SarahRN2013

SarahRN2013

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All Content by SarahRN2013

  1. Newer nurse hating cardiac stepdown. Where to go from here?

    SarahRN2013 replied to michigan94's topic in First Year After Licensure

    Days on that type of unit can brutal constantly transferring or discharging to make room for admits from the cath lab means it never ends! Have you considered finishing out your year on nights? WAY...

  2. Dealing with Guilt and Coping

    SarahRN2013 replied to clouds_creamy's topic in General Nursing

    THIS.

  3. Coping with a difficult shift

    SarahRN2013 posted a topic in Medical-Surgical

    On average, my job is quite enjoyable with reasonable patient:staff ratios, fair distribution of acuity in assignments, etc. I like my job and might even say that I love my job. Most shifts, a few...

  4. Coping with a difficult shift

    SarahRN2013 replied to SarahRN2013's topic in Medical-Surgical

    Thank you for the suggestions, Ruby Vee. I already do post-shift processing in a variety of forms. I am hoping to figure out some things that might help during the shift too. Some people just seem so...

  5. Is my Bachelors degree in another field useful in nursing??

    SarahRN2013 replied to erogersii's topic in General Students

    I have many co-workers hired as ASN-RNs who are now completing their BSN's as part of their new hire contract (75% paid by our employer!) for a magnet-certified hospital. Actually, even nurses who...

  6. What is the Registered Nurse Patient Ratio at your hospital?

    SarahRN2013 replied to LinenP's topic in General Nursing

    I think the NA to patient ratio is just as important as the RN to patient ratio, as well as what type of support staff is available. I recently left a second job (med-surg/med-surge tele float pool)...

  7. Nursing @ 32?

    SarahRN2013 replied to Firstina's topic in General Students

    I was a biochemist before I went to an accelerated second degree program for nursing at 38. I didn't enjoy being a biochemist for two main reasons: (1) turns out I love science but I don't love...

  8. SCD'S with history of DVT

    SarahRN2013 replied to sirwinston1's topic in Medical-Surgical

    Agreed. Recently some of our physicians have started ordering SCDs for patients currently experiencing a DVT -- and they actually mean for the nurses to apply them (whereas some physicians order them...

  9. Contribute! New grad offers MI

    SarahRN2013 replied to cazreye's topic in Job Search, Interview, Resume

    Agreed! My first job we usually had 1 NA for 13 patients, no night respiratory therapists, no ECG techs, no phlebotomists and no onsite providers at night (other than an EC doc for codes). At my...

  10. Don't like nursing at all, what can I do with my BSN?

    SarahRN2013 replied to lostrnugh's topic in First Year After Licensure

    I also think that nursing school prepares you more for the tasks as my clinical instructors never let us have more than 3 patients (except my capstone preceptorship, which for me was in an ICU so I...

  11. New BSN With 4 years School Nurse Experience as ADN - Can't Land a Hospital Job

    SarahRN2013 replied to Nurse Beth's topic in Career Advice Column

    Do you have any contacts from your ADN program who might be willing to make introductions (or at least give you a manager's name)? Or maybe from your BSN program? I was initially hired part-time at...

  12. Advance Practice Preceptorships - Should students find their own preceptors?

    SarahRN2013 replied to husky171's topic in Advanced Practice

    From the research that I have done so far, this doesn't seem to be a problem only at for-profit/private schools. Even many established, seemingly well-respected public university programs are having...

  13. Night Shift Survival

    SarahRN2013 replied to allrncb's topic in Health, Stress Management

    I don't have any different tips than the ones already offered. Just wanted to reassure you that other people have initially struggled but then thrived once they found the right combination of sleep...

  14. 5 Months in & Frustrated

    SarahRN2013 replied to Nurse4592's topic in First Year After Licensure

    One other tip that I didn't notice anyone else suggesting: If you have computerized charting, find out if your system supports "smart phrases." What these phrases are called varies by EHR system, but...

  15. 5 Months in & Frustrated

    SarahRN2013 replied to Nurse4592's topic in First Year After Licensure

    I think I have similar learning opportunities on nights as on days - with more time at night for looking up something that I want to know more about, often the same shift rather than doing it at home...

  16. 5 Months in & Frustrated

    SarahRN2013 replied to Nurse4592's topic in First Year After Licensure

    I also worked on a very similar ortho/med-surg floor (almost entirely ortho) in my first year as a nurse, so I think I can relate to your experience. (You didn't even mention all of the q2h and q4h...

  17. First Job As A Nurse! HELP!

    SarahRN2013 replied to mountainjc's topic in First Year After Licensure

    In my first job as a nurse, I worked on a progressive care unit where I almost always had 5 patients and the aids usually had 13 patients and often had 18 patients. I've also worked on a similar unit...

  18. New Grad about to Start!

    SarahRN2013 replied to CiaMia's topic in First Year After Licensure

    I agree with ToastedPeanut, particularly about a little notebook. I found it helpful to jot down information in my notebook then I transferred it to a word document every 1-2 weeks. The word document...

  19. Small paycheck making me second guess career!

    SarahRN2013 replied to nurse1990's topic in Nursing Career

    If you have similar benefits in any career where your employer reports ALL of your earnings, you will see a similar chunk taken out of your paycheck, regardless of whether you're a nurse, call center...

  20. I feel like nursing school didn't prepare me for work

    SarahRN2013 replied to Gem1984's topic in LPN, LVN Corner

    Even with 2 years of experience, there are many skills at which I am not truly proficient and make me nervous if I have a patient requiring that skill. On my current unit (a cardiac progressive care...

  21. Should I become a nurse if I can't work night shifts?

    SarahRN2013 replied to Kellywon's topic in Nursing Career

    While it would nice if every nurse *loved* nursing, I don't think it's necessary to *love* nursing to be a good nurse. (And with the patient-as-customer focus on HCAPS scores and seemingly endless...

  22. New Grad Training: Telemetry Realistic?

    SarahRN2013 replied to EastCoastRN123's topic in General Nursing

    If you do take ACLS, keep in mind that you are generally expected to teach yourself all of the material for the course prior to attending. The 'education' part on day 1 (of a 2 day course) for the...

  23. New RN ready to give up

    SarahRN2013 replied to andie78's topic in First Year After Licensure

    I agree with the previous comments about confronting the rudeness, but it sounds like the OP may also be a little overwhelmed with the nursing too. If that's the case, I just want to tell the OP that...

  24. Favorite Classes?

    SarahRN2013 replied to LunaPuma's topic in Nursing Student Assistance

    I loved both my anatomy and physiology classes. They were time consuming but keeping my eye on the end goal (as Ashley recommended) was helpful to keep me going. I hope it helps when the fast paced...

  25. Formatting Software - recommend any certain one?

    SarahRN2013 replied to MiaLyse's topic in General Students

    A friend recommended PERRLA software. I haven't used it yet, but she loves it. APA PERRLA software helps students properly format papers in APA style and create citations and references -