I hope she stays away from hospitals...and doctors offices...and, well, life.
Ok - a little background. I was taking my meds test for my new job. I have been working away from the bedside for about 6 years now. I have been a RN for 10 years. This test was CRAZY!!! It is for a very small hospital...rural. I had to convert grains to mg for Goodness sake. Then, two pages of LONGHAND calculations of a heparin drip (wt, loading dose, maintenance dose...mixing med if pharmacist not available...converting to different IV bags if you don't have the right one...etc!) Oh yeah, and lets not forget the drip rates...haven't done those since nursing school - cuz they are called pumps, or if you are doing by gravity, you just kinda fiddle, right? Because if the bag of NS goes in over 8 or 9 hours...not that big of a difference. Anyway, I went to ask_any_question community. The question I had was what the max amt of med to give per IM and per subq injection. I had a pretty good idea, but was getting conflicting answers when I tried to confirm (eg - 2 or 3 ml max for IM, 0.5 vs 1 ml for subq). I am not dumb...hell, I got a 4.0 in nursing school (yeah, I am a nerd). Back to my point...I got a response from this girl that was SO accusatory! Something along the lines of "Is this a part of your job? Because if so, you should KNOW this"
My response:
> Yes, my new job will require me to give injections. But, after 10 years out of nursing school, and returning to bedside nursing after being a specialized nurse after about 6 years...some of the memorized details escape me. And, believe it or not, in the grand scope of nursing...the difference between 2 and 3 ml is small. Not to mention the fact that I got several different answers from different people. So, I guess whatever facility you go to, you may get a different injection. (Not to mention that some is medication dependant, so it wasn't the best question for a test, anyway.).
Her response back:
I still wouldn't trust a nurse who took her work exam by asking strangers for their answers.
I really hope she doesn't have to go into the hospital for anything. And I hope she is a VERY healthy person!! Because I don't know about you, but I DON't KNOW everything. Yep, I still have to look some things up. Sorry, no perfection here. Not to mention...how the hell is she going to know how someone passed a test? I guess she can ask before she lets her nurse treat her for excrutiating pain, a surgery, or while she is puking her guts up from food poisoning. Could happen...
My response:
> Yes, my new job will require me to give injections. But, after 10 years out of nursing school, and returning to bedside nursing after being a specialized nurse after about 6 years...some of the memorized details escape me. And, believe it or not, in the grand scope of nursing...the difference between 2 and 3 ml is small. Not to mention the fact that I got several different answers from different people. So, I guess whatever facility you go to, you may get a different injection. (Not to mention that some is medication dependant, so it wasn't the best question for a test, anyway.).
Her response back:
I still wouldn't trust a nurse who took her work exam by asking strangers for their answers.
I really hope she doesn't have to go into the hospital for anything. And I hope she is a VERY healthy person!! Because I don't know about you, but I DON't KNOW everything. Yep, I still have to look some things up. Sorry, no perfection here. Not to mention...how the hell is she going to know how someone passed a test? I guess she can ask before she lets her nurse treat her for excrutiating pain, a surgery, or while she is puking her guts up from food poisoning. Could happen...