There is such a variety of specialties within nursing. Is being a medical or surgical pediatric nurse the job for you? Some feel that it is too hard considering that they have kids the same ages as their patients. Others feel they can relate better to the patients because they have kids those ages. What do you think about this specialty?
Each type of nursing comes with different types of challenges. As an ICU nurse, we RARELY see patients discharged from the hospital. They are usually sent to a step down floor to a general floor and then home. We miss the last steps. What is rewarding about your nursing position? This video talks about the shows the perks of being an RN in a children's hospital ER. There is a great amount of satisfaction that comes from being a pediatric nurse.
This will be the best two minutes you take out of your day! Take a peek at these funny nursing e-cards. I don't know that most people would think they were funny, but we (as nurses) definitely have a "different" sense of humor. "So you admittedly smoke a pack a day and drink heavily, but haven't taken your $4 med for 3 months because you 'can't afford it.' Hmm."
I've often felt such heartache for pediatric patients undergoing chemotherapy, not only because of the obvious sadness that accompanies cancer, but also because they wouldn't be able to have children later in life. Is what I had thought true? How does chemotherapy actually affect fertility later in life?
Nursing can be a very stressful profession. We often deal with people in the worst situations they have ever experienced! We work holidays and weekends, and have all the politics of an ever-evolving healthcare system. We deal with emergency situations, death, and dying. Our guest post today is by Elizabeth Scala, an established author who strives to help nurses everywhere. So her question for all of us is, "Is All Stress Created Equal?"
Here is a guest post I did for RN FM Radio about From New to ICU and why I created it! I feel like it can be such a great resource for prospective nurses, nursing students, and regular old nurses. Hopefully you feel the same way too!
Are you in need of a lighthearted nursing article? There is so much doom and gloom in the world that sometimes I think we just need a little laugh. This cute cartoon definitely made me crack a smile.
On my unit, we've been having issues with abnormal lab values based purely off the fact that labs are not being drawn in the correct order. Who would've known that which color tube you drew first would affect the results of the others? One of our nurses wrote this brief article about drawing labs from a central line. It's a super quick and interesting read.
How do you keep from going crazy even when your shift is long and exhausting? What about when you have that one patient that keeps yelling absurdities? Sometimes it feels like your 12 hour shift has turned into a 36 hour time period. What tips do you have for keeping your sanity?
There are a variety of certifications you can get once you are a true blue RN. The certification that I have started studying for is my Critical Care RN (CCRN). These tests are geared towards your area of expertise...and you need to know just about everything there is to know about it! This will make you a much smarter and, therefore, safer nurse! Work towards these when you are done with nursing school.
