fromfaraway

Fellow ER nurses, I've been an ER nurse for many years but only for 2 years I've been exposed to pediatric cases. I'm struggling with the policies of straight cathing kiddos. While I'm aware of the risk of contamination of urine samples from wee bags I still feel like in our ED parents are not aware of this being even an option. Our docs state that we'll need a urine sample and that the the way to get those for kids pre- potty trained is a mini Cath. While I understand that a mini cath is cleaner than a urine collection bag, I still feel that parents are not given the educated choice. Parents have asked me to stop the cath half way through because it appears to be painful and I don't blame them. I still have to meet the parent that knew that there was an alternative to the cath, like the collection bag. And then there is intact males. Nurses pulling back forcefully the foreskin in order to get a urine sample from a 6 month old. This just doesn't seem to be right to me. You can easily get a sample without pulling back the foreskin on those young ones in my experience. I guess I'm just adjusting to peds in the ER and I'm rather finding it disturbing to the point where it is giving me anxiety.

Thank you, sailornurse. Can I complete a RN to BSN program with a diploma (instead of an ADN)?

hi everyone, i`m trying to figure out my options for further education and i`m kind of lost in the american education system. so, this is my situation: i was a nurse in Berlin, Germany (where i am from) worked for several years in a trauma-ER, then i fell in love with a cowboy and moved to Texas (ok, that` s maybe another story). Anyway, so i got my German RN License transferred to a Texan RN license which is a "diploma" as far as I understand. I also graduated College in Germany in "communication design" (BA), which has nothing to do with nursing, but still is a BA. Now I`m wondering how to get my RN BSN? Is that a so called "accelerated" program due to my prior BA or because I' m a RN already? I`m looking for an online school to become a RN BSN. Knowing my background, do I still need to go to school for 2+ years or are there quicker options? Any input or guidance is appreciated. thank you all