jedi.judeRN

Pharm, side effects, interventions, clinical manifestations -- while these topics seem all over the place, I found be best way to study was to think of them as a whole. 1) understand the body system being studied 2) learn the diseases and disease process by always relating them back to the questions "what is this organ supposed to be doing (when functioning normally)?" and: "What is this ailment causing it to do (or not do)?" 3) be able to look at assigned medications and say "what signs and systems of malfunction are these meds treating?" Or "what effect does this drug have on this organ, and how might that effect help treat this symptom?" I found that when being presented with large amounts of important information, it was a necessity to figure out a way to link it all together. So that as you're studying one area, you're helping to naturally reinforce other areas (Ex: reading about COPD, thinking back to myself "how do lungs normally work and what does COPD do to that?"; and then - what meds are we using to treat COPD, what s/s do those medications treat? What are the risks (adverse reactions) associated with those medications?.... And on and on. This is my brain getting off my night shift and heading to bed. I hope I presented this coherently enough! Good luck to you - nursing school exams are truly special in that they all have a very specific end goal in mind: NCLEX. And so they're harder because they're trying to force you to learn a new way of testing (that you need to know to pass the NCLEX).

Just wanted to say that isn't always an option to move to "rural, weird places" in order to secure a job. Many new graduates have families that cannot just be uprooted and moved. Should someone just ask their husband or wife to give up a lucrative position and move the entire family so you can get that first job? I'm sure you can understand that for many new grads reading your post it is hard to relate to how much you hate your job when they cannot find one. For someone who has been looking for a job for 8 months, they're simply thinking how grateful they would be to have any job, even if it wasn't a great position. I'm not in love with my first job but I'm doing my best to make it work and on the worst days I tell myself "I can do anything for a year." I drive an hour and a half to get to a job that I don't like very much but if I power through - options will open up closer to home. Maybe that's what you need to tell yourself - find some positives in your work and think about the fact that after you get that first year of experience, you'll be able to find a job closer to home and maybe one that doesn't require you to work at night. If, after getting closer to home and getting a more regular schedule, nursing still doesn't seem like the profession for you - then maybe it will be time to move forward and try something else. Best wishes and I'm sorry you're having a tough time.

I recently started my first job as an RN and I'm working in a LTC/Acute Rehab facility. There are not a lot of opportunities to practice drawing blood and so I have been considering taking a phlebotomy course to learn/practice that skill. Most topics I have looked up regarding this question have been given dismissive answers saying that you will "learn it on the job" - but I am not in a position where I will learn it on the job. There is no blood draw team, there is no IV team... I do hope to eventually transition to working in a hospital, but I'd like to have some blood draws under my belt before I get there, instead of waiting to learn when I eventually get a hospital job. (Absolutely none of my clinical experiences provided opportunities to draw blood or start IVs.) So I guess my question is this - is it really not worth it to take a phlebotomy course? Is it better just to wait until I have a job that will provide that training for me? Thanks for any input!