow is Monday... so at least I'll finally be able to stop simply worrying and actually accomplish something. I think I'll talk to my nursing school first thing and see which option they prefer, if any. Personally I think having the doctor do the bloodwork seems like the simplest method. Not that this is any riveting drama here, but I'll update this soon with what the final outcome was... just for those of you who were so kind as to reply. Thanks again everyone! :)

Jen and Pasha-- In your cases, what did your doctor write on the school's immunization form for the blanks where childhood immunizations are required? Did he just notate something stating that you showed resistance and had therefore been immunized? Just out of curiousity (and since I'm pressed for time to complete this stuff), I'm wondering how long this process took? Did he check the resistance right there as you waited or did you have to wait for blood work to come back? Thanks so much for bringing this option up! Hearing how others managed to get through the same situation really helps. From looking at the way the form is set up I would have never thought the school would accept something like that. It always seems like when some horrible revelation or deadline comes up, it happens on a weekend and none of the places that I need to call are open. I can't wait until monday to get this straightened out. I could kill myself for confusing my deadlines, I feel like a total moron.

Awesome everyone! Thanks for the ideas and advice!!! Since I'm in such a hurry to get this done, I think I'll call around Monday and investigate all of your suggestions. I hate when I feel like I don't understand a situation or know how to handle it--and I don't really have anyone I can rely on for advice on stuff like this. Your replies are invaluable to me!

Okay, this is probably going to sound like a very dumb concern, but here goes: I am in the process of completing all of the required background/health checks for admissions to my nursing program this fall. I notice on the physical form there is a section devoted to immunizations. Some of the immunization blanks require childhood immunization record (ie, the required shot should have been given in my childhood and the blank requires the date of the shot). Here is my problem--I only ever saw my "family doctor" regularly when I was a little kid (under 10 years old). Since that time about 15 years has passed and his office has closed. He would be the one to have administered my immunizations... how the heck do I track down a record of them? Is this something that my highschool (I'm 26 now) would still have on record? What happens if you just plain can't find/obtain a copy of your childhood immunizations? I'm hoping someone out there may have run into a similar problem and can explain how this will work for me. I know it's silly but I'm really stressing about this because I thought my due date for my checks was June 1st and it's not, it's May 1st, which means I have to get this done and get it done quickly. Thanks for any advice

I managed to find one of the links that I was thinking about while on break here at work. "Yet another MEPS experience" : http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/genjoin/a/mepstrip.htm?terms=military+meps

I'm about to leave for work so unfortunately I don't have the time to find the link for you, but about.com used to have some really good information about the military, especially the entrance procedures likes MEPS and basic. I know this because I spent A LOT of time surfing their military site when I was considering going into the army a few years ago. I'd check them out... they used to have a nice forum too dedicated to military Q&A including a nice section for questions from incoming soldiers. Hopefully it's still there! Best of luck!

Hi Christi... It sounds like you have some really creative ideas already! I can only suggest a few others for consideration and they're mostly variations of what you've already suggested: 1.) While total blindness (blindfold) is definitely a problem, I wouldn't want to overlook the impact of impaired vision as well. Maybe you could use frosted goggles or a saran-wrap blind fold to simulate poor vision due to cataracts etc. 2.) Along the lines of taping student's arms to their sides, maybe you could demonstrate loss of finger dexterity/use due to arthritis? Perhaps tape fingers together or have students wear bulky gloves and try to perform normally simple tasks. 3.) Maybe you could create a fake instruction sheet or newspaper article that would be all garbled and confused in the way in which it is written and have students try to read it and understand in hopes of simulating the frustration of dementia/senility? 4.) So many elderly are bony/frail and yet too physically impaired to move around enough to make themselves comfortable. Perhaps you could have students sit on something uncomfortable (styrofoam/cardboard egg cartons, balled-up cardboard...) for a period of time to show how frustrating it is to be uncomfortable and unable to move. Just some quick ideas... I hope something helps you out and best of luck on your presentation! :)

I spent a few minutes searching the web and unfortunately couldn't find any articles about this, but... A year or two ago we had an unusual case in our local headlines. I don't recall all of the specifics but it boiled down to an incident where a student nurse had been arrested for DUI after some type of driving accident. I can't remember exactly what all happened--no one died or was seriously hurt--but it was severe enough that the student was going to be sentenced to several months jail time. I think he might have driven his car into a house or something What's odd, or what I found odd at least, was the hospital program that the student attended actually came to his aid. They supported him (emotionally) throughout the hearings and, during sentencing, several instructors vouched for him and pleaded to the court. They claimed he was a brilliant student, a nice kid, and had made a mistake. He was more than willing to accept his jail-time but they petitioned the court to delay the start of his sentence until after he graduated the program (he had a semester or so to go). The court actually ended up granting this and he was allowed to finish his nursing school before serving his jail time. It really amazed me that the school stood by his side like that. Obviously you can't count on a similar reaction, but with all the negative things that could come out of your DUI charge, I definitely agree with the other replies that you should contact your school and BON ASAP and find out exactly what your situation is. With a little honesty and humility you may well be able to overcome this mistake. Best of luck to you.

I'm assuming you have (or are going to get) an otc, in the box, EPT sorta pregnancy test? If so, then the instuctions usually claim that they are accurate as early as the first day of your missed period. If you're still in the very early stages of a missed cycle, I believe the best advice is to test your first-thing in the morning urine because it has sat in your bladder all night and will have the highest concentration of the pregnancy hormone (if you are pregnant). I was told by my gynecologist that if you get a positive result, even from an otc test, you can pretty much bet that you are pregnant. The chance of a false positive is really slim. If you get a negative, and are still worried in a few days, then you might want to retest. Not sure what result you're hoping for, but best of luck to you either way :)

I am still at the "nursing-student-to-be" moment in my life so I am not well-versed in the actual terminology etc. of these situations. That being said, I believe my grandfather went through a similar experience to Gompers' grandmother. I was only 17 at the time, so I really had no strong say in his care or anything like that. All I recall is that he became very, very ill over a few months. He finally came to the point where he was hospitalized and there was little, if any, chance that he would ever return to his normal home life. This affected my grandfather horribly. He was a strong, independent man and seemed reduced to feelings of worthlessness... lying there in the hospital bed. He was in a lot of pain, and told me flat-out when I came to visit that he wished suicide was legal and he could just die. I felt so horrible for him, and so helpless. During this time my grandfather was being highly medicated. He also had some sort of "clicker" that he could hit when he wanted a dose of pain medication. The doctors discussed this with the family and it was agreed upon that he would have, as far as I understood it, unlimited control of this self-medicating clicker despite the fact that in his condition the high dosages would most likely bring forth his death. He died days after being given this regiment. When I saw this thread I had to reply, because this topic really touches home with me. My grandfather was suffering and did NOT want to live anymore and the family was suffering by seeing him suffer... to this day I am extremely thankful that the doctors discussed this with my grandfather and the family and gave us an option to ease his pain. I can not express the amount of gratitude our family had for the way the doctors handled my grandfather's care. I agree that life should be supported and prolonged when recovery is possible or when the affected individual wishes it so. But when someone you love is dying (point-blank dying, not going to recover), and in pain, and begging for it to end... I just can't understand how allowing full access to an eventual over-dose is unacceptable.

I think pretty much everyone dislikes public speaking--some just dread it more than others and some just hide their jitters better. I've never taken an actual speech class, but most of my college courses have required presentations as part of the "learning experience". Needless to say, the mere prospect of a "presentation" made my gut clinch up every time I thought of it. However, a long time ago, my Introduction to Business professor gave our class some excellent advice regarding public speaking. This advice has always stuck with me and really made me feel more confident speaking publicly, especially in a classroom setting where often your main concern is getting a solid grade on the presentation. She said, basically, "Don't worry if you get up and you're nervous. Some students begin their presentations and they're shaking or their voice is cracking and they realize that everyone can tell that they're nervous. And they think 'Oh my God, everyone can tell I'm nervous. I don't look confident, I look like a fool, and I'm going to fail this'. It's okay to be nervous though, and almost everyone is. And let me tell you this: I'd rather see someone get up and be nervous and jittery and crackly-voiced than seem basically ambivalent to their presentation. At least I know the students who get up and ARE nervous actually CARE about how good of a job they are doing and are truly concerned with producing good work. I'd much rather see you be nervous than see an attitude of 'I could give a crap about this presentation... blah blah' because at least if you're nervous I know that you are trying hard, and that you care..." That was THE best tip I was ever given for public speaking because I have a serious problem keeping my voice steady when I begin a presentation. When I would start speaking and my voice began betraying me with cracks and shakiness, I'd always think "Great, I'm blowing this..." But after hearing that professor put the situation into her point of view, I realized that she was totally correct. I'm nervous because I care about the quality of my work, because I want to do a good job... and that's nothing to be ashamed of! And however shaky my voice has been for the first few minutes of a speech etc, I've received an "A" on a variety of presentations for different instructors. So there must be some truth to what she said. Just remember: They expect that you'll be nervous to some extent. And pretty much everyone out there is just as nervous as you are when it's their turn at the podium