Happy New Year and welcome to 2009! Did you make a resolution? Is this the year you decide to go to nursing school, or change your field, or maybe just improve your math skills?

Whatever your goals are, I wish you luck. They say putting resolutions down on paper helps you follow through with them. My resolutions are to send out Scrub Top Soup on time (by at least the 20th each month) every month and to add three new pages to the site every month! As a subscriber, I will send you our new site updates with each newsletter so you don’t have to hunt for them! New in January 2009 you can find

1. Information on Cardiothoracic Nursing
2. How to Calculate Weight Based IV Drip Rates Easily
3. And a new MEMBERS ONLY area with past issues and extras for you, just for subscribing! (Don’t tell, but the password is lovetonurse --just like that, no spaces, no capitals)

Nursing, while rewarding can be exhausting. Even if you are just in nursing school, or still contemplating even going to school, you should be able to appreciate the fun stuff I find every month! Check out this bag from CafePress. I love it and want it!

I have promised some nursing math in my newsletter. Here are two problems for you to practice with. You can find the answers at the new password protected area of Become-A-Nurse-Now. The password is lovetonurse

1. A patient comes into the emergency room with chest pain. After getting an aspirin, morphine and oxygen, the doctor tells you to start a heparin drip at 800units/hr. Your heparin bag has 20,000units/500mL. Calculate the mL/hr you will run the heparin drip at.

2. You need to give your patient their Coumadin. The order is for 7.5mg PO QHS. You have 5mg pills only of Coumadin. What should you do?

Ok , I hope you enjoyed the very first serving of Scrub Top Soup. Coming up in February, we have and interview with an experience Neonatal ICU nurse. Find out if you might like this type of work. Talk to you real soon!