DonnaRN

Have to agree with the cool mist. If you're having trouble breathing, warm air tends to give a suffocating feeling (firsthand asthma experience speaking here!). The cooler air makes it much easier to breathe. In the pediatric practice where I work, we always recommend the cool mist humidifiers. :) Donna

I think it depends on the area you're in and the degree of the nursing shortage there. For example, our local hospital hires mainly RNs and have tried to eliminate LPNs by attrition - as they leave, they are replaced with RNs. However, we live in an area with two nursing programs available locally(RN and LPN), and several others within in hour's driving distance. There truly is NOT a shortage of nurses in my local area. That being the case, most of the MD offices, LTC facilities, and other non-hospital medical facilities prefer LPNs or medical assistants so they don't have to pay as much. So, not very easy for me to find a job anywhere other than the hospital. Been there, done that, don't plan to do it again except under extreme circumstances where there is NO other choice. Our hospital is VERY heavily politically influenced - not a good place to work except for the pay and the benefits. IMO, there are other things in life that are much more important.

From what I understand, this is common practice in many nursing schools, including the one I graduated from. We had to dissect in groups, and although I did watch, I never actually touched the cat. As it happens, I'm severely allergic and my allergist said absolutely not to handling the cat. Also, I'm an animal lover too, so I had a really hard time just watching. We later had to dissect pig embryos. Couldn't get out of that one and just hated it. Glad it's all over. Well, actually is has been for a while, but we won't go into just how long.... Donna

Funny....but true! :roll Saw myself in a lot of those "experienced" nurse descriptions. Kinda' scary! I guess I've been around longer than I thought! Donna :)

Simply put....no.

Medscape usually has a pretty good selection of free CEU's and a CEU tracker so you know what you've got. You can also add CEU's from other sources to get a more accurate total. Hope this helps! Donna :)

LoveRN, I'm so sorry you had such an awful shift. Sometimes people forget that night shift can be just as awful as day shift in its own ways. Because my shifts (day or night) usually wound up like that, I gave up hospital nursing and have stuck mainly with office nursing and home health since then. Don't think I could work at the bedside again.... Hopefully your experience will be the exception rather than rule. :icon_hug: Wishing you all the best, DonnaRN

I have to agree. Having had my newborn daughter die almost an hour after being born, if I had heard that played in the hospital I probably would have wanted to do the same thing. It's been six years now, and it wouldn't be as traumatic, but it would always remind me of my little girl. You never forget....

While it's true kids can be fun, working in a pediatric office for the past 8 months has helped me learn that for the most part, it's really hard work! They don't like having temps taken, being weighed, getting breathing treatments, immunizations, antibiotic injections, taking p.o. meds, giving urine specimens, having fingerstick CBC's, or much of anything else they're in the office for. A couple of weeks ago, I had to try and drag a child out from underneath the chair where he was hiding...yesterday a mom got angry at me when her child knocked the needle out of her own leg while I was giving a shot with one hand and holding both legs with the other and mom was supposed to be holding her hands :uhoh21: ...I've gotten bruises from having to hold children still to get sutures removed because they're pushing so hard to try and get away...cathing a screaming, writhing 2 y.o. is a challenge beyond description and it's IMPOSSIBLE to maintain sterile technique (even with two nurses and mom trying to hold her still and mom's worrying about the child's head bumping the wall - the only thing that kept her from falling off the table, BTW )...and on and on and on! And trust me, they (and their parents) are master complainers! :chuckle Believe it or not, I'm not trying to burst your bubble, but, after 8 years of adult practice and thinking I needed a change, I think I'd really like to go back to adults again. I guess I just feel more comfortable there. As it happens, the hours where I'm at are perfect for me for the time being, so I'm reluctant to leave for now. I hope you find the perfect nursing niche for you since there are so many opportunities out there, and if in fact it turns out to be peds, all the better! Best of luck to you. :) Donna

Hi everyone, I'm currently pursuing my RN-BSN online and am presently taking a Nursing informatics course. I need to interview an Information Systems director for a short paper, consisting of only 3-4 easily answered quetsions (educational background, responsibilities/duties, and why are information systems vital to nursing practice. Plus maybe your name and where you work! :) ) If anyone would be willing/able to help, please contact me with the answers to the above questions via personal message. Unfortunately, in my local area our information systems really don't involve nursing, so I'm in short supply of interviewees. Also, I have been unable to reach the person who initally agreed to be interviewed, so I'm kind of "stuck". Thanks in advance for any assistance, Donna, RN

Sadly, this happens quite frequently. In an office I once worked in, the doctor perpetuated the situation by telling patients to ask "one of the nurses" if they needed anything. I was the ONLY licensed nurse in the the office. Really burnt my cookies! :angryfire Another time I heard one of the MA's on the phone saying she couldn't do "whatever" for a patient because she didn't want to "jeopardize my license." Knowing full-well this wasn't the case, I later responded, "I didn't know medical assistants were required to be licensed in our state." She replied they weren't, but the patient didn't know that. I then explained that in that case, she was representing herself as a nurse which is illegal. She walked off in a huff. More burnt cookies, huh? :chuckle Donna

Although I'm not affected directly, my aunt and her family are in the direct path of the hurricane (suburb of N.O.). They've left to go....somewhere....they really don't know where they're going at this point as the other cities are so overwhelmed. They're just going north until they find something. I'm hoping to hear something from them soon.

The only thing I might add is that JCAHO is a voluntary survey and the facility must pay (quite a bit, from what I understand) for the evaluation. It's kind of a "status symbol" thing in the healthcare industry. (That's what I've been told, anyway!)

Couldn't have said it better, Sherri! Yes, I've been frustrated with nursing many times, but it has helped me learn and grow so much. Plus, the patients and their families, most of the time, make the job worth some of the hassles that come with it. I have some wonderful memories of some wonderful people I never would have met it it weren't for my nursing career. I'll always cherish those.

...(Sorry, at a loss for words!)