MikeyJ RN

When I decided to pursue nursing school, I thought it was common knowledge that RN's are to do the "dirty work" as well (heck, most floors I have done rotations on do not have CNA's). The nursing class ahead of me (they actually just graduated) had ...

I also recommend everyone watch Suzy Orman on CNBC Saturday nights @ 9 p.m. She is a world renowed financial advisor and offers excellent advice and talks about paying back student loans all the time.

I will have over $50,000 when I walk out of nursing school in August. I am not excited about paying them back but I know it will all be fine. I figured $500 or $600 month for minimum payments. I will probably get a per diem job 6 months after working...

I was able to observe the best shift report my first week of my ICU rotation. The night nurse not only went through the patients history but went over each major organ system. She went over Neuro, Cardiac, Respiratory, GI, GU, etc. I also once witne...

I just laughed so hard! I posted a comment on this topic of "productive discussions" a few days ago, and I come back and it is 6 pages long and with bible quotes! These discussion boards never cease to amuse me. :)

The list could be fairly long. I think you need to decide which area you want to work in and what area of the country you want to relocate to. Almost every major city with large hospitals have new grad programs. Thus after you figure out where you wa...

Totally agree with everything that has been said. If I click on a posting and it is one massive paragraph with no breaks, I refuse to read it. Furthermore, if someone writes with no punctuation, I again will not read it. If I cannot understand a post...

There is an x-ray tech in my soon-to-be-graduating nursing class. She was an x-ray tech for 5 years. She enjoyed her job and actually made better money then a lot of nurses, but from what I have gathered, she eventually tired from the job because it ...

I was actually suprised that people called a hospital unit for medical advice. One of my first days on the unit at a nurse apprentice (pediatrics), I answered the phone and this lady started asking me what should she do about a possible reaction her ...

I haven't really read any of the responses but wonder why people even respond to these type of threads?

Pathophysiology is the basis of your entire nursing school education. If you don't know your pathophysiology, there is no way you would ever function in nursing school or in a hospital.

It depends on your state, thus I would check with your state board of nursing. Most states have something place where they issue an "interim permit" after graduating and it lasts for a period of time (where I live it lasts for 60 days). It usually ca...

The ICU at the hospital where I am charts vent settings on a respiratory chart that is kept next to the ventilator. There are some nurses who chart the vent settings on the narrative charts to protect themselves because the respiratory chart can be a...

Well, to find the newest guidelines go to http://www.guidelines.gov I have searched for the past 20 minutes and can't find much on blood administration during a trauma. The only guideline on this I found says "During resuscitation, attempts should b...

My PDA has the equivelant to 7 or 8 books in it. RN Notes, Davis Drug Guide, Taber's Dictionary, a laboratory book, a book specific for Peds/Ob, a disease guide, and I have a few programs that are meant for physicians but I find them incredibly handy...

Being a NAP has been incredibly helpful in nursing school. It has helped build my confidence immensely. They are fairly competiitve positions when you consider how many nursing schools we have in the area, but I highly recommend trying to apply!

It will depend on which positions you are applying for when you choose to move up the ladder and apply for nursing promotions. The "benefits" of having a BSN is that there are research and management classes that some management positions require. I ...

Still a nursing student here - graduate in a few months. My school requires that every student purchase a PDA and the "nursing bundle" software. I use it all the time and use it when I work as a nurse apprentice as well. I have every intention to use...

Perhaps you could call some local hospital nursing recruiters and explain your situation. And like the other poster stated, I would apply to as many jobs as possible.

After experiencing my L&D rotation in school -- I would never ever work in L&D. I actually enjoyed the patients and find women's health very interesting. However, almost every single L&D nurse I encountered were down right MEAN to everyon...

I agree with the 2nd poster -- the younger population is more well mannered than the elderly/adult (in my short experience). I once took care of an elderly woman who was A&OX3 who demanded everything from me and everything I did was not up to he...

She probably would have lived longer if she had not known. My grandmother basically let herself die after finding she had lung cancer and after finding that the chemo she was doing was not responding. The mind is incredibly powerful.

Earlier this month I volunteered to do health screenings on homeless veterans. It was definitely an eye-opening and humbling experience, but I am glad I did it.

During one of my first clinical rotations in nursing school, I was helping a nurse care for an elderly woman who was on a morphine PCA pump. Well her IV infiltrated and my nurse paged the IV team (still not sure why my nurse didn't attempt to put in ...

I agree with the other poster who stated your patient is probably in denial. I had a 41 year old aunt who died a few years back from alcohol cirrhosis. The doctors had told her that she had a few months left to live. However, she pretended as if not...