Demonsthenes

I suggest that you obtain your Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support certification upon graduation. This should compliment the vast array of theoretical and practical knowledge that you already have as an LVN. The most important knowledge, skills, assesment, and intervention skills that you can have as a nurse are related to the cardiovascular, respiratory, and neurological systems. These systems are requisite for the support of life while the other systems are generally secondarily requisite for the same. The training that you receive through ACLS will prepare you to deal with emergencies and non-emergencies with regard to these most important bodily systems. Further training will only build upon this basic knowedge. You can more effectively build your knowledge and skills, after obtaining your ACLS, through nursing, in my opinion. I obtained my ACLS last week.

It is clear that one of the reasons why there is so much nursing burn out and so many medical errors and medication errors is the 12 hour shift. Also, the fact is that hospital nurses have significantly shorter life times than women in other professions. It is clear that one of the reasons for this is the emotional and physical stress caused by the 12 hour shift. End the 12 hour shift.

In phase I trials, the concern is to establish the safety of the medication and the appropriate safe dose. As this is the case, you need to report your concerns to the specific external committee responsible for insuring patient safety. To find out the name of the committe, ask the sponsor about the same. Or call the Federal Food and Drug Administration and ask them who to contact.If you do not do this, both the results of the study will be seriously compromised and the patient safety will be compromised. The guidelines for reporting to these committees require that no retaliation be taken against those who report the same anomalies. In fact, you will be assisting the company who is making these trials obtain the verifiable results that they want rather than sabotaging them. Those who are really hurting the drug company are those who insist that you follow the unsafe procedures now in place. I will soon, probably, have both my Clinical Research Associate certification and my ACLS.

Critical thinking is imperative for nursing. Therefore, a good knowledge of the basic principles of deductive logic is important as the same is the basis for critical thinking. There are two basic types of deductive logic. The first is the categorical syllogism and the second is the conditional syllogism as an subset of the hypothetical syllogism. The categorical syllogism state: All humans communicate through language, Jane is a human, therefore Jane is a human. This sort of categorical syllogism analyzed through: A. The definition of terms B. The Quality of terms and C. The quantitiy of terms. The type of reasoning generally used in every day life and in the clinical arena is the conditional syllogism as a subset of the categorical syllogism The conditional syllogism states: If a is b, a is c. A is b therefore a is c. The conditonal syllogism's rules are basically. If the antecedant is true then the subsequent is true. If the subsequent is false then the antecedent is false. If the antecedent is false, the subsequent is not necessarily false. If the subsequent is true, then the antecedent is not necessarily true. If you understand these basic rules of deductive reasoning, then you will understand the "critical thinking" that is so very important in making those critical nursing decisions and nursing assessments.

You should have followed the Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support protocol for Acute Pulmonary Edema, Hypotension, and Shock Algorithm. First you should have identified the most likely problem: 1. Acute pulmonary edema;2. Volume problem;3. Pump problem; and/or Rate Problem. From that point on in ACLS the treatment protocol treatment varies accordingly. Remember the aforementioned when identifying possible causes: Hypovolemia,Hypoxia; Hypo/hyperkalemia; Hypoglycemia;Hypothermia Toxins; Tamponade,cardiac, Tension pneumothorax, Thrombosis (coronary or pulmonary and/or Trauma (hypovolemia, increased ICP). I hope that this helps a little.:nuke:

My suggestion is that you do research on the role that "critical decision making" makes in nursing and how nursing educators should incorporate the same into their lectures on appropriate subjects such as Medical-Surgical nursing. For example, you might delve into the Logic related to deductive reasoning and how it relates to the Categorical proposition and the Hypothetical proposition. You might show how the conditional proposition, a derivative of the hypothetical proposition, relates to the critical decision making related to nursing practice. I tutor RN students and emphasize critical decision making as it relates to nursing practice, especially with regard to how the same relates to the tenets of logic, deductive reason, and hypothetical and categorical propositions. I hope this helps a little.:rotfl:

I suggest that you become ACLS certified. ACLS stands for Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support. With regard to preparing for the ACLS class, a good book is the Handbook of Emergency Cardiovascular Care for Health Care providers. The book is sponsored by the American Heart Association. It should cost below $18.00. By becoming ACLS certified you not only acquire new valuable skills that will make you more marketable in the nursing employment market, you obtain CEU's that might fulfill your Board of Nursing continuing education requirements. This book would probably answer the particular question you are asking and related ones. Best of luck!:roll

What the original poster exemplified is called a "hostile working environment" legally speaking, a form of illegal gender discrimination. Isolating an individual from other males is evidence of the same. Such isolation techniques have been used by plaintiffs in law suits involving "hostile working environment" as evidence probative of the same. By isolating the male nurse from other male nurses, other discriminatory practices can be utelized against him surrepticiously. I suggest that you contact an attorney about this matter. I would not refer the issue to the E.E.O.C. as this same agency has been sued by the Center for Individual Rights (I believe that that is the correct name) asserting that this same agency promulgates massive reverse discrimination against caucasian males. I believe the law suit was entitled "Worth v. Jackson". This agency would, probably, only collude with the employer to cover up and promulgate further gender discrimination. However, again, I suggest that you contact an attorney with regard to this matter. I am not an attorney. I am a Certified Legal Assistant and an R.N..:)

Because of the complexity of the facts at issue concommitant with the myriad number of legal issues involved, I suggest that you do two things: 1. Purchase health care provider negligence insurance (for example from Nurses Service Organization) and 2. Talk to an attorney with regard to this matter. I believe that my advice to you will provide you the best possible outcome in your particular situation with the minimal amount of both emotional distress and financial cost. In general, in negligence actions you must prove, by the preponderance of the evidence all of the following: 1. Duty ( in the case of a nurse what a reasonable nurse would do using ordinairy prudence under the same or similar circumstances). 2 Breach of duty 3. Causation and proximate cause (that is any damages caused are reasonably foreseeable) 4. Damages. I hope this helps a little. I am not an attorney. I am a Registered Nurse and a Certified Legal Assistant.

As with all professional- client and professional- professional relationships, each party has a duty to co-operate and to demonstrate "good will" with regard to the same. If one party refuses to do the same, it is your prerogative to give reasonable notice that you are quiting the patient. Without giving a reasonable period for your notice of quiting the patient, you might be accused of patient abandonment. I would deal with these recalcitrant individuals through a third party, if possible, such that there can be no equivocation about the reasonableness of your difficulties and your possible and/or real intention to quit the patient. Best of luck!

When I went to Texas Womans University Nursing School in Dallas, two of my nursing instructors failed me stating that " I would make an excellent doctor but a poor nurse." I have a B.S. in Biochemistry and am a Certified Legal Assistant.Also,in a large class at Texas Womans University, in an auditorium full of at least 100 nursing students, an R.N. instructor at that same school stated: "Good nurses do not make good doctors and good doctors do not make good nurses." After she stated this all of the nursing students smiled and noded their heads in approval. I just sat their amazed at the blatant sexism openly voiced. Now, I have come to realized that my two instructors and the one in the large class room were not only openly voicing their sexist prejudices but, also, voicing their opinion with regard to the stereotyped socio-cultural class of nurses. That is, good nurses should be female and from working class back grounds (remember, at one time women from upper middle and upper class back grounds were not allowed in nursing. It was a profession considered beneath them). Good doctors should be male and from upper class or upper middle class back grounds. I am a male from an upper middle or upper class back ground. Therefore, my instructors thought it was inappropriate for me to be a nurse but that I would make a good doctor. In my career as an R.N., I have found this socio-cultural stereotyping as much as a cause of discrimination as my gender. I hope our legislators take some action to protect male nurses from discrimination, something which that have refused to do.

In ancient Rome, only those of the upper classes were allowed to wear an all white toga. Therefore, I would suggest that all nurses wear a white lab jacket over civilian clothes. I do not like wearing an all white uniform. However, a white lab jacket has, as per the above, positive implications as to the status of the wearer (nurse or doctor). While an all white uniform has a negative implication for the wearer implying a servile status (like a maid).

A "nursing diagnosis" generally consists of three parts (P.E.R.). The P stands for the patients response to the problem. The E stands for the etiology of the problem. The R stands for the signs and symptoms of the problem. Only those patient problems which can be addressed by the nurse can be subject to "nursing diagnosis". A problem that requires the collaboration of both a nurse and another health care professional (an M.D. for example) can,aslo, be subject to a nursing diagnosis. A problem, such as certain medical problems, which can not be addressed in any manner by a nurse can not be subject to a nursing diagnosis. Thus given the above the P might be: Anxiety ;E might be:r/t financial distress ;R might be: with insomnia and anorexia.

When I went to Texas Woman's University school of nursing in Dallas, two of my nursing instructors told me that I "would make a good doctor but not a good nurse." Also, an nursing instructor there at a large auditorium full of nurses stated: "Good doctors do not make good nurses and good nurses do not make good doctors." All of the nursing students shook there heads in approval at that statement. Yes, there is both gender and class based discrimination in nursing. In the past, nursing was limited to women from working class back grounds. Women from upper or upper middle class back grounds were not allowed in nursing. Of course, men were not allowed. I graduated from another nursing school other than Texas Woman's University. I hold a B.S. in Biochemistry. I come from an upper class or upper middle class back ground. My father was an attorney at law as was my grandfather. In any case, it is clear from the statements made by my instructors at TWU that there are covert and overt forms of discrimination in nursing both because of gender and social cultural back ground comprehending that nursing is reserved for women from working class back grounds. Any familiarity with nursing education and practice will confirm the same. I believe that this stereotyping of nurses by nurses has promulgated the stereotyping of nurses as mean, vulgar, and discriminatory and that the same has provided some with the justification for oppressing nurses in general as unworthy of just and equitable treatment.:uhoh21:

The sort of abuse by patients and their families that you noted is common in nursing. Also, it is common for nursing agencies to punish nurses for just doing their job, as you did, for the purpose of attracting patients and avoiding the threat of a law suit. The nurse, therefore, is abused unjustly by the patient, the patients family, and their own nursing agency. This is a reason why there is a developing nursing shortage. Please remember that bad things happen to good people like yourself. Best of luck!

I'm an R.N. with a B.S. in Biochemistry. I am tutoring R.N. students now in A & P. I suggest that you look at the study outlines (if there are any) at the back of your text. Read the outlines in all of the chapters through out the text. If you do the same, you will obtain a grasp of all of the major points in A & P without becoming lost in the infinity of details that compromise A & P. If there are study questions at the end of each chapter, study the same, after you have done the aforementioned. If you proceed from chapter to chapter reading the tremendously detailed and complicated materials that make up A & P, you are likely become lost in the details of A & P without comprehending the necessary (for course passing) fundamentals of the same. I hope this helps a little and best of luck!

Dealing with death came as part of my experience as a Squad Leader in the Infantry in Vietnam. The "defense mechanisms" and counseling methods that I learned in Vietnam helped me a great deal as a hospice nurse. Nurses take on the role of spiritual guide and counselor when dealing with death.In my opinion, the highest art of nursing has to do with counseling,caring for and supporting dying patients and their families. I served with the U.S. Army;4th Inf. Div.;2/8th Inf.;Republic of Vietnam 1969-1970

I'm an R.N. with a B.S. in Biochemistry. I am currently tutoring nursing students both in basic nursing courses and in basic science courses. The foundation of both the sciences and nursing is basic logic, inductive and deductive reasoning. I suggest that you obtain a basic book in basic logic and read the same. I am not being facicious. I, often, read books on logic and argumentation as I find them entertaining. Otherwise, I suggest that you find tutoring assistance in your basic science courses.:wink2:

The bringing in of foreign nurses to America has the effect of lowering wages, making nursing employment very tenuous and job security very poor, and lowering working conditions. This is an example of "Monopoly Capitalism". What is "Monopoly Capitalism"? In " Monopoly Capitalism" capital is exported instead of the finished goods of production ( which is the case in true-traditional capitalism). What is capital? Capital is money, labor, and industry. Labor can be exported through outsourcing, unjust legal immigration which has the affect of displacing American workers (as in nursing), and illegal immigration. Our money (capital) is been exported through our current huge governmental accounts deficit. This capital is being exported to China and other countries. Our industries are being outsourced. In "true capitalism" finished goods using the native industry and workers are exported using the native country's transportation system. "Monopoly capitalism" destroys "true capitalsm" which is defined as having "free enterprise" and "competition". In nursing, of course, the nursing industry is destroying "free enterprise" and "competition" in nursing by importing foreign nurses. They don't want the "free market" and "free enterprise" for nurses and other workers to work! They want to "monopolize" the labor market! The affect of "monopoly capitalism" is to impoverish the native citizenry and concentrate political and economic power in a very few entities and individuals. According to Marxist dogma (I am not a Marxist, I am a mix between a libertarian and a conservative and a liberal) , "monopoly capitalsm" is the last stage of capitalism before the socialist revolution that over turns capitalsim.

If you have a Bachelors Degree in any field, you can make as much or more money as an RN, have better job security, better working conditions, and significantly more respect in education as a teacher than as a nurse. Also, it has been my experience that there is significantly less sexism (if any) in education than in nursing. Best of luck!

Actually, I am good at math! I have a B.S. in Biochemistry which included math courses up to and including Calculus III! Well, forgive the self aggrandizement! What you need is a PDA with relevant medical-nursing mathematical software on the same. Two good software programs are "Archimedes" and "MedCalc". With these two PDA programs you can easily calculate the most complicated mathematical problems in nursing. I suggest that you obtain a TungstenE2 PDA for this purpose. It costs about $200. Many nursing schools require their students to obtain PDA's.:wink2:

The failure rate on the Excelsior CPNE is approximately 35-36%. The CPNE in Excelsior is so structured so as to minimize instructor bias and inadvertent errors on the part of the student. As I remember it, two of the three clinicals must be passed in order to pass the CPNE. As I remember it, every clinical is monitored by a different instructor. This helps to minimize instructor bias. Of course, despite all of the above, circumstances out of the instructors and/or students control may result in clinical failure. My suggestion to you is to relax during the clinical and do your best knowing that the clinical may be taken over again. Best of luck!

You should purchase an electronic stethoscope. Legally speaking, the better the quality of the tools you have the better professional you are considered. Further, if you go to all of the major hospitals, you will find M.D.'s wearing electronic stethoscopes around their necks.

In ancient Rome, individuals who were Roman citizens were the only one's who could wear the toga. Also, only those Roman citizens who were of the Roman upper classes could wear white togas. Although there may not be any determinative reason for nurses and doctors wearing white, in the ancient world wearing the color white was an indication of one's high class standing.

Without a doubt there is a plethora of evidence that men of what ever race are often discriminated against in nursing. In one instance a male nursing student of hispanic descent who was honorably discharged from the military documented the horrendous systematic gender discrimination he faced accompanied by an openly systemic demeaning and insulting attitude by his nursing instructors. He became so depressed and angry about the same that he committed mass murder and massive assaults on his nursing instructors. I've forgotten his name. However, I remember the incident. It clearly was unforgiveable on his part and I condemn the same:madface: . The fact remains that he was provoked. The fact remains that the sort of gender feminism that is the norm in our society is more prevalent and more aggressive in nursing because of the mere fact that nursing is a female profession.