[willdgate]

as a NEW nurse. And what area are you employed ex. ER, OB, and Med/surg etc....

Also, what is something unique about the environment at the job that makes you like it?

[Tweety]

I like my job because of the patients. I also enjoy the crew I work with, most days we have a good time which helps to bust up the stress. But mostly I care about the patients. They need me.


oppps....sorry I realized I am on the First Year forum. I was thinking I was elsewhere. So take my post for what it's worth or ignore it.

[kellyo]

I started on a CV Surgical stepdown unit a few weeks ago. My brother spent over a week there at the beginning of nursing school two years ago after his CABG x4 surgery (45 yo). I knew that's were I wanted to work from the start. I was lucky enough to do clinicals on this floor one semester. I then did p/t work as a tech.

It quite tough so far, but it's the patients that I love. They seem so motived to get well (well, not ALL of them) after their surgery. I enjoy being brought in on their lives--it's a very intimate thing.

[RNKittyKat]

I don't know if I like my job. I'm nearly 9 months in. I'm giving it a year.

I like the flexible schedule that 3 12's provide. I like my paycheck. I like the teamwork part of trauma nursing. Notice that the patient is nowhere in here. I notice it. That's what scares me. Many of our patients are gang bangers, drug abusers and generally violent people. Others are confused due to frontal head injury or age. This patient popoulation is a tough lot. I'm no Mother Theresa.

[MIA-RN1]

Originally Posted by willdgate

as a NEW nurse. And what area are you employed ex. ER, OB, and Med/surg etc....

Also, what is something unique about the environment at the job that makes you like it?

I am in OB on the Post Partum side. I love the fact that I get to talk with and teach my patients so much. I love getting to know the families and the little slice of life that makes them unique. I love it when I get a difficult breastfeeder to latch on, or help a mother calm her crying baby, or teach a dad how to diaper a baby, or help a mother as she cries thru the blues....
Something unique where I work is that I think I work with genuine caregivers who really care about the patients. I might have my rose-tinted glasses on still as its only been a few months, but it seems that the patients come first and foremost and it really shows.

[SkateBetty]

Originally Posted by RNKittyKat

I don't know if I like my job. I'm nearly 9 months in. I'm giving it a year.

I like the flexible schedule that 3 12's provide. I like my paycheck. I like the teamwork part of trauma nursing. Notice that the patient is nowhere in here. I notice it. That's what scares me. Many of our patients are gang bangers, drug abusers and generally violent people. Others are confused due to frontal head injury or age. This patient popoulation is a tough lot. I'm no Mother Theresa.

Hey there miss Kitty! It's nice to see a little feedback from you on your trauma experiences, and your thoughts on trauma patients. For the others, I empathize with her as a trauma step-down nurse, where she sends her crazies right about the time the diprivan wears off and they're ready for wrist restraints! It's really hard to like the patients when 75%of them are settling scores with guns and knives. It's a tough thing to provide care for people you wouldn't normally have anything in common with or like at all if you met them in a parking lot. Lots of them are so very lost in their violent cultures and hate, and so young too. It's crazy. I still think I picked the right department, and for the OP...trauma is a whole different animal. One thing I like is how you never know what unbelievable story is coming up from the ER. If you like a little drama and suspense trauma is a good place to be. It's not all violence. Lots of the patients are car-wrecks and falls. Down here in Florida we have so many old people crashing cars and falling from ladders, etc. Kitty is right, when they hit their heads they are just like psyche patients. Some nights it seems we should be passing Haldol instead of Percocets! Last night we had a choir of voices yelping for HELP and aunt Maggie, when they are quite safe in their beds. Now that gives us something to smile about when half the floor thinks they're someplace else.

[suzy253]

I'm a new nurse on a med surg step down tele unit. They say if you can work this floor, you can work anywhere.
I do love my job (so far); the 3-11 shift is a great team. I truly love caring for my patients. It's given this 53-year old (!) new grad a lot of confidence and I enjoy learning new things every single day.

[Sassybottom]

My charge nurse. She is truly the most amazing woman ever. She is brilliant, supportive, welcoming, patient, and always willing to spend time helping me out with a patient.

I absolutely adore her! I joke with my friends that she is my girl crush. I doubt she knows how I feel since I am pretty reserved around her but I really do think she is the greatest thing since sliced bread, haha.

[WeeBabyRN]

I work in a NICU and I like my job because I am a baby hog. My job is a roller coaster and somedays I just want to walk out the door and never come back.

The thing I love about my particular job is that the patients and families come first. A lot of facilities say that, but my hospital really believes it. It was time for my primary baby to eat when I got off of work 4 hours early the other day (because we were overstaffed). I asked the charge nurse if I could stay and feed my patient. She said absolutely. I stayed an extra hour and fed my patient then rocked her and held her head and let her wrap her hand around my finger. This is a girl who spent the first 10 weeks of her life in an isolette. When she first came out of the isolette, she didn't know how to be held (she wouldn't relax her body). My charge nurse came over to me and sat and talked to me and commented on how well the baby was doing and that she was glad I had the extra time to spend with this patient. How awesome is that!

[Miss Ivy]

Hi! I am a new LPN. I'm 43 years old. I work in a pediatric office and I absolutely LOVE it. There are 8 docs in our practice and they are all so nice and friendly. There is a support staff of about 35 people, including billing, front office, triage nurses (RNs) and floor staff (MAs, LPNs and RNs). Everyone gets along really well. The atmosphere is just great. And I LOVE working with kids. I learn new things every day.

I will go for RN, probably in a year, and I hope to segue into a maternity unit or work at the local Childrens Hospital.