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Hi everyone, I'm a second semester nursing student and today in class my professor said something interesting I had never considered. We are learning about medication administration currently and her question was: "Your best friend is at your house and complains of a headache. She asks you for some of your Tylenol. Do you give it to her?" Almost everyone said yes that it was ok because it was your friend, not in your job setting, and she was a consenting adult capable of making her own decision to take the medication. Our professor said that was wrong and that you can't give any medication to your friend because you are not a licensed prescriber and you could lose your license if something happened your friend. She also said that same applies to your own children. So what are you supposed to do if your kid is sick and needs cough medication? You're always accountable if something bad were to happen?
You called it a "really annoying" situation, and whined that it wasn't therapeutic for you.
Frankly, I sincerely hope that this entire story is bad fiction, because a nurse who acts like this should not be anywhere near actual patients.
Acts like what? I'm not saying I was nurse of the year that night. I could have done better but I was fairly inexperienced and I was keeping with what I thought was status quo. It's unlikely that situation would go the way it did, were I in that spot again now. Also, it was very annoying and very untherapeutic for me. Those were my feelings. It isn't as if I can control my neurochemistry.
I'm having a very hard time believing that you are a nurse at all, much less a critical care nurse.I think I'm going to refrain from reading anything else you post-there are much more entertaining ways to waste time than reading utter dreck.
I have experience in med-surg, float pools, orienting, and charge nursing. These are things that they train nurses to do only after 2 years in most places.
Also, it doesn't take a whole lot to be a critical care nurse. ICU nurses just like to pretend it's the hardest thing out there because that gives them an imagined sense of status. True, you need is a lot of technical knowledge in order to be successful, but anyone can get that with training. Meanwhile, in med-surg you're more on your own than ever. You have to be way more self-reliant and you find yourself alone and without support in scary situations way more than you ever do in the ICU. I've always had way more support in the ICU than I ever did on the floors. You often see job postings for the ICU requiring med-surg experience first, but sometimes I think it should be the other way around.
Also, it doesn't take a whole lot to be a critical care nurse. ICU nurses just like to pretend it's the hardest thing out there because that gives them an imagined sense of status. True, you need is a lot of technical knowledge in order to be successful, but anyone can get that with training.
Uh oh... Opening a can of worms, I see.
Luckily, I have popcorn.
Jensmom7, BSN, RN
1,907 Posts
No, the one to be mad at was YOU, because you totally failed this patient.
You accepted a report that the patient was "just fine", while complaining that he needed frequent suctioning. You apparently didn't bring your charge nurse up to date.
You left a deteriorating patient alone for an hour-no mention of notifying the charge nurse that he needed frequent monitoring.
You actually became annoyed that he "forced" you to spend so much time with him.
If the "idiots in charge" didn't recognize his acuity, why didn't you open your mouth and say something?
You called it a "really annoying" situation, and whined that it wasn't therapeutic for you.
Frankly, I sincerely hope that this entire story is bad fiction, because a nurse who acts like this should not be anywhere near actual patients.
I'm having a very hard time believing that you are a nurse at all, much less a critical care nurse.
I think I'm going to refrain from reading anything else you post-there are much more entertaining ways to waste time than reading utter dreck.