A message to new grads: NEVER....

Nurses General Nursing

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* un-spike the old IVF's with 100 mls left in the bag while it's still hanging

* say the word "quiet" in reference to your hopes for the shift

* say you've never had a patient ________ before

* take your stethoscope off till you're in your car and on the way home

* plan on going to that inservice/staff meeting/whatever during your shift

Experienced nurses, share your wisdom. What are some other things that new grads should NEVER do?

Specializes in Emergency, Orthopaedics, plastics.
As a new nurse, what you have to hear is a whole lot more important than what you have to say.

Don't talk when you should be listening.

I would agree that you shouldn't "...talk when you should be listening,"..

But having said that it does depend on what the more experienced nurse has to say on whether or not you really need to be paying attention...

Just the other day I was questioned over using an alginate linen bag for a bed sheet that was covered in urine... the more 'experienced' nurse was of the belief that they should only be used for patient's under isolation and not for any linen that had been exposed to body fluids...

Similar thing when one of the other long serving nurses on my ward criticised me for not rubbing an injection site after giving IM cyclizine.

Still... I am apparently good listener (as far as I can judge it)... Though I know some of the girls I work with have said that, "...for a guy, I listened like a girl..."

Im sure that was a compliment :uhoh3:

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Specializes in OB.
HI, Thanks for your messages guys, great topics, it helps a lot all of us nursing students. I am a second semester RN student going to OB/GYn Peds, and very excited to learn. It's a a very new field to me, especially OB , I am a male but so far everything is going well, just trying to do my job professionally and learn what has to be done correctly. I heard many things about men going to OB and having a hard time,it can be understandable in some cases. Unfortunately there is still this dilema in nursing , it's getting better slowly, which is very good for everyone and the profession.

Take care guys and thanks a lot.

JC

Here's one for you and all the other new/potential OB nurses:

Never ignore the patient who says "I have to push". Even if you JUST checked her and she was only 3cms., check again. Otherwise you will end up having to explain how the patient preciped in the bed!

And as most parents know as well, don't leave that baby boy uncovered for a minute!

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Never Crush Pills And Dump Them In An Enteral Feeding Bag With Ensure/glucerna Etc.. It May Save You Time But It Sure Doesn't Save Your Fellow Nurses Time When They Have To Change Out The Whole Bag Because The Tubing Gets Clogged Up!!!!!!!!!

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Never Crush Pills And Dump Them In An Enteral Feeding Bag With Ensure/glucerna Etc.. It May Save You Time But It Sure Doesn't Save Your Fellow Nurses Time When They Have To Change Out The Whole Bag Because The Tubing Gets Clogged Up!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I have never heard of anyone doing that before. Why would they crush up the meds and put them in the bag with their enteral nutrition instead of administering them directly into the GT?

I can't even say that's poor nursing practice (although it is). Its just... stupid.

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And one of my own: never ignore it when a patient says they're going to die.

They're usually correct.

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We recently did this at my place of employment, and had a lot of fun at it, here were my contributions...

* Keep up with research, and share it! Also implement it on your unit. Insist on change of things that are potentially harmful to patients and yourself. If you can't get others to change, at least change yourself.

* Don't be afraid to challenge things you believe are wrong.

* Bed baths are great ways to assess your patients, and educate them.

* If you don't like the way something is done, don't complain, do something to change it.

* When death is imminent, turning the patient on their left side may hasten it.

* Sometimes patients just need to be told that it's ok to go.

* Be sure to mark organ donor on your driver's license.

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while i don't disagree with these, i urge you do them with caution. i don't mean to sound disgruntled (but i am :chuckle ). don't let them take advantage of you! they will sit there and watch you change every wet/soiled pt. if you let them. they are also well aware of the fact that you are 'new', and want to do everything you can to help your patients. many nurses told me this as a new nurse. depending on where you work, you need to make a choice- either be their friend, or keep it professional (so they will do their job). it is very hard, once you've established that 'friendly' relationship, to change that.

please remember this: you can do the cna's job (and the unit sec as well), but they cannot do your job!!! i'm just a little sick of hunting them down, and doing everything for my patients, while they sit on the phone.

i do agree that na's and unit sec's cannot do the same tasks as licensed personell, but having worked my way through nursing school as a cna...i will tell you that those nurses who became my 'friend' and bent over backwards to make sure that i wasn't up to my elbows in feces alone were the very nurses that never had to worry where a na was when she needed one (even if i wasn't assigned to her patient).

those nurses who left patients sitting in vomit, feces, and urine until i was able to leave another patient room were reported to the nursing supervisor (for the hospital...not just the floor) by the patients as well as the staff. so having said that...to all of the new nurses/students...what kind of nurse do you want to be??

never, under any circumstances, is it okay to leave your patient sitting in bm, urine, emesis, or any other body fluids.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.
never, under any circumstances, is it okay to leave your patient sitting in bm, urine, emesis, or any other body fluids.

is it okay for the cnas to do it either?? don't get me wrong, i'm not the type to call the aide as i'm leaving the room of a pt who needs the bedpan (yes, i've seen it. i'm sure we all have). nor would i deliberately leave a pt wet, soiled or in emesis.

but what happens when another pt has a medical need, that cannot wait? it's called prioritizing and delegating. i'll be darned if i'm going to ask another nurse to tend to my crashing patient while i go wipe someone's butt (while the aide is on the phone). i'd like to believe your statement, but sadly, sometimes there are things more pressing than changing a diaper. new nurses need realize they cannot do everything, and cannot be afraid to delegate. an aide cannot do a nurses job!!! this is the problem. a unit redceptionist cannot do the nurses job. yet the nurse can do it all!! now i'm going to venture to guess that you were the exception to the rule as a cna, which is why you had a good relationship with the nurses. but don't tell me you've never experienced the type of behaviors i am referring to. if you haven't pleasr find out if your hospital is hiring, because i'd like to work there.

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I am in RN school right now, and last semester during Fundy's/Med-Surg one rotation, my instructor told me to ALWAYS stop an IVF with 100mls left in bag...now im confused...lol. :uhoh21:

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is it okay for the cnas to do it either?? don't get me wrong, i'm not the type to call the aide as i'm leaving the room of a pt who needs the bedpan (yes, i've seen it. i'm sure we all have). nor would i deliberately leave a pt wet, soiled or in emesis.

but what happens when another pt has a medical need, that cannot wait? it's called prioritizing and delegating. i'll be darned if i'm going to ask another nurse to tend to my crashing patient while i go wipe someone's butt (while the aide is on the phone). i'd like to believe your statement, but sadly, sometimes there are things more pressing than changing a diaper. new nurses need realize they cannot do everything, and cannot be afraid to delegate. an aide cannot do a nurses job!!! this is the problem. a unit redceptionist cannot do the nurses job. yet the nurse can do it all!! now i'm going to venture to guess that you were the exception to the rule as a cna, which is why you had a good relationship with the nurses. but don't tell me you've never experienced the type of behaviors i am referring to. if you haven't pleasr find out if your hospital is hiring, because i'd like to work there.

lol...maybe i am the exception (prob b/c of the ns status)...and of course, our hospital is always hiring. don't get me wrong...i have seen both na's and nurses on the phones when other matters are pressing (including things such as pt's having fatal arrythmias that na's and unit sec's picked up on before the nurse) and i don't think that either is acceptable. i just have a tender spot for the hard-working na's out there (and i know plenty). when we generalize and clump all or most na's into a category that suggests that they will take advantage of a new nurse, that sorry type of na is what you'll see because they will not want to help you. my suggestion is befriend your staff, because they will save your butt more times than you can count.

on the nursing side...no one said to ask another nurse to care for a coding patient. i have witnessed nurses who have left patients soiled to speak on the phone (to their 3yr old kid for 30 minutes) while the na is sweating with 10 total care patients and the nurse has 4 (in my hospital the ratio is 1:4) patients in for observation (two of which are going home in an hour). it does happen. these are the situations in which i am speaking. not the critical patients.

so when you speak of prioritizing, common sense is the priority at all times.

we work as part of a health care 'team', each with our respective roles, but they do overlap to ensure the job gets done.

new post:

never forget to use common sense...all of the education in the world could never replace it. education with no common sense yields an "educated fool".

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Ok, I have never heard of anyone doing that before. Why would they crush up the meds and put them in the bag with their enteral nutrition instead of administering them directly into the GT?

I can't even say that's poor nursing practice (although it is). Its just... stupid.

I must say (sadly) I have seen this done several times, especially in LTC. Rather than take the time to stop the feeding, disconnect the feeding, mix the meds with water, flush the meds, then reconnect everything back, some nurses take the shortcut and just dump the crushed pills in the feeding bag while the pump is running...then the next nurse is usually the one who is greeted by a clogged feeding tube.

That is the epitome of laziness.

I would advise a new nurse to never feel badly they don't know everything. Nursing is a very broad profession, no way to learn everything there is to know in school. Most of your education will take place on the job.

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When you have a task to do, never think "Oh, I'll get to that later." If you have the time to do it now, do it. If you don't, something will always come up, and you will run out of time, and fall behind. Take atvantage of lulls in the action to get your routine tasks completed.

Never let an a CNA, a doctor, a manager, or another nurse disrespect you without calling them on it, and letting them know you won't be treated that way.

I feel it's especially important not to let subordinates disrespect you or get awy with things that they shouldn't. If you've spent any time on these boards, you know that disrespect and insubordination from CNAs is a big problem.

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