kalycat BSN, RN

CVICU CCRN

Member

All Content by kalycat

  1. kalycat

    Student Nurse feeling beaten down

    kalycat replied to nursejackjack's topic in General Nursing

    You're most welcome!! Long term care/skilled nursing sure is a tough specialty, and I admire the nurses who can do it and do it well. And while I appreciate the experience and the skills I gained now...
  2. kalycat

    Student Nurse feeling beaten down

    kalycat replied to nursejackjack's topic in General Nursing

    I recently graduated and passed boards here in the US. Our first term rotation involved extensive clinicals at a nursing home. I did not have good experiences there....in fact, they bordered on awful;...
  3. kalycat

    Fear of meds

    kalycat replied to Red Kryptonite's topic in Hospice, Palliative

    I can relate; so frustrating. I had a patient who was dying of pancreatic cancer and had a family member who called, screaming and ranting, saying he was a pharmacist and didn't want his relative to...
  4. kalycat

    WA Nclex results?

    kalycat replied to NewYorkerGirl's topic in Washington Nursing

    Just a quick follow up on this to add my experience. I took my nclex on a Monday at 8 am, finished at 9, and had an active WA license by 2pm the same day. I tested in Eastern WA. I know there's not...
  5. kalycat

    The DEU Model of Nursing Education

    kalycat posted a topic in Pre-Nursing Students

    After reading here on allnurses for some time and observing the amount of questions from potential students regarding what hallmarks identify quality nursing programs, I thought I would draft this...
  6. kalycat

    Avoid getting sick while working in a clinic??

    kalycat replied to anh06005's topic in General Nursing

    I have rheumatoid arthritis, allergies and chronic asthma, all developed as an adult. I was really worried about nursing school because of the amount of corticosteroids I was taking. I'm not...
  7. kalycat

    Why nurses eat their young?

    kalycat replied to yayita's topic in Patient, Colleague Relations

    People everywhere can be downright nasty and rude, as many here have mentioned. Ever been the new kid in an office or corporation with many long-standing seasoned employees? How about community mental...
  8. kalycat

    What Do I NEED to Know Before Clinicals?

    kalycat replied to Casha9's topic in General Students

    Everything RunBabyRN said.... And my own personal golden rule.... If it's wet and it's not yours, wear gloves. ? Seriously, don't be afraid to dig in and have fun. My first day of clinical was my...
  9. kalycat

    Some of Us Are Trying to Help You...

    kalycat replied to Music in My Heart's topic in Nursing Student Assistance

    Wow. After reading this thread a couple of things come to mind: 1) I am more grateful than ever for my program and hospitals. I literally had NO IDEA that some programs had such intense limitations...
  10. kalycat

    How do you deal with a bad clinical instructor?

    kalycat replied to Lori215's topic in General Students

    I can't offer too much advice, but since it is your first rotation, maybe use this time to really hone your assessment skills. You can learn a lot about a patient by just looking at them and talking...
  11. kalycat

    help with cardiac system!

    kalycat replied to bwhiteside's topic in Cardiac

    I can't access the learning database because I'm not on the intranet. My next shift isn't til Saturday. We just had a mega cardiac pt, too! Sorry! I did find a pretty good powerpoint and PDF that...
  12. kalycat

    help with cardiac system!

    kalycat replied to bwhiteside's topic in Cardiac

    Gotcha. Hmm we seem to use NIRS a lot in addition to our venous and arterial monitoring and have several flowsheets/policies provided by our unit for the things you mentioned since we don't always...
  13. kalycat

    help with cardiac system!

    kalycat replied to bwhiteside's topic in Cardiac

    Cincinnati children's has a great online resource for Peds heart defects and stuff. We use it all the time. I use medscape for adult stuff but it doesn't have as much info on the physio and anatomy,...
  14. kalycat

    Maternity Clinicals

    kalycat replied to DrLeeAnn's topic in Ob/Gyn

    Hi there, Mine were all at an inpatient site, with rotations to antepartum, L&D, and NICU. Our program was trying to move toward alternative options as well, at least for part of the rotation, but...
  15. kalycat

    Why nurses eat their young?

    kalycat replied to yayita's topic in Patient, Colleague Relations

    I wanted to add, I'm doing my final practicum now on a high-stress specialty unit. My preceptors have 18 and 28 years of experience in their specialty, respectively. They are truly AWESOME. The one...
  16. kalycat

    Is this college worth the price?

    kalycat replied to Onmyway14's topic in General Students

    Not knowing a lot about the school or area, here's my take: I go to a private university. (Not a for profit school). Their tuition is just slightly more than what you described. HOWEVER...they...
  17. kalycat

    Say no to artificial sweeteners

    kalycat replied to toomuchbaloney's topic in Diabetes, Endocrine Nursing

    I read the original study on a different site. The three mentioned in the study were saccharine, aspartame, and sucralose. I was a bit surprised at the sucralose. I too get migraines from aspartame....
  18. kalycat

    Why nurses eat their young?

    kalycat replied to yayita's topic in Patient, Colleague Relations

    I'm a non-traditional student (code for old). I was talking to a faculty member one time about this very topic (nety, not Jell-O shots!) and she told me I had nothing to worry about because I was too...
  19. kalycat

    WA Nclex results?

    kalycat replied to NewYorkerGirl's topic in Washington Nursing

    I sent you a message with some details. Good luck!! Sent from my iPhone using
  20. kalycat

    WA Nclex results?

    kalycat replied to NewYorkerGirl's topic in Washington Nursing

    Providence is another hospital network covering Oregon, Wa and some other areas. I have done all of my clinical with them. I only have a students perspective, but I've had great experiences....
  21. kalycat

    Ever work with people who talk about church all the time?

    kalycat replied to Nola009's topic in Patient, Colleague Relations

    Word! I hate small talk too. I love comfortable silence lol. I'm good with families and patients because I feel it's goal directed conversation, but those fake elevator conversations encourage me to...
  22. kalycat

    The DEU Model of Nursing Education

    kalycat replied to kalycat's topic in Pre-Nursing Students

    I'm not sure if you can PM yet or not. I would be glad to share but I'm in a very small program (just 18 in my cohort) and value my anonymity on this forum since it's public; I just feel weird about...
  23. kalycat

    The DEU Model of Nursing Education

    kalycat replied to kalycat's topic in Pre-Nursing Students

    Interesting! I didn't have that experience - all my preceptors were assigned and coordinated through my program and we had clinical instructors/faculty as well that were University staff in addition...
  24. kalycat

    When you are at clinicals

    kalycat replied to nowim clean's topic in General Students

    There are a lot of different models for clinical education, in my understanding. My particular program uses the DEU model. I recently posted an article about it in the Pre-Nursing forum. For my...
  25. kalycat

    Ever work with people who talk about church all the time?

    kalycat replied to Nola009's topic in Patient, Colleague Relations

    I'm not religious at all, but I was raised the same way. We have so many brilliantly diverse opinions in my household that the "no religion or politics" rule has actually been extended to the dinner...