What is #4Nurses at TalkCity?

A focal point for a group of nurses, health professionals and "friends of" who talk regularly via a communications medium called "IRC" or Internet Relay Chat. They use a special server provided by TalkCity to do this. The IRC allows you to talk directly and "live" to other health professionals who share the same interests and warped sense of humor. So kick off your shoes and take a break with us!

In the future, we hope to offer specific topic chats with a health professional related focus!

How Do I visit the 4Nurses Chatroom?

• 4Nurses has a Chatroom on the Talkcity server.

• To reach the 4Nurses chatroom, you can use Talk City's EZ Talk Java IRC gateway.
• With Talk City's EZ Talk, you do NOT need to download or install new software. You simply need a java capable browser like Netscape or M/S Explorer.
• Just go to the 4Nurses sign-on area below, enter the nickname you'd like, (all other information is optional and not recommended) and click the connect button labeled START CHATTING.
• Expect to see KathiRN (me), along with my friend Jagguar. We are the primary operators or "ops" of this channel. We have two new channel operators that have joined our team, including RonRN (sometimes just "Ron) and Lee, and all will extend you the warmest welcome! Also feel free to introduce yourself to any of the other 4Nurses visitors.

• Operators are always highlighted in red, or prefixed by the @ symbol if you are using other IRC software. They functions as channel moderators

Are there any rules on IRC?

There is a general etiquette on the IRC, plus the Conduct Standards (City Ordinances) at Talk City to be familiar with. Most of them are common sense, but the TalkCity standards are considered *required* reading to partcipate.

TalkCity

• For General TalkCity Information
• For the Conduct Standards at TalkCity

#4Nurses Channel

General Etiquette on IRC and the #4Nurses channel includes:

• Be polite.
• Stay ANONYMOUS until you get to know who you are talking to. When using IRC software, put in a fake name, wrong email address and no web page information.
• You never need to ever give your age or sex. It's a bad habit that those on the IRC ask. Give out only information about yourself that you are comfortable with.
• You do not have to be a nurse to participate on #4Nurses. However, we expect you will tolerant of both our nursing humor and related discussions.
• We do NOT answer health questions from the general public. This is a channel devoted to discussions related to nursing and health FOR health professionals. It is a bad idea to give out health advice to strangers on the Internet. Don't do it. Let the channel operators handle those requests.
• If you have questions about the rules of a channel, ask one the channel operators. They'll be glad to help you. Ask for KathiRN, Jagguar, RonRN or Lee.
• If you decide you'd rather use a third party program for your IRC connection, do try the MIRC Home Page. This is one of the best IRC client programs and it's shareware!

• If you use MIRC or PIRCH software you need to connect to:
  server --> chat.talkcity.com and port --> 6667
  when asked for in your configuration file.
  Once connected, use the following command to join us:
  /join #4Nurses

Do any #4Nurses people have web pages?

• Jagguar's Personal Home Page - sandbox and home to Jagguar, our infamous co-host of the 4Nurses channel at TalkCity! She has some neat stuff on her website, including the list folks who made it to our "channel warming" party!
• Women and Management
  From the Melbourne Australia Business School, with the infamous Jagguar as the webmaster of this site.
• KathiRN's Web Site - that's me, and you're here!

  If you are a regular in 4Nurses, contact me and I'll add your home page here!

How Do I Get More Sounds and Popups?

(for MIRC/PIRCH users)

• In the future, this page will have available the most common sounds and graphics used in the #4Nurses channel so that you can join in the fun!

Are there other places to chat or message with nurses?

• The NURSENET Listserv which is a global forum for Nurses on the Internet. Once you "subscribe" to NurseNet, you might want to set it to "digest" mode so you get only ONE big message a day. This is a busy list service. We communicate via e-mail.
• The newsgroup sci.med.nursing, though you need to have newsgroup access and an appropriate reader. Some browsers now have this built-in. If this link doesn't work, then check with your Internet service provider as to how you access a "newsgroup".