angie1982

I would think very long and hard before taking this position. It sounds like they are expecting you to practice outside of the LPN scope of practice. Very risky, and you could end up losing your license. This is an ICU and they have a 4:1 ratio? scary. I'm a brand new RN and this sounds scary to me. Ultimatly it is your decision, but if I were u I would look elsewhere before accepting this job.

ask yourself this, if it does you peace of mind to do fundal checks on c/s pt's pp, by all means do them, will it kill the pt to do fundal checks absolutly not. will it possibly kill pt to not do fundal checks, maybe. I'm not even an l/d nurse or pp nurse.

Just curious, I am interested in hospice nursing. I have heard people say they take a pay cut in working for hospice. wondering what the going rate of pay is for hospice nurses.

yeah I guess you are right, I never thought about the other side of the dilemma. when did people get so comfortable saying things to others that could be considered rude.

I get this one a lot too, I am very young looking and short too. I am 23 years old, brand new RN, problem is I look like Im about 16. Especially those nights when I'm too tired to put makeup on before work. God, I'm so sick of oh you are such a cute little thing (mostly from little old ladies) Or my you are so young. Oh well i'll appreciate it when i'm 35 and look like i'm 25 (i hope)

As a nursing student I spent a little bit of time at Providence, it was pretty good. (Currently an RN now working at Harper Hospital,) I did the ICCU/ICSU and mother baby and L/D there. Loved every unit, the nurses were quite helpful and the doc's were all pretty nice too. I also like that it is a teaching hospital, they tend to be a little more on the up side of technology and receptive and helpful to learners, new grads, etc. Good luck on your interview.

i think there is far too much focus on abstract thought (paper writing, etc) rather than specific knowledge or hands-on experience that nurses need. this is the very essence of being a bacalaureate prepared professional. this is what truly sets bsn programs apart from adn programs. i am sorry if your experience has not been good, i have never experienced students like this in my class. any way wait until after you have your nursing leadership class in fourth term, you will be amazed at the things that you learn and amazed again when you encounter adn prepared nurses when you are working that had never been taught the things you will learn (nurse liability and such) the students in my program are not very serious- a girl i know dropped the semester to go to cocaine rehab! do you want your nurse to be a former drug addict? i don't. even though she was failing miserably and had a history of being a c-student, they let her back into the program. the whole thing is just sad, and its far too expensive for the quality. people can change just b/c someone is a former drug addict does not make them a bad person. a person who made very bad decisions yes. you can't judge people just b/c of something like that. lots of nurses have addictions to narcotics, (very sad) just b/c you do not hear about it do not assume that t does not exist. malibubarbie

as a recent grad of madonna university. December 2004, I can say tht yes it is very expensive. But still a great school. The nursing program there was probably the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life. As for us being morons, I would have to say how in the world can you say that? I don't understand how anyone can go to a BSN program graduate and be called a moron. What specific issues have u had with this school? I was extremely frustrated with the program in the end but I think I would have felt this way regardless of where I went. By the way how can a school with a 97-98% of grads passing the nclex the first time be comprised of morons. To the original poster, I would recommend calling the nursing admissions office. Have you finished your prereq's elsewhere and looking to start directly into the nursing program or do you have other classes to take before you can actually start the program. When do you plan to start, this fall coming up? I began the program four years ago and was never formally accepted into the program just declared nursing as my major took the required classes and eventually started my actual nursing classes after all the required classes were completed. My graduating class was also small though, 19 of us December 2004. However I heard the classes were starting to fill up more so I would just call them again and voice your concerns on what exactly your next step should be. Madonna University is a great school with small class sizes, excellent caring, compassionate instructors that truly care about you. It was great to be on a first name basis with everyone in the nursing program and to be familiar with all the nursing instructors. It is well worth the time invested and the money spent. Good luck on your nursing career and let me know how things turn out for you. angie (not a moron)

The same thing happened to me this morning. I was giving benadryl im b/c the pt. Didn't have an IV and I couldn't get one started. Anyway gave it in the arm, aspirated for blood return (none) and when I pulled the needle out after the injection the pt. bleed a little bit. Scared me a little b/c this has never happened before. I hate giving IM's anyway so this threw me for a loop. The pt. Said it didn't burn or anything, he was fine. Glad to see that this is normal and that I didn't do anything wrong. I asked a fellow nurse who said it was OK too, but was still wondering a little.

my orientation was six to eight weeks. Eight if you were having trouble catching on. However mine lasted a little longer b/c i did not pass my boards the first time around. I stayed as a gn on midnights and took four pt's total patient care. I worked much like an lpn. I was not able to sign my orders or pass meds, but i did everything else however. Except the obvious things only licensed nurses can do such as hang blood. I started out with three pt's on my own in one week until my preceptor noticed that I was bored and pretty much following her around b/c my patients were all taken care of. So I took more and more pt's with her following me around. I once took eight pt's on days with my preceptor covering and watching me of course. I worked as a waitress previously so running around and organization, time management was never a problem for me. I think most orientation programs should be more individual focused. One Rn on my unit was an Rn when she started orientation not a gn like me and she spent six weeks when she probably needed another six weeks. She just did not seem to catch on, and honestly she still does not. I know that med surg is not for everyone and that just might be the case with her, b/c she is very intelligent to talk to. She just does dumb things like giving pt's insulin when they are NPO.

I have a tatoo on my forearm. A purple rose that i have had for five years now. I have never received any flack about it. However I am the type of person that is always cold, so i am always wearing a scrub jacket or a long sleeve white tee under my scrub tops. On occasion I have worn just a scrub top and people have seen my tatoo. I usually just get a few suprising remarks like oh I didn't know you had a tatoo, usually just because they have never seen it before b/c it is usually coveredup . I really do not feel like it is that big of a deal as long as it is not offensive. I have another tatoo on my lower back that is a dragon but noone ever sees that except my boyfriend. Anyway I would definatly keep them covered during job interviews b/c a lot of people look down on people that have tatoos and an interview is a first impression and important to make a good one.

your welcome. let me know how everything turns out

I pretty much did the cd questions and just familiarized myself with answering a lot of questions. That helps you become comfortable with those type of questions. I did at least 75 questions a day and always remember the abc's and maslow it helps a lot. I also before the exam and i mean right before i memorized all the pertinent labs that i just could not seem to remember before. Also I memorized s.s for certain conditions that were hard for me to grasp such as thyroid issues, adrenal issues and the dreaded acid/alkaline imbalances. The first time i took it i felt pressured by my unit to take it soon and to pass. That added to the anxiety. Take it when youre ready not when everyone thinks you should be ready. Also the first time i took it was on a tuesday, I went to a wedding sunday and spent all day monday nursing a gigantic hangover. Not a good idea. The second time around I had the weekend off before and the whole week off I took it on a thursday. studied like crazy until wednesday. Did not touch a book on wednesday or cd and just relaxed and tried not to think about it at all. On thursday i went into it feeling pretty good and left the exam feeling pretty good. By saturday when i found out that I passed ( the same day I walked for graduation, my school has only one a year) I finally felt like I could breathe again. Went out and had a good old time. Good luck to you and try to relax and don't forget to breathe during the test. Also ear plugs work great to drown out typing and mouse click noises. The testing facility usually supplies them to you. Good luck again

I just found out today that I passed the nclex with 75 questions. What a wonderful day, just in time for nurses week. Not to mention today was my school's graduation ceremony, even though I finished in december. I am so glad it is finally over. I'm going to party my butt off tonight. angie, RN I can now write that after my name (it's great.)