Welcome to the Wonderful World of Ophthalmology

I looked into the microscope eye piece and saw the most beautiful colors, a rainbow of blues and greens with hints of yellow and amber. It was like a beautiful tapestry, small threads woven together like cloth. Living cloth that expanded and contracted, it was an awesome sight. I was looking at a human eye.

I will never forget the first time I saw an eye under a microscope. I could have stayed there looking at the iris, the color of the eye, for hours. I was intrigued and amazed that such a small organ of the body, yes the eye is an organ, could be so amazing and intricate. Read More

Review course by Laura Gasparis Vonfrolio

I found out that Laura Gasparis Vonfolio is coming to the area to do a CCRN review course. I heard she's great. I just need to know if anyone has went to this review course and think it may be useful for a new nurse trying to learn more about ICU nursing. Read More

[Toon] Job interview - phone not ringing

Arrgghhh, don't you just hate that?! You are waiting for that call and you get nothing, nada, zip, zilch... Heck, at this point any call would make you feel good. Are you constantly looking at your phone? Waiting for that important phone call? Tell us your story. Read More

How did you become a Critical Care Nurse?

I'll be finished with my ADN within a year. My only experience by then will be 3 years as a private duty nurse (LPN) with a medically fragile pediatric patient. Some hospitals near me still hire ADN RN's. I would like to begin getting critical care experience while working toward my BSN. I cant find any new grad orientation or critical care training programs or anything. I guess my best bet is to get into a hospital and get med surg experience? Even if I do that, how would I transfer to SICU? Read More

Nurses vs Phlebotomist

Why do ER, ICU, && Med Surg nurses always get into it with lab techs. I notice a lot of nurses and lab techs always have issues with each other. Read More

Five Years Completed and Still Loving It

The first time I looked on the Board of Registered Nursing website and saw those two precious little letters behind my name, I was so happy. The road to get there seemed so long, so hard. But as I saw my name again on that screen it was all a blur. Five long years: going to school full time, sometimes six days a week, missing my family, studying day and night. It was all worth it. Now let us fast forward another five years. Read More

How High Is the Demand For Male CNA's /LPN's/RN's?

I wanted to pick the fine brain of allnurses.com to see what people thought about the demand levels for male CNA's and RN's? Few days back I received a phone call from a CNA instructor notifying me that I had been accepted into the CNA program.

Oddly enough, when my grandfather got discharged from Long Term care here in Wyoming, one of the LPN's asked me to apply to their LTC unit immediately because more male CNA's and RNs were needed. Is this typical for most hospitals and LTC facilities to have high needs for male workers? Read More

LTC Charting: A Beginner's Guide

The long term care industry (a.k.a. nursing home industry) employs a large share of new and experienced nurses in the United States. Furthermore, the number of nurses who secure employment in this specialty is projected to increase in the next ten years as the oldest members of today's upper middle-aged Baby Boomer cohort reach their 70s.

Questions regularly arise regarding the topic of appropriate charting in LTC. Many nurses who are new to the realm of the nursing home setting are sometimes confused about what and how to document. Here is a list that barely scratches the surface of events and situations that warrant the need to write a nurses note in LTC. Read More

[Poll] Your career as a nurse is...

I've found rather troubling about the prospect of nursing is all the talk about stress and dissatisfaction with the career. I want to ask you guys what specifically is it about your career which you find to be unbearably stressful in your own words? Read More

Patients with sticky fingers!

Ha ha, last patient of the night was a young woman brought in by her stepmother at around 3 AM. Step Mom reeked of cigarettes and seemed a bit tweeky. Patient was 19, was "jumped".

So, I gave the DC instructions. They were packing up to go and the Doc glanced over (we have sliding glass doors) and mentioned to me that they seemed to be taking chux from the drawer in the room. I went in and point blank asked "Are you guys taking things from the cupboards?"... Read More

Is your hospital requiring more out of nurses?

I am just curious as to how other states and hospitals are changing. I work at a hospital in North Carolina that has just voted that by 2015 they will only hire BSN nurses. On top of this they are requiring those of us that do clinical ladder to jump through hoops to maintain it. RNIII and IV's are now required to have BSN and national certification. Those that have been at the top of clinical ladder for years are now facing demotions for not acquiring these. Read More