I'm still a new RN, 5 mos, I work in the ER and yesterday for no apparent reason I almost passed out in the middle of a lumbar puncture right in front of my pre-ceptor, the ER doc, and the Respiratory Therapist! Talk about beet-faced......:imbar BP dropped to 86/60 and everything just went black and I couldn't hear very well. There is nothing medically wrong with me, I guess I just don't like LP's. especially on Peds patients.
The problem is that my pre-ceptor got really aggravated with me, told me I need to hydrate and eat before coming to work, made me go take a break and said that if we had been running a code she can't have RN's passing out on her. Valid point, but geez, I doubt I am the first one.
Bottom line, she reported me to the Director of the Department without speaking to me about it and now I have to work 8's instead of 12's because they think I "get too tired". that just doesn't sound right to me. um....I'm 36 I don't need a nap! So now that's 4 days of running up the road instead of 3.
I guess there's both good and bad in this, 8's are easier on the body, but why do I feel like I'm being punished?
They've already told me I'm not aggressive enough towards the other nurses, I guess being nice makes me a weenie somehow, are they trying to push me out of my job altogether?
I wouldn't advise you to pick a fight necessarily, but maybe the preceptor is waiting to see if you'll stand up to
her.
If you truly don't want the schedule change, get your ducks in row and, in your nice way, take her on.
You can say something like, "
You made a lot of assumptions about me the other day, and I want to tell you that they were wrong. I didn't have a problem because I hadn't eaten right or had gotten dehydrated or didn't have enough sleep. The room went dark on me because of what I was seeing--and LP on a child. That's the one and only cause. For you to jump to conclusions and report them to the director is a real problem.
The schedule change doesn't fix anything. Instead, it causes me problems for having a queasy moment that passed. I want you to go with me to the director to straighten this out."
Even if you're okay with the schedule change, You cans still say the bolded portion to let her know that you do have a spine and you will not take this kind of treatment well in the future.
You can be as nice as pie, but still set some much-needed boundaries.
Do NOT let this pass unchallenged, or you will get more of the same.
I agree with every word here. Set your boundaries now or they'll eat you alive! Unfortunately, Nursing doesn't necessarily respond to the gracious manners we were taught at home.
Be true to your core values...you character, and take care of yourself. Advocacy can be a rough-and-tumble business whether it's for yourself or for you pt.'s.
first of all you did nothing wrong. you were in the moment and feeling for your patient. it is truly hard to observe procedures on children. i am glad you are ok. i would suggest talking to whomever changed your scheduel and let them know what is up. you are not a baby this was an isolated incident. big whoop! you didn't faint because you tire easily.
Well, I am still in my preceptorship, too. I am in L&D and I still get a little lightheaded during SOME of the epidurals and I've assisted in & seen too many to count (I've never actually passed out). I told my precptor about it, and she recommended I just scoot the stool over to sit on should I get really faint during the procedure. She also told me that every nurse feels "a little swimmy" sometimes. I didn't get yelled at, or told to "take better care of myself." I am an adult, and I understand the need to care for myself, much as I'm sure you do! It happens, and I think that your preceptor must have had a bug up her butt that day or something to treat you that way. I hope you enjoy working your 8s, even if you feel they are a punishment right now.
Major congrats! I remember when I was pregnant with my first one, I was working 12s and had not comprehended how necessary it was to keep my blood sugars up. I had what my midwife called 'a sinkin' spell' (with Southern accent and everything) and very nearly passed out at work. She told me it was a major hypoglycemic episode and I would feel like crap afterwards, so work really hard to keep it up. I kept graham crackers and peanut butter in my pockets afterwards for the rest of the pregnancy! So hang in there.:monkeydance:
I agree with hopeful2009. ride it out for a few mos and then ask to be put back on the hours you were hired for. No doubt you are being treated unfairly but if this is the job you want you're going to have to prove yourself, but that was most likely the case even without your incident. I would advise a glass of juice, maybe a light meal before you start your shift- vegal reaction? maybe- but blood sugar can drop mighty fast when you in a stressful situation. Good luck! in a years time you will be laughing about this with your current preceptor.
sister--*
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