TheCoppertop

Venting!! Is this a slow time to get interviews? Feeling discouraged! i've been fully vetted by two larger, good reputation agencies and submitted to a couple jobs Dec 22. Sure its going to be slow over the holidays but thought for sure I'd hear some...

Definitely no!!! I started as a med surg nurse on a tele floor in 2008.. all I wanted was to do ER but there were no spots open. So I did the MS gig for three months, talked to the ER nurses when they brought up patients, made friends, met the direct...

I think I've been doing it too long, the pt ridiculousness barely even peeves me anymore. I just expect them to not know the name of a single med they're on, except of course "Dilaudid 6mg three times a day, Soma 3 times a day, and Ativan 1mg four ti...

My biggest pet peeve lately is management! I work in a craaazy busy ED and end-year overtime has been forbidden. So we start off every day with minimum staff, and if there are any call-offs, we're screwed. They'll try and call in nurses for 4 hour sh...

From EMS: "22yo male acute onset chest pain during apprehension by law enforcement."

I've been an ED nurse for 5 years and just moved to a new state, a new job. I'm as confident as I can be after 5 years, I definitely don't know it all but I can hold my own. Yesterday, my 2nd week off orientation I had a critical care room with 2 bad...

Thanks iluvivt! I always listen to the patient too, and just this week I started 2 18s on grateful pts who told me the back of their forearm is the only place they can get a vein, and both thanked me "for listening" as they both said nurses usually d...

Thanks to all who replied! I know I did the right thing for the patient and I do feel better about it now. I'm at a L1 Trauma center and I'm surprised RNs cant do EJs, I've done quite a few at my previous jobs! I'm in that new job "prove myself" peri...

I did that a lot as a new nurse. I found myself looking on the cards a lot so then I started a game, I'd answer it myself, then check the card to be sure, and soon I didn't need pedi vs, celcius/fahrenheit conversions, etc anymore. Its a good way to ...

Volunteer to help with whatever you can, but not at the neglect of your own pts. Ask questions! You should stop by beforehand and see if there are protocols for workups and study those if you can. You'll soon see trends like every abd pain gets a UA ...

Best advice I ever got as a new nurse dealt with a horrifically sick child. Kid came in, was soon intubated, naked on the bed and all I could think of was my son, about the same age. I was brand new, standing in a corner completely frozen and shocked...

Lol 2 come to mind.One a guy around 30 who checked in as chest pain, then told the doc he was really there because he just found out that a place he worked at 10 years ago, was found to contain asbestos and he wanted to get checked.Best triage sign-i...

I had one that unfortunately, I blew my top over. Yall don't need to shame me, I got lucky on this one but it is definitely my low point as a nurse. He came in, acting disoriented, stating in triage that he "took too many pills" we rushed him in thi...

Its a tough one. There's no way around it. I struggle with keeping it impersonal because really, it can feel very personal sometimes. I worked at a small community hospital, very rural, and therefore the seekers didn't have shopping options. We'd get...

Kudos to you for bringing food! I always find it hilarious when a pt announces her child is a nurse, its said with soo much pride and yes the sane ones usually do look mortified (its the ones who buck up their chests like "you've been WARNED" that ar...

To a drunk patient who fell and had a head lac: "This is your tetanus shot." "I don't want a shot!" "Well it prevents lockjaw.. so you can keep drinkin'!" "Oh, okay."

I graduated in May 2008 and I've been working in my ED for about 5 months. I absolutely love my job and would do it for free! I had a 3 month orientation and when I came off orientation, time management was still an issue for me.. being on my own was...

Ed I am planning on applying to UHC pretty soon, I am moving to Clarksburg from Pennsylvania in a few months. I am curious to know what the pay range is there.. if you're comfortable giving a ballpark please let me know. I just graduated in May and p...

Hello all! I am currently enrolled at a community college and there are so many rumours and rumblings about the fate of the nursing school I'm not sure if I want to continue here. This is my first semester and I'm taking 3 prereqs and the college eng...

We have a total know it all in our class, she is constantly "adding on" to what the instructor teaches us.. her experience? No she's never worked with patients, her MOM is a nurse, this is what she keeps telling us. My mom is a nurse practitioner but...

Hi everyone.. another CCACer here.. got my letter today and I still can't believe I got in! I'm very excited. I'm 28, married mom of one boy (9) in Pittsburgh.

Oh! Almost forgot.. My friends who got in last year went to their orientation and told me that the instructors asked the crowd "who here has kids? a job? a spouse? more classes than just the nursing classes to take?" and when people would raise their...

I've heard the same about the CCAC instructors.. a male friend of mine told me the instructors are "eat their young" brutal and actually seem happy when people have to withdraw.. he's not a catty sort at all so I'm worried! Anyone have any input on t...

I'm going to CCAC North and I got my letter today, accepted for day option! WOo! What a relief! Do you have your CPR cert yet? If not where are you doing it?

Hi all! I had my first test (lecture) and lab test this week.. I was so mad at myself because on the practical test I was rushing through, happy to be answering one I *knew* (levels of organization: chemical, cellular, etc) and I didn't *read* the qu...