Asking Questions

grinnurse, RN · Jan 22, 2006

I am not quite to the end of my first year of nursing (8 mos almost) but ask the more experienced nurses where I work all the time about things that I think I should know b/c if I have never experienced them in clinicals or out on the floor I want to make sure that I am looking for the right stuff with S/S, meds, procedures etc................I know that I work with a great bunch of nurses and there is only one question that they would think is stupid, and that would be the one that wasn't asked. Do you have one of the more experienced nurses that you are more friendly with than others? If so, ask her if she would be interested in being your mentor. I suspect that I will be asking questions for the rest of my career.

As far as bladder spasms go, they are just like any other kind of muscle spasm like for instance in your leg. I would imagine they could be quite painful-like in your calf muscles-that tigthening, now how you would take care of it is a different story, maybe they would use some kind of muscle relaxer like flexaril etc.

Good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions.

hollykate · Jan 22, 2006

Once you get more experience, you will realize that there are not that many things you "SHOULD" know. (Except perhaps how to recognize V. Tach on a monitor and act appropriately about it. ) There are billions of medications out there, and it is impossible to know them all- which is why we have pharmacy and books and stuff.

I have 6 yrs experience, and I indeed ask a ton of questions. What is interesting is that many times I ask a question and none of us know the answer. So we all end up looking it up, or calling the pharmacy.

It is hard as a new grad though, because some people wil make things tough as you ask questions. Try to avoid saying things like, "I know I should know this..." because there are a ton of things to know and if someone gives you a hassle about your questions, remind them nicely that you could not ask at all, and how would that be....

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jan 24, 2006

Ya gotta be slick, Slick. "OK, so what is that drug for bladder spasms again, ah, ah, I can't remember the name. My mind is just blanking." Chances are they'll pipe up with the answer. [We used B&O (Belladonna and Opium) suppositories.]

Just so you know, a bladder spasm is a muscle spasm of the smooth muscle of the bladder. Hurts like the dickens. Have you ever had a skeletal muscle that spasm'd during exercise? Or, a charlie horse? They hurt! You treat a charlie horse by stretching the muscle. You can't do that with the bladder. Any kind of stimulus of the bladder muscle will sometimes set them off. So, if someone has a catheter in, just manipulating the catheter or doing a vigorous flush of the bladder, especially with cold solution, will set off a spasm. It doesn't help if they have some kind of nerve damage due to surgery, hypertrophy or cancer.

hrtprncss · Jan 24, 2006

Usually the best person to ask is whoever precepted that new grad, because they are comfortable with that senior nurse and they will be more than happy to answer questions. People I have precepted feels comfortable asking me questions, and if I can help then I'd be more than happy to help, if not then we figure out who can help. And if I have a question, I usually go to the person that precepted me when I first started out in that unit. Precepting doesn't end at orientation I think. Of course, that's not always possible, because you're not always working together or whoever precepted you might have left your unit already. But if someone had a good orientation with a preceptor, then that new nurse should feel comfortable asking that nurse a question and in turn that nurse should be more than happy to help. Usually staff that are knowledgeable are more than willing to help anyways, it just makes it easier to ask someone you've already worked with one on one. I'd steer clear of some of the mean charge nurses lol.