Agency wants to send me to NH

[mamason]

Ok...first let me say.....I have red flags going off in my head over this. I'm signing up with an agency for some extra prn work in my area. The pay is pretty good. I work prn on a cardiac intervention unit with some med/surg under belt. The thing is, after talking to a rep, he stated that he really needs NH spots filled. Now, I told him I have no experience in this area. He says,"NO BIGGY!" "It's less stressful."

Now, call me stupid, but, being the only RN on a night shift means I have way more responsibilities than my regular floor nurse position that I currently hold. I'm not feeling too comfortable about this. I have not accepted any assignment as of yet. I'm still letting this roll around in my head for awhile. SO, I thought I'd come here and see what type of input I may get from some seasoned RN's who have worked both hospital and NH. Feel free to let me know what I might be getting myself into here.......

[Cree8ive1]

LOL! I TOTALLY thought New Hampshire, too, and it's the reason I opened the thread, thinking, "What's wrong with New Hampshire? I'd go there on a travel assignment!" Was gonna come on and post that NH is a beautiful state! TOO funny!

[chase4myheart]

I don't know how it is where some people work, but I never have time to get sleepy on night shift. I work as the supervisor. I'm responsible for the patients on my hall and every other patient in the building. There is another nurse that works with me, and we rely on each other heavily. Contrary to popular belief, most people do not sleep at night. You will be handing out PRNs most of the night. You will deal with families that are staying with their loved ones for the night. You are responsible for chart checks, and making sure that all orders have been noted. You will be responsible for stocking all medcarts and supplies. You will check meds in from pharmacy and put them away. You will go through all medcarts and pull stickers on all meds that need to be reordered and fax to pharmacy. You will complete the census sheet and a 24 hr. report. You will have the most falls on night shift because you don't have the extra staff that day's have. Your assessment skills will really come into play. When a patient starts to go bad, it's your decision to call the doctor and get them sent to the ER. You have no ward secretary so you complete all the info and get the paperwork ready to send, call the ambulance, call the ER and get report, call the family, & notify your administrator. I don't know if it's just my luck, but someone usually has to be sent out right during 5am med pass and accuchecks. Add to this that you are responsible for all call outs. When someone call out for dayshift, it is your responsiblity to find an able body to fill this posiition. This is just what goes on at my facility. I hope that I didn't scare you. It's a big responsibility, but I love being a nurse and I love my job. Hope this helps.

[suespets]

yes, I guess things are different at differant places. Where I worked alot of the checks you mentioned are thr responsibilities of the prior shifts, they cheeck for the cpmpletion of the new orders, stock their carts,almost never have noc shift falls, or fam staying over, what ever shift your on when a pt. goes sour,youu gen do all the .calls & paper work, r.o. your needed meds from pharm as soon as you spot them, & make the calls for staff when some one calls in ill( at times we are lucky if staffing is on board to do it,(she comes in at 6 a.m.)so nocs doesn't have to make those calls. Can't recall a person needing to go to e.r. on noc shift.chase, it sound like you have a lot more responsibilities than where I work. Agree her skills at assessment,& constuctively calling Dr.s will be a benefit to her. I guess she won't know till she tries the facility. & no, no one has ever been known to have fallen asleep on noc shift, unless they take the break to cat nap(telling co-worker where they will be,) gen if they are double shifting,or aren't feeling well sue

[mamason]

Thanks to everyone that responded. Even to the people that thought I was talking about New Hampshire.LOL. I'm happy to say that I declined the offer. Just a different area that I have no expertise in and I don't feel comfortable taking on that type of responsibility. :heartbeat