What should we be buying?

FORTHELOVEOF!!!! · May 10, 2012

I agree with Brillohead, we always tape lectures and are encouraged to and we share clinical stories regardless. I hate to say this but if your teacher is sharing stories with patient identifiers, it's still a HIPAA violation whether you tape it or not.

ImKosher · May 10, 2012

Exactly right. During lecture she may use pt names, dob, and medical info. If that's the case the I will get an external mic plug it in and arrange the mic to sit right out my backpack. I'm going to get my lecture >

mssjez · May 10, 2012

Our school has a supplemental section to their nursing handbook about audio recorders. It says that we are allowed to record lecture, but if we use the recording for any other purpose than studying (we cannot put it online, or let it leave our possession) we will be dismissed from the program. It also says that if the instructor asks us to turn it off for a portion of the lecture, we must do so. In any doubt ask the program what their regulations are.

tkm2005 · May 10, 2012

HIGHLIGHTERS.

nursingstudent3109 · May 12, 2012

Yes, agree -- highlighters, black "clicky" pens (with no detachable tops), stethoscope (I have the Littman Classic II and LOVE it! - could not hear a thing with those cheap ones in CNA classes), penlight, bandage scissors, clipboard, notebooks and 3-ring binders, a good pair of shoes for clinicals, index cards for making flashcards, a tote bag specifically for clinical use, those little Post-It flags to mark important pages with. My class also released a list of the types of uniforms and lab coats we'll need so I went ahead and bought those already. (We have to wear all-white head to toe!! Ugh!) You might also want to set yourself up a quiet corner to study in if needed with a desk, good lamp, etc. so you'll be all ready when classes start. Good luck!

brillohead, ADN, RN · May 12, 2012

A note about clipboards -- the "box" kind with a clip on the front and an inner compartment to hold papers is great for keeping things out of the public eye in this HIPAA world we live in. Also nice for storing extra pens (you'll set them down EVERYwhere!) and the various papers you need for your clinical assignments.

If you don't want to keep your steth around your neck or coiled up and crammed into a pocket, look into getting a hip holster. You can find them for about $5 (just google "stethoscope hip clip" to find one).

Both my clipboard and my hip clip are purple... my own little bit of individualization. And my steth is bright green -- not easily confused with the sea of black steths that live on every single unit I've ever been on.

amoLucia · May 12, 2012

To all you new students --- I'm an oldster nurse. Read all the great suggestions by your student peers. Have one major difference of opinion---consider a 'GOOD' stethescope - not a cheapo (they'll be stock avail on the clinical unit/lab). But a more costly Littman/Sprague is a risk for your lo$$. If you lay it down and forget it, you can KISS IT GOODBY! Another student, staff nurse, pt/family, resident MD will 'inherit' it - sad to say. Littman acoustics are very good but your scope won't be beat up, so it should do well.

Buy several hemostats (you'll see, they become so handy) and bandage scissors (there's an old joke--you can tell the real nurses because they carry scissors! LOL). One other piece of clinical equip - finger pulse oximeter (no more than $60 in catalogues!). Again, they are very desirable by staff seeking them on the unit. They are very delicate if dropped, so guard it carefully. Consider these suggestions from a working floor nurse - anything to make the floor experience easier.

brillohead, ADN, RN · May 12, 2012

Buy several hemostats (you'll see, they become so handy) and bandage scissors (there's an old joke--you can tell the real nurses because they carry scissors! LOL). One other piece of clinical equip - finger pulse oximeter (no more than $60 in catalogues!). Again, they are very desirable by staff seeking them on the unit. They are very delicate if dropped, so guard it carefully. Consider these suggestions from a working floor nurse - anything to make the floor experience easier.

A childhood friend who is a nurse keeps a large cross keychain on the handle of her bandage scissors -- this way she always has her cross with her, plus everyone knows whose scissors they are (and who has the balls to steal something with a CROSS attached in the first place, for crying out loud?). I'm planning on attaching my hockey keychain to mine.

I've seen people mention a pulse oximeter here before, but I've NEVER ONCE been in a position where I needed one that one wasn't available, so I think it just depends on the region. All the facilities I've been in have the towers with a thermometer, BP cuff, and pulse oximeter all in one unit.

Same with people saying they need to buy a BP cuff for their program -- we had them in the lab for fundamentals, and they're on the unit in every facility I've ever been in. I can't imagine lugging my personal BP cuff around from one patient to another -- can you say Infection Control Issue? The last facility I was in assigns each patient with their own cuff specifically for infection control reasons -- you just hook it onto the tubing on the tower to get vitals, then wrap it around the bedrail when you're done so that it's always in proximity to the patient, and if they get transported to another department for testing or treatments, the cuff goes along with them.

So before you shell out money for things, make sure you're actually going to be using them. Unless you want to have a pulse-ox at home for personal use, make sure you actually need one or would even be allowed to use one.

Klimpys · May 12, 2012

both my clipboard and my hip clip are purple... my own little bit of individualization. and my steth is bright green -- not easily confused with the sea of black steths that live on every single unit i've ever been on.

i agree with showing a little bit of individualization! :jester: i just bought a littman c[color=#464646]lassic ii s.e. stethoscope at allheart.com. they are on sale right now for $69.99, i decided to go for the glory and pay extra for the one that has a rainbow finish chest piece. i will definitely be unique! i got it engraved in case anyone else decided they really liked it...when i did na i and ii clinicals patients loved my blood pressure cuff that was purple with green frogs on it. i decided to order a leather batclip hip-clip for my stethoscope from amazon.com. what a great idea to wear the stethoscope on the hip! i didn't know there was such a thing until brillohead mentioned it. i got so tired of wadding it up in my pocket. i also order a clipboard with a calculator built-in from all-heart that also has assessment charts printed on it. sorry, i don't mean to sound like an infomercial for their site, but i had never been to it before, and i am excited about purchasing things for class this fall.

Klimpys · May 12, 2012

I've seen people mention a pulse oximeter here before, but I've NEVER ONCE been in a position where I needed one that one wasn't available, so I think it just depends on the region. All the facilities I've been in have the towers with a thermometer, BP cuff, and pulse oximeter all in one unit.
Same with people saying they need to buy a BP cuff for their program -- we had them in the lab for fundamentals, and they're on the unit in every facility I've ever been in. I can't imagine lugging my personal BP cuff around from one patient to another -- can you say Infection Control Issue? The last facility I was in assigns each patient with their own cuff specifically for infection control reasons -- you just hook it onto the tubing on the tower to get vitals, then wrap it around the bedrail when you're done so that it's always in proximity to the patient, and if they get transported to another department for testing or treatments, the cuff goes along with them.
So before you shell out money for things, make sure you're actually going to be using them. Unless you want to have a pulse-ox at home for personal use, make sure you actually need one or would even be allowed to use one.

I agree! Our program does require it though. I already have one due to my Nurse Aid I and II classes. We did use ours at clinicals in the nursing home and hospital. Our teacher wanted us to do manual vital signs and we only used the "nurse-on-a-stick" occasionally. I ended up buying my own pulse-ox because the hospital never had enough for us to use. Our teacher would send us six students to various rooms at the same time to take vitals. That is not easy to do when there isn't enough equipment to do it.

brillohead, ADN, RN · May 12, 2012

[color=#464646]i decided to order a leather batclip hip-clip for my stethoscope from amazon.com. what a great idea to wear the stethoscope on the hip! i didn't know there was such a thing until brillohead mentioned it. i got so tired of wadding it up in my pocket.

i ordered hip clips in bulk off ebay and sold them to classmates (at cost -- i wasn't making a profit off them!). everyone wanted one when they saw mine!

nursingstudent3109 · May 12, 2012

To all you new students --- I'm an oldster nurse. Read all the great suggestions by your student peers. Have one major difference of opinion---consider a 'GOOD' stethescope - not a cheapo (they'll be stock avail on the clinical unit/lab). But a more costly Littman/Sprague is a risk for your lo$$. If you lay it down and forget it, you can KISS IT GOODBY! Another student, staff nurse, pt/family, resident MD will 'inherit' it - sad to say. Littman acoustics are very good but your scope won't be beat up, so it should do well.

I solved this problem by paying about $11 extra and having my name engraved on my stethoscope. :) Plus it's bright pink so not easily confused with others.