SuperRN_1

I'm glad you asked this question and got great comments. I too will be a nurse in 10 months and wanted to stay in my department but I feared not being taken serious or getting the respect from the CNAs I work with right now. I had to make the decision that I will not be staying in this dept. I know I could do it but I don't want the added stress because it's already going to be stressful being a new nurse.

Is it a soft or hard shell taco? J/k :) Ok, I'm done laughing. *puts on serious face* To answer your question, you wipe the labia 3 times--first the labia furthest away from you, second is the one closest to you and third is down the middle.

In my state, CNA starts at $9.00 in a nursing home/facility/assisted living. The highest paid CNAs here are the ones that work in home health...about $10-11/hr. Look into clinics or home health. And even if you have to start at $8/hr and caregiving or nursing is your passion, then that's where you should start--$8/hr...cause we all started with low pay. There's no shame in that. Follow your passion, work hard and it'll all pay off :)

This thread is EXACTLY why my Facebook profile is on total privacy and I don't even use my real name (I let all my friends know that I was changing it so they knew who I was). I'm a nursing student and our college tells us all the time that the big healthcare organizations in our city ARE looking up students all the time prior to hiring them. Yes, I agree that FB shouldn't matter to employers cause FB is personal thing or my private life, etc, etc, but the reality is that employers ARE checking them. Please be careful what you post. There is no way to ever be "totally private" anywhere on the Internet but here's some tips for FB: 1) Change your name so they can't look you up. 2) Don't "Like" your employers FB page. They go through the list of followers. 3) Disable the ability to be tagged in people posts/photos. They will look up your friends/coworkers and see if there's anything about you on your coworkers page. 4) Do not friend your manager or coworkers. If anyone has any other tips, please feel free to share!

Isn't there a law about caregivers (CNAs, nurses, medical assnts, etc) only allowed to work up to 16 hrs and then they have to have a physical and mental break for a certain amount of hours before working again?? After 16 hrs a person cannot safely provide patient care. Maybe this law is different for each state or city.

Exactly!!! I can't tell you how many times I say "nobody cares, shut up" in my head in class and clinical.

#truestory What a great post!! Thank you for sharing!

To that one student in every class/clinical: stop answering every question the professor asks, give someone else a chance. And stop cutting off the professor and finishing her sentences. We get it, you're a know it all. And if you know everything, why are you here. Shouldn't you already have your PhD?

I'm currently in MedSurg clinical and I carry a clipboard that opens up where I keep pens, notes and patient info. The other students use clipboards too. We have to do a lot of writing so the clipboards are very helpful. Some of the clipboards are thick enough to hold a thin book or pack of drug cards.

I'm in my last year of nursing school, and the only thing I'm afraid of right now is missing a due date on assignments! :)

I would do "B" only because some states don't hire LPNs anymore (except in nursing homes). In my state LPNs only work in nursing homes. The major healthcare organizations here only hire ADN-RNs (or higher degrees). And I was told that in the next few years, they will require a BSN. If you go with option "B" your chances of finding a job are higher and then you can work towards your MSN.

Employers don't ask about grades or GPA, they just need to know that you are licensed and your background check comes back clean.

I have my first and last name on my work badge. I didn't get a choice if I wanted to include last name or not. I don't like patients knowing my last name.

Last week a patient's test results came back and the patient has liver cancer. The family told staff and doctors that the patient NOT be told. Patient is in her 80s and is alert and oriented. Patient and family are Catholic and Hispanic. A family member is her POA. Doesn't the patient have the right to know?? I have worked in hospice for 4 years and have never met a family requesting the patient not be told of the diagnosis of cancer. It's usually the other way around (patient requests that family not be told). When brainstorming with staff, some stated this could be a cultural or religious thing. Some stated that family might be worried that if patient finds out, patient will give up or lose hope. Has anyone ever come across something like this? If the patient were to ask the Dr what she has, doesn't the Dr HAVE to tell her, regardless of the family's request? Doesn't the patient have the right to know she has cancer?

It really depends on what you prefer and how you like to learn. Some find it better to make their own cause you're learning the info as you write, and others find it better to buy the cards. I personally preferred to buy my Pharm cards cause I didn't want to miss any info and I can always add any notes to them if I need to.

Thank you so much!! Those are the exact answers I was looking for. I'm not going to worry about the test, but I do want to start doing a few practice questions every week to prepare. Thank you again!

That site has a lot of info and I'm having a hard time finding the answers to my specific questions

I graduate Dec 2014 and plan to take my NCLEX right away. I am curious as to how the NCLEX exam works. How many questions is it? How many (or what percentage) do you need to pass NCLEX? How much time are you allowed? Thank you.

I used these last semester and they were very helpful. I passed them on to another nursing student who is currently taking Pharm. Thank you for posting all the links!

I just spent all week searching for the perfect Pharm cards! (I know what you mean by so many to choose from, there are tons!) And I found two that I think provide the best info that is needed for MedSurg (I'm currently in MedSurg). I recommend Barron's NCLEX-RN Flash cards by Jere Hammer and Pharm Phlash! Pharmacology Flash Cards by Valerie Leek. Both can be purchased on Amazon. My nursing program does do a separate Pharmacology course and I wish I would have had these cards when I took the course last semester. But they are perfect for MedSurg.