NewMurse1014

I basically flip the am and pm and try to keep the night schedule even on my days off. I eat "breakfast" around 5pm before I go to work and "dinner" around 8am after work. Lunch varies depending on when I can take my break.

I think there's a difference between the NCLEX world of nursing vs. the real world. Yes, ABC is the general guideline, but in the real world we also need to consider other things: are the findings expected or unexpected? Which one will kill the patie...

I use the system going from the big picture/most important info to the least important/small details: 1) pt's name, room number, admitting dx, related hx - Mr. Jones in room 11-1 admitted with CHF exacerbation, hx of PCI in 2012 2) what we're doing f...

To expand on your thoughts, it is also because we live in a relatively peaceful era. The majority of people don't feel threatened by the stability of their safety, healthcare, and education, so they have the luxury to spend on other non-essential stu...

As a new grad with 1 year of experience, I'll be blunt with you: the unexpected can and will happen. You will experience your first med error, first patient fall, first RRT, etc. no matter how well you're prepared. What's important is what you do aft...

It depends on a lot of factors: 1) Is the pt exhibiting signs of observable distress? 2) What's the trend of BP/HR in the past 24 hrs? 3) Did the pt skip BP meds because of the surgery? Usually if I have a pt with abnormal vitals, I would check the t...

Like PP said, everyone makes mistakes, and this was a great learning opportunity for you. Your instructor took the appropriate action, the patient turned out fine, and I'm sure you will be much more careful next time. Instead of beating yourself up, ...

Agree with PP that this is something that can't be taught; it only comes with experience and it's the main difference between a novice and an experienced nurse. It's the ability to integrate small pieces of info into a bigger picture. As a nurse you ...

At my facility, we have two separate ISS for AC (>120) and HS/NPO (>200) and hypoglycemic protocol (

I almost always run meds with piggyback. If the pt has no maintenance fluid running, I would run the primary at TKO (NS at 10-20 ml/hr). It's especially useful if the pt has multiple piggyback meds, I just switch out the secondary lines. Another thin...

As KatieMI said, it's probably psychogenic polydipsia. DI would cause hypernatremia due to dehydration (lack of ADH causes loss of free water while Na level stays the same, increasing the total concentration). This pt needs to be on fluid restriction...

Maybe I'm not organized, but I don't usually go into every details about the pt. From what I observe, almost all nurses print out either the pt's list or pt's labels (which contains all basic info like room number, name, age, sex, code status, allerg...

I agree with AceOfHearts As far as giving/receiving reports, you will find a way to organize your brain. I usually give reports from "big" to "small" (1) the big picture (the diagnosis, why pt is here), what we're doing for them now, what we're plann...

Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (Wegener Granulomatosis): Practice Essentials, Background, Etiology

Agreed. This is something that OP needs to discuss with the clinical instructor. If it doesn't work out between OP and the nurse, the clinical instructor should arrange a different nurse or step up to teach the students himself/herself. I had a bad c...

I think it depends on the location. In the areas where the job market is saturated, the hospitals can afford asking for BSN RNs. In other areas the ADN is still viable. Here in California, almost all hospitals require BSN now because it's so saturate...

I'm approaching my one year mark as a new grad. I'm working in the Bay Area, CA and I started off as per diem without benefits at $80/hr plus $10 night differential. But just to put it in the perspective of COL, the average rent for 1 bedroom apartme...

^Same. I'm basically living in a different time zone. I usually sleep from 0900-1700 whether I'm working or not, and stay up all night till the morning. I also adjust my meals so that I eat "breakfast" (toast, coffee) at 1800 and "dinner" at 0700. Fo...

Seems like you became very defensive when HouTx offered the opinions in a matter-of-fact attitude. "Sometimes, low response rates happen because the question was not clearly worded or no one has any relevant information to offer." Notice the phrase "...

I'm not sure about LTC, but in the hospital where I'm working at (bay area) the nurses are unionized. We have a set rate for certain years of experience. You can search online via salary.com or the salary thread that PP mentioned. If you're still uns...

It will get better. The general consensus is that you start feeling more comfortable around the 1 year mark. Some people are faster some are slower. You've only working for 4 months since May. I was in the same boat 10 months ago, feeling like I knew...

Agree with PP. We have no way to tell from their subjective data, and it's not our job to judge whether the pt is lying or not. We can only document as objectively as possible. Same thing with pt with drug-seeking behaviors asking for pain meds. I wo...

I'm actually ok with it, especially when I have a lot of charting to do. Since I know they're not talking to me, I can chart in peace. If they were talking in English and I happened to sit next to them, I might be "forced" to make small chit-chats. A...

I usually come in 20 min early before shift starts to look up the chart. It might seem a long time but given 4-5 pt I only have 4-5 min per pt. The stuff I go through for each pt: 1. Doctor's short notes of brief history and reason for admission 2. P...

I'm also working in CA and I was lucky enough to get into a new grad program at a hospital last year. I know how competitive the job market is. My advice is to continue the current job and look for other jobs in the hospital/clinic/SNF/LTC. basically...