LeChien

This is a shot in the dark, but I am looking for a preceptor for May/June 2023. I'm in need of an MSN-ED-prepared preceptor with at least one year experience in their role. Willing to travel the metroplex if needed! Hope I posted this in the correct forum!

What about nursing education?! I've felt the way you are describing before. But those student loans aren't going to pay themselves and I found it quite dumb (in my case, not yours!) to take out more loans to go to school for something again that I might not 100% love. Currently in an MSN program to become a nursing instructor. I always wanted to be a teacher when I was younger so I figured I could do both nursing and teaching in one. I'll be away from the bedside for the most part! Maybe look into that?

Hi Mary, did you mean to ask do I like working with these patients in their homes? Or were you asking if that's what I do? Either way, I work with pediatric patients in their homes, yes! I like it for the most part, although at times it is boring. I'm currently in an MSN program for nursing education so this won't be my forever job. ?

I work pediatric private duty. Right now I work M-T-Th 7a-7p, but next week will move to S-M-T 7p-7a. Hours are upon needs of the family, which in this case is 24/7 care so they have it split between 7a and 7p. The family is flexible though, so if I want to work different hours for whatever reason they are usually okay with it. I can pick up extra if I want and they do not cap our overtime.

Thank you everyone for your comments. I made the original post before I knew I was accepted into the MSN program, so I'm happy to say I'm 4 months into it! I'll be graduating May of 2023. I appreciate everyone's stories!!

Private duty with a nonverbal patient as others have said. I love it.

If they can't give you an inch, why should you give them a mile?

What are they actually receiving through the PICC (I.e. antibiotics)? Or are you only flushing it for maintenance?

Hello fellow nurses, I'm having C6-7 replaced at the end of this month. I'm not worried about the surgery at all. I'm in good hands with the surgeon. Just wanted to see if anyone else has had this surgery (NOT a fusion) and how you are doing afterward!

I don't know what company you are with, but I've had prior connections with "Continuum Pediatrics" when I lived in VA. Maybe give them a try. I checked and they have offices in NC and SC ?

I work in private duty pediatric home care and it's mostly the opposite. Many of the patients I work with are responsive, if not verbally then in other ways. While the agency needs nurses to fill positions, you also need to be happy with your job. Like you said, you're there with them for 12 hours a day. Even with my unresponsive patients, that always gave me time to get homework done! Maybe look into a different agency? What part of the country are you located in?

It might put you behind for right now because you're a new nurse and haven't gotten your flow down yet, but I would only pull one patient at a time. A mistake I made as a new nurse working in an assisted living facility was pulling multiple patients' meds at one time. I had them in little cups with the room number and even first few letters of the last name on my med cart. You can guess what happened. I handed the wrong cup to the wrong patient. Thankfully the patient was A&Ox4 and asked what the "big pink pill" was, and it hit me like a ton of bricks - WRONG CUP. I took the cup back and mumbled something along the lines of, "Oh let me see if there's a new manufacturer for that pill..." and gave him the right cup. Here's another story of mine for pulling two patients at once. It was when I worked acute rehab and had two patients in the same room. Both wanted pain medication. I pulled both. The second patient stated she took a different-looking pill before, and I basically said the same thing like in the other story, about the manufacturer. Well once I got back to the med cart, I realized I swapped these ladies' pills. One was for Norco 5-325 and one was for Norco 10-325. Not a horribly big deal but definitely the last time I stopped pulling multiple meds at once ? Remember it's not a matter of if a med error will occur by using this method of pulling meds, it's when, and who it will affect.

I've always bounced from private duty nursing back to the hospital. When the hospital gets too stressful, such as with covid, back to private duty I go. It's the exact opposite - most days it's boring. And I make just as much as I did working ER.

This whole abortion law really p**ses me off! I'm a childfree woman. I am SO grateful and blessed to have obtained a tubal in 2017 while I still had the chance. BUT, as we all know, tubals have a rare chance of failing. So far (knock on wood) my tubal has been great and I've been so happy with it. But living in Texas, what happens if my tubal fails, and I find out I'm pregnant after my potential fetus has a heartbeat? Here I am, taking precautions with permanent birth control, as a grown married woman. And these men would be mandating me to carry a child I would absolutely not want. How is any of that fair? It's just so wrong that they think they can force people to have unwanted babies! I'd rather see an abortion in the first trimester than someone being forced to carry an unwanted child, birth it, and either end up giving it to the system where nobody else wants it, abusing it, or killing it. Just my two cents and rant. Thanks for listening.

Congrats! Those sound very exciting. Are you asking which you should choose? If so, do you have any other experience besides nursing school? Personally if it were me, regardless of pay, I would choose the RN extender position. As a new grad, a new grad program can be SO beneficial to you to really help you get the flow of this new career and lifestyle. The pediatric infusion center, IMO, sounds like you may need more experience to reach your full potential there. That being said, I don't know your background/skills/etc. ? Good luck with whichever you choose!

Is anyone here starting the MSN Education program on September 27? ?

I had a patient who had a wound on his lower leg, and he thought he was "cleaning" it by using dish soap and sometimes...BLEACH. Major health literacy issue there!

Our facility always states what type of IV administration, whether it's push or piggyback. It never just says "IV". IMO the physician should absolutely state how it should be given, especially since some nurses can't push a few specific IVP meds. Just my two cents!

What system do you use? In Epic at my facility they are listed as IVP and IVPB. Like someone else said, usually the 40mg protonix diluted with 10ml saline is IVP. If this is a recurring problem, I would bring it up to whoever is on your safety team/pharmacy team as I can only assume lack of specification will cause or has already caused medication errors.

I see others have answered but I wanted to chime in. I agree with others saying it is more of the TA's responsibility. Like you said, how are you supposed to manage children in your clinic when you have to leave every hour to toilet this child? Who knows how long she takes to use the restroom either...you could be gone for 10 minutes or 30 minutes! If this student needs that much "attendance", she needs a personal aide to be with her, or a private duty nurse.

The previous replies are great. I just wanted to add that I always bring a roll of toilet paper (some homes either don't have any, or the families don't like you using theirs), EXTRA SOCKS for when you have to take off your shoes and end up stepping in something wet, and always keep a change of clothes in my trunk.

The vent itself should have a label with the DME phone number on it. I would call that. Next, I would call the RT assigned to this patient's case for his/her opinion and guidance. Like others have said, check for leaks and obviously make sure your patient is stable. Sensors could be bad.

1. You can ALWAYS (and should) speak up for your patient! 2. Not sure about other hospitals as I don't work in OB. 3. I've personally seen two circs in nursing school. Both babies were locally numbed SQ and also had the binkies with sucrose to help sooth. One baby slept through it, the other cried the entire time. If it were me, I would speak to the doctor before she even goes in to see the baby and start the procedure. You can either straight up ask her if she is going to use local anesthetic, or subtly ask by saying something such as, "Oh, I see you're gathering supplies to start Baby X's circ. Would you like me to grab the lidocaine from the Pyxis for you?" Good luck!

My guess would be that the edge of the tegaderm window is sitting right over the entry point, making it hard to visualize and assess it properly.

I remember being taught in nursing school that it is most definitely against HIPAA to look up your own name.