bkchick

I'm working in outpatient cardiology where i deal with telemedicine calls to our CHF patients. I usually call them ask them for their BP weight log, their medications and compliance to meds, etc. So yesterday I encountered a situation where I did not know how to respond... I spoke to a patient and relayed all of the information to the attending that I work with. She then asks me what I thought the patient's volume status was and if I would increase, decrease or keep the medications all the same. She asked me this via email. I felt really uncomfortable responding to this as it felt like it's not within my scope of practice. In addition to that this patient has a very complicated history with many conditions that the symptoms can be attributed to. Am I wrong in thinking this way? The attending has done something similar while in person and while I appreciate that she seems to value my input I also feel like she's treating me like a resident of fellow which I am not. What are your thoughts ?

Thank you! That clarifies things so much for me 😃

Hi all, I work on a progressive care unit. The nurse manager encourages everyone to get PCCN certified when we meet the requirements. While looking into certification I also noticed one for cardiac vascular RN-BC. What's the difference between the two? Is one better than the other? TIA!

I agree. Hence why I'm really hesitant about even continuing on the job interview. Thank you for your input. On another note, knowing my situation, is there any way to make myself a stronger candidate while applying for clinical jobs? I've written cover letters and reworked my resume a few times. I really would like to do bedside nursing or maybe even ambulatory care nursing. Thanks in advance.

Hello fellow nurses, I am a relatively new nurse in the sense that I basically just started my nursing career. Now I'm in need of some help and advice. I'm a second bachelor RN, completed school in February 2014, got my license and started my first job in April 2014, and had to resign from said job in sept 2014 due to pregnancy complications. Since then I've given birth and health wise everything is ok. I've been searching for a job and have not heard back from anyone for a clinical position. I interviewed for an administrative nurse manager position and they want me to go in for a second interview. I don't know what to do or if I should even accept that job if it were offered to me. Please let me know if you have any advice. It is much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

An accelerated degree program can grant you a BSN. You just need to look at it very carefully. The program I did was completed in about 15months and there were many people who were older in the program (some with teenage kids). No one worked full time while doing the program though. This program was full time so not much time for anything else. I hope this clarifies things somewhat.

Saunders!

Thank you everyone for your advice. It is very much appreciated ☺️

Just like the others stated, be ready to help out. Don't avoid the CNAs or PCTs. Even though they're not nurses, it impacts your grades. As an RN, you have to give assignments to them and ensure that they're doing their job properly. What best way to learn than from them how they are supposed to do their jobs? Another thing one of my clinical instructors told us was to answer call bells especially when we're free even though it's not our own patients. Sometimes the patient just needs something simple and other times, you just need to pass the message on to the appropriate person. In cases like those, sometimes when those nurses sees an opportunity and sees that you're willing to learn and help out, they will include you in to learn something new.

Thank you both for your advice. I'm discussing all of my options with my husband. I have considered resigning but I was hoping that would be a last resort. Does it look better to resign from the position that I haven't worked in for six months yet or to continue working until they fire me "due to my attendance"? I know that technically they can't fire me for being pregnant but I get a feeling that they might use this reason to let me go despite having doctors notes.

I work on a tele unit in a hospital in NYC. The ratio is 6:1 and when we're short it can go up to 8:1. We get direct admissions from the ER for patients that need cardiac monitoring, patients that get downgraded from critical care units (CTICU, CCU, ICU) that still need cardiac monitoring, and we get post PCI patients. I'm a new grad and got the job because my internship was on a telemetry unit. I hope this helps!

Hello all, I am currently 6 months pregnant and working my first RN job. I was very fortunate in finding this job as I was hired almost immediately after getting my license. During the hiring process, I was not aware that I was pregnant until I started orientation. Now I am still in the probationary period and my work schedule is really tough. There were two nights that I had to call out sick because I was really sick and my manager talked to me. She stated that if this continues and I am unable to fulfill my duties then I would have to consider some other options such as resignation from the unit. What upset me even more was her bringing up that it was not OK for me to take off during orientation even though I was hit by a car and could not walk, let alone push the COW to take care of patients. I had doctors notes for all of this. Now my OB would like me to slow down since I have a high-risk pregnancy and there are potential complications where they need to keep a closer eye on me. I'm worried about showing the doctors notes to the manager and to management ensuring that my work schedule would be more spaced out and to have two days off for special testing. Does anyone have any ideas of how to approach this? Can my employer just fire me? My probationary period won't end until January... I don't want to lose this job... I've worked almost 5 months now and I like the people that I work with. I know it's really tough finding a job out there... Thanks in advance!

For pharm I didn't prep before starting the class. Drug cards are very helpful - you can either buy the ones that are done already or make your own with index cards (I made my own because it was easier for me to remember them that way).

Woot woot! ABSN in December 2013!!