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djfooboo posted:Sounds like somebody is in a gen-ed microbiology and not a microbiology for healthcare professionals? Yeah, it's general microbiology; it's required as a prerequisite for the nursing program here. Almost everyone in the class is headed towards nursing, but the course material is not really tailored to that purpose. djfooboo posted:In short, forget most stuff that seems outside your realm of caring for patients. I'll get right to it. Thank you.
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Apr 25, 2014 15:44
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I'll be honest, I remember jack poo poo about micro and I don't feel it's affected my patients or my career any.
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Apr 25, 2014 17:05
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djfooboo posted:Sounds like somebody is in a gen-ed microbiology and not a microbiology for healthcare professionals? In short, forget most stuff that seems outside your realm of caring for patients. In short, remember everything you possibly can because an education is actually worth something and knowledge is a pursuit in its own.
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Apr 25, 2014 17:16
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Roki B posted:In short, remember everything you possibly can because an education is actually worth something and knowledge is a pursuit in its own. Your brain only has so much room, gotta load up on the good stuff, not chaff in my opinion.
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Apr 25, 2014 18:23
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djfooboo posted:Your brain only has so much room, gotta load up on the good stuff, not chaff in my opinion. The Sherlock Holmes method.
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Apr 25, 2014 19:38
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Is it true if you don't use it, you lose it?
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Apr 25, 2014 20:18
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Hughmoris posted:Is it true if you don't use it, you lose it?
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Apr 25, 2014 23:54
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In a similar vein (heh), I just submitted my final for Pathophysiology after working on the tests and essays for about 14 hours. Good god that class was rough! How am I supposed to remember ANYTHING since I'm not starting my BSN program until January? Guess I'll keep the book around for some light reading. Looking forward to finishing up a psych class and microbiology at a leisurely pace over the next summer/fall though, then I'm 100% done with pre-reqs and just need to take the HESI A2. These 5-8 week long classes are brutal. Question for the thread: how long did it take to desensitize yourself for the gross stuff you encounter daily? Even after that what still really grosses you out? I've been reading some funny stuff on allnurses and was curious as to what y'all had to say. Tips and tricks for getting over it despite chewing gum and repeated exposure?
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Apr 27, 2014 01:05
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Iron Lung posted:In a similar vein (heh), I just submitted my final for Pathophysiology after working on the tests and essays for about 14 hours. Good god that class was rough! How am I supposed to remember ANYTHING since I'm not starting my BSN program until January? Guess I'll keep the book around for some light reading. Looking forward to finishing up a psych class and microbiology at a leisurely pace over the next summer/fall though, then I'm 100% done with pre-reqs and just need to take the HESI A2. These 5-8 week long classes are brutal. Visit India.
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Apr 27, 2014 03:01
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I visited India: I still kinda feel a little ill/gorge risey around poo and gangrene. I even swam in the Ganges. I don't know. I don't think India helps. I tell you what, though, I put so much vicks on my upper lip there while volunteering, I gave myself like, a clinical aversion to vicks, ala that time you drank a bottle of gin as a teen and now you step around it on liquor store shelves like it has an invisible force field made of puke on parent's furniture.
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Apr 27, 2014 04:22
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'Gross stuff' has never greatly affected me. Oops, bodily fluid exploding all over my arm/face while I'm comforting my patient/protecting them from falling? Oh well, I'll wash it off later. I get great pleasure helping co-workers in rooms with tremendous stenches, and looking across the bed at them with a straight face while they make terrible faces behind the patients' backs. The only thing I can think of that I find hard to abide is the smell of hospital powdered eggs. Odd, that. I think it must be either physiological (I have a less acute sense of smell), or psychological (I've somehow developed great mental fortitude).
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Apr 27, 2014 10:56
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Iron Lung posted:
I'm still not great with trauma wounds or surgery. And I can't handle sputum. One of our RTs laughs at me because if he comes in to suction a patient I will leave the room if I can. I can do closed suction with a vent, but I just can't do it otherwise. I hate having patients that cough stuff up all the time. It just turns my stomach. Very few smells bother me. Vicks in the inside of a surgical mask works wonders though.
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Apr 27, 2014 22:00
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LoveMeDead posted:I'm still not great with trauma wounds or surgery. And I can't handle sputum. One of our RTs laughs at me because if he comes in to suction a patient I will leave the room if I can. I can do closed suction with a vent, but I just can't do it otherwise. I hate having patients that cough stuff up all the time. You never had a trach pt hack up a loog that goes flying across the room?
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Apr 28, 2014 01:45
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yes. I work in a LTACH (Long Term Acute Care Hospital). Most of our vented patients are trached and even some of the non critical patients are trached. Yes they will shoot nasty poo poo out of those neck holes.
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Apr 28, 2014 22:34
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Cacafuego posted:You never had a trach pt hack up a loog that goes flying across the room? I have, and I gagged. Sputum is my kryptonite.
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Apr 28, 2014 22:36
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Cleaning blood, poop, piss, sputum or any other bodily fluid doesn't really bother me. However, if I have to collect a stool specimen, you better believe I'll be gagging. For some reason, chasing the turd around the basin with a stick trying to collect a little sample sends me into fits. I have to do it in the bathroom away from the patient/family because I know I'll gag. 60 percent of the time, it happens every time.
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Apr 29, 2014 03:33
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SuzieMcAwesome posted:yes. A Kindred spirit. My thanks for taking our long term semidead off our hands. Also, stop caring about smells and poo poo. Stop breathing if you have to. I spent most of the last four days in AFB positive airborne iso, homeless and reeking. N95 and operate. Bum the sad, il fight u irl mate. *points 2 dilz* Roki B fucked around with this message at 12:23 on Apr 29, 2014 |
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Apr 29, 2014 12:20
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I'll pay some one to fight you nigga with my fancy CRNA money.
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Apr 29, 2014 12:49
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Graduating in 5 days and I just got an offer for a critical care nurse residency position at a top hospital in the US. Feels good.
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Apr 29, 2014 13:49
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LoveMeDead posted:I have, and I gagged. Sputum is my kryptonite. A-loving-Men! Tonight I had a patient that the CNA's were OBVIOUSLY not doing routine oral care on. I yaunkered his mouth and got out the most foul sticky thick poo poo from him. I actually had to call out for a cup of hot water from the coffee machine to clear the tubing. Got that rolling and used the suction swab and here came some more from the roof of the mouth. Literally like a good 50-60 MLs of that poo poo from his pie hole. I was dry heaving all over the place. thankfully this was a 0545 so there was no family in the room and the guy is aphasic so he is not going to tell on me. Think about that over your morning coffee. you are welcome.
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Apr 29, 2014 15:02
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Bum the Sad posted:I'll pay some one to fight you nigga with my fancy CRNA money. I'm thinking of trying my hand at fixed wing critical transport in the meantime before CRNA. I got a buddy in NoDak who does it and loves it, but he's mormon so who knows how much his opinion is worth. Normal people who do fixed wing, whats the word?
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Apr 29, 2014 15:04
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If people puking or big nasty abscess popping grosses you out, Youtube is your solution. Watch enough of those videos and it will help for when it happens in real life. Youtube also has a ton of surgery videos if blood or gore is a problem. Mostly you just have to deal. The way trachs smell grosses me out. Trach boogies used to gross me out but not so much any more, guess exposure therapy works. When Grandma-breath Mouthbreather comes in and has half an inch of dried spit in her mouth that comes off in sheets and chunks... ugh. Pretty much anything else is no big deal at this point. Body fluids, trauma, GSW to the face, necrotizing fasciitis, whatever is fine, just no dried spit or smelly trachs please.
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Apr 29, 2014 16:57
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Has anyone had experience with the whole traveling nurse deal? I can't decide if it seems completely sketchy, amazing, or some mix of the two.
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Apr 29, 2014 19:31
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SuzieMcAwesome posted:A-loving-Men! Tonight I had a patient that the CNA's were OBVIOUSLY not doing routine oral care on. I yaunkered his mouth and got out the most foul sticky thick poo poo from him. I actually had to call out for a cup of hot water from the coffee machine to clear the tubing. Got that rolling and used the suction swab and here came some more from the roof of the mouth. Literally like a good 50-60 MLs of that poo poo from his pie hole. I was dry heaving all over the place. thankfully this was a 0545 so there was no family in the room and the guy is aphasic so he is not going to tell on me. I love me some oral care. I set myself up with suction, mouthwash, swabs, a toothbrush, and forceps, and go to town on terrible plaques encrusted on the palate. So satisfying.
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Apr 29, 2014 23:56
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Bum the Sad posted:I'll pay some one to fight you nigga with my fancy CRNA money. Speaking of which, have you started the CRNA program yet? How is it? *Also, just read the CNN headline that Oklahoma botched a lethal injection (patient later died anyways). How in the world do you gently caress that up? Nurses inadvertently kill patients around the country due to medication errors. Hughmoris fucked around with this message at 02:32 on Apr 30, 2014 |
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Apr 30, 2014 02:28
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SuzieMcAwesome posted:A-loving-Men! Tonight I had a patient that the CNA's were OBVIOUSLY not doing routine oral care on. Asclepius posted:I love me some oral care. I set myself up with suction, mouthwash, swabs, a toothbrush, and forceps, and go to town on terrible plaques encrusted on the palate. So satisfying. Astrofig posted:Has anyone had experience with the whole traveling nurse deal? I can't decide if it seems completely sketchy, amazing, or some mix of the two.
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Apr 30, 2014 02:57
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Hughmoris posted:Speaking of which, have you started the CRNA program yet?
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May 2, 2014 13:50
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Has anyone here failed out of school before?
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May 2, 2014 14:25
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DreamingofRoses posted:Has anyone here failed out of school before? My wife has had half of her eight person study group that started in 1010 fail out by 2040.
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May 2, 2014 14:37
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I'm an EMT-B and I drive mobile ICUs for a hospital system. I've been looking to move forward into a more clinical role, mainly looking at becoming a paramedic, but I'm not a 911-junkie, and prefer the "thinking man's game" of critical care transports anyhow. Last night a paramedic straight up told me I'd be better served doing a BSN. My only hesitation is I already have a BA, and going back for a BSN is a lot of school considering my fear that I will just end up stuck in a nursing home or psych hospital (my BA is in psych and I have worked in inpatient facilities before where I could probably get rehired as an RN), and because I'm already 28, I'd never be able to get the experience necessary to move into an ICU or ED setting, or, ideally, get back on an ambulance where I really feel at home. In my head, I'd like to think my experience as an EMT would help me get into the SCT-RN / MICU setting more easily, but on the other hand, I know that a lot of fields, and especially nursing, tend to value experience and seniority as a nurse over related other experience. Should I consider doing this BSN thing, which would probably take me about 2 years despite already having another bachelor's, or should I just continue trying to find a paramedicine program that will work for me? Working as a nurse in a setting like the one I work in now would be fantastic, but I'm just afraid I'd never be able to get back to transport medicine once I started down the nursing path.
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May 2, 2014 17:53
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Paramemetic posted:I'm an EMT-B and I drive mobile ICUs for a hospital system. I've been looking to move forward into a more clinical role, mainly looking at becoming a paramedic, but I'm not a 911-junkie, and prefer the "thinking man's game" of critical care transports anyhow. Last night a paramedic straight up told me I'd be better served doing a BSN. My only hesitation is I already have a BA, and going back for a BSN is a lot of school considering my fear that I will just end up stuck in a nursing home or psych hospital (my BA is in psych and I have worked in inpatient facilities before where I could probably get rehired as an RN), and because I'm already 28, I'd never be able to get the experience necessary to move into an ICU or ED setting, or, ideally, get back on an ambulance where I really feel at home. What would keep you from not accepting any nursing jobs that you do not want? I would think that this is a no brainer. Become a nurse and you can do micu and everything else a nurse can do, become a paramedic and you can do only micu. I speak from "experience" as a former paramedic student and now nursing student.
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May 2, 2014 20:13
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Paramemetic posted:I'm an EMT-B and I drive mobile ICUs for a hospital system. I've been looking to move forward into a more clinical role, mainly looking at becoming a paramedic, but I'm not a 911-junkie, and prefer the "thinking man's game" of critical care transports anyhow. Last night a paramedic straight up told me I'd be better served doing a BSN. My only hesitation is I already have a BA, and going back for a BSN is a lot of school considering my fear that I will just end up stuck in a nursing home or psych hospital (my BA is in psych and I have worked in inpatient facilities before where I could probably get rehired as an RN), and because I'm already 28, I'd never be able to get the experience necessary to move into an ICU or ED setting, or, ideally, get back on an ambulance where I really feel at home. I know that some programs allow you to use a medic license as a stepping stone to nursing, but the specifics of exactly how much it shortens your time and what degree or license you end up with may be state or school specific. Medic to RN is what I've seen, but I have no idea how this might relate to your eventual MICU goal. It might be worth looking into at this point in things.
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May 2, 2014 20:23
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Paramemetic posted:I'm an EMT-B and I drive mobile ICUs for a hospital system. I've been looking to move forward into a more clinical role, mainly looking at becoming a paramedic, but I'm not a 911-junkie, and prefer the "thinking man's game" of critical care transports anyhow. Last night a paramedic straight up told me I'd be better served doing a BSN. My only hesitation is I already have a BA, and going back for a BSN is a lot of school considering my fear that I will just end up stuck in a nursing home or psych hospital (my BA is in psych and I have worked in inpatient facilities before where I could probably get rehired as an RN), and because I'm already 28, I'd never be able to get the experience necessary to move into an ICU or ED setting, or, ideally, get back on an ambulance where I really feel at home. edit: Just realized you're using MICU as "mobile" and I'm using it as "medical." Still. Nursing school opens you up to a lot more options longterm, I think. Ravenfood fucked around with this message at 16:06 on May 3, 2014 |
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May 2, 2014 22:29
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some bitch idiot posted:I'm a mod at /r/nursing. Your posts have been pretty inflammatory, and downright obscene at times. Please tone it down on the sub or we will have to ban you. i'm a nurse in i/r/l kiss my dick, tia, your internet hugbox should sack up
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May 3, 2014 07:19
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My wife got slugged in the jaw by a patient the other night. She's alright as the 88 year old didn't pack too much of a punch. The old guy was one the crazy side - screaming about people taking his money and imprisoning him against his will. He was also ripping out lines and managed to pulled the wires out of his pacemaker. It took several people to get him restrained and they placed "mitts" on his hands. He was also trying to bite the nurses as well. This is at a post-op cardiac unit. It seems the crazies are popping up more and more.
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May 3, 2014 14:59
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White Chocolate posted:What would keep you from not accepting any nursing jobs that you do not want? I would think that this is a no brainer. Become a nurse and you can do micu and everything else a nurse can do, become a paramedic and you can do only micu. My main concern is that my understanding is a lot of places want considerable ED or ICU experience before you can even be considered for MICU work. Since I'm already older than many it's losing a lot of my good years sitting in the hospital on top of clinical rotations during college itself. However I do find it encouraging and there are a lot of medics who say they should've been nurses, but it's hard to tell sometimes their motivations. I appreciate the answers. I'm definitely looking into it more now just to see what I can shake. I don't have medic experience at this point, by the way; I'm only an EMT, the decision I have to make is between medic school and nursing school. I suspect even without medic though I could find a job in SCT if I don't find a true blue MICU gig out the gate, and I know the right people to try to network myself a MICU job anyhow if experience doesn't rule the show.
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May 3, 2014 15:13
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I didn't get the externship I applied for this summer so I've begun plan B which really isn't worse than plan A and I get to relax a lot more. However I do want to try and get SOME experience over this summer so I am considering asking my husband's aunt who is a CNM to let me follow her around a few days this summer. Except I am an awkward awful goony goon and I don't now how to ask her if I can shadow her in the hospital this summer. What is the proper way to go about asking for this kind of favor?
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May 3, 2014 16:35
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Paramemetic posted:Since I'm already older than many Take a step back, you're only 28. If you finish school in your early 30s you still have 30+ years of work ahead of you, some of which can be used to gain critical care experience. You never know, once you're in the hospital setting you might actually enjoy it and gaining experience could be fun and rewarding. JibbaJabberwocky posted:shadow her in the hospital this summer. First you need to find out if the hospital would even allow it. It's one thing to allow students who are in school to follow a nurse for educational purposes and course credit, it's entirely another for Jane Doe Off The Street to follow someone for personal benefit. Could be a major HIPAA/patient privacy violation.
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May 3, 2014 17:13
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All your input has been really helpful, folks. Koivunen, you're right. By Fire/EMS standards I am pretty old, but I'll have plenty of time to grow and develop in that field and I have a lot of working time ahead of me. After weighing some options, basically I could do a one year paramedic program at the end of which I have a certificate and a dead-end, or I can do a slightly-more-than-one-year accelerated "second degree" BSN and have a second bachelor's, and a lot of options for career growth. It's a pretty obvious decision given that information. Plus, I tend to get flighty in careers, and nursing will move around a lot better (ED to ICU to transport psych to anesthetist to whatever else I want) whereas medic is basically, welp, medic. I'm looking for second degree programs that work for me in my area, in the meantime it looks like right now I'm going to need a couple prerequisite courses, so I'll probably see if I can take care of those. Thanks again folks, I'll be around.
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May 5, 2014 01:53
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Paramemetic posted:My main concern is that my understanding is a lot of places want considerable ED or ICU experience before you can even be considered for MICU work. Since I'm already older than many it's losing a lot of my good years sitting in the hospital on top of clinical rotations during college itself. However I do find it encouraging and there are a lot of medics who say they should've been nurses, but it's hard to tell sometimes their motivations. I still don't see why you can't just become a nurse and just go straight into whatever field you want and get some experience. When I was doing clinicals in the ER one of the nurses mentioned that he wanted to switch to cardiac and was doing some extra shifts up there to learn the differences. Even if you don't start off in MICU, you can switch over after a few months when someone retires. And I'm 29 and I am an EMT.
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May 5, 2014 02:16
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