Just My Journal

I recently read an article about how a 4-year-old died from the flu in Colorado. At the end of the article, the mom states, "... and it feels like we failed him because we did what we had to do." Worried, and searching for advice, this mom tried Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Elderberry, and Zinc. And despite these remedies recommended by fellow members of a Facebook group, her son didn't survive. But what if I told you, she had already took her son to the doctor? How the doctor already prescribed Tamiflu , but she didn't pick it up. How those recommendations for Vitamin C "until diarrhea," and peppermint oil didn't break her son's fever that caused a seizure. The fact is this Anti-Vax Facebook group and mother did fail her son. What's the point of going to the doctor if you aren't going to follow his recommendations and prescriptions? "I am a momma freaking out all alone in this, with a family who believes in [no] natural ways... they are m...

Safety . It's a common word around the hospital. You may have heard the phrase, "do no harm." It's because doctors and nurses have the potential to do a lot of harm. Prevention of falls, infections, medication errors... Patient safety is huge. But while the patient may be the first person someone thinks of when they hear the words "safety" and "hospital" together, what about the caregiver? During January of this year. nurse practitioner Carlie Beaudin was found frozen beneath her car, beat to death. And in April, Lynne Truxillo died from complications after being attacked from a patient. Working in the healthcare field puts nurses on the front lines. It makes us vulnerable. And the patient's we take care of put us at the biggest risk. Verbal and physical abuse are a reality. Cursing, swearing, hitting, biting, rape... It's not acceptable. Ever. Being a nurse isn't a safe profession. In a year, 1 in 5 nurses or nursing assistan...

Thanks for coming in at 11 PM while we're trying to make your mother comfortable enough to sleep. Thank you for coming to see your mom for 30 minutes, I've just been here for hours. Making sure she gets pain pills without oversedating her. It's been a problem in the past, and I don't want to create another one for her now. She can't move that well on her own. So it's not a problem when a nurse or a nursing assistant use a gait belt and a Sara Steady just to get your mom from the bed to the chair and back again. Actually, two people are needed just for this one task to make sure she's safe. And sometimes two people are needed to reposition her every two hours - in reality even more frequently because she's so uncomfortable laying down or sitting.  She gets anxious. So anxiety meds have been ordered and changed for her. But it's not enough. So she asks me to hold her hand. She gets lonely, so we called the chaplain, volunteer services, and art ...

(This will be continuously updated as I find mnemonics I like) Remember, the best mnemonics are the ones you actually remember!  If you aren't going to remember it, or can't remember it easily, then there's no reason you should be using brain space for it. Nursing Process (AD PIE) Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation Remember before administering something (like a pain medication), you have to assess ABCD's Airway, Breathing, Circulation (bleeding), disability (neuro check) Do not  delegate what you can EAT! Evaluate, Assess, Teach  + An unstable patient or medications  Airborne Precautions MTV on the AIR waves... measles, TB, varicella, VRSA  Private room, negative pressure, N95 mask Electrolyte Range Acronym Miss Piggy & Kermit Came Home on Cloud Nine Magnesium, phosphorus, potassium (K), calcium, bicarbonate (HCO3), chloride, sodium (Na) The electrolytes go in increasing ranges  Magnesium 1.5-2...

There are a lot of posts online about people's NCLEX experience... well here's mine. I graduated with a BSN at Edgewood College on May 21st and I took the exam on June 28th. This gave me a little more than a month to study for the exam of a lifetime. Not to mention, during this month I moved back home, my sister left for Navy boot camp, and we were packing up to move on July 1st... It was hectic to say the least. Materials I Used Saunder 2016-2017 Strategies for Test Success (4th edition). Because I had this book from a previous nursing class, I had access to the Evolve Elsevier  book online. On the website, there were over 1200 questions and while it was good to start with, the rationales weren't the best (definitely look at the other tips as well, not just the rationales). I usually used "study" mode so I could see the rationales and the correct answer right away. Like many, I learn best when I get a question wrong. I went through most of the questions. I ...