Any advice to new ICU (medical / surgical) Nurse?

ltfrankl lvn · Sep 16, 2005

Keep the focus and always remember you are #1. Take care of yourself your patients need you.

Teachchildren123 · Sep 17, 2005

Keep up the good work!You are very courageous, I admire you for taking a new challenge. :cheers: We have one RN in the ECCO program and she is doing well. Being a PCA and having a good personality helps a lot. She is also very curious. :specs:

1. I know that it is hard to take other people's ideas sometimes, but the voice of experience is precious.

2. Remember, to try to stay cool, go in the bathroom, eat when you can, drink juice.

3. ABC's for yourself.

4. Don't beat yourself up if you can't get the ABG's 5 out of 10 times.

5. I admit all the time to what I don't know. Do not let your anxiety show up, it could transfer to the pt and family.

6. It's ok to cry with family and hug them back!

7. You will learn everyday like all of us.

8. Medicine is not a perfect science.

Keep on writing!

CRNAorBust · Sep 20, 2005

Thanks for those words of wisdom guys! I'm sure i'll be around from time to time posting how things are going.........

Bryan

zambezi, BSN, RN · Sep 20, 2005

I'm doing night shift (3 12's) and would love any advice on the following:
Getting use to the hours,
Losing weight while working night shift,
Exercising
and any other advice anyone thinks would be helpful......
Thanks in advance!
Bryan G.RN, BSN

First off, Congratulation on getting hired into ICU! :balloons:

I think that night shift, while it takes awhile for the body to adjust to, is a great place to learn...

As for getting used to 12 hr nights- give it time. It took me a good three months before I felt anywhere normal. I had to play with the way that I was eating as well as adjust what I was eating. On nights I seem to have to eat fairly frequently or I will feel sick (not quite so important now as when I was first starting out)...My blood sugar would drop around 11 at night and I would feel like crap! Once I started focusing on eating a healthy meal before work and then snacking on healthier stuff I felt so much better! I seemed to lose weight by working nights but I know of others who gain it. I would just focus on eating healthy. Unfortunately, this usually means brown-bagging it because the cafeteria food (at our institution at least) consists of fried food and minimal options. If you pack a healthy lunch you can eat that and go from there...

As for excercising- this is a tough one for me. I am very active but the 12 hours kills me. I don't work out on the days that I work. I just make sure that I walk alot at work. I am just too tired. I tried going to the gym after working and thought I was going to pass out- but hey, it may work for you, try it after your body adjusts a little bit. Take it slow though, too many changes at once may burn you out. I do work out on all of my days off- which is still more often than not. In the summer, if I wake up early I may for for a run or walk just to get my energy up (but that's only if I feel really motivated). Again, you will just have to try different things and see what works for you. You don't say how active you are now so it may be different if you are a beginner vs. an avid athlete.

Whoever said making you your number one priority is right. YOu can't help others (patients or your own family) if you don't feel good. So it really is important. Sleep is key. Try to get 6-8 hours of sleep before you work. I usually take a nap (about 3 hours) before my first night on. Then I sleep all day until I flip back to sleeping nights. I am lucky though, I don't have anyone at home during the day so I don't have any distractions. Keep your room dark and cool during the day. Wear sunglasses on your way home. Eat a healthy, light breakfast before you sleep. I sleep with a fan on for white noise. Get a routine down to help you unwind. I found that when I started, all I could think about was work- the stress of integrating all that new, critical info invaded my sleep. It may help to debrief somehow before you lie down to get your mind off work and into a more relaxed mode.

Other than that, don't forget to have fun!!

CRNAorBust · Sep 20, 2005

Thank you very much for that generous discussion about adapting to nights!!

I will take it all to heart and experiment as you have suggested.......I am somewhat active, but about 20 lbs overweight from my less active lifestlyle in nursing school and not watching what i was eating........I heard what you said about losing weight and gaining from other people........obviously we're all different in how we adjust.....

I joined a gym as I may have mentioned and of course I'll be experimenting with this as well......I think there will be up and down days.......some I'll be able to exercise after and others not........unfortunately for me I have a cold and am about to do 3 12's in a row for my first week :crying2: .......any suggestions on what to do to maintain my resistance while working?

A nap for the first day makes total sense I think i can do that.....tho 3 hours seems alot for me in terms of napping......i might only be able to nap for about an hour or two at best......

I use that cool room trick even in the evenings when i feel restless and unable to sleep.......thats why i turn on the a/c sometimes .....

Eating before I sleep doesn't work for me since I have gerd and no gall bladder ..... i would need several hours to digest it before being able to lie down........

I am going to keep a journal of my nursing on the floor as a way to unwind and get " out of my system " things I need to focus on or things that are upsetting me......or things I enjoy.......Of course I'll be working out as well and finding other fun things to do.....

Thanks again for the input......

Bryan