saftman22

It is rampant everywhere. The other night I had a drunk sixteen year old I was trying to discharge take a swing at me and out of instinct I grabbed his arm in an attempt to block the punch and held his arm. Well when the family started to get in the middle of it they were asked to leave by security. WEll apparently this was too much for them and the next thing I know I am explaining myself to 3 sheriff deputies. Nothing came of the incident and the next day when the mother called my boss she said the pt did not even remember the whole incident. It frustrated me to no end that they come to you for help and then blind side you for helping. Yeah well the life of the ED nurse I guess.[EVIL]:angryfire[/EVIL]

Highline Community College and Tacoma Community College also have LPN-RN programs. I am partial to Highline since I went there. I would recommend when you take your NCLEX that you apply in Washington if your are positive you are moving here. You can get the forms on http://www.doh.wa.gov. To answer your question yes it is competitive but not quite as hard as getting in to a straight RN program.

I am a bit partial since I went to Highline and I work with a couple of their clinical instructors but I would say Highline has a better program. The last person posting was partially right about Highline facts. They in fact do clinicals at Harborview, Valley, St. Francis, Highline, Regional Hospital (long term vent pts) and Seattle VA. Some MED SUrg rotations are done at Harborview as well. I did time in the TICU, BICU, PICU, and Trauma/Ortho Floors at Harborview in the LPN to RN program. It is very competitive to get in though. Furthermore GPA is great but it is not the only thing. My wife had a GPA of 3.98 and was passed over by HIghline and TCC because she did not have experience. She now goes to Seattle U and just finished her first year. Don't place all your dreams on your GPA because it is just one small portion of the big picture.

I know when you apply for a license they ask about DUI and drug convictions. I am not sure if that specifically excludes you though. I think as long as you can explain the circumstances to their satisfaction the BON decides on a case by case basis. You can go to the WA State Department of Health Website and get all of that information. The website is http://www.doh.wa.gov and there is a button to take you to the Nursing Quality Care Commmision page which governs Nursing in WA. Hope this helps.

I recently bought a pair of Crocs and would not wear anything else. No back PX since I have been wearing them.

My question would be if the Diltiazem did not work in the bolus doses why would you being starting a drip. The SVT was obviously not responding to this drug. WHy did they not try Adenosine? I know we all hate to push the Adensoine but if everything else had failed it seems the logical alternative?

At my facility we push each dose over 2 minutes with 5 minutes in between and hold for HR

My advice to you would be take it as soon as you can while the information is still fresh in your mind. My instructors use to tell our class that there have been studies done that show the longer you wait the worse the pass rate(i haven't seen any of these so don't quote me). My unofficial study is we had 3 or 4 people from my class wait until September to take the exam after graduating in June and as far as I know none of them are RN's (I check periodically). Hope this helps and good luck!

I took the ATI and it said I had a 95% chance of passing on the first go round. I took the NCLEX last July and passed (75 questions). Not sure if there is any relation but I thought the predictor test was harder then then NCLEX. Just my thoughts. Good Luck too you.

Congratulations! I didn't get 265 on mine but I felt the same way you did. Matter of fact as soon as I left I transfered funds from checking to savings to pay for the test again. Congratulations again and enjoy celebrating your achievment!!!

I am not a student but did the LPN to RN and graduated last year. Congratulations to all. Just a reminder when taking the NCLEX think like an RN not an LPN and you will all pass with flying colors. Good luck to all with your new careers. Steve

Just like any other place we are short. My experience is, working conditions are pretty good. Just like any other job you will always have the occassional problem person/people. Most places have a hard time getting experienced nurses so if you have experience you should be a shoe in. If no experience than you will probably have to do a residency (hospital exp. I am talking about). Not so bad though because that gives you time to get in to that particular facilities groove. As far as union goes I think it is a bonus as you get better wages and benefits. WElcome to Washington and I hope you enjoy it up here.

How do you already have your license if you haven't graduated yet? Just wondering!

No diffrent where I am at either. It seems that all hospitals in our area are having the same problem (Seattle area). Over the last two months or so we do not slow down at all. We have a 20 bed ED and the beds stay full all night long. The acuity have gone through the roof and we spend alot of time transfering patients to hospitals with an open inpatient bed because all the hospitals stay full daily. When you only have 3 RN's and one doc things get pretty hairy.

Your school should be able to give you some resources as well as the internet. When I graduated our school had someone come in and give us options if we wanted them.