SapphireJulzRN

VERY true. Also very true...BUT, if you can find a small town just outside of Des Moines to live, it will be even cheaper yet.

Des Moines would be higher than that. I live in a town in Iowa much smaller than Des Moines and started out as a new grad at $23/hr. I'm guessing Des Moines would be right around $25 to $27/hr

Penile Intubation: putting a Foley in a male patient :)

My FitBit says I average about 6 miles during my 12 hour night shift. :)

I've worked cardiac, ortho and now for the last 3 years been on the medical floor. I used to love my current job, but lately we've been incredibly short staffed and have extremely high acuity pts. I'm getting burnt out fast. I've been seriously considering applying for a job on the Short Stay Evaluation Unit. But, I love most of my coworkers, so it's a hard decision. I'm just tired of working in an unsafe environment, where we just don't have enough staff to safely care for our patients. Someday I'd love to work Hospice. But they never have any full time openings.

Omg...one time not long ago, a brand new CNA said the Q word not knowing it was taboo. She happened to be on my end of the hall too. Everything was fine the first two hours until she said it....then.... One of my pts who was transfered down to our unit from CCU earlier that day, decided to go into respiratory distress and I had to send her back upstairs. Literally 5 minutes later I get a call from ER saying I was getting an admit. 30 minutes after that admit, I got a call for a second admit and then a 3rd! I seriously was going bat sh*t crazy! Whoever was charge on day shift didn't think too hard when they made assignments because all the empty rooms except two, were on my end of the hall. I really didn't think it was very fair that I got slammed like that. 3 admits and a transfer all in a matter of a little over an hour. Yeah. Not nice. Not sure if it was all because of the Q word, but I'm pretty sure it didn't help! Lol!

I was a CNA then a CMA for most of my adult life. I went back to school for my RN and graduated at age 43! So no, 23 is NOT too old. Heck, I had a classmate who was 62! :)

I also learned that I can't believe so many people hate olives. I LOVE THEM! Green ones and black ones. Heck, I could eat a whole jar of green ones in one sitting! Lol!

I have learned, that when I have a slow night and time drags on, NOT to wish for a busier night the next night because: 1. I had a patient crashing that I needed to call a rapid response on 2. Another pt with a nose bleed that wouldn't quit that was on a heparin gtt 3. A confused pt that decided to call the police because she was being held hostage by a mass murderer All this happened within minutes of each other!! So... I have learned to be careful what you wish for.

What I did years ago after getting my CNA cert was work as a CNA for a year in a LTC facility. Then I took the Med Tech course which is about the same amount of time as the CNA course. I continued working in the LTC passing meds for a few years and then decided I wanted to go back to school for my RN. I applied at a hospital to get my foot in the door. Worked as a CNA there for a while and then applied for their scholarship program to help pay for my nursing school. After graduating and getting my RN license, I was hired at that same hospital as an RN, where I currently work today. Hope that helps!

My main hobby during the spring, summer and fall months is bicycling. I've ridden a total of 936 miles so far this season.

I totally agree! Our hospital chose the brand (Landau) and we had 3 styles to chose from. But we can ONLY order from a certain online company, which really sucks for the local uniform shops.

I had a patient a couple years ago whose name was Junior. The funny part was that his father's name was also Junior. So, this patient's full name was Junior_____, Jr.

Just wanted to throw this out there...I graduated at 43...BUT, one of my classmates was 62 when we started school. Our last semester she was diagnosed with breast cancer, went thru chemo and radiation and still managed to graduate with us! Now THAT take determination and strength! We were all so very proud of her!

YES! Especially CDIFF and GI bleed....seems to stick to your nose hairs. 😕