The "Teach a Student Something-a-Day" thread!

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In an effort to not enter nursing school as a completely nieve individual, I was hoping that some 2nd years or RN's could share something beneficial with us students each day.

It can be anything little or totally meaningful. Whatever you contribute will be greatly appreciated and hopefully will help me to be a better student and nurse ;)

Thanks!

Specializes in Utilization Management.

Calm begets calm when a patient is in crisis.

Show concern for your patient but not fear. Maintain eye contact when you speak to the patient; it builds trust and confidence. You might feel sure they're not going to make it, but you can definitely be sure you're going to do your best for that patient.

If the patient wonders, "Am I going to make it?" your response should be to make good eye contact and say with all sincerity, "I know you're scared right now, but I want you to know right here and now that we right here, and we are going to do everything in our power to help you through this, ok?"

If you show any fear, your patient will waste valuable inner resources getting frightened too. But if you maintain that calm attitude and work purposefully, your patient will also pick up on that and will feel more secure knowing that you really ARE doing everything you can to help.

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In an effort to not enter nursing school as a completely nieve individual, I was hoping that some 2nd years or RN's could share something beneficial with us students each day.

It can be anything little or totally meaningful. Whatever you contribute will be greatly appreciated and hopefully will help me to be a better student and nurse ;)

Thanks!

Make a checklist of things to do when you start the clinical day, e.g. check the glucometer, get AM vital signs, check the med drawer to see if all the patient's meds are there, do head-to-toe assessment, open chart by 9 am ... IT REALLY PAYS TO START THE DAY OFF RIGHT. Get organized first thing and you won't spend all day playing catch-up.

Seren

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NEVER GIVE UP!!!! IF THERE'S A WILL THEN THERE'S A WAY!!!

short story short - one day an AIDS pt i was taken care of asked me i'm going to die! and i said, "you have aids but you're not dieing of aids."

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The critical thinking for Mr. Smith is ALWAYS consider first the ABC's

Airway

Breathing

Circulation

So your first response would be to apply 02 to help with the shortness of breath. After this you will address the other symptoms.

Hi, I've just completed my first year nursing and was wondering if someone could explain what resps -24 means. I am unfamiliar with this, for some reason it was never brought up in my classes or in clinical. I understand that the "normal" range or resps should be from 12-20/min, but need some clarification with the -24. Thanks.

Jen

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:roll this is awesome!!! i'm just ending my first term of the lpn program. i plan to go on and get my rn. this is the best website i've found. you folks are great!!!!

keep them coming..

lpn student in oregon

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Suck it up, it's gonna suck no matter what you do.. You won't learn as much as you would like, your teachers don't care, the administration is incompetent, clinical is boring.. but it ends in 2 years. THANK GOD!

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Hi, I've just completed my first year nursing and was wondering if someone could explain what resps -24 means. I am unfamiliar with this, for some reason it was never brought up in my classes or in clinical. I understand that the "normal" range or resps should be from 12-20/min, but need some clarification with the -24. Thanks.

Jen

24.. tachypnea in the adult.. in this question, signifies resp distress, in other cases, can be the first sign of shock or anxiety... and I'm sure there's more.

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Here is the rule of Bs for ABG interpretation, every little bit helps!

if the pH and the Bicarb

are Both in the same direction

then it is metaBolic

An example

pH 7.3 (low)

Bicarb 20 (low)

This is metabolic acidosis

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Specializes in cardiac med-surg.

YOU deserve one pedicure a month !

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I am studying for NCLEX so I have lots of little fun things for this thread. This is general and doesn't include exceptions to the rule.

Every abused drug is either an upper or a downer. For overdose vs. withdrawl the following is helpful. You can figure out which drugs are uppers or downers.

OVERDOSE

Too much upper everything up

Too much downer everything down

WITHDRAWL

Not enough upper everything down

Not enough downer everything up

Generally speaking an overdose on an upper looks like withdrawl from a downer. With up you will see words like increased, tachy, clonus, hyper, seizures. With down you will see the opposite words.

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I am a student who tries to learn from the nurses I follow. One tip I learned is to always write the date that the foley was changed on the back of the bag with a sharpie. This is very important in long care were the foleys are scheduled to be changed every month.

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wow its so nice to see this thread i created blossom so much.. thanks to all who have contributed.

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