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roboshit posted:Breaking ribs is always kind of gross but yeah if you aren't you need to push harder or find a stool to stand on or something. What sucks is when the code goes on forever and their chest just gets mushed. Like last week when a patient went into v-fib arrest at shift change and we defibrillated her literally 25 times on the way to the cath lab (her LAD was completely blocked).  drat, was she down the whole time? And did she make it through the cath lab okay? It's always amazing to hear about crazy codes like that and what people can come back from. My only experience with a code (so far) was during the last few hours of my preceptorship when when this sweet old man that another nurse was taking care went into vtach when she was talking to him, which kicked off a half-hour effort to get him back. They eventually did and transferred him to the CVICU where he promptly coded again and didn't make it.  Are all codes chaotic though or was the one I watched just poorly run? There was an awful lot of shouting ("SOMEBODY CALL XRAY! WHO HAS THE LABS?") and extra people just around. I went outside and watched from the doorway when I realized that I didn't need to be crammed in there with the code team, two RTs, lab tech, nurses and the new grads they were orientating, and god knows who else.
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Nov 23, 2012 04:31
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Hellacopter posted:
We got a pulse back and she made it to the cath lab alive, yeah. She was on a balloon pump for a while and was finally extubated and she was doing okay when I finished my 3 days last Monday. People should not be shouting and that poo poo generally doesn't happen, not even in the "messy" codes like when 50 people are cramming into our tiny rooms. Just get out if you can't help and there's not enough room for you to safely observe.
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Nov 23, 2012 04:41
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The first time I did compressions, I hadn't even graduated from nursing school yet. I was driving to class and saw some kind of scene on the highway ahead. A guy was laying in the road next to an empty car with a few people standing around. It looked to be some kind of accident. No one was helping or doing anything other than those few people just standing there so I pull over and run to the guy who is lying face up on the pavement, totally unresponsive. No pulse. I start doing compressions and think to myself: "man this is easier than I thought it would be. Aren't the ribs supposed to break or something?" The best way I can describe the feeling was 'mushy', and not like I expected. One of the people standing around was a woman crying hysterically. She kept repeating something over and over again, but I couldn't make it out at first, focused as I was on this guy's mushy chest. Eventually I heard her clearly: "He jumped. Right in front of me. Oh god, he jumped." That's when I looked up and noticed the bridge about a hundred feet above us. Apparently the dude had decided enough was enough and had taken a nosedive. Then it all made sense in my head. The guy's chest was floppy because nearly every bone in his body was broken. It was a miracle his head hadn't exploded. When the paramedics showed up a few minutes later, they lifted his head off the pavement, muttered something about "brain matter" and called it then and there. I was late to class that day.
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Nov 23, 2012 05:09
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Hey there super smart nursing dudes! I had a question about career stuff. I'm presently starting out in EMS and found out that I really like this field a whole hell of a lot. I did my ride alongs this past weekend as a lowly EMT-B and it was actually the most rewarding things I think I've ever done. I've pretty much made up my mind that I will get my Paramedic, but was wondering how far off is getting an RN is afterwords? Can anyone here comment on how the transition went or if they miss working in the field at all? One of the main differences I was told was that Medics really just want to keep the patient as alive and viable as possible, where as Nursing is more about recovery and patient comfort. How true is that?
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Nov 24, 2012 02:32
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I spent 7 years in the field as an EMT before landing a RN job in an ICU. The EMS job was a lot of fun and sort of rewarding but you'll soon find that there isn't much mobility and EMS is a terrible career to stay in on a long term basis. The pay isn't very good, you don't get good benefits like retirement, health, etc. The transition for me wasn't too bad, but I had to work hard to break some bad habits I made from EMS and some nursing schools really don't like EMTs or medics in their programs (for really dumb reasons). I really miss the field but I do a whole hell of a lot more now than I ever could have working on an ambulance. The pay and benefits are great too. Whoever told you those generaliztions about the two fields is wrong. EMS is geared towards triage, treatment, and transport, and the vast majority of your calls are not critically ill or injured patients.. It's a very specialized field with a very specific focus. Regarding nursing, it all depends on we're you work or what you want to specialize in. If you want comfort and recovery you could work in rehab, if you want to work with critically ill and injured patienys then you could work in an ER or ICU. You get the benefit of receiving a patient who is on death's door, busting your rear end to help them, and actually seeing them improve to roll out of your unit, which is something you don't get in EMS. I will say, I have received far more "thank yous" while working as a nurse than I ever have as an EMT.
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Nov 25, 2012 05:13
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Oh God, what have I gotten myself into. I started working as an LVN back in April. I was doing home health care, and it was ridiculously easy. More or less I was a glorified babysitter to make sure my two clients took their meds, and didn't die during the night. It was boring, though, but it was work experience and I was glad to have it. A month or so ago, another nurse that I work with told me that the facility he worked at was hiring. So I applied and got hired. Awesome! Now I'm getting facility experience. Unfortunately this job has been ridiculously frustrating. I'm working in a SNF comprised mostly of low-income Medicare patients. I have about 20 patients a day that I have to give meds to. Just giving people their meds alone could probably take up the full 8 hours I'm scheduled to work. But I have to do my charting. Plus all the other nursing stuff like contacting doctors. Also, all the nurses are responsible for the paperwork on all new admissions. This paperwork is easily two hours of work. So I'm finding myself working from 3:00pm until 3:00am more often than not. But I don't get paid for the extra hours I put in. None of the nurses working there do. (I should mention that I see all the nurses having to work extra hours, so I take some comfort in knowing that its not just me.) I'm also getting frustrated because no one there can really work with me on how to properly fill out all the paperwork. So I feel like everything I do is really half-assed because I have no idea what I'm doing, and just try to do my best. Last night I left at 4:00am without finishing up some of my paperwork, because its 4:00am and gently caress staying any longer. Is this normal for nursing? Or am I just in a really crappy facility?
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Nov 28, 2012 23:21
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No, you're in a really crappy facility. And not being paid for the work you stay to finish up sounds illegal.
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Nov 28, 2012 23:26
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Yeah, you need to get out of there. You should always be paid for the work you're doing, and yeah, that's extremely illegal not to pay for hours worked.
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Nov 29, 2012 02:49
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Yeah, it sounds hella shady to me, too. The problem is that I have less than a year of experience which makes it tough to find a job. I guess I'll keep looking and at worse just tough it out for a few months. Thanks for letting me know its not all nursing places that are like this! 
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Nov 29, 2012 11:56
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I'm looking to start school pretty soon. I don't want to type a long e/n post, but taking into account my situation, I really need to try for a 1 year certification type job for now. I'd be happy with anything that would pay enough to live, even if somewhat poorly. I've heard good things about OR tech, that it's a fairly easy program to get into, jobs aren't terribly hard to find and the pay is alright by my standards at least. Can anyone confirm or deny this? Also other suggestions are welcome. Not sure if this is the proper thread or not, but I feel this post doesn't warrant it's own thread.
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Nov 29, 2012 22:08
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There is a high demand for CNAs, at least in my area. CNAs don't make great money, but you can become certified fairly quickly, you'll be working closely with RNs, and I understand that many programs even have even made being a CNA a requirement for entry. I don't really know about being an OR tech, but it may be a little more competitive.
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Nov 29, 2012 22:23
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EMT takes about a semester and gives you more flexibility, you can become an ER tech or drive for a private med transport company, or answer 911 calls depending on your municipality.
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Nov 30, 2012 20:53
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PopRocks posted:EMT takes about a semester and gives you more flexibility, you can become an ER tech or drive for a private med transport company, or answer 911 calls depending on your municipality. This is... not accurate. Being an EMT basic gives you the flexibility to compete with the horde of desperate EMT basics who are all looking for jobs. There is perhaps no position in health care with a more horrific imbalance between potential applicants and available jobs. Seriously, run a craigslist search in your area and see how many folks are looking to hire EMT Bs. Then check for CNAs. EMS is loving brutal for new applicants.
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Dec 1, 2012 15:00
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I dunno about other hospitals but I landed my ICU tech job with my EMT-B; they accepted either that or a CNA. At least with an EMT I can do hospitals or EMS; CNA is basically how to take blood pressures and wipe rear end. You are right though that actual EMS EMT jobs are harder to find than hospital jobs and I'm pretty sure the EMT class is longer and more expensive than the CNA class. Anyway that's enough acronyms for now.
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Dec 1, 2012 15:47
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Some posts google brings up says some people have a hard time finding jobs as a Surg Tech. However, in my area there seems to be a decent amount of postings for the job. Also the girl I know who does it and went to the school I'm going too claimed they had over a 95% success rate when it came to getting jobs soon after finishing, not sure if that's bullshit or not be she seems to be pretty smart and spoke favorably about it all in all. My area is around Birmingham, Al for the record. I know they don't make a lot, but I haven't been doing much with myself and I really need to just hurry and take action considering my FAFSA application has gone through and was sent to the school. The only reason I'm not considering nursing at the moment is because staying in my current position for 2 or 3 more years really isn't going to work for me so I'm limiting myself to 1 year certification type deals. Cost of living is cheap here and I can always go back to school later for something better. I don't really want to do EMT B, for some reason they only make like 8 or 9 an hour here, which is ridiculous. I can make that cooking.
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Dec 2, 2012 02:21
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Yeah, EMT pay is often horrendous unless you're lucky enough to work for a city or county government run 911 service.
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Dec 2, 2012 04:51
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Yeah, google says Surgery Technician pay for this area is between 31-41k. Assuming trying to find a job with no experience it would be more like 28-30k, that's definitely doable for me. I'm pretty excited to be doing something with myself, I just wanted to make sure it wouldn't be some giant mistake and waste of schooling, but it seems it's not.
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Dec 2, 2012 06:03
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I'm a new nurse and had my first interview on Thursday at a drug/alcohol rehab place, the dude straight up told me I was hired and to bring in my license and poo poo on Friday so he could make copies. I called him on Friday and he told me he had to do more interviews and to call on Monday to find out his decision. Is this what I should expect from nurse managers or is this a particularly poorly run establishment?
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Dec 2, 2012 23:52
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So, uh, any other new nurses feel overwhelmed on their first job? Everytime I think I've figured out a procedure for the GODDAMN MOUNTAINS OF PAPERWORK I do, it seems that there's something else. Someone wants eye drops? No problem! Get an order from the MD, fill out the Telephone Order slip, the Physicians Orders, document it in the chart, fax off the request to the pharmacy and fill out the MAR. But guess what? I forgot to do the new care plan. Yeesh. Am I alone in this or does every new nurse go thru this?
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Dec 4, 2012 01:31
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Oxford Comma posted:So, uh, any other new nurses feel overwhelmed on their first job? That seems excessive to me. More like Contact doc>TORV order>Scan to pharmacy at my facility. What sort of institution are you working at in which you're making a new goddamn care plan for this?
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Dec 4, 2012 01:40
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Space Harrier posted:That seems excessive to me. More like Contact doc>TORV order>Scan to pharmacy at my facility. What sort of institution are you working at in which you're making a new goddamn care plan for this? Some bargain-basement SNF in Oakland.
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Dec 4, 2012 02:30
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Oxford Comma posted:So, uh, any other new nurses feel overwhelmed on their first job? SNF nurse here, sounds normal, yes it seems like a lot but you'll learn to do orders like that in about five minutes. Although a care plan seems excessive for eye drops (unless it's antibiotic or something). I can't wait until EMRs come to all nursing homes. Until then, I hand-write everything.  As for being overwhelmed--it really does happen to everyone, and will lessen with experience. Don't be afraid to ask questions if you're unsure of something.
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Dec 4, 2012 07:42
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pancreatic cancer posted:I'm a new nurse and had my first interview on Thursday at a drug/alcohol rehab place, the dude straight up told me I was hired and to bring in my license and poo poo on Friday so he could make copies. I called him on Friday and he told me he had to do more interviews and to call on Monday to find out his decision. Is this what I should expect from nurse managers or is this a particularly poorly run establishment? No, that definitely sounds a bit sketchy, they shouldn't be asking for actual copies of your licenses and poo poo until after you get hired.
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Dec 4, 2012 18:00
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I'm finishing up my third semester here next week, and I have to wonder, is horrible unorganization just something that comes along with nursing school? Last week, after class we had our instructor for next semester come talk to us, and she handed out sheets with the four different clinical sections. We were told to rank them in order of preference. I stayed after and talked to her about the one I chose working best with my work schedule, and she even let me look through everyone's selections; my rotation only had 8 people in it, and can fit up to 10. I carpool with a friend, which they also take into consideration. Over the weekend, they decided we're going to enroll ourselves, and clinical rotations are on a "first come first serve" basis, and registration opens at 6 AM Wednesday. No biggie, I figured, I'll just wake up early, get ready for class, then be on my computer ready to sign up by 5:55. BUT NO Today at clinical I found out it's been changed ONCE AGAIN: registration is now December 11 (I have to work), in person or on the phone. No option to do it online. Clinicals still first come first served. I've already been hearing several people talking about switching to the clinical section I prioritized. Which is fine, I could still likely end up at another hospital I loved my time at, even if it means loving my work schedule up even more. I just don't understand the complete lack of organization, things like this have happened constantly over the last year and a half. Has anyone else had the same sort of experiences?
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Dec 5, 2012 03:48
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Yarbald posted:I'm finishing up my third semester here next week, and I have to wonder, is horrible unorganization just something that comes along with nursing school? I'm only finishing up my first semester, and while it hasn't been that extreme, we just switched from quarters to semesters. I am the first group on semesters. There has been a lot of, "You'll have to excuse us as this is new for us as well.." throughout the semester. That has been getting old. I get it, but you've had how long to prepare for this transition so get your poo poo together. Quick question of my own, what are the secrets to getting cheap books? Make sure I'm not missing anything. I usually use Amazon and check various book rental services. That kind of bit me this semester as the assessment book I am using I rented and really want to hang on to it so I may now just buy it. But, our next semester is Intro To Clinical with a lab portion and a clinical portion, pathophysiology, and pharm. I added up the cost of all the text books for next semester and if bought new through the schools bookstore it is over $1,000. I'm obviously not going to be buying new, but god drat.
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Dec 5, 2012 04:28
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CancerStick posted:I'm only finishing up my first semester, and while it hasn't been that extreme, we just switched from quarters to semesters. I am the first group on semesters. There has been a lot of, "You'll have to excuse us as this is new for us as well.." throughout the semester. That has been getting old. I get it, but you've had how long to prepare for this transition so get your poo poo together. Yeah, it's hard to "get my poo poo together" when the school can't be bothered to do the same. I kind of rely on them to be organized in order to be able to plan things out and be prepared. In regards to your books, the publisher our school goes through usually offers eTexts that are a lot cheaper than the physical books. We're also lucky and have a bookstore across the street that's substantially cheaper than the school's, and the school bookstore will actually price match anything we can find over there. Then there's always Amazon.
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Dec 5, 2012 14:42
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My school is a pretty disorganized mess as well. I sent a fairly lengthy 6 page complaint letter objectively listing everything that was wrong with the program from a collection of students. It was in returned, met by a quick speaking from the Assistant Dean who basically gave us the politicians run around saying that that's the way things are and that YOUR FEEDBACK IS VERY IMPORTANT TO US. Some of the points in the email were... Community Based Nursing Class: -The lectures, textbook, and powerpoints did not correlate to the exam at all. -Constant changes in due dates in assignments, documents were posted everywhere in no organized fashion online. Nursing Lecture: -ABSOLUTELY NO COORDINATION. -We had about *10 DIFFERENT* lecturers this semester. About 8 of them just read from the powerpoint. Oh, we had mandatory attendance too. -Multiple instructors giving out different instructions on what the right procedure actually is. -Assignment names / what is being asked to be done often does not have the same matching names. -About 3 different due dates written in various places. -We have two different groups of students, a LPN to RN class and a traditional RN class. The LPN class have been able to review their exams on the same day as well as dispute poorly worded questions and argue answers. The traditional class had to wait a week to review the exam, if we wanted to dispute it, we needed to see our "Gradekeeper" which often was not possible since they only had a 2-3 hour time window once per week. Oh and if you do not see them in that week, you're basically SOL because they have a rule that once you take your next exam you can't see the previous exam. -Lectures do not reflect what is on the exam. -They say that "critical thinking" is a main focus point for nursing, which it is and I completely agree, but they do not enforce or teach that type of thinking in anyway. Nursing Lab: -Lab Testing: Lack of lab supplies. We have to use gauze to imitate alcohol wipes, and old syringes / needles that get a ton of air in them. -Every single instructor who oversees the actual lab exams have different standards. Also it was extremely apparent that depending on how they felt that day (if they had a bad day or not) they would be less lenient. Clinicals: -Let's just say we have had two major incidences so far. One being a huge medication error of a narcotic being given to a wrong patient (We aren't even supposed to be giving out medications unless our instructor is there with us). And the other being a student stabbing herself with a live epipen because she was holding it upside down. And on books? I can't really suggest anything, they made us buy two years worth of books ($1200~) at the beginning of the program. Can't really buy used because it comes with about 3-4 online codes that you need to use and buying the codes directly from the vendor costs just as much as buying a used book + code. /rant
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Dec 5, 2012 15:15
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Etrips posted:My school is a pretty disorganized mess as well. I sent a fairly lengthy 6 page complaint letter objectively listing everything that was wrong with the program from a collection of students. It was in returned, met by a quick speaking from the Assistant Dean who basically gave us the politicians run around saying that that's the way things are and that YOUR FEEDBACK IS VERY IMPORTANT TO US. Yeah, I have a lot of similar complaints about my school. This semester we had three different instructors (one each for peds, med/surg, and OB) and they all had completely different expectations, ways of teaching, and tests. Our OB instructor overloaded us with so much information (8 30+ page PowerPoints in 5 weeks); she didn't even make it to the last two, and the material is still on the final next week. I am going to be sending a similar letter once I graduate. My school has the highest graduation/NCLEX pass rate in the district, I don't understand how.
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Dec 5, 2012 17:35
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Yarbald posted:Yeah, it's hard to "get my poo poo together" when the school can't be bothered to do the same. I kind of rely on them to be organized in order to be able to plan things out and be prepared. I wasn't clear, I apologize. I was referring to my school having plenty of time to make the transition from quarters to semesters. They, meaning my school, should have their poo poo together much better than they do.
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Dec 5, 2012 17:49
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CancerStick posted:Quick question of my own, what are the secrets to getting cheap books? Make sure I'm not missing anything. I usually use Amazon and check various book rental services. That kind of bit me this semester as the assessment book I am using I rented and really want to hang on to it so I may now just buy it. But, our next semester is Intro To Clinical with a lab portion and a clinical portion, pathophysiology, and pharm. I added up the cost of all the text books for next semester and if bought new through the schools bookstore it is over $1,000. I'm obviously not going to be buying new, but god drat. What I did after one semester of nursing school (and almost dying at the textbook cost) was just buy the old editions off of ebay. New editions would be out for only a few months when the semesters started so there were never any used copies available. Content really doesn't change much in the 3 years between editions and the biggest problem I ever ran into was that page numbers for assignments didn't match up anymore. That said, it wasn't rocket science to figure out that the content from Chapter 32: The Client Who Abuses Drugs and Alcohol was now in Chapter 30: Substance Use Disorders. The little effort I had to put in to double check with a classmates textbook was worth the thousands of dollars I saved. I also had a lot of luck snagging a current edition of my medsurg book for 1/5 of its normal price because it was an international edition that was supposed to be only sold in SE Asia. That sucker made it through two semesters of MS and literally the only difference between my book and my classmates' was that the paper in mine was thinner.  My nursing school also was super disorganized and I wasn't impressed with how it was run when I first started. A lot of good nurses don't make good teachers or administrators. They've got knowledge and expertise but have no way of sharing it effectively. After a while I think we all just got used to all the crazy and began expecting that each semester would start in a poorly communicated, disorganized mess.
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Dec 7, 2012 02:35
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I finish by 2nd degree BSN on Tuesday. Yee-fuckin haw! I got two interviews from a hospital w/a level 1 trauma center and I'm anticipating an offer in their Neuro ICU. Time to Work! Dear Nursing/School, F*** you and the care plan you rode in on. You are a DISorganized piece of poo poo and an embarrassment to the "profession." Thanks for the job, I'm really looking forward to working. Best, Me EDIT: I added DIS to organized. ThirstyBuck fucked around with this message at 23:56 on Dec 9, 2012 |
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Dec 8, 2012 02:04
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Definitely agreeing that nursing school is more disorganized than most and that nurses don't really make good professors. My school luckily lives and dies by the syllabus that they give us in the first week of class or so. That's our only, yet powerful card we play if a professor decides to gently caress around with the schedule or decides to add new material. So it wasn't as bad as most like my cousin's friend who still had to do clinicals even after graduating.
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Dec 8, 2012 02:34
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The only reason my nursing school didn't suck ridiculous amounts of rear end is because our instructor was a pretty awesome guy. In related news, I think the reason that some of the nurses at the facility I work at finish so quickly is that they just skip giving out some of their meds.
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Dec 8, 2012 22:48
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Nursing schools do seem to be perpetually disorganised. I work at the bookstore on campus and ebooks are definitely your best bet. Even if your store doesn't have access for you, go to the publisher's website. I'm happy to take any PMs on finding ebook access.
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Dec 10, 2012 05:31
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I survived the first semester of nursing school. The day before my last final I got a letter in the mail from one of the professors I have next semester that had the syllabus, and a note that I should start reading the book now. 
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Dec 13, 2012 23:22
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dissin department posted:I survived the first semester of nursing school. Yea. My first semester is coming to a close tomorrow with my microbiology final. The nursing finals are already done. I'm tempted to spend the next three weeks mastering diseases, clinical signs, etc. But I kind of want to enjoy these next three weeks before I enter what appears to be hell (Pharm, Patho, and Intro to Clinical w/ Lab and Clinical). I think I'll just relax.
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Dec 13, 2012 23:32
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CancerStick posted:Yea. My first semester is coming to a close tomorrow with my microbiology final. The nursing finals are already done. I'm tempted to spend the next three weeks mastering diseases, clinical signs, etc. But I kind of want to enjoy these next three weeks before I enter what appears to be hell (Pharm, Patho, and Intro to Clinical w/ Lab and Clinical). And that's the right answer to the 'should I study on my break' question.
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Dec 14, 2012 06:01
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I just finished my first semester too. PAINFUL. Health assessment was just the BLURST. My first C ever and 3 Bs I seem to have an issue with the whole "choose the best answer not just the right answer" Can anyone tell me what pharmacology is like? Is it super chemistry-ey? Or is it like patho, a lot of memorisation of stuff? I'm looking forward to kicking mental health's butt but what about med-surg? My brain still hurts
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Dec 14, 2012 08:04
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Roki B posted:And that's the right answer to the 'should I study on my break' question.
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Dec 14, 2012 18:30
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Miranda posted:
That never changes. The only straight forward semester (for me) was psych, and at my school it was near the end so we had to switch back to answering the test like it was a normal test. Then 6 weeks later switch back for advanced med-surg.
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Dec 16, 2012 22:27
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