Scottishtape

We have a lot of GI bleed patients come to my unit. You'd look for pale skin (d/t blood loss), tachycardia, hypotension, abdominal pain, blood in vomit or stool, and check his labs. What are his H&H telling you? Make sure to check the trends of the labs and vitals as well. Trends tell you a lot about a patient. A patient may have a lower than normal H&H, but the trend shows that's the patient's norm due to chronic anemia. Or, the patient may have come in at 13, and now they're at 7.8. Trends will give you a much better picture than 1 lab. Good luck!!

My first job was being a cashier at Walmart. Money is GROSS. I would go a few hours and have to go wash my hands, because they'd be black from the dirt on the coins. I started wearing gloves to stop that. I didn't want to think of all the gross stuff that I was picking up from the money. Also: things leak and get sticky. If you're not wearing gloves, your hands get all sticky.

I have both an AA and an associate of science in nursing (ASN). Both transfered to the local university when I decided to get my bachelors degree, and they were both considered when I applied to graduate school. My AA = associate of arts degree. This was just a basic 2 year degree I got with all of the general eduation requirements. None of it had to do with nursing (except for using my LPN credits for the elective spots) My ASN = associate of science in nursing. This was the associates I earned while getting my RN. My adivce: do not get an AA and an ASN. You don't need it and it screws up your financial aid. I ended up having to pay out of pocket for the ASN because I had had so many college credits. If the assiociates degree comes from an accredited college, it will transfer, it's just an AA focuses on the arts, and the AS focuses on science.

I agree with Sour Lemons, it really depends on where you're at. In areas of satruation, RNs are having a hard time finding work, which trickles down to LPNs, however in areas of shortage, LPNs are being brought back into areas they had been taken out of. Example: when I first moved to Florida as an LPN, I couldn't get into the ED as a nurse, but they would hire me to function as a tech. I said no. As the shortage continued in my area, I saw some EDs beginning to hire LPNs in the scope of a nurse, not a tech. As far as being an LPN, I was very happy as an LPN for a long time. Again, this changed when I moved to Florida. I began to be treated differently due to my scope of practice narrowing considerably with the move. I began to chafe at the restrictions I had when I changed states and I felt stuck since I wasn't able to work in areas I was interested in. That was the point where I decided to bridge. I am very happy I did because now I see how much I've learned and grown as a nurse, which has blasted doors open for me in the world of nursing. Being an LPN can be just as stressful as being an RN. It really depends on the job you have, your coworkers, and your ability to handle stress in the first place. I would never tell someone not to become an LPN, but I would caution people to be sure what their area is like for LPNs, what is the scope of practice for LPNs in your area and consider whether you're ok with the restrictions you will face. Also, think about the areas you want to work in. Are these areas that LPNs *regularly* work in? Everyone can come up with a story of how XYZ LPN got a job in QRS, but it is not the norm. Then, you become an LPN to get into said area, can't get in, and are upset. Both LPN and RN programs take commitment, so do your due diligence and make an informed decision so you won't face regret, wasted time, and wasted money. Good luck!

There is a hospital close to me in FLorida that employs LPNs in the ED. They have to use a buddy system though becuase LPNs can't push anything but saline through an IV.

We do "break buddies" here in Florida. I'll have to look into this some more. I highly doubt they'll stop the practice, but here's hoping.

That's a good point also.

Sounds like it's time to reach out to your professors for help and utilize your classmates. A lot of students see professors as the enemy who is trying to fail them, instead of the resource they really are. They can assess how you're approaching the material and help guide you so you can be successful. Get with your classmate and find out what they are doing differently than you are. Maybe they have some good study tips. Maybe they are focusing on different parts of the material. That will be your best bet. None of us can really help since we aren't in your program dealing with that material. Good luck!!

I would approach it head-on. I would tell the HR director that you had been placed on that list due to XYZ reasons. I would continue on to explain how you've learned and grown from that situation and would like to have another chace to prove your newfound maturity and skills to help them provide awesome patient care. Hiring managers are real people who have made mistakes in their lives, especially in their teenage years, so they do understand. I would be upfront, honest, and have a solid plan laid out to show them to ensure that situation will not happen again. Good luck!

We usually split the days. We'll do a "family fun day" on the first day, then do clean up or house projects on the second day. Yesterday we spent the day in the pool and went out shopping at the mall. Today we're demolishing one of the bathrooms so we can renovate it...and doing laundry ugh.

The University of Central Florida has NP tracks for nurses with non-nursing bachelors degrees. You have to take 3 pre-requisite classes and that's it, then you begin the program. Not a bad compromise. I'm sure there are others out there like UCF. Good luck!

I haven't had any issues with my portal. I was able to accept the same day I got the email. Wait the 24-48 hours and if it still doesn't work, call them again. I'd keep pushing until it's fixed! Does anyone know when orientation is?

Eh. I wasn't excited when I got accepted to an LPN program. But, I did it, and I found myself excited when I was accepted to a bridge program for me RN. Then, I was excited when I got accepted into my bachelors program, and now I'm super excited I got accepted into my NP program. Give it a shot, see how you like it, and go from there. It's hard to be excited about the unknown.

I let my LPN license lapse when I got my RN, but one of the students that I went to school with is still maintaining both. She sees it as a "safety net".

I applied for the full-time acute care track and I got my acceptance email on the 8th!

In every position I've held, an email would not be an acceptable form of resignation and it's not professional. I had one job where I put in my 2 weeks notice in person to my DON, but was still marked as not eligible for rehire because I never officially submitted my resignation to Hr in writing. Your best bet is to call HR and find out what their policy is for resigning and follow that. Good luck!

This may sound really stupid, but bathtub crayons is what helped me grasp A LOT in nursing school. I would read, take notes, try to memorize things, but it never worked. One day I was giving one of my kids a bath and she started asking questions about how different systems worked and disease processes. I whipped out her bathtub crayons and my books and started drawing her diagrams all over the bathtub walls. I was shocked at how much more I retained by drawing things out and teaching it to someone else. Sometimes you have to do things a little differently to really grasp it. Good luck!

Being overwhelmed looking at everything you'll have to do is normal. It happened to me, and it's happened to a lot of other people who have gone through the process. My advice: don't look at *everything*. Look a week at a time. Take one step at a time and take one bite at a time. This will help stop you from getting too overwhelmed and allow you to deal with things as they come. Good luck!!

Many hugs and prayers coming your way. I understand you're having conflicting emotions right now, that's understandable. I'm so sorry for your loss.

Ask for help! I was an LPN for 12 years before I became an RN, and I still feel like an idiot at least once per shift. When I do, I ask for help. I straight up say, "I don't know how to do this, can you show me?" Or ,"I don't understand what this means, can you explain it to me?". Be straight up with the other nurses there and tell them your last year was filed with just basic stuff and you'd like their help to get better at the skills you use in the current job. I'm pretty sure they'll be willing to help if you approach it that way. There's nothing more frustrating to me than working with another nurse who clearly has no clue what they're doing who refuses to ask for help. I'm more than happy to help those who ask for it, and so are 99% of the nurses I've worked with. If you run away from these tasks because they're hard, you'll never get better at them, and you'll always feel behind the curve.

That depends on the hospital system. I had three hospital systems to choose from when I graduated, and all three had different start states. One hospital only had it start once a year, another one did them every three months, and the one I ended up going with had start dates every month. You'll need to do research on the hospitals in your area to find out how they structure their residency programs.

Best thread of the day. I called them Chucks when I worked LTC because that's the company who made them. I call them Covidian pads now in the hospital setting, because that's the manufacturer who makes them. Nobody knew what I was talking about when I called them chucks haha

I work with several DOCTORS who refer out for everything. Why? Because they're people. Just like NPs. Just because you're a provider doesn't mean you know everything about everything. Referring out in my view is a providers way of admitting they don't know everything and are connecting their patient with the provider who can give them the best care. My husband had low t issues and his DOCTOR referred him out to a urologist because he flat it admitted he didn't know enough about it. It's providing good care, it doesn't mean they suck or are any less of a provider than someone else. It sounds to me like you're stirring the pot and looking for reasons to down NPs.

Tell your supervisor that you and that patient have an outside personal relationship and it's a conflict of interest to be his nurse. That should be enough for them to put him with a different nurse. I would not take care of that patient either.

I started applying in my last semester. I put in one application with the hospital of my choice and was hired before I graduated. I've been working there ever since.