AZirish

Agree with JustBeachy. I'm experienced PDN, but not trach/vent. I would ask for either in office training before or to be met at the pt house for orientation.

I'm also a private duty nurse. If you are being asked by the family to do something outside the written protocols in the plan of care, then document that in your chart and contact your clinical supervisor in the agency. It may be possible for new orders be written that align with the family request. If this does not happen, however, leave this case. The family and your agency won't protect you if something happens and you are in court trying to explain why you didn't follow the written protocols!

That actually happened to my Mom during surgery to remove a huge tumor. Surgeon owned up to it, saying it was his decision to do that rather than replace it with PMMA or another prosthetic flap. Eight years later and she's doing great! We never did tell her that a piece of her skull hit the floor and was "washed off" lol!

My husband puts the show on pause to say "okay, what would really happen?" and he is already indoctrinated to yell "that's not a shockable rhythm!" at the screen. Good times!

Don't worry, it's not at all unusual to dream about working. When I sold jewelry at Christmas (way back when) I would sell jewelry all night in my sleep!

This made me laugh aloud! (Out loud? Discuss. ). Love it!

I'm 49 and a new grad! Look at it this way... you're going to turn 45 someday. Turn 45 as a nurse, or still dreaming of being one. Go do it!

We had to wear our scrubs for lab... we had to dress for lab exactly as we would for a clinical day. Badge and all.

So happy for you! Happy for the time off and happy for you that you spoke up and were respected!

Just wondering....are your clinical experiences completely separate from the rest of your program? If not, I think you should let someone know that you are being told NOT to use NANDA diagnoses. I doubt your school wants the students confused that way. No one should be "making up" nursing diagnoses. If the clinical experience is separate, then my advice is to do the best you can to turn in a care plan that follows your clinical instructor's guidelines and don't worry about it. It will all start to make more sense when you move into med-surg and write proper care plans with NANDA Dxs. In the meantime, keep reading all GRNTEA's posts on care plans! They are invaluable! Good luck!

Ours is a 76% on exams and a 76 overall. We cannot use non-exam grades to boost our exam grade.

We had to lead groups also. We were allowed to do art therapy, so we had our group do art journaling and we brought the supplies. Some people did relaxation exercises, written journaling, aroma therapy, etc. our had to be relating to coping with stress. Good luck!

You will probably have jitters every single clinical day from now on, I know I did, but that's okay! From what I understand, the jitters get worse when you start your first job as a nurse! Lol Do everything you can to help your nurse and other nurses. You will have days that the nurses will not want a student and they won't be especially friendly. That's okay, you are there to learn. Help every way you can. Linen change needed? Volunteer with a smile. Someone need water, coffee? Go and get it without being asked. Simple little things like this will pay off, I promise! When your nurse finds out you're not a know-it-all and you're willing to help with anything that needs doing, they will be happy to show you skills, teach through an assessment, find learning opportunities for you, they will tell their fellow nurses to call you when they have something unusual come up. Enthusiasm and willingness are the key to great clinical days! Good luck!

I am finishing Block 4 now. We only had two days between block 3 and 4, but knowing what I know now, I would have taken an ACLS class. I had a difficult time reading the EKG strips and distinguishing the different rhythms. I can also suggest reading ahead if you have time: advanced respiratory (ARDS, ventilators) shock (cardiogenic, septic, neurogenic, hypovolemic, etc), emergent care and trauma, and burns. Just read the chapters and get the ideas in your head, so when you go to lecture in the fall, you will already be familiar with the concepts. Hope this helps!

There is a lot of information on the AZ BON site. Here is a multi year comparison of schools. http://www.azbn.gov/Documents/education/Statewide%20NCLEX%20Results%20%202008-2013%20WEB%20Amended.pdf