spaulson1

Politics. Being blocked from moving up or changing to a role you have a passion for just because of staffing and rules.

Hi guys, I've been trying to get into mother baby for the past year and a half. I started off at a nursing home then gained med surg/tele experience. Now I'm working PCU for the past 7 months at my dream hospital. Since 2019 I have been working as an RN. Recently I'm at a good hospital and I've been trying to transfer departments. Been in frequent communication with the hiring manager at mom baby. She told me to get in the county and to maintain my NRP, which I have done. She tells me there are hardly ever any openings in mom baby. I have tried to polish my interviewing skills and really try to impress them with the knowledge base I have acquired and my desire to continue learning. However, I can just never seem to be able to get in. Outside hospitals typically require experience to get into mother baby and I have encountered the same problems out there. Also, I never got an interview for mother baby outside the hospital I'm currently working at. So I feel like my best odds are still the hospital I'm at. Does anyone have any tips? Of course I will keep trying but I'm becoming more and more frustrated at this. I don't want to be working PCU or med surg my entire career. I feel like I have gained a good foundation to be able to be a good mom baby nurse. I have also researched and studied the subject to show that as well. I'm stuck and not sure where to go from here. Thanks.

Hi guys, I've been trying to get into mother baby for the past year and a half. I started off at a nursing home then gained med surg/tele experience. Now I'm working PCU for the past 7 months at my dream hospital. Since 2019 I have been working as an RN. Recently I'm at a good hospital and I've been trying to transfer departments. Been in frequent communication with the hiring manager at mom baby. She told me to get in the county and to maintain my NRP, which I have done. She tells me there are hardly ever any openings in mom baby. I have tried to polish my interviewing skills and really try to impress them with the knowledge base I have acquired and my desire to continue learning. However, I can just never seem to be able to get in. Outside hospitals typically require experience to get into mother baby and I have encountered the same problems out there. Also, I never got an interview for mother baby outside the hospital I'm currently working at. So I feel like my best odds are still the hospital I'm at. Does anyone have any tips? Of course I will keep trying but I'm becoming more and more frustrated at this. I don't want to be working PCU or med surg my entire career. I feel like I have gained a good foundation to be able to be a good mom baby nurse. I have also researched and studied the subject to show that as well. I'm stuck and not sure where to go from here. Thanks.

Hi, this may seem like a dumb question but it's the first time this has come up for me. If you have a patient on NG tube LIS can you also have them on NG tube feeds at the same time? I had a patient that had two NG tubes in the same nostril. One was a keofeed for tube feeds/meds and another was for suction? (Salem slump NG). I asked the night shift nurse this and they weren't sure. If they're on LIS won't the tube feeds just be sectioned out? If they are on continuous feeds? I know for meds you clamp the suction for 30 minutes to an hour after but how would that work for continuous tube feeds? Another nurse was saying we could use the keofeed tube for sectioning as well just hook up one of the purple syringes (that's compatible with it) and then attach the end of it to the suction tubing. But that still doesn't solve the problem of the suction and tube feeds at same time issue. Thanks for your help.

I would not be so hard on yourself. Nursing has a steep learning curve. But letting negative feedback get to you doesn't do you any good either. I know when you're stressed out it can be hard to sit back and think. But remember the nursing process ADPIE. Always start with assessment. Did you look at her thigh when she reported the pain was killing her? Could it have been a DVT? What was her main diagnosis, labs, what medications was she taking? And if your vital machine is not working, look for another or take it manually. Whenever I have an outrageous vital sign I will take it manually to confirm. And yes. After giving her blood pressure medication and pain medication always reassess after. Did it work? If not there may be a more serious issue. Regarding the respiratory rate. Everyone has a different baseline. But 13 to 14 is still within normal range. It helps to look at the patients vitals over time and compare whenever this is in question. Do not be afraid to contact the doctor if you're concerned though at any time. You are the advocate here. When it comes to political affiliation. That's not what I would worry about here. I would worry more about my own response to criticism and stress. And I would stress slowing down and thinking more about what you are doing. You got this. Critical thinking is where it is at.

Hi, I'm a med surgical nurse trying to transition to postpartum and then NICU. I have an opportunity to join an OB cohort but the job is only in L&D. I am not opposed to L&D but I do like caring for the infant more and appreciate that side of care more. Would joining the L&D cohort and working that for a year or two make me better equipped to work in NICU? Or should I wait for a postpartum position to open? Thank your for the advice

Hi I'm still a relatively new nurse and have a question about something. I know generally this may be a hospital driven protocol but I want to know how others do it as well. For potassium and magnesium, once you replace it and schedule the redraw and then you get the results. Could you give another dose of it depending on the results? Hypothetically if potassium was 3.1 I gave 40 of potassium orally and redraw 4 hours later. It's 3.4. Would it be correct to assume to give another dose and schedule another redraw in 4 hours? If it fit the protocol and the patient is the same clinically? I did not see anything about this in the protocol just replace if it is this result, etc and redraw in so many hours.

Hi everyone. I'm new to this site. This question pertains to nurses in California, more specifically nursing students in California. I am completing my general ed and was wondering if Chem 2B (organic chemistry) was required as well as Biochem. Sacramento state only requires inorganic chemistry and some schools require organic chemistry and biochem. I plan on applying to almost all csu nursing school programs across California. I was wondering if a majority of them require organic chemistry and biochem. Also what is the easiest nursing school to get into? I don't have the best gpa (3.5) so I'm worried about not getting into any program. If any of you who recently got accepted into a nursing program in California have any insight at all that would be greatly appreciated.