jsauce

Anything order with the words enema or bowel prep in it....

I definitely consider the "vet techs" at my dog's vet hospital nurses. They even call themselves that, although I don't think it's official. I don't have a problem with it, and think that you deserve the title.

I work at Childrens Medical Center in Dallas and they hire LVNs. I think Medical City also hires LVNs. I'm not too sure about the ADN programs...i know about Excelsior because an LVN I work with is doing it, she seems to like it. I graduated from TWU, but I can't remember about their programs....sorry! Good luck, and welcome to Dallas!

No way! I had to wear white in nursing school, and in my opinion it really made me feel generic and ugly. I think it's true that you pick colors that reflect your mood, and that's good because at the time those are the colors in which you feel most comfortable. There is nothing worse than feeling uncomfortable in a uniform at work!!!

yep, i would...

I've been a pediatric nurse for a year and a half, and the reason i am a peds nurse is because when I was going through my nursing rotations I thought I was going to quit nursing if I had to do adults. Seriously! I hated it. I did my pediatrics rotation and loved it! Kids are just great...like someone said they bounce back really quick and they are just a lot easier to work with than adults...i think you'll like it!

The only time I do a GU assessment is on babies/children with diapers and patients with catheters. And of course, if the pt was admitted for that particular reason or has any underlying history warranting physical assessment of the area. I think you just need to use nursing judgement when it comes to those sensitive "areas". I definitely don't think it needs to be routine all of the time, especially when it comes to teenagers and older children. You can also ask the patient/family if there are any problems regarding those areas, and that can guide your assessment. Our hospital doesn't stress strict GU assessment, and I don't personally think it is always necessary.

What about tincture of benzoin? We use that sometimes to help tegaderm stick (that's what we have at our hospital, also). Whoever said tegaderm doesn't stick if the skin is completely dry is right! It kind of sucks. Tincture of benzoin helps everything stick.

Definitely try to get involved in an externship program or try to work as a clinical technician. It will give you a great feel for working with the kids in the hospital setting along with the parents. You may get one rotation with peds in school, but not a whole lot. It was enough for me to know that was the area I wanted to go into, though. I didn't have any experience in the hospital setting and I wished I had when I started. Good luck!