In it for the long run nurses:)

Nurses General Nursing

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I would like to start a topic for nurses who have been RN's for 25-30 years! Let me know what your doing? I am 55 and still working , I know a lot of you are too :coollook:! What are you doing?

gosh, i remember well all those things - as well as sippy diets for ulcers, long bedrest for m.i.'s, cap falling off my head - usually into the patient's wound, 30 bed wards with only 2 bathrooms. also remember my first bedbath for a male patient as a student. i was soooo green - when the instructor said to wash everything, that is exactly what i did. everything! :imbar funny to look back on it now, but at the time it was mortifying :rolleyes:

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

Remember glass ABG syringes?

Averaging your cardiac outputs by long division?

Calculating drip rates without a calculator? (They were so expensive, no one had them! Even the unit didn't have one, but the pharmacy did.)

Remember waiting for your chem panel to find out what the blood sugar was?

Burutrols for drips?

Ruby (who remembers)

Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.
... LOVE you guys. You know which docs are useful and which ones are useless, you know tricks that have fallen by the wayside, but still work, and for the most part, you are willing to share when we are willing to listen. THANKS!!!!

Ditto... from a student just starting his nursing education. :)

Specializes in Emergency Room.

i am a new nurse and just wanted to say i have alot of respect for "older" nurses that have been in this career for a long time. no matter how much education you have, nothing compares to experience. when i work with nurses that have 15+ years experience i feel comfortable, because i know i have reliable resources to turn to in case i get in a bind. most older nurses i work with say that nursing has changed tremendously in the last 20 years and that the work is getting harder, so i admire those that stay in it because they are dedicated to what they do. keep up the good work, you are truly valued :)

I also remember when our manager would fight for us and TPTB listened...and we had enough nurses on duty to do a good job. And if census fell, we all STAYED on the job and found things to do: cleaned out closets, reorganized files, made inventory lists, etc.

Today I feel more like a nurse to equipment/machines than a nurse to human beings. But we must adapt...the only thing we can count on is change, eh? ;)

I remember in the 70's my Chemistry professor in nursing school demanded we all buy calculators...she didn't have time for us to calculate by hand in class and on tests, she said. Back then calcs were new and cost over 75 bucks (a lot then..probably a day and a half my Dad's pay). Now you can buy 'em for a few bucks.

Now we have biomed techs, etc and that's all they do is major troubleshooting of our various equipment on the job...and as a nurse I must do the minor troubleshooting and controls of a variety of machines which takes sooo much of my time from my patients.

I remember before respiratory therapists, before PCT's and when our CNA's were professional and proud of their role, as were the nurses. There seems to be something lacking today which is just a reflection of society in general I suspect. Hospitals are totally different today than 30 yrs ago from CEO on down.

Many hospital depts have successfully turfed their unwanted duties to nurses. Today I am responsible for many duties that used to belong to lab, housekeeping, respiratory therapy, medical records, etc etc. And I spend much less time with my patients, yet have a higher level of liability. Go figure.

The good thing is I'm older and wiser today and do not get sucked in as easily, and find it easier to take care of 'me' and to say 'no'.

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