lela186

BTW, it should be ANCC exam. I was really tired and worn out when I typed this last night! LOL!

Thanks, I have been studying like crazy and keep waking up at night repeating silly facts like CD4 counts, ect. I'll be glad when this is over with !

Hello, I am taking the AANC ACNP exam this Monday. I am really nervous about it. I have been studying the Barkley review course like crazy but I know that it has changed so much. I have heard of some people doing well and some doing poorly. Any ideas on what to expect? Is it as bad as I am imagining it? I have to pass to keep the ER job that I was offered. Just really nervous! Thanks for any help!

I'm in school for NP and that does not seem to be the case here in KY. A lot of the physicans here utilize NP's and we actually have a shortage; they want more! I know some physicans don't think that NP's get enough schooling, ect and prefer not to use them, but that does not seem to be the opinion here. Plus, you can never go wrong with extra education!

I'm attending University of Southern Indiana's online ACNP program. It's a good program and accredited. The webiste is www.usi.edu for more info.

Im in the Reserves, my husband in a Guard recruiter! I can say that I think the Guard does tend to get more money then at least what I got as a Reservist. I guess it just depends on what each branch tells you they can offer. Make sure you talk to recruiters from both and do online research as well before making your decision.

I am currently in the Army Reserves and I am deployed now. The strap program pays 2500 a year only whether you go full time or part time. You are still deployable while you are in school. For example, I'm in a nurse practitioner program and am deployed as we speak. Deployments are 6 month for war zone deployments but can still be up to 15 months for Conus deployments. The amt of time that you are deployed is the amount of downtime before you can be eligible for another deployment. Example, if you are deployed for 1 year then you are not deployable for a year after that. On the brighter side of that, insurance is great, pay isn't bad, housing not bad and your an officer. It's not a bad life. I enjoy it and do not regret it at all. Your best bet is you should either take the HLRP loan repayment(up to $50,000, that is what I did) and you are still eligible for strap anyways and sign up for 6 years and get the extra $30,000 that comes with it. Also, make them agree in your contract to send you to a specialty course so that you can get your identifier. They have several including ER, Critical Care,OR and LD. The courses are about 12 weeks in San Antonio at Ft Sam. It's hard work but a great time. You are eligible for alot more oppurtunities if you take one of those courses. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions

As a military nurse who is currently deployed, I see how the effects of the war are affecting soldiers of all ages and socioeconomics everyday. If someone needs help, whether it be therapy or medications or self help groups, whatever, more power to them for recognizing this. It is easy to sit back at our computers and judge what we think others should do, but until you have been over there and seen what our soldiers are seeing, I think no one can judge the choices these soldiers make in seeking help. As for joining the military, my husband has been active duty for 14 years and is now a recruiter. Not everyone that joins the military is of low income with a family to support. I graduated college, had an excellent paying job and chose to join in order to fight and support my country. I take pride that I serve our nation, and feel like our soldiers should be the most respected people in the country. The support of our soliders allow you to have the freedoms that you enjoy right now, including posting on this website. Before lumping people into groups about joining for the money, or "knowing what they were getting into" think about all the freedoms you have because of our soliders. Some were prepared, some were not, but until you have been overseas and see the things that I occur, I find it hard for anyone to critizize or judge others choices. Don't offend our soldiers or disrespect them just because you don't agree with the war or the goverment. The bottom line is, they represent America over there and give thier lives so that our country can continue to enjoy the freedoms that it has in the past.

File charges now! No one should put up with abuse from anyone, patient or not. Everyone has the right to work in a safe and protected enviroment. Obviously, your hospital is not supplying that! What if this man had attacked another patient? I bet the hospital would have handled that much differently. I'm sure the assaulted pt would have IMMEDIATLY recieved the ordered CT and that all the big wigs from HR would have come in to make sure they weren't sued!

At my hospital, a pt that is having an MI is transferred to ICU for close and careful monitoring. With an MI, a part of the heart is dying and therefore it is alot easier for a pt to code,ect. Most of our pt's usually go to the cath lab and then to the unit. However, if immediate cath is not possible, then we usually will start the pt on Integrillin to decrease platelet aggregation or Retavase which helps to break up the clot. These are both very powerful blood thinners so it is important to make sure that the pt has no active bleeding or recent surgeries before beginning these medications. The pt is also given 325mg ASA, Lopressor 5mg x 3 doses and Nitro gtt.The Nitro dilates the vessels and reduces the workload of the heart. Lopressor is given b/c it helps to control the heart rate as well as effects the workload of the heart. Lopressor has also been shown to reduce future MI's and to help prevent post MI heart failure. Morphine can also be given to help with pain and anxiety. Just remember MONA: Morphine, Oxygen, Nitro, Asprin! Hope this helps!

The PAs hat work with us in my ER are great to work with. They will help out when we need it. The NP's will as well. I guess it depends on the person.

We are not allowed to give medical advice on the phone. We are told that it is their decision to come in, to come on in if they feel like they need to be seen. We also usually connect them to the hosptial healthline where they are able to give them advice. This way, we are not held liable for giving medical advice if something was to happen.

I am now working with injured soldiers, it is very rewarding and I feel like I can really see the benefits of nursing again. It is nice to be appreciated and to help people who have given so much

Congrats on your decision to go to nursing school. I also did not work much during nursing school and took out loans to pay for them. It left me with quite the debt. I joined the Army Reserves afterwards and they are now paying them back. If you join the army while you are in school, they will pay 100% tuitiion, room and books for you, you then are required 4 years active duty I believe. The Reserves have been wonderful for me, I've been to San Antonio, Germany and now I am mobilized at Ft Bliss. It can be very rewarding to take care of our injured soldiers. They are many other ways to pay for school as well, but this is just the route I took. I hope you find this helpful and good luck!

I can completely understand your frustration. I work at a 40bed ER that sees 75,000 pt a year. We have 1 MD on on nights for all of the patients and we may have a CN(who doesn't take pt) and 2-3 other nurses. Sometimes we might have 7 pt's (usually more). I was recently at my breaking point. I literally was making myslef sick over the thought of having to go back to that place. No matter what you said or did, no one even tried to fix it. In fact, we refer to our director as a legend because supposedly she is there......but sightings are limited (kinda like big foot). I recently left and I can't say how much better my quality of life has become. I may not make as much or be considered a "critical" care nurse now, but for the first time in a long time, I am happy to be a nurse again. I hope this helps.:wink2:

Thanks for the reply! I leave on Saturday so I appreciate the info! Thanks again!

Hello! I will soon be traveling to Ft Bliss for a 6 mo. mobilization with the Reserves. Anyone have any good information they would like to share? Thanks!

1. Most of our patients get 12 lead EKG's. These include people with syncopal episodes, CP or other cardiac problems, OD's, trauma's, codes, drunks/druggies, SOA, Abd pain/NV (esp if over 40 y.o.), hx of cardiac problems or irregular heart beat, hypoglycemia, plus a variety of others. I will put the pt on a 5 lead monitor depending on thier symptoms as well and age. I generally don't really trust a 5 lead b/c you can't see as much. I much more prefer to see a 12 lead when trying to dx any cardiac abnormalties. 5 leads are good to monitor and watch your patient while your running around busy, but if you see anything unusual on that or a rythm change, you had better get a 12 lead. 2. For CT, usually we do non-contrast on heads unless there is a mass or something we are wanting to see bette. Just to rule out bleeds though or acute changes such as stroke, it's just non-contrast. We use contrast for CT's of chest for PE protocol, on our abd/pelvis as well. Make sure you get a consent signed for contrast use. Usually if your scanning an abd pain then you will also have them drink the PO contrast before they go to CT. I'm not sure what kind of contrast you use at your facility, but we use the Omnipaque that you mix in 1 liter of juice, coke, whatever as long as they are not allergic to the dye. If they are allergic to the dye, we have them drink 2 bottles of the regular barium contrast over 1 hour and then send them up 1 to 1 1/2 hours after they have completed it. This is so that it can get all the way through the bowels. Also, before you use IV contrast, check the BUN and creatinine and make sure they are okay. If they are elevated, then they may do it without or with a smaller more dilute amount. If they are allergic to it, they may have you pre-medicate with Benadryl first. If they are of child bearing age, check an HCG before sending them to CT unless it is an emergent situation. 3. As far a using PCT's I just ask them to do what I need done nicely and always say thankyou. If I'm not busy then I do it myself. 4. Any ER is a learning enviroment. Utilize your experienced nurses and always ask questions. If you don't understand why a MD/PA/ARNP is doing something, ask them to explain why. People appreciate others who ask questions to learn, esp new people. It is the ones who think that they know everthing that can be scary! Hope this helps!

Hello everyone! I am soon to be joing the Army as a nurse and was wondering if anyone knows of any good forums that are pretty active where I can find some good information about military life in general. I haven't been able to find very many at this time Thanks!

Hi! I am currently also attempting to join active duty. I am coming from the Reserves and have had 1 1/2 years experience in a high acuity, large ER. I asked this same question of my recruiter and you can have it garunteed in your contract that you can go to one of the generic courses. They are as follows: peri-operative nursing emergency nursing OB/GYN nursing Critical care nursing You can choose to go to one of these courses. You can either go in the Army if you have some nursing experience behind you and go directly to this course en route to your duty station or you can wait between 6-12 months upon entering the army if you are a new nurse and go to one of these courses. Most of these courses are around 16 weeks at major hospitals such as BAMC in San Antoinio. Afterwards you have an identifier attatched your 66H (nurse) MOS. This can help you get into graduate programs later in your career. I hope this helps and that this information is correct. This is how it was explained to me.

Hello! I have been working at an ER an hour from where I live that generally sees about 300 pts a day. I recently took a job 5 minutes from my house in a local ER that sees about 45-50 pts a day. Here I will be doing triage from 3pto 11p. This ER has never had a triage nurse before, so I will have the chance to set standards and really get this going. Does anyone have any suggestions?At my current job we triage our own pts after 11p, but I've never been the actual "triage" nurse before. Any suggestions for this new triage nurse?

No, I thought that you had to pay it when you went to check it online. Do you think I will be able to check pearson vue tomorrow? It says two bussiness days, but lord I hope I don't b/c that would be Tuesday and I'm liable to have a mental breakdown over this. What about the BON? The computer says it updates continuously, does this include licensure I wonder? i just think that I failed b/c all my friends took thiers during the weekday and it was posted the next day but mine hasn't posted, I just wondered if it was b/c it was a weekend.

Okay someone has to have an answer to this out there, it is driving me crazy! I posted this on the Nclex forum, but I need some help ASAP! I took the Nclex yesterday (Friday) morning. All of my friends have been checking the kentucky BON the next day and getting thier results. Well it's now Saturday night and I still don't have a license verification. I am really freaking out, crying, throwing up, you name it. I had 75 questions, mostly on prioritizing/management, disease process and teaching. I am so scared that I failed b/c my name isn't being recognized yet. My question is: will if show up on the BON website on a weekend? Also, can you check Pearson-vue on a Sunday? I'm really upset and any help would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks!

Okay someone has to have an answer to this out there, it is driving me crazy! I took the Nclex yesterday (Friday) morning. All of my friends have been checking the kentucky BON the next day and getting thier results. Well it's now Saturday night and I still don't have a license verification. I am really freaking out, crying, throwing up, you name it. I had 75 questions, mostly on prioritizing/management, disease process and teaching. I am so scared that I failed b/c my name isn't being recognized yet. My question is: will if show up on the BON website on a weekend? Also, can you check Pearson-vue on a Sunday? I'm really upset and any help would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks!

Hi! I have a question that I hope someone can help me with. Does anyone know of any schools where you can go ADN to MSN or NP without having your BSN? My mom has an ADN and has had it for 16 years, but really wants to go back to school. Thanks for your help.