MSNMBA

I know that for a moment after I had my son, I could not concentrate well. Retaining bits of info like phone numbers was impossible. I breast fed, and had to write nearly EVERYTHING down. The pre-classes were ok, but I do believe having a kid while going to nursing school would have been disastrous for me.

Kenoi (name changed), is a young, bubbly 22 y/o who has set upon the path of becoming a nurse. She performed fairly well in her prerequisite classes; strong in math and science, and fair in reading and comprehension. She has reached out to me, her future mother in law, to help her pass her TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skills) exam. Now, I truly adore Kenoi, because she reminds me of myself at her age. Lots of passion and driven to succeed. So of course I accept and we set up a date to review material. What I did not know at this point was... Kenoi has taken, and failed the TEAS twice already... She doesn't really like reading... She lets gloom and doom invade her mental space, crowding out processes and retained information. Shocked and a tad perturbed at this revelation, I ask Kenoi what made her wait so long to seek help, knowing this is her last attempt at passing this test, and preparing for the nursing program. Remember what I said about gloom and doom, when she spoke, she had bags and buckets of negativity, feelings of failure, defeat, and self loathing. I could clearly see challenges forming. I examined her scores for the recently taken second TEAS exam. Small mistakes had big consequences. Kenoi had problems understanding what she was reading. Not only that, in some cases i discovered she wasn't reading at all as evidenced by a passage that I had her read aloud. At the end of the passage there were three questions that were related to the last sentence. Kenoi got them all wrong, as she did not read to the end of the paragraph. Kenoi admitted skimming often as she read, even less if she did not find the topic interesting. I helped her see that those three questions she missed were 33.3% each, and she just failed the whole section. This could have easily played a hand in her failed attempts. Gently getting her attention, I let her know that if you want a different result, changes have to be made. If the same behavior is repeated, you will have the same result. I could tell Kenoi was getting a bit flustered and apprehensive. We had a lot of ground to cover, but clearly she wasn't feeling it. I stopped her, and told her that her energy was off. I got some Lavender essential oil and put a dab on her bilateral wrist pulse points, both ears, and temples. I also placed Ylang Ylang to her heart, throat, and third eye chakras. I urged her to push out negative feelings of angst, failure and despair. and replace them with sun, damp earth, and rainbows. As she sat, I felt the energy around her, it was dense and hot, almost oppressive. I continued this action of swatting and replacing energy until it felt lighter, and she more relaxed. We were far from finished. After reviewing more material, we mapped out her strengths and weaknesses, and came up with a study plan. Kenoi was told to pace herself as she read. Take note of the content being asked, especially percentages and comparisons and ask herself, could this be a question? She was told that all the material is important to read, and the questions answered. Just answer the question, don't ponder "what if", "I think it's asking", or "I thought that meant"...just answer the question. Pick the answer that addresses all elements of the question. I urged her to tell the Negative Nellie to "kick rocks", as she is no longer welcome. Lastly, I instructed her to see me the night before testing for a full body massage. She thanked me for the insight, and set off to prepare for this final round, differently. The night before testing came a week later. During the massage session I applied Lavender infused oils and performed a full Reiki session. Afterwards, as we sipped coconut water I asked her how she felt, and did she feel prepared after making the changes in her review process. Her eyes were bright, and she exclaimed "Yes!" with the biggest smile. She did appear more focused, and much calmer. I hugged her and sent her home with solid words of encouragement. Testing was at 09:00 the next morning. I sent Kenoi a message of love and encouragement, and told her "You got this, get it done". She replied and thanked me for the sweet words and the awesome massage. She said she felt ready, and would call me after the test. And so I waited, seeing sun, wet earth, and rainbows... Kenoi passed with marked improvement compared to the previous test. No errors on the math, and reading scores were exceptional. She was later accepted into the Spring 2016 nursing class. I told her to see me often as needed for tutoring, pow wow sessions with a study group, or pretest prep. I am sure she will do well.

I had a young lady come in stating she was in SCC pain. She pretty much had no access, but pointed to a crooked, thin blue vein in her Rt breast. She then said this is where they put them at XXX hospital, which was really only a stones throw from our hosp. Well, I told her that I could not in good conscious place an IV there, but I was willing to look elsewhere. I got a 22G in her thumb right above the knuckle. And do you know, she was irate that placement was successful, and went AMA after she was told that her Dilaudid 4mg Q 1 hour is not this ERs practice for management of crisis pain. Go figure.

I was working as an LPN thru an agency many moons ago. This hospital where I worked did not allow LPNs to chart, give meds, draw blood, or even do glucose sticks! I did bedside care and dressings. Well, one night, an RN drew blood on a pt. and left the tourniquet in place. I came along 45 minutes or so later and notice the pts. arm a cool, dusky purple. I alerted the charge nurse and the RN tried to pin her error on me!! She was busted and had to recant, as well as apologize when I told her of all the things the hospital did not allow me to do as an LPN. As an RN, I put the tourniquet on the outside of the gown or sleeve to minimize that annoying pinching sensation, and to assure that it indeed has been removed. I offer that rational to the new grads, too.

Spending 20 minutes convincing an adult to do ANYTHING in a busy ER setting is overkill. I have encountered several situations where there was an obvious aversion to needles or being stuck. One was simply she had been stuck multiple times unsuccessfully and that led to her fear, another I recall was far worse but I asked her to tell me of someone that claims " I can't wait to get to the hospital for xxxx pain, they have needles and I really enjoy getting stuck repeatedly!" She laughed nervously but allowed me to look at her arms for a potential site. In both instances I calmly stated...You have come to the hospital today for treatment, but that may be limited when we have nothing to taylor the treatment from, such as labwork. If you need hydration or pain control, that also may be limited. If you allow me to look for a site, I can tell you the likelihood of a one and done attempt, but it is your body, and your call if we proceed further. I then offer to leave and return when they have decided, but the verbal hypnotic makes them allow my work to start then, and they always say afterwards, it was not bad like the last time or they felt very comfortable with my approach. I am not saying that I have the energy to constantly do this when someone gives me the "I hate/loathe/detest/am deathly afraid of/can't stand needles" spiel. I give my speech based on client presentation and need.

I took NCLEX-PN in '89, 2 day affair with pencil/paper. I don't recall how many there were, as I had to answer all of them, then wait up to 6 weeks for the thick or thin envelope. I took the NCLEX-RN in 2000, passed in 75 Q. I think I got the results in 2 weeks. You youngins would be tossing yourselves into oncoming traffic if you had to wait 6 weeks...

I know a DeElegance (m), and Patience (f). They are adults now.

Congrats Klone!! I totally can relate with being awash with relief and pride that the goal has been attained, swept up in a blissful escape from my immediate reality (AKA tropical cruise), and then smacked back to reality as soon as the ship docks! I would do it again in an instant.

Its looking more and more like those "Jackass" participants will be well covered!!

THIS IS WONDERFUL!!! :) I had no problems with registering, and a copy of my professional license is already on a flash drive. Hopefully the process to send this information will be painless when it is requested. Many thanks for such a generous gift!!

I am currently on contract at a large hospital. This hospital uses a lot of registry help as well. I learned that a peer and I work for the same agency. This individual has mounds of certifications and has worked as an RN longer than I have. Well, one day last week as soon as I hit the unit they hurriedly approach me, shove their check stub in my face and demand to know if my rate is the same as theirs. I was stunned because of the action and because this person is making 9-11 dollars LESS!! I told this person that they should advocate for themselves and not take the first thing offered. I also mentioned going back with proof of the last perm job hourly rate to see if an adjustment can be made. I feel so bad for this individual. this person has worked in this facility almost 6 months. it is so awkward now when I take report from them, I can almost see the steam rising in their hair. In retrospect I think I should have played dumb, but on second hand this individual is being played with multiple strings. Do you think I could have handled this differently? What would you have done if cornered like that?