Bunsen

I did an absn program with a 2.9 gpa going in. Finished with a 3.5. My nursing school took into account that my undergrad is a very good, difficult school, as well as the fact that I volunteered. I did take a couple of prerequisites at a community college, which boosted my prereq GPA a little bit too.

I learned that you can be awake and asymptomatic with a blood pressure of 300. TPN tubing can bubble out, forcing you to replace the entire length of tubing that isn't stocked on the floor for some reason. Having to take 8 am classes for work as a night shifter is cruel. I may be okay being on my own off orientation in a month. Maybe. I wear a size 5.75 and ring resizing takes a whole week.

Cardiac PCU. 1:3-4 nights and days. 3 if they have titration.

I learned that there is a lot more charting that needs to be done than what we learned in school. There is so much. Cardiac cath patients stay awake during the procedure. They also have to stay flat for at least an hour afterwards. One of the ICD's we use is $74,000. ICD's screw into the myocardium and can cause cardiac tamponade. You can have Protonix on a drip. Naked patients running down the hallway is apparently a relatively common occurrence. Sometimes it's easier to start an IV without a tourniquet.

Lots of unit-specific policies this week. You have to keep replacing potassium and magnesium even if it's within normal range but not quite at the benchmark. Potassium powder does not taste good. Apparently I developed a sense of "something isn't right" along the way. That's oddly reassuring. People actually do sing "Staying Alive" during chest compressions. How to use a translator phone. Google translate can work too for less important things, but it's better at translating into another language than translating back to English!

A tote bag, free ice cream, car chargers (this one was weird), free massages... AND I've only been here a week - picked a good time to start!

First week as a new grad at this hospital, so lots of basic stuff. Two nurses can declare a dead pt, but the doctor still has to sign the certificate. PIV's can be left in indefinitely if they don't become red and painful, as per a Cochrane study a couple years ago. Calling Rapid Response is different than calling a code and mistaking one for the other will make lots more people and equipment come to the room. It feels really weird not having to add a cosigner when I log into Epic. Starting during Nurse's Week is going to spoil me. What do you mean we don't get free ice cream every day?

I learned that the hospital doesn't expect you to know /anything/ when starting as a new grad. Ironically, except blood administration, which I never did as a student. Test tomorrow! I could have done without the half-hour video on how to ambulate pts though...

Congrats on passing! I also did an accelerated program - 13 months non-stop. I just used Uworld and did 150 questions/day for a couple weeks, although my classmates used Kaplan and it apparently worked since nobody has failed yet. Almost everyone in the class has had theirs cut off at 75. Hopefully college teaches each person how best to prepare for tests and everyone can study in the way that works best for them!

I got my first pair of compression socks about halfway through school. Magically, my hip pain disappeared! Sockwell has a ton of cute options that I can actually choose from now that I'm not decked out in all-white seethrough scrubs.

I learned that it takes about 3 days to get a license number from the NCBON after taking the NCLEX. Also, that I should save all of my receipts for scrubs and shoes for tax writeoffs in 2016.

Maybe I don't understand correctly, haha. This is different from select all that apply questions?

All of these things (except fill in the blank?) are already on the NCLEX.

Just finished my BSN in March. Work for 2-3 years in the stepdown unit, not sure if I would want to move to a different floor eventually or not. Apply for a 3 year DNP program and work PRN on the side while that's going on. Then hopefully practitioner in a clinic!

Seasoned or experienced sounds 100x more natural.