First night!

Specialties Private Duty

Published

Tomorrow night is my first night as a private duty pediatric nurse. Any suggestions or advice to me?

What do you take in your bag? etc?

Make certain you have your own stethoscope, an appropriate-sized BP cuff might come in handy for the baseline BP or if the child has a cardiac condition and routine BPs are called for, a thermometer with covers, all handy so you can get your vitals. You can't count on all, or any of these to be in the home. Assuming you have obtained the 485 for the case, so you can look up anything you need info on or familiarize yourself with prior to the shift. Have you oriented? Are you relieving a nurse from PM shift? Go about an hour early to get an orientation from the offgoing nurse if you have not already oriented. Take your drug guide. Take a laptop computer or tablet or have a smartphone available for info purposes or to spend time. A book and snacks. Small flashlight comes in handy on nights for all kinds of things. A small pen knife. Personal protection items, such as pepper spray. Might consider theft protection for your car, such as The Club, a GPS feature for your car or have one on your smartphone. Take a charger for your cell phone and your computer if you bring one. A pair of soft slippers in case you want to wear them in the room (and the floor is clean enough) instead of your nurses' shoes. Oh, did I say food? Lots of food, so you can start getting overweight! Ha, ha!

Well, how did it go?

Well, it went well. I liked the patient, I liked the family. I did not like the agency. I gave them several strikes and they are out. I quit. They lied twice, they kept changing my schedule.

The other nurse and I were discussing what to expect at night and in the morning, she asked what my schedule was and it turned out we were double booked for one night. Of course I let the office know (especially since this place is an hour away and I do not want to drive all the way there to be sent home). Their response "Do not discuss your schedule with other nurses" ***** LAME!

They were also very unorganized.

Well, that's a fine how do you do! So, you were supposed to be dumb and show up on the same date so one of you would be forced to go home? Baloney. If they were a good agency, they would have printed out a schedule for the client to post in the room or in the book to show the nurses who is scheduled for what shift. That would be the organized, professional thing to do until a set schedule gets carved into stone. Hope you find a new employer fast.

I agree with you.

Its totally reasonable to discuss schedules.

I agree with you.

Its totally reasonable to discuss schedules.

You bet. Nine times out of ten, this, or a query from the family, is how necessary staffing changes get initiated. Wait on the agency and the nurses as well as the family, will be left holding the bag.

Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

Typical of agency. Gotta play the game or you lose the job. Hate to say it that way. But it is what it is. If you expect perfection with scheduling it may not be a good fit. It happens all the time.

The most likely reason they double booked you 2 is so if one didn't show they could still cover the case. Being that you are new, they probably wanted to make sure you would show and prove yourself. Once they trust you and you prove reliability they will stop doing that. Still not right. But very typical.

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