belabelisa

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. They are very helpful. I do want to clarify - I see the students do every skill I check off on in the lab - which turns out to be about 50-60 skills. So, by the time they go to clinical, I've actually seen them do everything. It's just that once we get to clinical, they have to do 15 skills at that facility. That's where I'm having trouble coordinating the time. I know that some other instructors let the CNA preceptor sign them off but I am wondering if this is the norm - or if there are better/different ways to go about it.Thanks again!

Hi There! I am a relatively new CNA instructor and I'm loving (almost) every minute of it. I feel like my classroom instruction is excellent but I'm just having a hard time with clinicals! At my clinical site, the students are paired up with a CNA preceptor for the day. We do clinicals for 9 eight hour days. I have to check them off on at least 15 skills. I usually have 10 students in clinical. If I watched them do each skill, that would be 150 skills I'd watch! (or 17 a day) That would be possible if I could watch the skills one after another but opportunities for skills come up at different times and it just doesn't work that way. I've tried to have students tell me when they are about to do certain skills but then they spend much of their time trying to track me down! I've thought about following one student each day but I still wouldn't get 15 specific skills checked off (i.e. the opportunity to apply a condom cath (etc)may come up once during the entire clinical). I also feel like that would be pretty intrusive to the CNA preceptor. I've been told that I spend more time with my students (I make rounds throughout the day checking on them) than any other instructor. But, if that's the case, why am I having such trouble? I would appreciate any advice you have for me! I know that most instructors don't actually SEE the students do every skill they sign off on, so I'm not necessarily looking for that - although if there's a way to do that it would be GREAT because that's what I'd like to be possible. Thanks so much!

I was in a similar situation and found that Mosby's CNA video set was VERY helpful. It's great too because they do the skills on real people. I was nervous about teaching CNAs since I had no long term care experience and was even more nervous about doing clinicals with them. After my first group, though, it was fine. MY lack of LTC experience really hasn't hindered me at all. Feel free to message me if I can help in any way. I know it can be daunting at first!

A good indication to me of my teaching skills on a particular subject is how well I am able to explain it to my 75 year old dad. I love him dearly but he is completely clueless when it comes to all things medical. So tonight my dad told me that he hasn't been feeling well and was thinking about taking an antibiotic that he had leftover from about a year ago. When I questioned him, he defended this idea of his by saying, "I was ONLY going to take one pill... you know, just to give my immune systen a boost." Of course this is a bad idea, I know that. I also know, for the most part, why it's a bad idea. I just found it VERY hard to explain to my dad. Any ideas about how I can simplify this? It's much harder to explain that I thought it would be! ~Thanks~ :flowersfo

I absolutely LOVE oncology. People often think of oncology as a depressing specialty, but it is really just the opposite. I have not yet met an oncology nurse who doesn't love it - I'm serious. Yes, there are people get burned out sometimes because of the death involved, but it's such a wonderful specialty in so many ways. I feel so grateful each day for the opportunity to work in this field... and I mean that.

As with my other post, since it's my question, I'll go ahead and respond with some of the things I think are good to know... Lab Values: PT, PTT, and INR. White Blood Cell Count Platelets The Cardiac Enzyme Markers How to respond to: Decreased O2 Saturation Hypertensive Crisis Crazy High or Low Blood Glucose Respiratory Distress Signs of MI Seizures Aspiration Fluid Overload Technical Skills: IVs and IV Pumps (Of Course) Dosage Calculations Trach Care Central Lines Feeding Tubes Drugs: Digoxin Morphine (I work on an oncology unit) Insulin Potassium Coumadin and Heparin Okay – that's a start.

I really need your help. I'm about to graduate and feel as if I don't know nearly enough! In school, we are taught SO MUCH and retain SO LITTLE. I feel like my brain has been overloaded with details about disease processes, obscure medications, and such (much of which I don't even remember) and I don't have the essential "down and dirty" nursing knowledge that I will use on a day to day basis. Don't get me wrong, the details that I learned in nursing school will be very useful and will provide me with a strong foundation for nursing decisions but, right now, I just want to make sure I have enough basic knowledge to not kill anyone (and to effectively respond to the common patient problems). When I get nervous, I make lists. And that's where I'm hoping you can help me. I want to make a list of the absolutely essential knowledge and skills that I need to know to be a somewhat competent graduate nurse. I think it would ease my mind so much to be able to go through and review the things that I absolutely need to know. So... what are some things that you think fall into the category of essential nursing knowledge? (particularly for a med-surg floor) Which things (technical skills included) will I encounter frequently. Which lab values do I need to make sure I know the meanings of? Which medications do I need to know? Which problems do I absolutely need to know how to respond to? Which diseases processes do I need to understand most? Thanks so much! p.s. I posted this on the Graduate Nurse's Forum as well, but I wanted the advice of some seasoned nurses too. (Ha! I just pictured a nurse sprinkled with salt, pepper, and oregano - but, I digress)

Since it's my question, I'll go ahead and respond with some of the things I think are good to know... Lab Values: PT, PTT, and INR. White Blood Cell Count Platelets The Cardiac Enzyme Markers How to respond to: Decreased O2 Saturation Hypertensive Crisis Crazy High or Low Blood Glucose Respiratory Distress Signs of MI Seizures Aspiration Fluid Overload Technical Skills: IVs and IV Pumps (Of Course) Dosage Calculations Trach Care Central Lines Feeding Tubes Drugs: Digoxin Morphine (I work on an oncology unit) Insulin Potassium Coumadin and Heparin Okay - that's a start.

I really need your help. I'm about to graduate and feel as if I don't know nearly enough! In school, we are taught SO MUCH and retain SO LITTLE. I feel like my brain has been overloaded with details about disease processes, obscure medications, and such (much of which I don't even remember) and I don't have the essential “down and dirty” nursing knowledge that I will use on a day to day basis. Don't get me wrong, the details that I learned in nursing school will be very useful and will provide me with a strong foundation for nursing decisions but, right now, I just want to make sure I have enough basic knowledge to not kill anyone (and to effectively respond to the common patient problems). When I get nervous, I make lists. And that's where I'm hoping you can help me. I want to make a list of the absolutely essential knowledge and skills that I need to know to be a somewhat competent graduate nurse. I think it would ease my mind so much to be able to go through and review the things that I absolutely need to know. So... what are some things that you think fall into the category of essential nursing knowledge? (particularly for a med-surg floor) Which things (technical skills included) will I encounter frequently. Which lab values do I need to make sure I know the meanings of? Which medications do I need to know? Which problems do I absolutely need to know how to respond to? Which diseases processes do I need to understand most? Thanks so much!

Oh - and one more thing. Someone said that you have to remember that a Navy Nurse is an Officer first and a Nurse second. Could someone explain to me what the officer part of the Nurse's role entails? Thanks Again!

Hi, it's me again - it seems that I started a rather interesting thread... but I haven't been back to say thanks. Thanks! Many of my questions have been answered (again, thanks!), but I do still have a couple. I have pretty much made up my mind to join and have read from previous posts that it is important to talk specifically to a medical recruiter. Any advice on where to find a medical recruiter? I know that I would be signing up for 3 years of active duty and 5 inactive. Could someone explain to me what is involved in inactive duty? If not called to serve during that time, what part does the Navy play in you life? Thanks so much!

I'm sure this question has been asked more than once, so please bear with me. I've been sifting through all the information I can find, but I still don't quite understand... I've just started toying with the idea of Navy Nursing. I graduate from a BSN program in December. But have very little knowledge about the military in general, less about the Navy specifically, and even less about Navy Nursing. Specifically, I'm wondering about the following: 1.What are the requirements for being accepted? 2.What is the minimum length for which you can sign up? 3.After being accepted, what happens as far as training? (What kind, where do you go, how long etc) 4.After training, then what? What kind of setting do you start off in, how long will you be there, and do you get any real choice at this point in where you'll be? 5.What about deployments? How often and how long? Do deployments differ for nurses and if they do, how so? 6.What other things do I need to know but I don't know enough to know that I need to know them? Thank you so much for any insight. I'm planning on speaking with a recruiter soon, but I want to be a little more informed first. You know... wouldn't want to have “sucker” written on my forehead.

So, no "boot camp" or anything similar to that? What kind of training do you get?

Sorry, I don't have any advice, but my mother is borderline and I'm looking forward to the replies.

A diabetic candy... that's hilarious!

How hard? HARD. But, in a good way. You are dealing with people's lives and wouldn't want it to be easy. Like you, I was scared by these sort of posts before I started nursing school. It's funny, though. What I've found is that nursing school is much harder than I ever could have imagined, but also much more manageable than I had feared. I think that most people (including myself) just don't really challenge themselves very often. So, when someone does face a real challenge, they are surprised by how capable they actually are. At least that's what I feel has happened to me. Also, keep in mind that it will probably feel much harder at first. You have to give yourself time to learn how to take nursing exams (they are a different breed of exams, for sure) and how to manage your time. It gets better as you go along. Good luck! (although you won't need as much luck as you might think)

As a female, I am probably unaware of the subtle differences that likely exist. But, one big glaring difference I saw had to do with the way in which the male students were treated during our OB rotation. While the female students were able to see all sorts of births, the patients repeatedly refused to let the male students be involved in their care. This was frustrating for one student in particular, who really wanted the experience of seeing a birth. What really angered me was finding out that many hospitals do not allow male nurses to work in OB! In my opinion, this is such blatant discrimination - especially when you consider that so many obstetricians/gynecologists are male! Other than that, I've only noticed that a lot of patients mistake the male nurses as doctors. That's equally as frustrating. Stereotypes are hard to break, I suppose.

What would you say are the top 10 - 15 drugs that you give on a regular basis? I am in desperate need of a quick and dirty pharm review. You see, I am about to start semester 4 out of 5 of a BSN program, which is the last semester of clinicals before I graduate. I'm also hoping to begin an externship on a Med/Surg floor within the next few weeks. The problem is that drug memorization has not come easily for me and I have not retained much of what little I did manage to memorize for exams. I would like to at least have a basic knowledge of the most commonly used drugs at this point. I really appreciate your help!

This is the watch that I bought for my clinicals and I love it. http://www.allheart.com/nm866451.html Yes, it's a little pricey, but it's just so darn cute. There's something about having to dress like everbody else that drives me crazy. Our dress code is pretty strict. All white... not even a little stripe on your white shoes is allowed. So, I smile every time I take a pulse and look down at my cute little watch because I'm reminded that I am not a clone. Funny what a watch can do. But, as much as I adore my watch, I've decided that I'd rather have a naked wrist when dealing with the many yucky things that nurses have to deal with. So, I just ordered this lapel watch http://www.allheart.com/pm1741.html I think lapel watches are great inventions and I hope I like it as much as I think I will. Have fun watch shopping!

BamaBound... Your father is dying of an illness that there is medication for. He can't afford the medication and there is no way to get money to buy it. You steal the medicine so he can live. Are you legally wrong? Yes. Are you ethically wrong? No. Ethics and laws are completely different things. So are ethics and morals. There is a big difference between rules and what is ethically okay in a given situation. Perhaps I shouldn't have provided my opinion (and should have remained nonjudgemental), but I think there are some major red flags with this story. To the OP... if the story is what you claim it to be, you have every right to be angry and demand that your rights be upheld. In fact, you have every right to do that anyway because the school needs to understand that they should never (regarless of the situation) go against the ADA. If the story is as you say it is I am on your side 100%. I don't think anyone here would support what you said happened. However, the OP did state that they poted here because they want to know what the reaction would be from the public if this is taken to the media. I think my reaction and suspicion is one that would be seen.

Wow... this is a long thread. Since I'm busy with finals, I haven't had time to read it all, so I'm sorry if I repeat what others have said. I have some pretty strong opinions about what is going on here, but I will leave it at that. I certainly don't want to offend anyone because of my poor judgement due to lack of sleep. But I will say this... policies are interpreted differently for different people. It's not fair, but it's human nature to do this. If the school wants to kick someone out of the nursing program for other reasons and an opportunity comes about to use a drug policy to do so, they'll jump on it. If I were a betting person, I'd bet that there were probably many things leading up to this situation. Is the school still legally wrong? I'd think so. Is the school ethically wrong? I'd really have to know the entire situation. But, my gut feeling is no.

These suggestions are wonderful. Thank you all so much. MissJoRN, I love the "la, la, la" idea and I will seriously try sticking out my tongue with a mask on one of these days! :chuckle Llg - your input is very helpful. I think it will REALLY help if I make it a point in tough situations to think about my #1 priority (the patient) and to focus on problem solving. I hate it that sensitivity is seen as a weakness. I hate it that tears are seen as a weakness, while anger is often accepted and even seen as a strong expression. It's funny that many people who talk about others being "emotional" are very emotional themselves - they just express the emotion in other ways (i.e. anger, stress, etc). I'm not ashamed of my tendency to get teary. I don't think that my tears are inappropriate or that crying is a sign of weakness. However, I realize that I exist in a society that does. If I don't want people to see me as weak and "emotional", I will have to suppress my normal reaction to being hurt. I hate it, but that's just the way it is.

nptpbee, thank you so much for your post. :redbeathe It's good to know that I'm not alone in my sensitivity. I understand exactly what you mean when you say that it hurts your soul. That's the way I feel. It's so much more than being offended or upset... my soul actually hurts when things like this happen. I just don't understand why people have to treat other people the way they do. It makes me so sad for humanity... does that sound silly? Anyway, it's ironic because my sensitivity is what lead me to a caring profession in the first place and now I feel like I have to overcome it. My good friend brought up a good point today. She said that it's my sensitivity that will make me a good nurse because I am able to empathize with other people and I truly care for others. So, I guess we don't really want to overcome the sensitivity completely. I'd actually be okay with feeling hurt, as long as I could keep the tears in. I'm am so afraid that I'm going to cry in response to a mean comment by a doc or something. What a great way to lose respect. I don't worry about how I'll react to mean patients. I've been in situations in the past where I had to care for disrespectful and mean people. In those situations I can accept that they are just at a certain point in their lives and it's my job to care about them regardless. I just have a very hard time with mean peers and superiors. So, I guess I just need to think of how I can react to those situations. Maybe I could focus on saying one brief, strong comment and leaving it at that. I like your response to the doctor who rudely told you to move. You made a simple, strong comment and ended it there. Anyone else have any ideas? I'd love to hear them. Clinicals are starting soon and I'm sure I'll encounter many opportunities to practice my reaction then! :chair:

I know that it's important to have a "thick skin" as a nurse, but I just don't. I tend to be pretty sensitive when people are outright disrespectful to me. Not so much the people I'm caring for. More so peers and superiors. This is something I know I'm going to have to work on, I just don't know how. Today was a real eye-opener for me. My professor was very rude to me for no reason. I mean just downright mean. I won't go into details, but I wasn't the only one who thought he crossed the line. It wasn't because I did anything stupid or anything. The only thing I can figure is that he was just in a bad mood. Anyway, I was able to stay composed long enough to get to the bathroom - where I balled my eyes out. Now I'm afraid that I'm too emotional for nursing. I know it's a tough profession. How can I develop a thicker skin?

Wow, I just don't get why this is an issue at all. Why does it matter that she sleeps during her break? It's her break... from work. She's not sleeping on the job; she's sleeping on her break. BIG difference! If it's an issue of her being available if an emergency arises, she is! She's much more available than the person outside smoking or running errands or even eating in the cafeteria. Besides, if her body is telling her that she needs a power nap, then she needs a power nap. I'm sure she's much more effective afterwards. If not, she wouldn't take the nap in the first place. It seems to me that her coworkers are just trying to start trouble. I'm not a nurse yet, but I'm working on my BSN. This cattiness is one thing that I'm NOT looking forward to.