Purdue_Nurse

ahh the good ol' neuro unit! my previous position was on a busy neuro floor. i agree with the above poster, watching experienced nurses do neuro assessments is a great learning experience. the assessments you perform will be varied based on why the patient is there. i'm sure you will be certified in the nih stroke scale as part of your orientation, the stroke scale will be a big part of your assessments with tia and stroke patients. with your new back surgeries, denny browns and assessing your extremities for sensation are big pieces. back and neck patients often get a support device to wear such as a lumbar corset or miami j collar. the easiest way of learning how these devices are put on is to have an experienced nurse talk you through it and help you. i don't know about you but i learn best by doing so i never really felt comfortable with a device unless i actually applied it myself a few times. good luck and feel free to pm me with any questions!

I had to do a project similar to this when I was in school. I did a presentation on smoking for 10-12 year olds. I used a lot of visuals and statistics and they were really into it.

I do the exact same thing. I am absolutely horrible with names. Not just at work but in every setting! Sometimes I think all of the confused patients with dementia I end up taking care of are rubbing off on me.

Thanks for all the replies!

Hello everyone, I have an upcoming interview for an insurance company. I was wondering if any of you have worked for insurance companies and what your role was, what type of things were asked in the interview, etc. Also, if why I want to leave bedside nursing comes up just how honest should I be? (Because I despise it!) Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

:roll :roll :roll LMAO! It seems like my off days are always the first shift back after a long stretch off. Today was one of them!

Don't sweat it. I had the hardest time in A&P and pathophysiology out of all of my nursing classes. I did fine after those were out of the way!

This is an interesting thread for me since I too am desperately wanting to get out of nursing. I'm very interested in the business field. The only jobs I see either require a bachelors in business, or require no degree at all. While I do have my bachelor degree I haven't had any business type classes. I'm not sure if they would consider me for something like that. Any advice on what to put on a cover letter applying for a completely non-nursing job? I'm afraid they will think "why on Earth is a nurse applying for this job?" and not even consider me.

I feel the same way. It is very hard to keep up with household jobs when you do 12 hour shifts. I usually try and group my days I work together if possible. It's a long haul, but then I get four days off together. The first of those days I usually have a sleep in/laundry/pick up around the house day. The next I try and run all my errands (groceries, bank, bills, etc). A girl I used to work with would spend Sundays she had off cooking. She would put together a few different casseroles, do all the preparation except for baking. Then during the week when things were crazy they could just throw one in the oven and have a good supper. When at work, I usually have some caffeine around 1400 or so to get me through the rest of the shift. I've also found that staying hydrated by drinking lots of water through the day helps. I know, some days there isn't time for that but keep a big bottle of water by where you chart and at least try and grab a drink from time to time as you run by. If there's no time for lunch (which there usually isn't) I eat at least a little something as I chart. Eating usually revives me a little. I also have found that I feel the best at work when I have caught up on my sleep on my days off. Some weeks there is too much going on to sleep in and I can tell, I am WIPED OUT the next week. These things help me some but I look forward to hearing what other posters have to say. I still find that I am often tired.

Thanks for the "news flash". I am aware there are many other religious holidays not observed by hospitals. With Easter coming up it has been a topic of discussion at my facility and I was just curious what was done in other parts of the country. You are probably right!

:yeahthat: Good song! I know some people it describes pretty well. mammaoftwo: Sorry you had to hear that ignorant comment. LPNs are just as important to the health care team as RNs no matter WHAT some people may say!!!! :angryfire

No, I wouldn't. There are a lot of other careers out there that I feel would suit me better. I didn't grow up always wanting to be a nurse like some previous posters, I didn't decide on nursing until my second semester of college. I don't feel I took enough time making that decision.

At my facility, Easter is not considered a holiday. It is just like any other Sunday. I celebrate Easter as do the vast majority of others at my facility. I feel if we are working that day we should be compensated the way we are for other holidays. I was just curious if Easter is counted as a holiday at any of your facilities or if it is commonplace among hospitals to ignore it.

I hate when people use double negatives. "She don't have nothing to drink." That drives me crazy! :trout: I Also Hate When People Post Like This It Is So Hard To Read For Some Reason.

I used to work in an ICU with open visitation and I think it is a horrible idea. In some cases it worked out alright but there were always the families that constantly hovered over the patient and agitated them. There were several occasions when I had to ask family members to leave for awhile so the patient could rest. No matter how much we tried to explain how important rest is for these patients they just didn't get how it wasn't a good thing to be in grandpa's face talking to him and touching him 24/7. They also didn't understand why 10 loud family members and a screaming child weren't allowed to cram into the room all at once. Also, as a previous poster mentioned, the families usually expected us to take care of them as much as the patient. The hospital policy was that only food for the patients could be called down and ordered from the cafeteria; families had to go down and get something for themselves if they wanted it. Some threw a fit about this. Also, while running around like crazy dealing with a different patient who was crashing they would come up and ask, "Can we have 3 cups of coffee with sugar and cream please?" On my list of priorities right now your coffee is about number 99! :angryfire Sorry, just venting here!