medic981

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome has been around for many, many years. Healthcare practitioners didn't make the connection until marijuana became legalized in many states and patients began reporting marijuana use. I see CHS almost daily in the ED (Colorado, the Rocky Mountain High state) and as Solosgirl mentioned, you get the stink eye when you even suggest that their marijuana use could be causing the violent vomiting they are experiencing. All I have to hear is the violent wretching sound and I am pretty sure I know what my line of questioning is going to entail. It is the cannabinoids that are causing poor memory and cognitive skills. This patient population just doesn't seem to be able to make the connection between their marijuana use and their violent episodes of hyperemesis. A favorite narcotics anonymous axiom I use to educate these patients when they say that marijuana is supposed to help with nausea is, "insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results."

My first nursing job out of school was in the ICU. I had the opportunity to shadow for a day prior to accepting the job offer. Shadowing is your opportunity to determine if the position is what you are looking for, how the unit works, and how well the staff works together. My best suggestion to you is to look for teamwork between staff as these are the people you are going to be working with. Another item I would take note of is if the nurse you are shadowing is able to take allowed breaks and lunch. Good luck and best wishes on beginning your nursing career.

As long as I know that I have maintained control of the hub after scrubbing it, then no, I do not scrub it after each medication. If there is a doubt in my mind that the hub touched something then I go ahead and scrub the hub for again for 15 seconds.

Your best course of action is to consult an employment attorney who knows the specific state law for your state and your situation.

An arrest is not the act of going to jail, an arrest is an act of being detained by the police. If you do not have the free will to go about your business and the police are keeping you from leaving, you are by definition "under arrest." Ultimately, a formal arrest consists of having your Miranda Rights read to you. Once you have been "Mirandized" you are under arrest. Honestly, you are getting conflicting advice on this forum. I would hope that anyone who is facing such a situation would consult with an employment attorney before making a mistake such as inadvertently making a false statement on a nursing license application that could affect the rest of one's life.

My first position out of nursing school was an hour and a half commute so I understand where you are coming from. My caution to you is that hospitals are more and more becoming part of health systems. Do not burn your bridges. A classmate of mine was hired by an HCA hospital after graduation. She came to disdain her manager and quite after months. She is now, so she says, blacklisted by HCA and can't even get an interview for a position at an HCA hospital. If you didn't know, HCA is one of the largest health systems in the US. She didn't know it at the time. Just be careful about how you go about leaving your current employer no matter what job you have and try not to burn bridges as you go.

In short, I believe you should work at least one year at any place you get hired unless you were promised things that didn't materialize. As stated previously, you don't want to have to overcome a short work history with your next employer. However, with that said, my dad always told me, "It is easier to get a job when you have a job." Keep looking for that position in the ICU and if you can find someone to hire you, then you can explain that you left the ED for the ICU opportunity. I can definitely relate to your situation. I was hired as a new grad into a critical care nurse residency program for ICU. As a paramedic, I wanted to go to the ED. I signed a 3-year contract and at 18 months when I was just getting comfortable and liked being in the ICU, our hospital downsized due to an on-going financial crisis of 20 some odd years. I was laid off. I never thought that would be an issue going into nursing. I found a position at a sister facility which was 35 miles away in the ED and took it. My ICU experience was invaluable but even as a paramedic I was a bit overwhelmed. I work in a critical access hospital with a Level IV trauma designation. I have worked there now for 18 months and our ED has been short-staffed since the day I started to work there. I too am looking for better opportunities, and when it presents itself, I will be ready to move forward in my nursing career.

I agree with the previous comments. Your board of nursing is the first place I would seek guidance from to ensure that you are able to obtain licensure once you have graduated. You stated "I never got arrested, just had to pay a fine." Does this mean were not taken into custody, placed in handcuffs and fingerprinted and that you were issued a summons and had to appear in court? Even if you just received a summons for the marijuana possession, you were not free to leave until the police verified your identity and had completed the summons for you to sign. This by definition is an arrest. Regardless of whether marijuana will be legal in 2020, it was not at the time of your possession. I am not an expert in the law, however, if you are licensed in a nursing compact state, you will be fingerprinted. Your fingerprints and vital statistics will be sent to the FBI for part of your background check. Whether a citation or fine is included in your background check depends on the type of citation and how the information was processed. For example, most parking fines are processed locally and therefore would not appear on a national check. A court-ordered fine as part of a criminal sentence may appear on an FBI background check. An FBI background check includes a list of all public federal misdemeanor and felony convictions. I was licensed in Colorado, prior to the new nursing license compact. As I was a resident of Colorado for more than 5 years, all that was required at the time was a Colorado Bureau of Investigations' vital statistics background check. Now, if I were to be licensed, I would be required to submit fingerprints and have an FBI background check as well. With all this said, it is best to be honest with the school and with the BON before you commit to any nursing program. Nursing is one of the most trusted professions and one of the reasons we enjoy this distinction is the integrity we as nurses uphold ourselves to.

My hospital requires all bedside professionals to have their hair above the collar. That said, do all nurses comply? No. Keep in mind, if you are performing wound care, caring for a combative or disoriented patient, placing a foley, starting an IV, etc, etc... is your hair going to get in the way? A co-worker of mine, with long hair, pulled back in a ponytail, was bitten in the face by a psych patient who as able to grab her hair and pull her to his face to bite her. Long hair and braided is not so much a "professional image" issue as it is a "safety and aseptic care" issue. For interviewing purposes, I would have your hair up and off the collar to show that you can manage this and there would be no question. Personally, I was hired for my first nursing job by telephone interview and did not meet my nursing manager until my first day on the job. YEMV

College Algebra was much more difficult and time-consuming than dose calculation math. I agree with everyone who posted previously. Dose calculation math is an absolute must to master. All I can suggest to the OP is practice makes perfect. I always looked forward to dose calc questions in nursing school because I knew I would always get them right. Too bad the NCLEX didn't have any dose calc for me when I took it.

Bills, bills, and more bills.

Seriously?

Congratulations!!!

Congratulations!!!

I used UWorld and passed the NCLEX in 75 questions.

Neogirl has a good point! Your boyfriend and family will drive you crazy when you are in nursing school. What are you going to do when you start nursing school? Classes, clinicals, studying, care plans, and so on... When I was going to nursing school full time, I had little time for anything else. For me, it was all or none. My focus was on reading chapters, finishing lecture notes, completing the next assignment, getting ready for the next clinical, passing the next test, with grocery shopping, eating, laundry, personal hygiene and a few hours of sleep in between. Holidays and semester breaks are all I had to look forward to until graduation. But then again I am an over achiever.

As a second year nursing student you are supposed to be scared. Scared keeps you on your toes, makes you hyper-aware unless you are debilitated to the point of inaction. My experience as a paramedic was invaluable when it came to giving the hands-on care of patients as a student nurse. I have years of experience caring for critically ill and injured patients. I am still a little nervous when I have reached the limits of my knowledge and expertise when my patient is circling the drain. That feeling didn't change when I was on clinical as a student nurse. Study, complete your care plans, study, get to know your patient's chart before going on clinical, study, ask questions, study, know it is OK to say "I don't know" and study. Your clinical instructor is there to help you gain experience and keep you out of trouble. As a previous poster mentioned, it will take several years after graduation and obtaining your license before you become competent. Hang in there, at some point, it should all come together. Good luck in your second year of nursing school!

I just graduated in June, and our program taught IV cannulation and foley placement. I had two opportunities to start an IV, which I gave to classmates as I am already skilled at IV starts. I was able to change a suprapubic Foley catheter during my clinical, never had a chance to place a traditional Foley. I think it is a disservice to nursing students not to be taught the skill. I know when I need to start a Foley after I start working as an RN, I will have to grab someone to supervise me, but at least I am not completely clueless as to how to perform the skill.

Hmmm... "literally the biggest waste of time"? I graduated from nursing school June 10, and I hated every care plan that had to write. Yet, my fellow classmates and I who made an effort and worked on completing accurate care plans are the ones who passed the NCLEX with a minimal number of questions. Yes, in today's modern world, care plans are as easy as clicking a mouse. Care plans in nursing school are a teaching tool and require critical thinking to complete. It has been my experience that the lack of critical thinking skills is what leads nursing students to fail nursing school and/or failure to pass the NCLEX.

Texas is a Compact Nursing License state. Perhaps you can go to another compact state and petition the BON to obtain an authorization to test so that you can take the NCLEX.

Kaytee, The Test of Essential Academic Skills or TEAS is a test administered by ATI (Assessment Technologies Institute). ATI publishes a study guide to assist nursing student applicants in obtaining a better score on the TEAS. I believe ATI is updating the test and will be putting out version VI in a few weeks. I would speak to an academic advisor at the college or university you want to attend and find out what is the minimum score to attend and what is the average score of their nursing school applicants. Also, make sure your nursing school is accredited by either the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) or by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) as this will be substantial when you look for a job at most hospitals or if you want to further your nursing education. Also, investigate the nursing schools first-time passing rate for the NCLEX-RN (National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses). Nursing schools with high first time passing rates are doing it right, schools with low first time passing rates aren't.

TNCC is a certification that is good for four years and means you met the minimum competencies to pass the course. After a year or two of experience in the ED and you want to make emergency nursing your career, your next step will be to take your boards to become a Certified Emergency Nurse.

I was in the same position as you after graduation. While waiting to take the NCLEX I placed applications for jobs that I was interested in. As others have already said, employers are not interested in interviewing a new grad until you have a license in hand. Hang in there, study for the NCLEX, and keep an eye on the job boards until you pass the NCLEX.

While in nursing school, I was fortunate to have amazing CNAs to work with. I learned so many tricks of the trade from working with CNAs while learning Nursing Fundamental ADLs. That being said, find a CNA who is competent and more importantly, likes their job and work with them for a shift. Lastly, if there is a skill that you are required to do, don't try to BS your way through it, find a CNA, admit your lack of knowledge or skill and watch them do it, do it with them and then have them watch you do it. I have the utmost respect for any professional who admits they don't know something and then goes about correcting that lack of knowledge.

Seriously... ? Wow, do you treat the patient or the instruments and tools used to assess a patient? The reason "treat the patient and not the monitor" axiom evolved is that providers were making poor treatment decisions based on what they saw on the cardiac monitor and not the patient on the whole. A healthy athletic patient with bradycardia is treated differently than a symptomatic patient with bradycardia and is the rhythm really V-Fib you are seeing on the monitor or a loose limb lead? It is kind of like looking for the zebra in a herd of horses. Treat the horse in front of you and don't go chasing after the zebra, that is unless the zebra is staring you in the face. Axioms are there to remind us to stick to the basics and help us to do our first responsibility which is to "Do No Harm".