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

I'm wondering if any hospital would even let a licensed nurse work in a volunteer capacity? Wouldn't that possibly set them up for a lawsuit? If something happened in a patients room while the RN was delivering flowers in the capacity of volunteer.....the mind boggles.

Yes, this is ours as well, we are not allowed to use medical terms in our assessment date.... only in the "secondary to" of the nursing diagnosis.

The flow rate is always in mL/hr. So, you need to do the calculation to get your current flow rate of 9mL/20 mins to mL/hr 20mins x 3 = 60 mins (1hr) and 9mL x 3 = 27 mL So, your answer is 27mL/hr

Beautiful post. What a difference you made to her, she will never forget you. When my father was in neuro ICU after a pulmonary embolism amd prolonged CPR that "brought him back", we were all around him and the chaplain came in to speak with us and say a prayer. The neuro ICU nurse stopped in her work to join hands with us and say a prayer. It took only a minute out of her time, but it made a huge difference to us to know that she was a caring person. It doesn't matter if she was religious or not. It was the time and her caring nature that touched us. We will never forget her and that woman will never forget you either.

Risk for complicated grieving of family member r/t anxiety of unfamiliar procedures, pain of labor, fear of fetal complications, and effects of labor on maternal health I am also a student and working on my postpartum care plan as I type this (I know, I know...taking a break on Allnurses doesn't count, right? lol!) I think you are trying to work too many different things into your diagnosis. Risk for complicated grieving is a NANDA, but Risk for complicated grieving of family member is not. So, your diagnosis would be Risk for complicated grieving r/t to recent death of family member as evidenced by patient verbalizing feelings of anxiety and preoccupation with thoughts of the deceased. But, none of that has to do with physical pain or even anxiety about the epidural. Those would be different diagnoses in my opinion. Anxiety r/t to fear of complications of epidural aeb patient verbalizing feelings of anxiety, hand tremors, increased perspiration, etc. The goals you have assigned to your nursing diagnosis need to match the diagnosis. I had an awesome clinical instructor who worked with us until we understood this. In other words, your goal of oxygen saturation of 98% doesn't have anything to do with grieving. Does that make sense? Can you separate out all the different assessment findings you have and make a list of nursing diagnoses for each one and then pick the top three to use that are of top priority for your patient? Or we will sometimes pick three: one physical, one spiritual and one psychosocial.

I actually thought I might feel lightheaded and faint when having to put in IVs, but you end up concentrating on the patient and making them as comfortable as possible that you forget about yourself. Now, standing back watching an operation with nothing to keep your mind and hands occupied might be a different story! Lol! Our instructors told us the same thing "stand by a wall and don't touch anything"!!

One of the clipboards that open to hold paperwork..... to hold your pen and care plan paperwork. Put your money, drivers license, etc in your badge holder. No need for a cuff. Put your stethoscope around your neck or in your pocket. If you use a drug book or nursing diagnosis book for your care plans, put it in a simple backpack that no one will mind behind the nurses station.

This is a great thread! How to interview for a first job in a new field when you had your interview for your first job in your old field many years ago! Soaking up all the advice!

I agree! Keep saying "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" to the teachers and they'll get it! The teachers may not be able to hear the talking from where they are.

Yes... our pass is a 76 and I got a 70 on one as well. After years of being a straight A student, "failing" a test with a 70 is shocking! Don't freak out. If the questions you missed had more to do with not understanding the material, then schedule more study time and work with a study group, if possible. Just talking through the material helps! If you felt good about your understanding of the material, then the problem is understanding HOW to answer NCLEX style questions. This was a problem for the majority of my cohort for most of the semester. Buy a used NCLEX review book with the CD of questions, answers and rationales from a graduate nurse on Craigslist. There are some that will allow you to choose the subject matter of the questions. Do some every day. Do them aloud with your study group. Read ALL the rationales, even if you answered the question correctly. Read the front of the book where it gives you tips on how to answer NCLEX style questions.... Using Maslow, ABCs, determining exactly what the question is asking, etc. It's hard to change how you learn, but you have to in nursing school. Many years of "read, memorize, and regurgitate" has to change to "thinking like a nurse". It WILL happen for you! It's frustrating, for sure, but you can teach yourself to take a nursing test. I got that 70 and a few too many 76s on tests until I turned it around about mid semester and ended up very happy with my grade at the end of the semester! You will, too!