LeiaT

I have quite a few stores from working on the Med-Surg and Psych units for the past three years. I'll start with the first paranormal experience that I had (at the hospital, at least): I was newly out of nursing school and just started being charge nurse on med-surg when this incident occured. On our med-surg unit, night shift charge takes the same patient load as all of the other nurses. On the first night of my weekend trio of shifts, I had assigned myself a patient that I'll call Mrs. G. Mrs. G. was a morbidly obese lady with a small bowel obstruction who had refused to have an NG tube placed. No big deal, really, I guess, since she was NPO and not having and n/v at the time. Anyway, I got the creepiest feeling from her that Friday night for some reason. She said something about how she usually talks to her dead mother (which I don't think is strange at all). Like I said, she just gave me an uneasy feeling. Fast fwd to the next night. For some reason she had changed rooms, so I didn't mind one bit to assign her to another nurse. At one point during the night, she had pressed the call button. I couldn't understand what she said over the intercom, so I walked down to her room to see what she had asked for. She wanted some water, so I went and got her some. When I came back to the room, she told me something that I thought was awfully peculiar. I can remember exactly what she said: "They had a party for me today." I asked, "Who did?" She replies (with a huge smile on her face) "My friends and family. Some I haven't seen in 20 years!" I say "Wow! They must have come from far away!" I know that my eyes got huge when she clarified-- "No! They have been dead for that long! It was the most beautiful party." It really made me wonder why a 40-something year old seemingly sane woman would say something like this. I got my answer about two hours later when a white-faced co-worked walked out of Mrs. G's room and yelled that we needed to call a code. It was too late for Mrs. G. It looked like she had died at least thirty minutes before we found her. I immediatly understood what she meant by her "party." It must have been a going away party!!

Weekend night med-surg unit. Nurse/patient ratio is usually 5.1, rarely 4:1. Usually at least one admission during the night (I have only had 7 pts one night in my entire 2 years). Charge nurse also takes a full pt load. We don't have techs or CNAs, unfortunatly. We do have resp therapists and Lab (to draw blood). We start our own IVs, and do all pt care ourselves.

I am planning on starting my ADN to MSN online through The College Network (Regis University) very soon. I have set up an appointment with a local preceptor (?) to get general information and to ask about financing/etc. I am glad that I actually took the first step! My problem is is that I am a little concerned since I don't know what to expect from the program... the program in general, pricing, hours, etc. Can anyone help me out and make me a little less nervous about this? Anyone done this program or similar? Can someone give me a breakdown of the time frame and what to expect? There are two pathways that you can take through the program. Management or Education. I am still not sure which I would like to do. I know that I don't want to be an instructor, per se, but I really don't know all of the careers that may go along with either the education or management (which i have a better idea of) pathways. Also, is it possible to become a practitioner after obtaining one of these degrees? Thanks for any help or ideas that anyone may have! Leia

yes... :)

i recently had a patient with tb. most of the time when i have these patients, i minimize my time in the room, taking breaks, grouping care, etc. this particular patient needed more care, so i was in the room at one point for probably twenty minutes. when i was finished helping him, i went to the sink to wash my hands. while standing there, i got very light headed and almost fell on the floor! i went out of the room quickly and took off the mask. even though i felt slightly light headed for a little while later, it went away completely pretty shortly. i'm almost positive that wearing the mask for so long was the culprit.. any tips on when i am in situations like this again besides taking frequent breaks from the room? does this happen to anyone else? thanks in advance!

No He didn't recieve a text message in class and proceed to REPLY, making a beep for every button that he pushed! :uhoh21:

I don't know why, but that made me laugh out loud!

Ewwwwww no!

Great mental picture!...haha, sounds like something I'd do!

Believe me, if someone swabs something and Proteus shows up, it will smell up the lab room as soon as the incubator is opened!!! Nasty!

That math class is pretty easy! There is a fair amout of memorizing, etc, but it's pretty basic. If you know basic math you'll be okay!

tell me how it really is! :chuckle I know that a lot of the people in my A&P II class got accepted. I was suprised that I knew so many. Some didn't even do very well on the entrance exam (which was a pain in the BUTT! especially having to retake the A&P)....But all the people I know deserve to be in, they're very dedicated.

I think the reason that he was saying "you're a nurse" on the abusive wife show was because he though she should know better, she should know how much damage she could cause (beating him in the head with a liquor bottle!)...I don't think he means that nurses should be perfect. About the show on tonight, I have no comments because I haven't watched any of it.

Registering classes for the fall. Go over uniforms, rules. Talk about all the stuff we have to do this summer (medically) Probably talk about the instructors, content, etc. Just basics, I guess, although I'm not sure. Do you know anyone else who applied?

Ever smell Proteus??? UGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! Shew.

Awesome. Have you taken any classes on the other campuses? Isn't there one in Smyrna and McMinnville? I'm not too sure. Are you ready for orientation?

Carina, Motlow?

Don't be sorry. I think that that's a wonderful reason to want to work in the NICU. You've gone through an experience and it will help all of the mom's in that awful situation. You're a very strong person to even want to be in the NICU. That's amazing that you're willing to help other's after your tragedy. You'll be a wonderful nurse, I'm sure!

My orientation is TUESDAY! We have a lot of things to do before we begin classes...physical, antibody titers, background check, getting insurance, the list goes on and on, I need an orientation to get let me know what all I need to do. This summer is going to be busy....between my 2 summer classes and all this, I'll be worn out before I start the program! :chuckle

You're welcome...sounds like you have your hands full. I hope you get an A, too. Is this for your lab test or lecture test?

I agree with you, Gail, I wonder if I'll change my mind when I start clinicals...

Okay, here goes, you ready??! hahaha... Media: the reason that media changes (differential media) is to differentiate between different organisms (for instance, Mannitol Salt Agar is differential for S. aureus. Only S. aureus can metabolize d-Mannitol, an ingredient in the agar, and it changes to the color gold). selective media: a medium that allows growth of some species and suppressed growth of other species by adding certain ingredients to the medium. differential media: if an indicator is incorporated into a medium at one color and the growth from the desired species changes the pH around the developing colonies, a different color will appear. what makes MAC and MSA selective and diff MacConkey Agar--selective: Bile Salts, differential: Lactose Mannitol Salt Agar--selective: Sodium Chloride, differential: d-Mannitol what mmakes BAP differential--Blood Agar Plate? I'm not sure, I know it's used for Beta/Alpha/Gamma hemolysis. why does the agar turn purple/yellow/brown don't understand your question organisms grown on each medium here are some selective and/or differential agar and what they grow: MANNITOL SALT AGAR--selective because only Staphylococcus grow, differential because of d-Mannitol (S. aureus metabolizes it) SIMMONS CITRATE AGAR--only differential. only organisms that can break down sodium citrate turn the agar blue, because of the pH indicator Brom Thymol Blue MACCONKEY AGAR--selective because it only grows Gram - rods. Neutral Red and Crystal Violet make it differential (for what, I forgot, sorry) E.M.B AGAR--Selective for Gram - rods. Differential for E. coli, which turn metallic green. enriched media--has elaborate or highly specific nutrients fastidious-- why use "lactose" as an indicator--unsure of what questions means...i know to make it differential..but is that what you mean? how organisms affect the agar, staph, strep, gnb--which agar? Hemolysis-alpha/beta/gamma alpha--partial hemolysis--greenish color beta--complete hemolysis of RBCs on plate--red--agar becomes transparent gamma--no effect gram stain steps/colors: 1. Crystal violet (primary stain)--Stains all 2. Gram's iodine (mordant)--fixes stain on cells 3. alcohol-acetone solution (decolorizer)--decolorizes G-neg. 4. Safranin (counterstain)--stains G-neg cells. Hope this helps, let me know if I forgot anything or you need more help or if something's not clear.

I have a few ideas.... I would love to work in research, somehow. or epidemiology. Also, I would love to work in OB, or in the OR. Just a few ideas, but I have a strong calling to work in research!

When I get home and get out my notebook I'll write some about each...I'll be home in maybe 5 hours...hope it's not too late.

I loved staining, too....gram staining, acid-fast staining, endospore staining...etc etc