cathyish

it's really true - my hubby had a small one removed as an infant. the only problem he has ever had was that in his 30s a cyst develoved in the location and he had to have it drained.

i remember a cough syrup tv commercial from my youth (and perhaps a variation is still being shown?) with a line about "coating" the throat with soothing relief. however, as a student, during pharmacology we we told to (have the patient) force fluids and that the "coating the throat" line was little more than a marketing line...sounds like a potential "evidence-based practice" study to me ;-)

i start off the morning with a cup of hot tea while my coffee is brewing, and i drink brewed iced-tea all day long, so no tummy problems for me. do you get n/v from other warm beverages on an empty stomach?

wow! i'm not one to wear perfume to work, but your story is so powerful. thank you.

I was a stay at home mom for for 14 years before I started nursing school. When I filled out applications for my first job hunt last May, I just wrote a short personal statement about why I decided to become a nurse at this point in my life. It was never even mentioned during my interviews. Personally, I don't think being a volunteer would be much help. I'd concentrate on learning some nursing skills in school that you could bring to a nurse-tech/student nurse position after a semester or two.

you need to know that you can refuse to take any assignment for which you feel unqualified, untrained or unsafe. you are working under your license now, and it's up to you to know your own level of competency. do not allow a short-staffing situation to become your responsibility - it should have been your nm/charge nurse who took responsibility of those patient(s), not you. that being said, i think you did a great job in what must have been a stressful situation for you.:)

I was 42 when I started nursing school and 45 when I passed the NCLEX (June '05). I had multiple job offers.

thanks for the reply. i don't think i've done anything to warrent a "no re-hire", but i wanted to be careful. i haven't yet applied to another hospital - the recruiter at this one is "looking" within the hospital for me.....i am going to spend my days off this week checking out other hospitals, however.....

thanks for the reply. :) i haven't quite decided what to do (or where to apply next). the large mega-hospital corp in this area, does have 12-week preceptorships, but you must stay at the job for 2 years or pay them back $7,000. i'm going to look at some of the medium sized community hospitals, and see what they offer.

. gee, it sounds like you and i were hired by the same hospital...... i was hired as a new grad on a post-partum/ mother/baby unit, and was given only 3 weeks orientation, and had to beg for an additional 3 weeks. i had 4 different preceptors in that time period. i oriented on days, and work evenings, which are always understaffed (i've frequently had 10-12 patients). 3 weeks ago i requested a move to 12 h days, which have a lower pt ratio. (my request was denied) when i had an evening with 13 patients, i threw in the towel and gave 2-weeks' notice. i have no advice for you, except to let you know that you aren't alone in your experience, and to send you a big cyber hug.

i've read that phrase before (here on the forum), but what exactly does it mean? does it mean that the hospital that is giving you the reference wouldn't hire you again? if so, what basis are they using to make that statement? thanks in advance, (a new nurse who just gave 2 weeks' notice after only 5 months on the job).

not a conservative, so no problem there :) .... it's funny, as my co-worker was complaining about nursing schools turning out nurses who expect to only care for 6-8 patients, and bragging about how she'd taken "15 patients on many occasions", and another co-worked bragged about how she's had 17 patients, the term "abused nurse" popped into my head. these women really can't see their work environment for what it is - abusive. thanks for your reply......(now i'm ) "california dreamin'" :rotfl:

thanks for the hug i can sure use one! we are providing couplet care for the most part, but we occasionally have ante-partum patients and gyn surgeries i've checked the awhonn site, but can't seem to locate the staffing ratios you reference. what is considered a safe ratio for postpartum couplet care?

thanks everyone for your replies and your support! i can't begin to tell you how much i appreciate your input. it has truly touched me to know that there are nurses out there who care enough to give advice to a stranger. all of what you've told me i already new in my heart and head, but it gives me strength to have it confirmed by "outside sources" i have a meeting with my pcd before my shift tomorrow. she wants to discuss "the situation that occured on thursday" (me sobbing in the break room). i can't think of anything she will tell me that will prevent me from turning in my resignation.

i've been off orientation for about 7 weeks now....not every shift is so overstaffed - on occasion i've actually had 4 couplets, but probably 75 % of the time we have above that. but the situation worried me enough that i've spoken to both my preceptor and my unit director about my feeling unsafe as a new grad, but to date, nothing has changed. thanks for letting me know that i wasn't a wimpy nurse. (one of my co-workers actually gave me a little lecture about how nursing schools were turning out "spoiled" nurses who think that they'll never have more than 6-8 patients. she told me to "get with it, honey - this is real nursing, not some text-book bs they feed you all...." )

sounds like i need to work where you work :) thanks for your perspective on my situation. a more experienced nurse that i work with had told me that our unit was so crazy because "that's the nature of ob nursing" and that i'd find a similar situation no matter what hospital i went to. i'm glad to hear that that is not the case at all hospitals. i love bedside nursing and didn't want to move to a dr. office, but wanted to make sure that i wasn't jumping from the frying pan to the fire.

Hello every one! I'm a long-time-reader/rare-poster, and I'd like to thank you for all I've learned from you. Could I ask for a little more help? I'm a new RN. I've been working at my current position for nearly 5 months, and I need to know if my unit is "the problem" or if I am....(especially after the "meltdown" I had last week at work"). I'm currently working in the mother/baby unit, but we also have the occasional ante-partum patients, and gyn surgical patients. There seems to be chronic short-staffing, and even though I work the evening shift, I've been called to work days and nights, and I've frequently worked on what should have been my day off. This seems to be "expected" and little comments about not being a "team player" are made whenever someone doesn't work extra. After a run of several especially busy evenings where I had 10-12 patients (a couple of those being new admitts with no unit seceratary or PCA to assist), I told my manager that I was concerned, as a new grad, that I was "over my head" on nights and requested a move to days where there is a smaller patient ratio, a secretary and a couple of PCAs. This was 2 weeks ago, and she still has not adjusted my schedule. Wait - let me correct that - she had me come in and work a couple of DAY shifts when they were short-staffed, but told be I would need to work "at least" another week on nights. This unit seems especially chaotic with tons of new admits - one night I had 4 new admits within a 4 hour time-period -- 2 of them c-sections! (that shift I had 15 patients) Is this the nature of OB? Or it this unit dysfunctional? It's gotten to the point that I dread going to work, and I fantasize about calling in sick and never returning. If I do decide to quit this job, will the short amount of time be viewed unfavorably against me by a future employer? Any advice will be accepted gratefully. Thanks in advance!

Try this link and look yourself up. That's how I got my NClEX results (I'm in VA, too) http://www2.vipnet.org/dhp/cgi-bin/search_publicdb.cgi

I took my NClEX on 6/15 and I live in one of the states that doesn't participate in the early results program, BUT there is a "back door" way (in some states) to find out if you passed: go the your states' Board of Nursing website and do a license lookup of yourself. If you passed, your name will come up on a search. It took a couple of days for my results to show up, and I don't know if the long weekend will delay the results.....