Please tell me I will have time with patients

SFCardiacRN · Oct 24, 2005

It all depends on your specialty. Med-surg is usually to busy for much nuturing. Labor & Delivery and PICU spend more time with less patients.

bluesky, BSN, RN · Oct 24, 2005

I am not a peds nurse so I am speaking from my perspective, OK (ICU)!

Do I have the time to hold my pts hands and give them the explanations they deserve- YES, always!

Do I have the time to read them a passage from the bible or get them something from the gift shop- YES, more often than not.

Do I have 30 minutes+ to play a game and do all the above- No, unless it's a slow day, I only have one pt or I elect to stay after my shift to perform said task (which I have done on multiple occasions).

I hope this helps.

PedsERRN · Oct 25, 2005

It all depends on what sub-specialty and the nurse-to-pt ratios at your hospital. In the ED, we don't always have time for that. When I worked step-down, we usually did.

wooh, BSN, RN · Oct 25, 2005

Peds hospitals tend to be better as far as nurse/pt ratios go. Maybe they realize that kids need the personalized care, maybe they realize that skimping on the staffing will look bad if they kill a kid (and killing a kid will get you sued much quicker than killing an adult.) When I applied at a peds hospital, the manager told me that working there would be like a vacation compared to the ratios I was used to working! So I wouldn't worry. Even in adults when I was drowning, I learned to "care" in the limited time I had. Things like feed and converse with the patient while charting at the bedside. (Lacks the eye contact, but better than no conversation and much better than not feeding the patient!)

JGHmaleRN · Oct 25, 2005

I been in nursing for ten years now. The first as a LPN now RN. You can alway make time for your pt's. It might mean giving up your lunch break, what more important lunch or making some feel that they are important. Me I have missed a lot of lunchs. Just do what your heart tells you is right.

rn in 3 years · Oct 25, 2005

I am so glad to hear the responses! This is all I ever remember wanting to be - a PEDS nurse. If I couldn't have time with the kids to make their day a little less stressful I am not sure I would still want to become an RN.

wooh, BSN, RN · Oct 25, 2005

It might mean giving up your lunch break, what more important lunch or making some feel that they are important.

Well, I'll disagree there. Have I missed a lot of lunches? Yes. But the more experience I get, the more I realize that if I don't take care of myself, I'm not as good to my patients. You need those breaks to regroup so that afterwards, you can come back and give quality care. I'd rather give 11.5 hours of quality care than 6 hours of quality care followed by skipping lunch to give 6 hours of not as great care.

Besides, how many other professions value skipping lunch and breaks the way nursing does? You read any book on getting ahead in the corporate world, and skipping lunches is frowned upon. Makes people wonder why you can't get your work done and still take a lunch. It's time nurses remember that they may have 2,3,5,8,12 patients, but they still have to take care of number one first. Personally, my needs get prioritized with the patients. If I need to pee, then it goes right where a call light for assistance to the bathroom would go on my to-do list. And unless someone's coding nonstop from the time I come in until the time I leave, I will eat lunch. I'm a good nurse, but I'm definitely not a martyr.

bluesky, BSN, RN · Oct 26, 2005

Well, I'll disagree there. Have I missed a lot of lunches? Yes. But the more experience I get, the more I realize that if I don't take care of myself, I'm not as good to my patients. You need those breaks to regroup so that afterwards, you can come back and give quality care. I'd rather give 11.5 hours of quality care than 6 hours of quality care followed by skipping lunch to give 6 hours of not as great care.
Besides, how many other professions value skipping lunch and breaks the way nursing does? You read any book on getting ahead in the corporate world, and skipping lunches is frowned upon. Makes people wonder why you can't get your work done and still take a lunch. It's time nurses remember that they may have 2,3,5,8,12 patients, but they still have to take care of number one first. Personally, my needs get prioritized with the patients. If I need to pee, then it goes right where a call light for assistance to the bathroom would go on my to-do list. And unless someone's coding nonstop from the time I come in until the time I leave, I will eat lunch. I'm a good nurse, but I'm definitely not a martyr.

This is a really good point, totally supported by evidenced based studies :coollook: :specs: :specs: :specs: :specs:

jessnurse05 · Nov 16, 2005

Where I work the peds ratio is 1:4 so, yes I have plenty of time to spend with the pts. I even get time to round with the docs so I can be sure that the pts and the parents really understood what the dr told them. I've only been working for a few months, but so far all of my peds pts have had parents and family with them all the time, so they also provide comfort and sometimes family can provide much better comfort than the nurse who was the one that poked them to start an IV, or who had to give them the nasty medicine that they immediatly vomited and then had to take again...

It's wonderful to make the kids feel good and care for them, but you also have to do what is best for them which may not always make you the popular nurse.

Jessica

oregonRN2b · Dec 20, 2005

Wooh - I agree!

I am going to start in peds nursing in January - I am really excited and feel honored to have passed the boards and to have the job I do!

However, one of the reasons I left my old career and went into nursing was because I discovered what was important to me. First and foremost, I wanted a job that was meaningful and impacted the world more than my old career in software. Second, I love my life, my family, and my friends, and want to spend time with them.

I also love my job and will give my all to children and their families, and I CANNOT WAIT to do it. When I'm not at work, I will give my all to my own life. I won't spend 13 hours at work without a break just to get burned out in 5 years. I want to continue to be at the top of my game for the next 20 or 30 years, and to do that, I know I need to take a breather (and a lunch) here and there.

Good luck - peds nursing is the best! I never thought I'd like it when I started nursing school. Here I am, two days after passing the NCLEX, and I KNOW that peds nursing is what I was born to do. I can't wait to start!!!! :)

themadscotsman · Dec 20, 2005

Wooh - I agree!
First and foremost, I wanted a job that was meaningful and impacted the world more than my old career in software.

I retrained as a Kids Nurse having been an Electrical Engineer with Specialisation in Computer Science and Programming - must be a common thread :chuckle :)

and from a union angle - don't miss your breaks, nobody will thank you for it, you'll just get ill and not be of use to anyone! We've all missed one or two but don't do it on a regular basis, if staffing is short fill in critical incident reports and get it reported