caijes33

Here's just a thought to consider. My mother, a coffee addict, was visiting a friend of ours in the hospt. with me. her face was all red and she had a headache. I took her bp 197/102. EEEKKKK mom, what is going on!!! well as it turns out, the power had been out at their house for days and when it finally came on, about 1.5 hours ago. she made and drank an entire pot of coffee. (tisk tisk.) :nono:any way i made her go to her pcp asap (turned out to be 3 days later) and her bp was normal. But had she gone to the ER in that state and they had started her on anti-htn meds, she could have gone hypotensive and crashed once all that caffeen was out of her system. so you see, htn is really something to be followed, not treated off the cuff, after only one er visit. hope this changes your perspective

I work in a small regional hospital er that does not take phone triage. we often get calls about sick children and we have to tell them to come in if they feel the need but we can not give medical advice over the phone. This worked well enough until:jester: one day i answered the phone to hear a young voice (maybe all of 12 years old) ask me what was the best time to "breed" a 23 year old women. what could I say?????... sorry we can't give medical advice over the phone:uhoh3:

I hate wearing my scrubs out in public, it just gives people reason to show me their gross and yuckies (ie open wounds and non-healing blisters) having said that i also get a lot of this when i am around anyone that knows that i am a RN, scrubs or not. now i have been known to go to wegmans at 0700 on my way home from work. but i do not like to do this if i have been with a mersa or vre patient during my shift, lest i deposit my pt's germs on the rudabaga's and contaminate my whole city.

I PASSED I PASSED I PASSED THANKS FOR YOUR THOUGHTS/PRAYERS :chuckle :rotfl: :Melody:

oH I AM GOING TO PUKE I AM MUCH MORE UPSET NOW AFTER THEN TEST THEN I WAS BEFORE. i SUSPECTED THAT IT WOULD SHUT OFF WHEN ON ? 74 THE COMPUTER MADE THESE GRUNTING NOISES LIKE IT WAS PROCESSING SOMETHING AND THEN I ANSWERED 75 AND IT SHUT OFF. i THINK THAT THE LAST QUESTION I ANSWERED WAS RIGHT BUT AGGGGHHHH... THEY KNOW WHEN YOU LEAVE THERE IF YOU PASSED OR NOT WHY CAN THEY NOT TELL YOU AS YOU LEAVE. i CAN NOT STAND THE WAITING I HAVE GOT TO DISTRACT MY SELF I WILL KEEP YOU ALL POSTED JESSIE

i did once it was nice, stopped using it though because i got tired of renewing it

A thing to consider is what kind of nursing you are hoping to get into. If it will be in critical care or a CCU you may want to consider a cardiology II (i have it and love it) well worth the extra $$$

My goodness you asked a lot of questions, I'll try to answer them as best as I can 1. Present your self as well prepared and self assured (no not the snotty I-know-everything kind of self assured) let then know, by your attitude, attire and demeanor that you have studied hard, you know that, with a good orientation, you are ready to take on any challenge. Don't look like you are overwhelmed or scared (though you might be). Most importantly make sure that you present (both in word and action) that you know that you do not know everything, but are not only willing to learn , but also excited for the opportunity (thank you to Katie Rn for the last part, she was looking over my shoulder) 2. Any ICU that is worth it's Salt should offer a very extensive orientation (i would say at least 3-6 months. they should include classroom and a preceptorships. The Fellowship that I have joined offers 6 months, with time on each of the three critical care floors and tons of classroom time (pacers, hemodymanics, renal and the like) you should be sure to ask this. During your Interview, they are going to ask priority questions. ( i was asked "What would you do it your patient's Bp was in the 50's?" I reponded by saying 1.What is the patient doing (ie pooping :chuckle )2. how is patient tolerating (not passed out) 3. What are your protocals (monitor urine out-put, give albumin ect) 4. Intervene as you can 5. call MD (special thanks to Katie who is now correcting my spelling :rotfl: ) 3. In the ICU your job will be a combonation of fast and slow paced, some days you will never sit and others you may be a bit more slow (depending on the size of the hospital/ area that you live. you will see EVERYTHING>>>>>>>>>> from L&D that has gone bad and an 80 year old in liver failure, you will be expected to be ACLS cert. and be comp. in an emerg. But that will come with time. you will be able to make decisions on your own and with the MD 4. For my hospital the ratio is 1:1 or 1:2 never over 1:3 5. OOps i answered this one, see above 6. Be calm, know your stuff, write your questions down 7. Yess i think that some new grads are able to do ICU, not all but some. Maybe you could ask to do a job shadow Any way i hope this helps, you can write me if you have any more questions (can not guarantee that Katie will be here then though) Jessie

The hospital that i work at has been buzzing about the potential for differentials for ICU nurses. During nursing school i worked as a nurse aid in a cardiac care unit for post CABGS and the like. I thought that we worked hard and had a lot of responsibility, i thought we should be paid more. That is until i did clinicals on the oncology floor (that is tuff stuff) and in L&D (gross gross gross) and PSYC ( i fit in too well) and realived that every branch of nursing is specialized in its own way and really i think that pay should be the same. I also think we should all be paid more but that is a different thread

The Susquehanna health system offers summer partnerships they may have something up you alley. Though they do not have any LTC facilities in the system they do use LPNs on the ortho floors any way it is in Williamsport PA which is in central Pa and may be a bit of a drive. but i thought i'd try Check out SHScares.org

This is not an ER visit but it made me laugh and I thought that I would share. I was out at the smoke shack (no I do not smoke but I was chatting with a friend over lunch) any way there was an phone operator there and she starts telling me the following story. A lady calls the hospital distressed because her cat is having kittens. When the operator says that we only deliver babies she says, "I am using my only quarter, could you just give me some advice." Well apparently none of the other phone operators had any cats soo... (you guessed it) they transferred her to L&D. I laughed until I cried when I heard this, I can just picture those OB nurses answering the phone :Labor and delivery this is >>>>>> how can I help you :chuckle :chuckle :chuckle

Though i am not in the same situation as you i think that mine is similar. I graduate in 13 days and after that i go on to join a critical care fellowship at the hospital i have been hired at. I too am really nervous :uhoh21:. Now I know that this is about the cheezy-est thing ever but before I was getting ready to interview, I read in a book a quoat that said something to the effect that : "I am ready, I have compleated a difficult course of study and, with the proper orientation and preceptorship I know that i will be able to develope in to the nurse that I desire to become." Being a Good new nurse is not about knowing everything but about knowing my limits and when I need to ask for help. That is what nursing is all about, Learning as you go. You know what is crazy? Someday you will be teaching some green horn nurse fresh out of school how to be the nurse that he/she really desires to become. Until then I will be sure to pray for you if you will also pray for me, I know that we will be successful.