Hazed with 12on/12off(x3)dayz

Nurses General Nursing

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Mario is still in a state of grace after completing my second day "solo shifts." For all my outlandish illusions about nursing before I began working, he's doing it in real life (second person).

working 12 hour shifts is tricky because managing your off time is the key :-( No more time for as much allnursing.com and all my funky friends. I still sign in everyday, but have dimished output because all my cognition is input now. Working in a hospital is a dream.

I used to long for the chance to work with electronic equipment, and nursing includes state of art stuff.

The nurses I have worked with on my cardiology recorvery unit are all cool people. All women. I saw one male agency nurse walking around.

What bombed my pea brain was last week when a echo/doppler/ultrasound/cardio computer was wheeled in and used in my unit. The images and views and sounds this machine made floored me. I listened as they took a second of heart recording and broke the information all down. They let me ask questions about the machine (breifly) and I got to watch them work on 2 people that day. The heart sounds and that machine really made an impression on Mario.

I miss making statements here, but, I hafta take in so much, then go to sleep and dream. The shot clock is on, and I hafta wake up in

I love and miss allnurses.com super-friends !

(Mario is behind the wall of sleep)

:confused:

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Mario, you will adjust in time. Congrats! After a while all this technology will be old hat and you will be the one showing it off to new nurses. Now get some sleep. nighty nite.

Mario,

you ain't gone in any way shape or form.......

you is just one of us now.............

sleep well Mario,

micro

Hang in there Mario! congrats is in order!

mario...its not tricky managing your time off....only thing you are able to do is sleep.

it does get easier.

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Mario - do you work days or nights? If nights, make sure sleep is your number one priority. It has to be for your sanity. Good luck...and welcome to our world!

Interesting seeing how you are doing. Keep us up to date but only when it does not interfere with your sleep.

Congrats and good luck to you Mario! We miss you!

:kiss Heather

" Sleep baby sleep....close your eyes...."

Can you tell I miss the days when my boy was a babe... LOL!!!

Mario, you will be a high tech nurse in ICU or similar setting someday...I predict...as you like all the machines with bells and whistles! Have fun!! I would enjoy working with a student nurse as enthusiastic as you!

Are you hearing all the alarms and dings in your sleep yet? You will.....:)

Sleep gratification becomes the fulltime nurses' ultimate goal...LOL.

Mario, this is prime time for you. In addition to your patient care duties, avail yourself of any opportunity to learn. You may not know how to do an echo, but from now on, you will recognize the machine and the sounds. When you hear talk of "wall motion," and "ejection fraction" you will have some knowledge of what is being referred to.

I would say that, if you haven't already, you should make the nurses that you are working with aware of your wish to avail yourself of any learning opportunity. When they know that you are really sincere, and not just wanting to gawk, they will begin to let you know when something is coming up. Try to get all of your chores done as early into your shift as possible. Then you will have a little time for learning before the next thing you have to do comes up.

I would suggest that you ask the nurses to teach you how to auscultate breath and bowel sounds, and how to palpate an abdomen. Also, listening for an apical pulse. You will recognize irregular heart sounds. You don't have to diagnose what kind, just know how heart sounds sound in people of different sizes, and how the rhythms vary, or are similar.

All of this will be a huge help when you learn body systems. You will be able to use your knowledge of the body from the cellular, endocrine, cardiovascular, and abdomen to integrate with what you will learn in theory. You will be so surprised and tickled when you have a "lightbulb" moment, and these things begin to integrate and make sense to you. (-: Gotta love learning!!!

I don't recall having read if you've already had A & P. If you have, I would suggest that you audit an ACLS class. You will learn so much about the heart and its' electrical conduction system! You will also begin to become familiar with the meds and their rationale for use in a code. Get with the nurses and EKG techs to have them save unusual rhythm strips for you, so that you can begin to recognize what is normal, and what isn't.

Best of luck to you. I was once the only LPN in an all-RN environment on a telemetry floor. The things above are the things I did to become "one of the nurses" instead of "the LPN." It was one of the most frustrating but exhilarating times of my life.

As far as rest-try not to plan anything for the days that you are working. Try to work, decompress, eat, and rest. You will not always be able to leave everything at work, but try not to bring everything home with you.

We will all be here for you, cheering you on! (-:

strangely enough mario my sweet you will get used to the insane hours

I did, and I am a certified (well not really but should be) sleepaholic!

my mom says that I slept all thru the night even as a newborn!

how I went from that to sleeping 5-6 hours max is beyond me!

but it happens

circadian rythms n such

sleep is a priority

we all still love you

sounds like youre experiencing some way cool stuff there

dont worry, you'll find time to post

I am the queen of 12 hour shifts these days and look how many times I'm still able to drag my sorry butt on here :)

cheers my friend

Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Mario,

Enjoy this time. Work, School but play too, for life is too short.

Lub dub, lub dub, lub dub, lub dub dub, lub dub....soon your master these sounds too!

Just need to master changing to personalized avaitors...some day I dream.

Best wishes.

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