ggfifirn05

ggfifirn05

Neuroscience ICU, CNRN, SCRN

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About ggfifirn05

ggfifirn05 has 13 years experience and specializes in Neuroscience ICU, CNRN, SCRN.


Married, blended family of 6, all adults now, and 5 grandchildren, including a set of twins (boy & girl). Left the bedside in 2013 to work on the Neurology Clinic as the ALS Clinic Nurse Coordinator for nearly 2 years, but missed the "hands-on" patient care and four days off a week. Attempted to return to the bedside in July 2015 back in the Neuroscience ICU but my body refused to acclimate, so now working in Quality Management services & have been a Patient Safety Specialist there since April 2018. I also just completed my MSN - Leadership in Healthcare degree in June.

Latest Activity

  1. Nursing is my 2nd career, after working in accounting/finance for 29 years. I started my pre-reqs for my ADN program at 45 years old, and graduated at age 48...30 years after graduating high school! I went back to get my RN to BSN in 2011 and gradu...
  2. Sick to stomach before each shift

    I've always been an anxious person, and even though I've been an RN for over 6 years, I still have butterflies in my stomach on my way to work if I've been off for a few days. But I used to have horrible IBS symptoms (cramping, gas, diarrhea...I kne...
  3. The economy and your job

    We are really feeling the economic crunch right now. Hiring freeze in place; no overtime at all; really watching our pennies and making sure supplies are charged to the patient, etc. Just got our annual raise, but basically just cost-of-living incr...
  4. Too anxious for SICU? (long)

    Just want to update and thank everyone that was kind enough to reply to my original post. Yesterday was my 1st day "on my own". I was assigned a POD #2 liver transplant pt. with CVVH running too. I actually had this same pt. on Monday with my pr...
  5. Too anxious for SICU? (long)

    I'm having some issues and felt I just needed to "vent" and maybe solicit some guidance from all my worthy colleagues here at AllNurses. I transferred to SICU on November 1st after 3 years in Med/Surg, where I started immediately after graduating nu...
  6. Med/Surg to ICU

    I, too, have just transferred to SICU after 3 years on a med/surg floor. I was pretty confident of my skills and knowledge prior to transferring (I even had been orienting GNs and students on my former unit), but I've been overwhelmed by the vast am...
  7. Has anyone seen...

    I'm in Florida, so we are used to bugs, all year round. Just in the last month I've seen gnats flying around a dietary cart that was desperately in need of emptying on my med/surg unit, and I saw the same kind of gnat down in SICU (in the breakroom)...
  8. Is age 45 too old to start nursing???

    NO! I started my prerqs at 45, and graduated with my ADN at 48. I've worked MedSurg for the last 3 years, and I am transferring to SICU next week. I was worried after sitting at a desk for nearly 30 years prior to becoming an RN that the 12 hour sh...
  9. Yes, changing careers in my late 40s was one of the best decisions I ever made. While nursing is extremely frustrating at times (like yesterday!), I am happy I made the change. I'm so proud to be able to say "Oh, I'm a nurse" when people ask what I...
  10. Who does blood sugar checks where you work?

    My former employer had the nursing techs do the blood sugar checks, and then notify the RN with the number. However, the meal trays were delivered to everyone on the floor at the same time, so everyone got their insulin at the same time too. At my c...
  11. Self Scheduling. Does it exist?

    We self-schedule in 6 week blocks; the "draft" for the upcoming 6 weeks usually comes out several weeks before the current schedule ends. For instance, our current schedule goes from 6/27 thru 8/7; the draft out now is for 8/8 thru 9/18. It will be...
  12. Career Change==>Accounting to Nursing

    I made the change from accounting to nursing, and graduated with my ADN in 12/04. I wouldn't go back to that old life (the last 10 yrs of a 29 yr career spent at a well known brokerage firm) for anything. But it took the death of my brother and the...
  13. Nicknames your pt's give you

    One of my frequent flyers, who is blind, always asks who it is that is taking care of him that day. My name is Susan, but when I told him that the 1st time I was his nurse, he kept calling me, "Susie Homemaker". I finally laughed and said I wasn't ...
  14. Up until this year, my hospital gave across the board annual raises every July. Starting 01/01/07, they are now giving raises based on your employment anniversary date. Not really sure if they are now going to be merit based, but I doubt it, especi...
  15. average age of a new nurse?

    I was 48 when I graduated in 12/04 with my ADN. Most of my classmates were between mid 30s - mid 40s; although there were a handful of 20 somethings, as well a few older than me. I am working on my BSN now and hope to finish before I'm 53.