nurse_jer

hello all i just accepted a job as a case manager for a large insurance company. i dont have any experience as a case manager but they will train me. im looking for advice.and any advice on what to look out for? what might help me be successful? any books or websites i might want to review to help me in this transition? thank you

i like compression shirts too. some teachers make me hide my tattoos, some dont. when i have to hide them i do. i got mine at target, champion brand. pretty cheap and they breath nice too. being that they are tight around the arms/wrist i dont worry too much about pathogens. my lowest tattoo is 4 inches above my wrist so i can pull them up a bit when needed. heck, id even say you can pull them up when needed even if you have tattoos lower, as long as the instructor doesnt catch you. just dont show them if you have naked ladies tattooed on you.

wow, thankyou for such a thorough answer. that makes alot of sense now. i was under the impression that GFR would control how much could be excreted. most of the renal pt's ive had with GFR in the teens didnt urinate much of anything. now i understand that it IS possible to have a low GFR and void. thanks!

hello, the other night i had a patient who was on bumex for, i think, relief of CHF with a GFR of about 15. the patient has a Dx of: COPD, CHF, CKD, PVD, anemia she is not on dialysis because an AV fistula could not be done r/t the PVD. patient said she will consider peritoneal dialysis. labs: K+ 4.5 GFRa 14.5 GFRC 12 bun 95 creatinine 3.7 RBC 3 Hgb 9.1 i have 2 questions 1) with a GFR of 15 would the bumex be contraindicated? i figured with a GFR so low she wouldn't really get much out, or it might overwork already strained kidneys. 2) the patient urinated about 800ml during my 6 hours on the floor, so is the GFR wrong? i think it is an estimated GFR. thanks

1st and foremost, organization. Organization and time management are so important. A teacher once told us he knew some people who really weren't smart get phd's not from brains, but organization and time management. I took this to heart and it hasn't failed me yet. one B in my last 30 credits. Next, practice questions. Get a Saunders nclex review book. Get the "success" book for whatever class you currently have (phsychiatric success, med-surg success, etc) and do LOTS AND LOTS OF PRACTICE QUESTIONS!!! I might do 300 practice questions for an exam. I also buy tons of other helper books. The made incredibly easy guides are exceptional. The demystified ones aren't too bad either. Listen to the lecture. Teachers give out lots of LITTLE tidbits in passing that you may not notice if your not very attentive. Get a good group of friends to study with. It's even better if some of them are in different sections as you can compare notes between instructors. You can have a large network of study friends, but keep your study groups small (2-3 people). Rotate in between groups in you need to, but keep it small. Hope this helps

41 yo male here, I just finished the 1st year of the ADN program. I have 2 children, the youngest of which is starting college in the fall. I have been a skilled tradesmen for a big 3 automaker for 22 years and am making a career change. this is the dream job I thought about when I was younger, but got caught in the trap of easy money in the factory. now im going to finish my BSN and travel!

Here's another vote for made incredibly easy. I looked at the demystified books and they seemed a bit dry still. The made easy books just flow nicer, Actually, for my psych class, I ended up using the psychiatric nursing made incredible easy book INSTEAD of the assigned textbook! The text book from Fortinash was so dry and full of page after page of useless fluff. Made incredibly easy took just the things that were important to nurses and gave to you in a simple format. I didn't care about this survey from 2003 was different form another survey done in Sweden in 2005 and that 0.5% of doctors thought that a 3rd survey was better. What I cared about was how the disorder occurs, what to look for, and how to treat the patient. Made incredibly easy did that! I have maybe 6 or so books from that series now.

some kind of calendar/planner is essential. i use G-cal and a smart phone but some people prefer paper calendars. with the G-cal, i subscribe to my wifes calendar too and we always know what each person is doing. this prevents her form asking me "do have an exam this week?" and allows us to plan out what little bit of free time we have together. i disagree about not taking pathophysiology though. i wish i had taken it now. our school has an intro to patho thats geared toward wait-listed students and i think it would have helped me. our last clinical instructor was surprised we werent required to have a patho class! good luck. get sleep when you can and try to enjoy yourself! nursing school can actually be really fun when you are prepared for it.