18 Rules for Living ......

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

NCLEX-RN EXCEL

Simple ways to get your sleep.......

After lots of real-life research, here are the top 5 ways I’ve improved sleeping during the day.


1. I always, always, always nap before a 1st night on. I don’t know how nurses go into their 1st night without sleep, but I will say most of the nurses I see sleeping at work are the ones that don’t nap prior to a shift. (And I’m talking non-union sleeping.)

2. NO caffeine after 12 AM at work keeps me from staring at my ceiling when I get in bed at 9AM.
3. When I get home, I go straight to bed. I’ve set up my life so that all I have to do, after an obligatory shower, is crawl between the sheets. The more stimulus I have between getting home and getting in bed, the longer it takes me to zzzzz.

4. No eating right before bed. I grab something light around 5AM while at work, so when I get home, I can sleep because I’m not digesting a huge breakfast. Anytime I’ve eaten a large meal right before daytime sleep I have paid the price of endless tossing and turning.

5. On sleep days, my phones are off, I don’t answer doors, I act like it’s the middle of the night–’cuz for me, it is! I don’t try to fit in lots of errands or activities on my sleep days. I just sleep, eat with my family and maybe work-out before heading back to work.

And if none of my 5 work, I have been known to take a sleep aid–melatonin, RX aids, OTC stuff, etc–if I need some occassional help, I just do it. But usually I don’t have to because I follow my rules. The thing is, most night nurses find a way to sleep because we can’t stay on nights otherwise. Plus, sleepy nurses are NOT safe nurses!
**source title link.....

Some NCLEX Mneumonics that may be of help for you.....

HYPERNATREMIA
FRIED SALT
F - Fever (low), flushed skin
R - Restless (irritable)
I - Increased fluid retention & increased BP
E - Edema (peripheral and pitting)
D - Decreased urinary output, dry mouth


SALT
S - Skin flushed
A - Agitation
L - Low-grade fever
T - Thirst


HYPERKALEMIA - Signs & Symptoms
MURDER
M - Muscle weakness
U - Urine, oliguria, anuria
R - Respiratory distress
D - Decreased cardiac contractility
E - ECG changes
R - Reflexes, hyperreflexia, or areflexia (flaccid)


HYPERKALEMIA - Causes
MACHINE
M - Medications - ACE inhibitors, NSAIDS
A - Acidosis - Metabolic and respiratory
C - Cellular destruction - Burns, traumatic injury
H - Hypoaldosteronism/ hemolysis
I - Intake - Excessive
N - Nephrons, renal failure
E - Excretion - Impaired


HYPOCALCEMIA
CATS
C - Convulsions
A - Arrhythmias
T - Tetany
S - Spasms and stridor


BLEEDING - S/Sx
BEEP
B - Bleeding gums
E - Ecchymoses (bruises)
E - Epistaxis (nosebleed)
P - Petechiae (tiny purplish spots)


RESPIRATORY DEPRESSION - inducing drugs
STOP breathing
S - Sedatives and hypnotics
T - Trimethoprim
O - Opiates
P - Polymyxins


PNEUMOTHORAX - S/Sx
P-THORAX

P - Pleuretic pain
T - Trachea deviation
H - Hyperresonance
O - Onset sudden
R - Reduced breath sounds (& dypsnea)
A - Absent fremitus
X - X-ray shows collapse


PNEUMONIA - risk factors
INSPIRATION
I - Immunosuppression
N - Neoplasia
S - Secretion retention
P - Pulmonary oedema
I - Impaired alveolar macrophages
R - RTI (prior)
A - Antibiotics & cytotoxics
T - Tracheal instrumentation
I - IV dug abuse
O - Other (general debility, immobility)
N - Neurologic impairment of cough reflex, (eg NMJ disorders)



CROUP - S/Sx
SSS
S - Stridor
S - Subglottic swelling
S - Seal-bark cough


SHORTNESS OF BREATH - Causes
AAAA PPPP
A - Airway obstruction
A - Angina
A - Anxiety
A - Asthma
P - Pneumonia
P - Pneumothorax
P - Pulmonary Edema
P - Pulmonary Embolus

Why does my Uniform look like I've been in a Battle ?

It’s the first half hour of your shift and you have an “uh-oh” moment: Your pen leaked all over your pocket. Or, say, your fresh scrubs have been splattered with (insert fluid here, there’s plenty to choose from)! The call bell is ringing and you’ve no time to wash and dry. What to do?  Here, five on-your-feet strategies for dealing with stains on your scrubs:

1. Keep an extra pair of scrubs in your car and in your locker. A change of clothes can be a lifesaver “for those unfortunate ‘code browns’ and blood baths (no pun intended),” suggests nurse Sean Dent. “I personally got caught one too many times with my ‘pants down,’ if you know what I mean – ergo the two extra pairs of scrubs!”
  2. Ask OR. “A lot of hospitals are empathetic enough that they will sometimes let you borrow OR scrubs if you’re in a bind,” says Dent.
  3. Check the hospital’s inventory. “I know our managers have a stash of leftover t-shirts (from previous gifts to staff) that they keep for when our scrubs get ruined,” says peds nurse, Nicole Lehr who works at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “Then you get a free Children’s T-shirt out of it!”
  4. Use festive stickers to cover up those smaller mishaps. Lehr admits this is her favorite solution! Also try covering them up with name badges and name tags.

5. Cover it up with a funny story. For bigger stains, your best bet is to find a spare lab coat to throw over your scrubs. Aside from that? “Sometimes when there is no other option, you just have to live with it and make up some funny story about how your stain got there,” says Lehr. What’s your best strategy for scrubs stains? And do you have a favorite magic trick that gets stains out of all of your laundry?.....borrowed from a friend..

You’ll save precious minutes with these handy badge holders that are the perfect answer for easy, efficient swiping into locked door entries and time clocks.

Tip: When you’ve inevitably run out of pockets, try clipping a couple of badge holders to your hip.....Use one to hold your shears and another for your stats. “No fumbling through pockets with clean gloves…they’re just right there,” and the cord has never been too short for any task (other than loaning them to the peer who forgot theirs!).”.....