High school student needs to interview working nurses for school paper.

Any and all answers to the questions below would be greatly appreciated.

1. What do you actually do in your job?

a. I CARE for people

b. I take CARE of people

on top of that I:

c. Admit patients

d. Start IV's

e. Talk to patients

f. Listen to patients/families

g. Do assessments

h. give medications

i. Do treatments

j. CHART ALOT

k. Assist with procedures

l. Change dressings

m. Remove stitches/staples

n. Help wash up a patient

o. Assist the patient in whatever way possible

2. What is a typical day like?

1st - go in and get my patient load (a charge nurse schedules the load for each of the nurses)

2nd - go listen to report

3rd - go through the meds I will be giving for the shift keep track of said meds on my cheat sheet AKA Brains

4th - Go in order of room number/necessity and assess each patient. I assess head to toe. Lungs, Heart stomach (listen to), assess if the patient is alert and oriented to person (self) place, and time (date - or day of the week), Equal hand grips, equal pulses, Strength of each extremity (squeeze or push), check lines, check vitals and sats (in some cases neuro assessments - PERRLA, response to stimuli) There's alot more. Chart at each patients room.

5th - Give meds

6th - Chart vitals

7th - well basically at this point I either go through patients charts, call doctors with labs or whatever, and once this is done I try to spend some time with my patient.

8th - Basically the Vitals are q4h, Meds can be every hour on up to 7-8 patients (not normally every hour on every patient, but out of that many patients usually at least one will have a med. And charting. Beyond that it's just a cycle.

3. Where do you usually work and what are your hours like? I work in an ortho/neuro unit, 12 hour shifts 6P - 6A

4. Are there physical traits, personality traits, or abilities necessary in your job? I would say some of the most important characteristics would be compassion, empathy, and knowing how important and precious life is.

5. Are there any high school or college/technical school subjects that would be helpful if I were to enter this line of work? As much as I hate to say Algebra that would be one, most schools require it, I hated it all the way through school. Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy, English. These are probably most important. I think Psych would also be very important regardless of your goals. It helps you understand the 'why' of people and choices they make.

6. What work experience would be helpful? Being a nurses aide, Phlebotomy is awesome for becoming a good 'stick'

7. What is the average starting salary and after 5 years? I can only say for now (graduated in May) Orientation is close to $19 (days), $21 (nights) after orientation it will go up.

8. What are some of the different fields in this area? Well....OR nurse, Ortho/neuro nurse, OB nurse, Cardiac Care nurse, Critical care nurse, Intensive care nurse, ER nurse, Psych nurse. That's JUST in the hospital. Then theres home care, school nurses, nursing instructors, geez there's just so many places a nurse could/would work

9. How secure is this job? Lol I'd say very secure Are there many layoffs? Ummmm.. No - it's nursing, layoffs are incredibly rare, we're too needed to even get close to laying off.

10. What are some aspect of your job you like? Taking care of my patients. Starting IV's, Really the ONLY thing I can say I dislike is.... Dislike? Charting

11. How large is the demand for people like you in this field? I would say extremely high demand. I had several job offers when I graduated. In 3 different states (would've been more but that's where I applied!)

12. If you had to chose a job again, what would you pick? Well I wouldn't/couldn't be anything but a nurse. Why? It's all I ever saw myself doing.

Many thanks for your time...a high school sophmore.

Hope this helps you see what kind of wonderful future a nurse has, the kind that touches lives, that holds hands as life enters this world, and holds hands as a life leaves this world. No where else can you be a part of both worlds in such a profound way.

Ok, I might not have time to answer em all but here goes...

1) I'm a psych RN. I work nights. The pts have to be in their rooms from 12a to 6a (or we "assist" them there). The main focus is to keep everyone safe, administer any as needed meds, and pick up the brunt of the paperwork that they don't have time for on the day/eve shift. Oh yeah, we have to do admissions too, which includes a 15 page assessment, calling the doc on call, transcribing and giving them the meds the DOC orders, orientating them to the unit, and answering any questions they have. On the detox unit we also have to assess how badly they are in withdrawal and medicate them appropriately.

2)Typical night:

- Arrive and get report from the evening shift

-Until 12a, hang out w/ the pts, get them meds, answer their questions, basically meet their needs (whatever they are at that moment). Midnight bedtime rule is subject to change at discretion of Charge nurse (me) for things like sports playoffs, the Grammy awards, or a movie that's going to end in a few minutes.

-Bedtime... most pts know the rules and go on their own. (we also give 10 and 5 min warnings) New pts are informed of rules. If they refuse to go to their room (they don't have to sleep) we find out why and try to fix the problem. If they are just being obstinate (or aggressively psychotic), we offer them the choice of going on their own or w/ "help". If they make the wrong choice they are physically escorted to their room as many times as is necessary. If they won't stay in there, we have a mental health associate sit outside the door. That almost always works. If it doesn't we offer them a prn med. If they are escalating and refuse meds, occasionally they have to be put in restraints as a last resort. When that happens they get a shot too, and when it kicks in we are usually able to release them.

- 24hr chart checks. We check all orders written in past 24 hrs and make sure they are transcribed in the right spots and fix any errors

- Then we deal w/ admissions as they come. If no admissions we read or talk quietly.

- 5:30am Neaten the nurses station and make coffee, prepare AM report

- 6am Some pts actually get up! we give them coffee, toast their bagels/bread, and get them their stuff if they want to shower. No shaving though, no sharps allowed on the night shift!

-6:45am- Day nurses come in, we give them report and then scram! This hospital is good about letting us out on time. We always get out at 7a

3) Psych hospital... Usually adult or adult dual diagnosis (detox) but sometimes I get floated to reg. adolescent or adol. dual.

4)Kindness, understanding, the ability to stay awake all night, and the ability to deal w/ scary people w/o showing fear. Also, extensive knowledge of psych meds, interactions, and disorders, as well as detox protocol and how to use it.

5) Psych 101?

6) Working with pts in general... working as a mental health associate in a psych hospital would be very helpful.

7) Started at $25/hr (psych pays crap) have only done 4 years but make $27 and change now, plus differentials for night shift

8)Different age groups, detox. Grad degree I'm going to go for is Psych CNS. Like a psych NP (has prescribing authority in my state)

9) Very secure. Not many nurses want to deal w/ psych, even fewer want night shift.

10) I love teaching pts about their illness and how to work around it so they can lead a normal life. Occasionally I get hit, and that sucks.

11) Very high... most nurses don't really like psych

12) same thing... I love my job!