R.P.N. to B.Sc.N.

During the four gruelling days of hospital orientation, the teacher had mentioned that some time in the up coming year the hospital was going to offer a bridging course for R.P.N.'s to become B.S.c.N's. This was in June of 2007. In the winter there was mention of an information section in January. In January the info section was to be in the spring. In June we sat down with the university to discuss the program. We then had 10 days to decide if we wanted to commit the next 5 years of our lives and a grand total of $16,000. to the course. I came home and discussed it with my husband. I really did not want to commit to that kind of work and money at this point in my life. I had only been out of school for three years and still had $9,000 in student loans to pay back. Plus we were trying to have a baby. Something told me I had to do it. If I didn't do it now I would never do it. So here I am 27, pregnant and in university trying really hard to become a Registered Nurse. I do not know if I will make it but I am going to try

First Pregnancy

I am now eleven weeks pregnant. In two weeks I will be into my second trimester. I am getting a little more excited everyday. My first visit to the Dr was at five weeks. the Dr. told me 20% of women lose there babies in the first trimester. I am still a little paranoid, but as the second trimester approaches I am getting a little more relieved. I go for my first ultrasound on September 2. If I can figure it out I will try to post the picture. I am getting a little tired of the constant nausea and fatigue, but I have been reassured it will go away in the next few weeks. Along the right side of the screen is a picture of the stage in which my fetus is at in terms of development. It will change week by week. I am sure my family and friends are sick of hearing me talk about this pregnancy, but I can't help it. It is still hard to believe. Until I feel the little guy move or see my tummy grow or even hold it in my arms I am not sure I will believe that I am going to be a mommy

Nursing Home vs Hospital

Between 2003 and 2007 I worked as a Registered Practical Nurse/Personal Support Worker in a nursing home. As a P.S.W. I provided personal care to up to 14 patients a shift. I would wash, dress, feed, transfer, toilet, and many other activities they would need they could not provide for themselves. As a R.P.N. my duties would include giving medications to 42 patients twice a shift, changing dressings, charting and a number of other things depending on the shift. Compared to the nursing home I enjoy the hospital so much more. At the home the R.P.N. gives out all the meds. If a patient needs something a P.S.W. will come to you and say "Mr. Doe needs Tylenol."
You have to stop what you are doing to take him his pills or he has to wait. At the hospital, all of the staff is registered. If your patient needs a Tylenol anyone can give it if you are busy. Even though you are providing all of the care to your patients at the hospital, you only to give medications to four to eight patients. I miss the staff and patients at the nursing home and if circumstances were different I would go back and work casually. I enjoy my job at the hospital and even though I may complain about working my third weekend in a roll, I would not give it up.

Communication Barriers

I became a Registered Practical Nure in 2003, prior to that I worked as a Personal Support Worker at a local nursing home. Over the past five years I have had much experience with stroke patients. If you are unaware some patient who have had a stroke have difficulty speaking, this is called dysphasia. Some patients have trouble speaking and others can not speak at all. This can prove difficult in providing care. In the nursing home setting staff get to know their patients. They are able to understand what it is a patient needs. There are assistive devices that can be used to assist with speech. Things like picture boards and word boards that the patient can point at to show what they need. If staff take the time, they can understand what the patient may want. The patient may get frustrated and anger, but if you take your time to reassure the patient it will all work out.

How e mail enhances my nursing practice

Three weeks ago I only had one e mail address, now I have four. I really only use two, one for school and the other is for work. I find it beneficial to my job, because I can communicate easily with staff and supervisors, I may not see each day, on a daily basis. It is important to nurses to be able to communicate as a team. Working different hours and in different departments of the hospital, staff my not see or talk to each other for days at a time. It only take a couple of minutes to sit down and send a email to check in on someone. If I have any concerns with work, scheduling, supplies, etc. I can send a message and wait for an answer. It is great form of communication in our field, and I will continue to communicate this way.

Hi. My name is Pamela Jane Laura Teel. I am from just outside of Lindsay, Ontario. I have been married since October 1 2005. I am nine weeks pregnant and feeling nauseous all day long. Eating all day makes me feel better. I am also very cranky, so I appologize to you in advance. I am a R.P.N. and working on my BScN, not very sucessfully. This blog will be about me and my nursing profession.

What's going on?

I don't know what a blog is. I am just doing this because I was asked to. I will have to change it later.