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I think it's really helpful, gives nurses a little time to check the blood sugar, give the tray, give insulin. Patients do sometimes get frustrated with the delay in getting their trays/food not being as hot.

Day shift does glucose check and insulin on my unit. Additionally, our diabetic patients have trays labeled with a "Med Alert" label, meaning they are delivered to the nurse's station and not directly to the patients.

Typically you want the entirety of the securement device to be completely underneath the dressing, both for reliable securement reasons but also infection prevention reasons. On occasions I have seen part of the securement device outside of the dressing, but this is something I try to avoid. Agreed it can be a challenge with certain lines, or PICC lines with long ELs.

Ditto. No need to place this patient on bedrest, just education. After seeing quite a few thrombocytopenic patients develop SDHs or other brain bleeds I definitely take headache complaints fairly seriously.

There's a Facebook group for those accepted. Look for UC Davis New Grad Residency 2017

Anyone else hear back yet? is anyone interested in a FB group?

I've been told managers have until Jan 4th to call for interviews.

First off - nursing school is challenging but ENTIRELY doable. Literally millions of nurses have made it through school, some smarter than you and some not as smart. I just graduated from an accelerated BSN program and the most challenging part for me was the amount of material combined with long clinical hours (we did 12hr shifts, which was great experience, just tough when you had an exam to study for the next day). A few snippets of advice off the top of my head: - Find students you connect with and can rely on. Form study groups and share resources and notes. Forget being competitive, you're all going to be in the same boat and need to focus on succeeding together. - Be active and participate in lectures. Answer and ask questions in class, your professors will get to know your name and they can be such a great resource. - You can't memorize or learn everything. Don't even try to. There is SO much information out there. Focus on 1) passing each class, 2) providing safe care in clinicals. Pick up on what each professor emphasizes and how they want you to think, this will help on exams. Don't be afraid to ask for help in clinicals. If you feel uncomfortable or unsafe doing anything, ask your clinical faculty or assigned RN. You are there to learn and are not expected to know everything (or anything in the beginning). - Utilize all your resources - tutoring, other students, office hours, reliable internet resources (Quizlet can be very handy), textbooks, etc. - Schedule in some time to relax - watch an episode or two of TV, go for a run, cook a nice meal, have some wine, play with your pet or kid. Yes you will be overwhelmed, but you still need to take care of yourself. Spending an hour on yourself will not make you flunk nursing school. - Relax and spend some time with your patients during clinicals. You will probably have more time than the floor nurses (especially during your first clinical rotations when you're limited to what you can do), some of my best early clinical moments were spent helping bed-bound patients wash and comb their hair, educating them about their condition/disease, and chatting with them about their children/previous careers/cats/what have you. And try to enjoy the crazy ride :)

Hi all - I just accepted a new grad position starting Feb 27, can't wait!

Thank you all so much for the positive feedback. I've accepted the position :)

Hi all - Wanted to seek some advice and opinions about a general topic. What are your thoughts about how easy it is to move out of oncology and into another speciality, and about how applicable oncology experience is to other areas of acute care? I ask as a new grad considering a position on an (inpatient) Oncology unit. I know that I want to do critical care/ICU eventually in my career (say within 5 years), but I do also enjoy oncology. My main concerned is getting pigeon holed in a speciality and having a difficult time finding another job at a later point. Would you advise accepting an oncology position or looking for another position (such as Telemetry)? I appreciate your feedback!

Hmm... I've generally never counted solid foods as intake in mL. When looking at intake & output, we're usually concerned about fluid balance, so PO fluid intake (water, milk, soda), IV fluids, or NG/PEG tube feeds. Solid food shouldn't really be converted to liquid volumes.

I'll be graduating from an ABSN program shortly, and I believe the reputation of the individual ABSN program is more important than the general reputation for all ABSN programs. My school has a good reputation in our area, and I've been lucky to have really great clinical experiences. I'd look into what the clinical schedule is like - we did 12 hour shifts and started them after only 5 weeks of lecture, and I found the 12hr shifts to be very beneficial compared to some schools which only do partial shifts. Also consider if the programs have preceptorship, mine was a great opportunity to practice more like a "new grad RN" and I learned a ton. I feel prepared (as much as one can coming out of school) to start working as an RN at my first job. Keep in mind that accelerated means accelerated. I've had no break longer than a week and a half in the past year, and your class/clinical load will likely be much heavier than a traditional program (in terms of weekly hours). Let me know if you have any additional questions!

I agree with AceOfHearts above. If this was your first HESI, don't stress too much. It is likely a different type of testing than you are used to and the "right answers" will not always be identical to what you've learned in class or seen in clinical. Do you have access to Adaptive Quizzing or Case Studies/Patient Reviews (through Evolve) or any form of practice questions through your school? There are a few great HESI review books, but once again, I wouldn't stress too much if this was just your first experience with HESI :)

I don't think you automatically need to move. I know plenty of new grad RNs with jobs in the Sacramento area. I know of at least a few hospitals in the Northern California area that will only hire (or give much higher priority) to BSN over ADN nurses, so getting your BSN will certainly be helpful in the hunt! Look into areas directly outside of Sacramento and the Bay Area as well - think Vacaville, Fairfield, Vallejo, Stockton, and more rural areas up North (eg. Auburn Faith, Marshall Medical Center in Placerville, Sierra Nevada Memorial, etc).