dthfytr ADN, LPN, LVN, RN, EMT-B, EMT-I

That would scare me away from school nursing. The principal, et al, have no basis to question your judgement on nursing. It's like a chef telling engineers how to build a bridge! As for job interviews, keep it simple."I called an ambulance for a child experiencing a life threatening emergency. Non medical management questioned my judgement." or similar. Short, sweet, and factual. Be sure to ask the interviewers question(s) about similar situations at jobs you've applied for. Good work and good luck.

Studying early retirement NOT for financial reasons, RN's and heavy equipment operators topped the list. A rehab specialist told me they present to him with the same injuries! I'll provide a link to the study but defy anybody to get through the 60 mind numbing pages. Will mercifully provide the summary below. https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/117396/wp331.pdf Just hit 66 myself. Been sidelined by back problems for 10 years. Would dearly love to return to work, but now just the cost to get re-edumacated to activate my license is prohibitive. My "Plan A" was to work in the ER till the day when they had a coffin waiting for me at the time clock.

The university of Michigan did a study of which careers have the highest "early retirement not for financial reasons" rates. Number 1 was RN's, number 2 was heavy equipment operators. Notably, these 2 had the same injuries preventing work. (I'd heard the same thing long ago from a rehab doc). Of course, all this was published after I was already disabled from back injuries. Nurses are just a commodity used to make money, which irks me because what other profession works so closely with people. Had I kept to my original plan of becoming a NP I would have been so much better off. I'll try to post a link to the study I mentioned. Be warned it's 60 pages of the most boring reading you can find. https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/117396/wp331.pdf or you can read the synopsis below. I know of many people who became nurses as a stepping stone to other careers.

I've been impressed by less than 50% of the PA's who've treated me. Only once has a NP disappointed me. When my parents were alive they raved about NP's. NP's have more autonomy, too. Of course the PA's are jealous!

Talk to a NICU nurse. Babies die if they don't get human touching. All people need the occasional human contact. Anybody that is afraid to touch a pt without gloves might benefit from therapy. In the mean time, beware of door knobs! IMHO.

Ash, how are you doing? Been wondering. Paul.

Know what works for YOU. How did you study in high school. There are many types of learners. Some will need to write every word the instructor says, some get by just highlighting in the text. Some people just need to sit and listen. This last one sounds good, but these people will lack study skills when they count. Study groups can be helpful if they don't turn into socializing. If you got this far, relax a little. Somebody thought you had the brains and determination to be a nurse.

Learning opportunites come in strange shapes and forms. In your shoes (I wish) I would turn to humor. When someone throws you a challenge about your age, run with it. "Yeah, due to the nursing shortage they're now giving candy stripers nursing licenses! A little poke here. # tubes of blood and you're out of here. I'm over 6 feet tall, male. I went into the lobby looking for a patient. As I passed one of the street people waiting he loudly said "everyone knows all the male nurses here are gay." I replied just as loud "that's true! And yet, here you are." This will get easier for you with experience. If you're losing sleep or having nightmares it may be time for a job change. No job is worth that. You didn't get this far without being strong. You can let people put weight on your shoulders, or you can find another way to handle it. After all you are a fully competent nurse, and that doesn't change because some people are rude. Find ways to manage it. In nursing like in life, there's always a new challenge. Challenges seem really huge till you come up with a solution, then they seem so small. Wishing you a long happy career. Paul.

This is Trump Care's new idea for an ambulance!

What did you expect from someone who saves lives? It's not like I throw a ball through hoops or hit balls with a stick!

Oh yeah? Well, have you ever considered nose reduction surgery?

Excuse me sir. I'm a nurse, not a cartoonist. Can you think of a funny caption for this?

Answer to your question is yes. I worked with a doc who insisted that there must be wheezing for a person to be having an asthma attack. I got him to listen to a patient in triage who had no wheezing. He failed to notice that the patient was barely moving air at all. After the first neb treatment, the patient was able to move enough air to wheeze. The doc conceded he was wrong. Anyway, the moral of the story is whatever you hear is what you chart. I'd charted breath sounds absent initially on the above patient.

Diagnosis changed from polymyositis to rheumatoid arthritis. I'd been taking motrin, Tylenol and ultram every 8 hours to keep working that finally my body had had enough. To paraphrase a sign I saw; once a nurse always a nurse. It's like being in the mafia. You can never quit because you know too much!

The University of Michigan did a study to identify the occupations with the highest rate of non financial retirement. Registered Nurses was number one, Heavy Machine Operators was second, and transportation (truck drivers) was third. The study is 60 pages long and very dry reading, but can be found on the university's web site. A rehab doctor told me that he sees many nurses and construction workers, and they have similar injuries and needs! Where have all the old nurses gone? They're disabled from the strenuous work they did. By my mid 50's my back was shot from arthritis. I loved ER nursing and always thought I'd work till the day I went to punch out and a coffin was waiting for me.