KellyMLS

I am currently a medical technologist (aka lab geek) and I am getting ready to graduate in December with the hopes of securing a position in the ICU. I sent an introductory email to the nurse manager of the ICU/Neuro ICU (They are sister units and the nurses float back and forth) and her response was pretty encouraging. She said they didn't have any current positions but "that could change at any time. Regardless, if this is where you want to be, we can discuss options to get here." We set up a meeting for next tuesday. This is not technically an interview, as my email was totally unsolicited and they dont have open positions. However, I know it kind of is. I want to present myself as utilizing the meeting as my opportunity to learn more about their unit, what challenges I might face as a new grad on a speicalty unit, etc...I feel I've been pretty forward by initiating the correspondence, so I don't want to walk in there in a three piece suit with a resume and 50 reasons why she should hire me. What suggestions do you have for questions/topics I might discuss with her that: 1)really do give me good insight into their floor AND 2)are questions you would ask in an official nursing interview that are NOT schedule/benefit/money related. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!

I know Im not going in guns blazing and saving the world quite yet, Im just unsure of whats expected of me since my instructor seems to think we should be saving the world right out of the gate. She kept asking us about different meds and skills sets we havent learned about. Our school switched to a brand new (and not at all improved) curriculum starting with my class, so I dont think those in charge of clinical sites have any idea what weve been taught. I would just like to be a little more prepared to care for my patient as independently as I can, in the sense that I can know what to do and when to do it. Im not getting alot of direction. Thanks for the input everyone. I do have some ideas now of how to keep myself occupied and get a little more out of my day.

We started our clinicals last week...We had one full day of orientation about the floor, how to work the beds, the iv pumps...etc. But aside from that we had very little guidance on what my instructor expects from us. So day two was getting our assigned patient. We had to fill out a ton of paperwork, which i expected. then we introduced ourselves to the patient and pretty much thrown to the wolves. The RN I had didnt have the time of day for me to ask questions, or even give me something to do. I did an assessment on my patient, vitals, and he was pretty much self care so I had NOTHING to do all day, I went in and checked on him every 10 minutes so I could look busy. My instructor pretty much treated me like an idiot all day. We learn skills in lab and class, i thought clinicals were supposed to be about fine tuning those skills and learning. Neither of those happened and the clinical instructor doesnt seem to be interested in doing it. I know its only week one and I will get more confident and more familiar but right now I feel awful. Maybe I have abnormal expectations of what my clinical experience should be? Any tips on how to prepare better and show more initiative without getting in the way? **On the up side, I did do a successful foley and my patient told me he wanted to marry me, so I couldnt have been all bad :) **

We have had some doozies come through.... Busy-Bea Princess Leia (first and middle) Twins Barack and Obama Nosmo King (say it slow) Not to mention the stupid "alternate" spellings RAEVIN Rackell Ginius Ugh it hurts my brain!

Grntea- Ha! It always amazes me the advances we've made. I'm currently a medical technologist, rn school is career #2, and I'm always finding ancient equipment that's been tucked away, I especially love things that previously required mouth pipetting. Ugh!

Thanks for your replies. I agree that it's super important to know the formulas inside and out. Our hospital has written policies about abbreviations that can and can't be used. But you never know when that one old school doc will be writing orders!

I am due to start clinicals in January and as its been a while since I took my dosage calculations class, I have been reviewing quite a bit. Apparently our program gives random math tests throughout the semester and it can make or break you. My question is, do you find a lot of doctor's still using apothecary abbreviations? I know I need to know it, but is is something I'm going to run into often? Thanks for your input!