How to ask questions...

I would ask because the truth is if you DID "know your stuff" in regards to that procedure, you wouldn't have to ask. But that's okay. You can't be expected to know everything. So you ask. One day you won't have to ask how to do it because you'd finally "know your stuff".

Personally, I respect those who ask questions. It shows professionalism. As a traveler, you will of course have a lot of questions not only about clinical issues (hospital patient populations do vary widely) but even more on practices, pt flow, computers, equipment, and supplies. Best to wait a bit before asking as much of the time the answer will come in context or reflection. Too many "dumb" questions are not good - choose questions wisely.

I thought it was helpful to frame it in something like "How do you guys do______?" Or "what is your policy/procedure on ______?"

you can also say "I haven't had as much experience with _____, can you explain ____?"

As a fairly new traveler I find that the staff nurses would rather you ask than that you guess. That being said, know the resources available to you, where to find policies/procedures, their online drug book, etc. I try to make sure I understand something about the context of my question, and ask something specific.

The problem I have had on assignment are nurses that encourage me to ask questions and when I actually do they appear to be frustrated about being asked, as if I am asking a dumb question. I mean seriously, why offer if its going to be an issue? I have learned by now who I can ask and who to avoid.

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The way not to ask a question is to preface it with a statement like "where I come from we do it this way, why do you do it that way?" These kind of statements are common to new travelers who have only worked at one hospital because they have no idea that there other ways to do things. Very insulting to staff - do consider that they have also may have only worked at one hospital. This is like a house guest criticizing the furnishings!

I would ask because the truth is if you DID "know your stuff" in regards to that procedure, you wouldn't have to ask. But that's okay. You can't be expected to know everything. So you ask. One day you won't have to ask how to do it because you'd finally "know your stuff".

I passionately disagree with this statements implication with every fiber in my being.

Even if you "know your stuff" it can't be unprudent to brush up on a procedure you haven't preformed in a year?

thats what I'm asking about. Even if I "know" what to do, I'll ask if it feels safe as a refresher.

This is is in reference to. "Hey, I havent done an ng in a while. It's tilt the head forward, measure from nose to xyphoid, swallow while inserting right". Stuff like that, not something like "my patients sugar is 40, what do I do"

Can an someone offer some helpful apps that you might use as an information reference

I passionately disagree with this statements implication with every fiber in my being.

Even if you "know your stuff" it can't be unprudent to brush up on a procedure you haven't preformed in a year?

thats what I'm asking about. Even if I "know" what to do, I'll ask if it feels safe as a refresher.

This is is in reference to. "Hey, I havent done an ng in a while. It's tilt the head forward, measure from nose to xyphoid, swallow while inserting right". Stuff like that, not something like "my patients sugar is 40, what do I do"

Can an someone offer some helpful apps that you might use as an information reference

It's not imprudent to brush up on skills/procedures you haven't performed in a year, and you should do this on your own time. As nurses we are responsible for being clinically competent to perform nursing skills/procedures that are within our scope of practice in the area that we work. If you will be working in an area that will require you to be clinically competent at inserting NG tubes, and are unsure of how to perform this basic procedure, the onus is on you to review the procedure on your own time so that you are competent to perform the procedure.

To be honest, I believe it would be beneficial to gain more experience in nursing before considering traveling, both for your patients sakes and for yourself. One and a half years in peds and one and a half years in med-surg is not a lot of experience.

Sure, if you know ahead of time! But there are a lot of tasks and one of the things about travel is there is always something new. Getting a hands on in-service is better than a book.

And perhaps surprisingly for those reading my posts about getting more experience before travel, I think 3 years is fine here. There may be some competitive issues for assignments until some travel experience, but not skills for the confident nurse.

Oddly enough before leaving my last assignment, one of the most seasoned staff nurses there said "I really enjoyed working together, you're one of the only agency nurses I've seen who never says "I don't know how to do that". Which I found funny, because as a 2 year RN who has never technically worked MS, I ask questions ALL DAY LONG. But so far everyone has been so nice and helpful that it never comes across as a bother. I'm sure this also has to do with the fact that I am the first to offer help with things that are a no-brainer like: ordering lunch, coffee runs, turning patients, toileting people, charting I&O's, doing paperwork I'm comfortable with, etc.

Morningland, but if you knew then you wouldn't need a refresher. You'd just do it. The reality is that you're unsure or can't remember which isn't a BAD thing. I think sometimes nurses act like they know everything but it's the same issue doctors run into when they develop that God complex and can't take any threat to their validity. You don't know everything and so asking is how you learn. No biggie. maybe next time when that procedure arises you can demonstarate your knowledge by doing it without asking for help. :)

I passionately disagree with this statements implication with every fiber in my being.

Even if you "know your stuff" it can't be unprudent to brush up on a procedure you haven't preformed in a year?

thats what I'm asking about. Even if I "know" what to do, I'll ask if it feels safe as a refresher.

This is is in reference to. "Hey, I havent done an ng in a while. It's tilt the head forward, measure from nose to xyphoid, swallow while inserting right". Stuff like that, not something like "my patients sugar is 40, what do I do"

Can an someone offer some helpful apps that you might use as an information reference

i'm on my first assignment now and having this same problem. I came from a harder/bigger hospital but am having a tough time with the staff. I have had a lot of questions because so many things are different like policies, procedures, medications, and general culture of doing everything vs. calling for comfort care. So, with all my questions they question my skills and where I came from. It drives me nuts because I am a good nurse but I feel like a portion of the staff question my abilities.

i'm on my first assignment now and having this same problem. I came from a harder/bigger hospital but am having a tough time with the staff. I have had a lot of questions because so many things are different like policies, procedures, medications, and general culture of doing everything vs. calling for comfort care. So, with all my questions they question my skills and where I came from. It drives me nuts because I am a good nurse but I feel like a portion of the staff question my abilities.

It is most likely not you, its them. Look at the staff culture. Is there a lot of horizontal violence? Sabotaging, gossiping, eye rolling, ignoring questions or making snide comments. It all depends on the hospital. I cut my nursing teeth in a high acuity, high volume inner city ER. I learned a lot and stayed there several years. We treated travelers well. It was a tough environment, but even if they were very green, we went out of our way to teach and be helpful, (we had one who never put in an NG before, he was from a very small rural ED and only had 1 year experience). That particular RN renewed a couple of times with us and we all stay in contact with him.

At another hospital the acuity was not so bad. The volume was okay. But the staff were absolutely vicious. They would roll their eyes when you asked a simple question "What is your policy on..." . I was a new traveler so I thought maybe it was me. However the other travelers there, as well as a couple of newly hired new staff all said it was the worst working environment they had ever been in. I got through the assignment by counting the weeks, keeping my mouth shut (not all the travelers did that), and respectfully declining to renew my contract (you never know when you might meet someone from that problem facility who could help you).

So chin up, you know what you know. 13 weeks will be up in no time.