Ele123

I've only worked for two months, but haven't had to take a manual bp yet. I always bring my stethoscope, but it stays in my bag/locker. Sometimes if it is high and the pt. has a history/ the last few readings have been high the nurse will accept an automatic high bp reading. Once a patient was in desperate need of a manual bp and the nurse just handed me her stethoscope.

I'm new at this. My unit provides sheets for us to record vitals, fsbs, drains, and diet pt eats. Each pt. has a row and their row splits in two for two different sets of vitals. Does anyone else's unit provide a sheet? Our sheet is in a different order than what the vitals are charted in the computer and there is no space for writing I & O, carbs, % eaten, baths, dressing changes, discharge. Has anyone made their own sheet? Would this really bother the nurses if it is what all aides use on the unit? Should I just get in the habit for charting them in a different order? What if I just made a second sheet/chart for the rest of those?

I just started on a ortho/neuro med-surg floor. During days the most I've seen is 7, but I remember 8 during clinicals there. It's not as many as a lot of you, but it still can seem like a lot depending on the patients. One day there were 7, most couldn't get out of bed, a couple were bedbound, needed bathroom assistance at least every hour, missed, and everything had to be changed, wanted us to hand/plug in their electronic device every 30 minutes, and most of the patients required multiple techs to turn. The day shift is required to give everyone "baths" which can take 10-30 minutes a piece, dressing changes, and passing breakfast and lunch trays. There have been days when there are 7 or 8 and it doesn't seem like a lot because the patients assigned to the tech are mobile and just need someone to "spot" them while they go to the commode/bathroom. It's not a lot compared to the rest of you, but it seems like a lot to me. Maybe it's because I'm kind of new.

Thanks for this! I haven't been formally diagnosed with seizures but the doctor said I have "seizure-like movements". I'm almost always conscious, but I still feel like I'm a distraction to other students in class and during clinicals, especially since I don't know exactly what they are so I can really explain them. My main concern is working 7pm-7am. Several professors have encouraged me to get a job as an AUA or nurse tech and since I'm in school M-F during the day, the only shifts I would be able to work would be the weekends. I've also been told by professors and current nurses that new grads always get night shift. This whole working nights thing is annoying, especially since I've been told the experience is good. To clarify, I do not currently work nights because I know it exacerbates things.

I believe I have a NorthFace Recon. It's really adjustable and padded and feels great. Textbook loads feel half as heavy when compared to my old backpack. North Face backpacks are usually pricey, but I hunted around online and got mine on sale with about a 33% discount.

My fingers are proportional to the rest of my hand, but are still only 2-3 in. We have several brands of gloves in the nursing lab at school and one of the brands has an XS that fits really tight/fits properly (in a good way), but I have no idea what brand it is. Another brand the S is an inch too long for each finger. The main issue I have is doing sterile procedures with kits that come with sterile gloves inside of them. My instructors let me get my own package of sterile gloves instead of using the kit's, but have occasionally made me use the kits b/c they stated that in some situations in a hospital I might not be able to get my own/small sterile gloves. It just makes me be extra attentive during sterile procedures so the extra inch of glove doesn't touch something it isn't supposed to.

Thanks for the ideas, I'll check into those stops to see if they have them in the right color. Since we are allowed to wear a white shirt underneath, I had the idea of cutting a piece of a white cami and sewing it into the top so I wouldn't have to worry about it sliding down.

My school uses the HESI. After Foundations of Nursing, we take the HESI during the last week of class and our score is about 10% of our grade in the class, so I just took it. If we don't get a 850, we have to retake the HESI when we come back in August. If we still don't get the 850 benchmark in August we are put into "learning communities" and take the test again near the end of the fall semester.

In January I had to buy a scrub top for clinicals and had the choice between Cherokee Workwear Women's V-neck or rounded neck with a slit in the middle. The uniform saleswoman suggested I got the rounded neck w/ slit because she thought it would sit higher. I've made it through all semester with my scrub top clipped closed with my badge and paper clips and constantly pulling my tank top up and it was a nuisance. Without doing so, my breasts start to show and if I bend over, their obvious. The problem is that I'm short and thin with a small upper body, so shirts and the bottom of the "v" fall lower on me. My instructor gave me permission to buy a top that fits me as long as it is in a similar style. Do you know of any scrub tops that have a smaller "v" or higher neckline? Maybe a brand of high cut tank tops/camis?

My nursing classes only would be: Monday- Clinical 2-10pm Tuesday- Pharm. 9:25-10:15am, Chapel 10:45-11:35, Foundations 11:45-1:00 Thursday- Pharm. 9:25-10:15am, Chapel 10:45-11:35, Foundations 11:45-1:00pm, Found. Lab 1:30-4:20 But I also have Physiology lecture and lab (MWF 11-11:50 & Tuesday 2-5) and two online classes which are required for the bachelors degree.

I've been wondering the same things since I start clinicals in a couple of weeks. All they said was a watch with seconds, that is waterproof, and we have to take it off every time we wash our hands (?). Non-nursing, I've had great luck with the 10 dollar wal-mart or target digital watches, kind of like the link above. Each one has lasted for at least a year of daily wear during the evening, when I sleep, go swimming, running, to the lake, etc.

I just want to add that I love the Cherokee Workwear 4020 pants. They were one of the 3 designs the girls in my program were allowed to choose (at least my class got to choose unlike the previous one). I'm 5'2", weight a little more, and am curvy on the bottom, so I only got the xs. Hopefully they'll shrink a little because the xs were a little big around the waist and the xxs I could barely pull all the way up.

That sounds high. For me, two sets of scrubs, jacket, patches, and cost to apply patches will be roughly $120 with tax included. Maybe your apron cost $80 or tax is ridiculously high, but someone is probably trying to make money.

Has anyone had experience with the Fundamentals of Nursing textbooks, CDs, and DVDs by Wilkinson? Were the DVDs helpful in learning the material? Is it really worth the added expense?

Nursing Pre-Req- Chemistry. I still ended up with a B though. It wasn't that tough, just confusing. Toughest nursing course was Health Assessment, but next semester is my first "real" nursing semester. It didn't seem tough until I sat down with a test and I had to remember exactly which sign/symptom went with which disease when several of the choices where a letter or word different or only had one different sign/symptom. The nursing students have said that Health Assessment was the toughest and Adult III is the next toughest course because the rest of the courses are more concentrated on a particular area, but professors say that Health Assessment is going to be the easiest. I'm pretty sure they are just trying to "weed" students out.

That you so much! This is just what I needed. I'm not sure why I didn't think of those or it was so tough to find on the internet.

I'm still in nursing school and have been assigned to do a presentation over pediatrics. One of the questions we are supposed to address is what special equipment is used. I know that things are small, pediatric stethoscopes, blood pressure cuff, scales, needles, etc., but is there any equipment that is used in pediatrics and not common in adult units or is significantly different, not just smaller? Our presentation is also supposed to include PICU.