mmullen

#1 Pain r/t muscle spasm - Is it muscle spasm or is the mass compressing a nerve? (May not be that important) #2 Neuro as in CNS which consists of the brain and spinal cord. If there is a mass in the pt's spine this could have all kinds of implications on the health and function of the CNS (and ANS). The mass could interrupt impulses that travel between the brain and spinal cord and to the periphery. I would find out what type of mass this is and what the risk factors are. Have the biopsy results come back? After that go to your Nx Dx handbook and use one of the risks for your nursing diagnosis. You could use the biopsy for potential risks as well. Find out what the potential risks of the biopsy are specifically (google it) and use your Nx Dx handbook to determine a Dx based on those risks. One risk that comes to mind is the potential for CSF leaking out of the meninges if the needle goes in or out the wrong way. This would have a profound affect on ICP. What happens when ICP drops dramatically? What Dx's can you come up with for that? What is the function of CSF? What happens when you lose it? If ICP leaks out how do they treat it? Are there risks involved with that treatment? (HINT pt. will need to be supine for an extended amount of time). #3 No. The chances of infection are real but rare and I wouldn't use this either. If your going to use integumentary I would say risk for impaired skin integrity r/t immobility. Is the pt on spinal precautions? If so, this would certainly limit the activity and amount of time OOB. Are you addressing any of the psychosocial issues? How is the pt and family coping with this new problem? Is the mass malignant? These are very important as well and an important nursing consideration.

It really depends on how determined you are and well you are able to store and retrieve information. If you are the type of person who has to study a lot to get the information into your head and understand it, I would recommend not taking so many courses at once with such a high level of difficulty because you'll only hurt your confidence and GPA. The first science courses in a BSN are often tough because all the language and information is new and it takes time and practice to build a foundation. As you move along into higher level courses; provided that you've done well and retained the information from your fundamental science courses, you will be able to learn new material more efficiently and you'll start to see the big picture. I'm not sure what type of learner you are but if it were me, I would space out my courses in the beginning. At my school, the summer is divided into 2 semesters - each 7 weeks long. If this is the case for your school, perhaps you should try taking BIO during the first part of the summer and O-Chem during the second part. That way you'll have time to concentrate on one thing at a time. O-Chem is one of the hardest courses that I had and I don't think I could have done well if I took it in a condensed semester along with other courses. I would leave the other courses (i.e. history, etc.) for another time. If you need to catch up for graduation take them in another summer; after all, you are only in your first year! You have plenty of time!

I'm in my last semester of nursing school and I currently work as a CNA in a large, busy hospital; and I too am a "murse." I understand what you're saying about getting called upon in Q&A in nursing school more than the females, but I don't think it's because of any "power" element. I also believe that thinking this way could work against you in the long run. I'm more inclined to believe that we men get called upon more often than women for two reasons. First, teachers and clinical instructors don't like to ask questions and not get answers. Obviously, they want to keep discussions interactive and dynamic for educational reasons. Males are thought to be generally less shy than females, and in the interests of keeping the discussions going, teachers may be more inclined to go to us first whether they are conscious of it or not. The second reason I believe this happens is because teachers know we are entering a profession where we will be the minority (national average is 6.5% male) and they may be calling upon us more to facilitate our assimilation into an all-but-entirely female culture. Along these same lines, this could also be a way to make us feel more comfortable and confident as the minority. Another possibility could be that they like the fact that more males are entering the profession and they want us to succeed.... It could be any one or combination of the aforementioned reasons but "power" is not one of them. The word "power" has many implications but the one that comes to mind immediately in this context is what feminists have to say about it. Since there are several ways in which feminist theory and nursing theory overlap (i.e. social justice) its important to note here that the ways in which you talk about male power over females in nursing is pretty much in direct contrast to how nursing theory (and feminist) regard what "power" should be. It may not seem as though this will have any implications on you or your career but it very well may if you start talking and acting in the workplace like you have more power than most nurses simply because you are male. Remember these are core value systems in nursing and all nurses, whether they are aware of it or not, have adopted them in some way. Even if you don't act that way and just think it you'll come off ignorant. - I mean no disrespect here man I'm just offering my opinion. I'm not saying that what you and some others on this thread has no validity. But I am saying that unless you've been living under a rock the world's changing and we are quickly moving away from how our culture regards women in society. The industrial revolution was quite some time ago. One more thing - besides all the twaddle I just gave you - In nursing (like any job) it's important for people to like you. If you want to advance in nursing you have to be able to build relationships. What you've said may come off as arrogant (not one of the most highly regarded male traits) and it won't work for ya. You'd be better off being humble and working on the traits that aren't always associated with men in our western society but are held with high esteem in nursing culture (i.e. being empathic, nurturing, good communication skills, altruism). This will help build relationships, advance your career, become more self-actualized, and give all of us other "murses" something to shoot for.