snowflower2016

I typically "triage" people who ask for advice. Always referring them to their healthcare provider. Only once have I recommended treatment....a family member called in a panic after giving her child the 2nd dose of a new medication....she described textbook angioedema. I asked if he'd ever had benedryl before (he had without incident), I suggested a benedryl and a trip to urgent care immediately. I didn't know a lot about angioedema at the time and was concerned about his airway when she said his tongue was "huge". When at the ER, they took him immediately and treated him for anaphylaxis.

If you wear glasses....take them off, put mask on, THEN put glasses back on. If you have long hair.....pull back in a tight ponytail. These tips work for me.

I'm a new nurse, too (19 months on the floor). I am a big questioner and ask "why" all the time. I ask my peers first and then check google....if nobody knows the answer or google isn't clear, I ask one of our APNs or residents. My inquisitive nature has caught errors more than once. Trust your gut...if something seems weird...ASK!!! And if you have no idea...ASK!!! A nurse just going through the motions and focusing on tasks isn't a safe nurse IMO.

I had a patient who was an opioid addict thank me for treating him like a human being.

Are you a student? Or employed by hospital? Either way, follow up with manager of unit and ask to be notified if the patient's cultures or blood results come up positive. If they are positive then go to student health or employee health (it should be covered) and get the quantiferon blood test ASAP. Then return to student/employee health a month later for a follow up quantiferon blood test. If you are positive with first test....it wasn't this exposure that made you positive. If you are negative with the first test....wait and see. If you are positive with second test....relax...you'll go on antibiotics and be okay. If you are negative with the second test....you're okay (for now ). Working as a nurse, you will be exposed to TB and may not even know it. It is one of the risks of our jobs. Hang in there and try to relax, I can think of several things worse that a possible TB exposure. It CAN be treated.

I would recommend finding out what type of clinical placements each program offers. Some programs place their students in long term care facilities for their med-surg clinicals, which will not prepare you well if you're interested in working in acute care. Some programs also have "simulation-based" clinicals if they don't have access to a site with a particular specialty (I work with nurses who had simulation-based clinicals in pediatrics and women's health.) I would encourage you to choose a program where you can work with real patients in all areas! Then you'll have a better idea of what type of population you like to work with.

I work with a CNA who refers to herself as "a nurse". At first I questioned her use of the term, but as I've thought about it more ANYONE could call themselves a "nurse". A "nurse" is someone who gives medical care to someone in need no training required or necessary to use this word. My English major sister was a "nurse" to my mother for months while she was on home hospice. The hospice nurse came for 1 hour per day and my sister was "the nurse" for the other 23 hours/day. The CNAs on my unit check blood sugar, perform EKGs, collect vital signs, assist with daily care and provide emotional support to patients. This IS nursing care! And if she wants to call herself a "nurse", I'm okay with that. Perhaps she's been disrespected when she's called herself a "tech" or an "aide" and when she says "I'm a nurse", she feels more respected and proud. It's semantics. I am a "registered nurse" and I don't have an issue with it. I need my aides and techs and I can't do my job as well when I don't have one, so if s/he wants to call themselves a "nurse" I'm cool with that. :)

Telemetry/Specialty Med-Surg 1:4 with a tech is a normal day.

I'd go with your passion. If you ever decide you want to switch to peds, you'll likely have to start out on night shift anyway. So I say, "pay your dues" now and then work until you can transition to a day shift position in peds.

OMG! THIS! Made me gasp and gag!

I would think that your institution has a policy for admissions. Check your policy and procedures information. Mine does all the things you mentioned, plus a health history, medication reconciliation, skin assessment, IPOC goals, flu shot assessment, personal belongings documentation, and learning style/patient education assessment.

Yes! I'm a regular donor and always get an email with where my blood went. (It's never gone to the hospital where I work, though.)

Hang in there. I think this is a completely normal feeling. Have you been involved in any Rapid Responses or Codes? I would suggest going to ALL of them....observe at first. Watch and observe the different roles that people take and how things progress. Eventually get in there and get involved. Record keeping is a good start. Chart vitals, who is in attendance, what is happening, what medications are given, what is the patient's status, etc (however your unit policy dictates). Taking vitals is another role you could take. When you're ready or when the time comes, instinct will kick in and you won't even think twice about jumping in and doing compressions. I have anxiety about drawing blood in an "emergency" when others are watching, so I let others do this and I do other things that I'm more comfortable with. If you're not in an ICU or the ER, codes are not that common so hang in there and don't give up.

We typically do pRBCs at 150 ml/hr on our floor...which takes around 2 hours for 1 unit.

Google "IV start tips" and watch some videos or read some articles with tips then practice, practice, practice.