A message to new grads: NEVER....

Nurses General Nursing

Published

* un-spike the old IVF's with 100 mls left in the bag while it's still hanging

* say the word "quiet" in reference to your hopes for the shift

* say you've never had a patient ________ before

* take your stethoscope off till you're in your car and on the way home

* plan on going to that inservice/staff meeting/whatever during your shift

Experienced nurses, share your wisdom. What are some other things that new grads should NEVER do?

Specializes in ER/Trauma, research, OR.

Remember your Kindergarden teacher...

...Play well with others.

...Never run with scissors.

...Don't eat the paste.

...Clean up after yourself.

...Always ask questions.

I thought nursing school taught me everything. I was wrong. I learn at least one new fact every shift I work.

I never turn down an opportunity to attempt an IV just because they are a hard stick.

I never miss any procedure even if I have seen 10 of them. This one may offer something new.

Ask your patients what their expectations are from your care. Most have never been asked this question and usually this gets return comments from the patient and family.

Recheck all meds even if you just did this calculation yesterday today is a new day and the pharmacy may have mixed it differently.

Remember you 5 rights(patient,med,dose,time,route)

Smile!!!!!!!

NEVER tell a family member that you won't bathe a patient because you don't want to hurt your back!

(We had a nurse's aide do this recently.)[/QUOT

To add to this quote, never tell a resident that you are not going to take her to the bathroom because you just took her 10 minutes ago. While you are at it, don't inform the resident this tidbit in front of her son. He will not be pleased with you and you will lose your job when he threatens the DON that this incident will be reported to the state board.

Always believe a patient when they say this baby is coming and I am dying, because they know.

Remember the patient in pain is not the way they really behave and mostly would feel sorry for yelling at you.

NEVER appear timid in front of a doctor, even if you feel that way!

NEVER let a doctor intimidate you or think he/she is better than you!

ALWAYS remember that the doctor dose not know everything, theirs and your jobs are both to take care of the patient.

:p

Never let staff or doctors disrespect you as a person because you are new.

Specializes in ICU, ED, Transport, Home Care, Mgmnt.

Never forget to talk to your patient, even if you think they can't hear you.

Let them know what you are about to do and what your plan for them is for that shift.

Find out what they want and how they want it done, when possible.

Always keep an open mind, even if you are sure they are a crock.

Even frequent fliers will eventually die from something. :rotfl:

Remember to deal with your stress, and control it because you need to remember the defination for stress is "That uncontrollable urge to choke the living S..t out of some A..h.le who desperately needs it." :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: You will meet many stress producers in your career. :rolleyes:

They used to say the first thing to do in a code was take your own pulse, I think if you just take a deep breath... and then let it out :rolleyes: , you'll do fine.

CYA

Keep the golden rule, treat others the way you want to be treated.

Specializes in MICU, SICU, PACU, Travel nursing.

okay some i've learned in my first year as a nurse

#1

never believe a gi bleeder who is about to be transfered to the floor that he is allowed to get up and use the bathroom. always check the chart. he could be mistaken. he could also pass out on the floor while vomiting old blood in a pile of bloody feces and have to be team lifted by 5 male nurses back into bed. you could also have to fill out an incident report.

#2

always check placement on ng tubes before feeding. the one time you don't is the one time they will aspirate

#3

don't try and make lame jokes to very stressed out family members, some will take it the wrong way and you will be reported to the supervisor

and #4

never believe sweet old granny who is restrained for pulling at lines that if you please take off those awful restaints she wont pull out her arterial line. because she will, even though she was alert and oriented x3 when you assessed her. you will find her in a pool of bright red blood and she will have no idea how the line came out. :rolleyes:

:p Always treat a patient with respect, the way you would want a friend, family or loved one to be treated.

:p Always remember to take the time to answer the questions of a newly hired employee to your unit, new graduate nurse and/or a nursing student. You didn't know everything when you started out but hopefully you had a old nurse you took the time to answer all of your questions.

:p Always take care of yourself physically, mentally and spiritually

:p Always leave your personnal problems at the door when you come to work and pick them up on your way out at the end of your shift!

Specializes in ICU, psych, corrections.

Hmmmm...well, I'm still a student (Class of May 2005!!) but I have a few:

Never assume it's the monitor, line, machine, etc. malfunctioning. It could very well be the patient. Case in point: MD put in art-line. Art line was working fine. Hour later art line wasn't reading. Nurse was convinced it was the art-line malfunctioning and kept screwing around with it. I walked in with my preceptor, who asked right away if the patient had a carotid pulse. After a quick check, it was determined that although the monitor had a beautiful EKG wave, patient was in PEA and probably had been. Art-line wasn't working because patient had no pulse; she had been bleeding internally from a crushed pelvis.

Always take everything out of your pockets when accompanying patient to MRI...LOL. I was careful to remove all jewelry, watch, badges, and thought I had emptied my pockets. I quickly learned that I had forgotten a pair of scissors in my pants pocket when they flew out of my pants and attached themselves the MRI machine! Sigh.....

Always check the cap on the tubefeed bottles. Sometimes, they are loose and when you turn them upside down to hang, they drip all over the pumps below.....or worse, the patient!

Never assume just because you are a student, your assessment is wrong. I have had to overcome this one while working for the past year in the ICU as an Apprentice Nurse. I used to second guess myself but after reading charting that has been done by nurses who have been there for years, I realize that just because you have 10 years under your belt doesn't mean you can't be wrong (how does a patient on Norcuron do their own oral care anyways??.....LOL).

If you do computer charting, always, always make sure you have the right patient pulled up. I was reading through the previous day's charting on my patient and came across a note that said "moderate lady partsl discharge". Would have been fine except my patient was a man! LOL.

Melanie = )

...use a phrase "Nursing is 24 hours"!

It's not an excuse!

Specializes in Public Health, DEI.

Never tell a child (or any other patient) something won't hurt, if it will

Never burn bridges behind you, you never know who you might work with in another job, years later

Never fail to remember that we take care of people, not cases

Never think that a shift can't get any busier or worse, b/c that's when it will

Along the lines of IVs and fluid...

...when you rare fooling with G-tubes, clamp the tube with your fingers while you are inserting or taking out your 60cc syringe...otherwise what you put in is likely to come out. Of course, we all learned this the hard way. :coollook:

Also, make friends with your unit clerks. :coollook: They are really an asset. :chuckle

Oh yes they are. Coming from a Unit Secretary of 9 years now and graduating with ADN in 11 more weeks! Hurray for me.....I cannot wait! But I love my job as a Unit Secretary at our local medical center and am starting to get alittle nervous about starting all over, being the new jack! I know my job in and out and I train almost all of the new clerks.....how long til I am comfortable with my new job as a nurse?

I will be nice to the clerks because I "know" from experience what they are going through and I have dealt with VERY demading nurses and docs! I also was a Nurse's Assistant before Unit Sec. so I have done it all.

MrsStraty

:balloons: ADN grad May 2005

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