miamiabean

I've been an RN for almost 2 years on a busy tele floor. I want to go back to school to get my MSN as a nurse educator. I've been looking for online courses, but I'm not sure if that's wise. It seems ideal, bc it's flexible, but I'm not sure if it would behoove me to learn in an actual classroom environment. For those who are nurse educators, do you have any opinions on online vs classroom? Would it affect me, as far as hiring goes? Are they less reputable? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

Thanks so much for the help and advice! And firstinfamily- thank you so much for the inspiration. It's just so hard to learn when it's so crazy at night. I rush through assessments and wonder if I missed anything later on, and I usually do but by then it's 3am and I feel terrible going in to wake them up. And by the time I finally finish medicating, it's the middle of the night and I try to document quickly before the next dose of medications are due. So far, I think I left work on time only twice. I feel like I can't even give my patients the time they deserve. And this floor does have a massively high turnover rate and now I completely understand why. Each shift I try to find a new "system" to be more time efficient, but I simply have so much trouble juggling 7 patients...most of whom are VERY sick. I have no idea how nurses took care of 10-12 patients, but I applaud them and am amazed. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about a mentor, but I think I'll try an old professor. I like that idea. Thanks for listening and replying!

I just graduated in May and started working at a hospital in Sept working nights on a very heavy med-surg unit. Even the experienced nurses on the unit say they've "never seen it like this." There are basically zero resources at night, we're constantly understaffed and I'm continuously overwhelmed and frustrated. Now don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to have a job and I'm nice, professional and dedicated while at work; I would never take my misery out on my patients or coworkers. If you saw me on the unit, you'd never know I was so disenchanted with this career. I would love to find a mentor, but someone unbiased (aka someone not affiliated with the hospital) because I'm not sure hospital nursing is even for me. I want to talk to someone who can help me find other avenues to pursue, while still learning how to be a safe nurse while on the floor. I'm not looking for someone to do all the work for me, just someone who can point me in the right direction & be willing to cultivate a mentor relationship. Does anyone know how I would even go about doing this or finding one? Is it possible to find a mentor outside of your place of employment? I'm at a loss. Sorry I'm kind of just rambling here, but any help/guidance/advice would go a long way. Thanks for taking the time to read all of this! :)

You guys are great! Thank you all so much for your support! I love knowing that I can always come here to vent or share and receive encouragement!!!!!!!! I'm still petrified to start. I know we all have to start somewhere. Eek! Idk if even after I was training for 6 months if I'd ever be ready, so I guess I just better dive right in...

I'm a brand spanking new RN and almost done with my preceptor who is training me on the floor. I only have a month with him and I am so petrified at the thought of being on my own. My greatest fear is that I'm going to forget to do something important, like miss a critical lab and notify the Dr... or forget/miss something during handoff and reversely forget to mention something to the oncoming shift. Or just...everything! I'm so overwhelmed! I know that most things will come with time, but the whole anxiety of being alone is really getting to me. I just feel that a month isn't enough time to train. Does anyone have any words of encouragement or tips to get me through the first week alone? Or any advice of how to prep, both mentally and for the shift? I already come on to the unit a half hour early to read up before the handoff, but I still feel like a lost cause once the shift gets rolling. Sigh. Any tips would be SO greatly appreciated!!!! :)

Great tips! Yes, I'm definitely not the type to drone on and on about it. I prefer to keep it private, but I wanted to be as honest as I could in there without it jeopardizing my chances! Thanks for the advice!

Hi everyone! So I finally graduated and scheduled for my first interview this week at my first choice hospital! Aaaaah! I'm very scared for the "Tell me why you want to be a nurse" because I didn't actually want to be one until I had a major surgery. (Also, I'm a 2nd career student, so I'm older than your typical grad.) Do I mention the surgery or not? I'm perfectly healthy now, but I'm not too sure about the repercussions of revealing that personal info. But, the fact of that matter is, that's why I wanted to become a nurse! Thoughts????

Ohhhh. Gotcha! Many thanks!

I'm practicing for my drug calc retake and there's another question that is plaguing me. Order: Heparin 28mL/hr Available: 25,000units/500mL What is the dose being delivered? ____units/hr Again, I'm not looking for the answer as I already have it (1400units/hr) I just need some help figuring out a conversion...one of these bogus sites said 40u=1ml (28x40= 1120. 1120/25000x500=22.4) and another said 1 unit = .01ml. (28x.01=0.28. Which I already know from looking at it, it won't work.) So, they both don't work out. I have no idea where to go from here! Sigh. Can anyone point me in the right direction?! I BEG you!

Ah. Yes. It worked using the 60gtt/min drop factor = 0.43mL! Chare, thank you so, so much for your patience, help and not making me feel like a complete moron. I have no idea how I was expected to work out that problem without them giving me the drop factor, but even if they did I still wouldn't have known where to start. I truly appreciate you showing me the formula and providing an example. You've really helped alleviate a lot of my anxiety and helped me to figure out how to conquer the other practice questions in this remediation packet. I'm so very grateful!!! :) Thanks again!!!!!!!

Oh. I'm not sure what to do then... if left to my own devices for the gtt/min conversion to mL, I would wind up w/ 1.7mL (which is probably wrong)... For the gtt/min I did a ratio of 15gtt/1ml = 26gtts/x and solved for x... which was 1.7mL For the concentration I did 800mg/500ml x 1000mcg/1mg = 1600mcg/mL and for the weight of 220kg, I converted it to 100kg. Then I did 1.7mL x 1600mcg/ml divided by 100kg= 27.2mcg/kg/min. Which is wrong. Again.

Ohh, the answer was on the answer sheet. So, I wouldn't have had it otherwise, like if I was taking a test. Is there any other way to figure out what the drop factor is if it's not stated? I'm sorry to be asking so many questions. My brain is just not computing this problem for some strange reason.

I have a dumb question. Before I attempt to work out my order, I saw you had a drop factor in your example problem. Should I assume that drop factor is in my problem even though it's not stated?

I don't understand how to figure out the mcg/ml. I have a number with like 6 0's. Should I be converting the 800mg into mcg? I feel like I'm missing something blatantly obvious, but I'm not sure what. I have 330ml/min for the dopamine... and the kg as 100. Thank you so much for your help!

Hey. So, I failed my Drug Calc Level 2 proficiency exam. Sigh. We were given a packet to study for the retest in a few weeks. I'm looking it over and I have NO idea how to figure one of the calculations. I'm not looking at allnurses.com for the answer, as I have it already. I'm looking to understand how to get it. Order: Dopamine 26gtts/min Available: 800mg/500mL Patient weight: 220lbs What is the dose being delivered? _____mcg/kg/min The answer is 6.9mcg/kg/min is the answer and I have NO idea how to even start this thing or where to even begin. Can anyone out there help me? Or even just point me in the right direction on how to figure this thing out...?