How do nurses work with each other in the hospital?

springchick1, ADN, RN · Apr 13, 2016

I STRONGLY suggest that you find a nurse and shadow them for a few shifts. It seems there is a lot about nursing that you don't know. It can be long hours with hard, back breaking work. You may or may not have a CNA to help with all the "unpleasant" stuff. Look long and hard into it before you make a decision.

nyletak · Apr 13, 2016

Trust me, I understand (as much as one can understand before actually doing it) how hard it's going to be. I've been reading multiple forums for a while and I have a few nursing friends. I'm simply asking these questions because I'm unsure how it works. It doesn't make a difference to me what the answers are. I've already accepted my offer into nursing. I just want to be more aware of how it works before I start. I will probably shadow someone before I start school but it would be nice to get some answers here as well.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Apr 13, 2016

You are getting a little ahead of yourself :) Most of your questions will be answered as you learn and observe in your clinical experiences.

You will have 6 patients ( more or less) that you will be responsible for. You SHOULD have the guidance and wisdom of experienced nurses to assist you with your practice.

You SHOULD have assistants to perform bedside care such as baths and ambulation. This will depend on the facility and unit you start working on.

Two codes at once.. probably not going to happen. In 30 years.. I saw that once. The intern shocked herself with the paddles :/. No worries... there will be a gazillion people around.

As far as lunch.. good luck with that... didn't get one for years.

Deep breaths... enjoy your studies. Let us know how it's going.

amoLucia · Apr 13, 2016

Great answer from springchick/

Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN · Apr 13, 2016

Practical nurses ARE nurses themselves, btw.

I second the shadowing...

seaofclouds21, BSN, RN · Apr 14, 2016

Shadowing is great if you can do it. A lot of your specific questions are going to depend on where you work. In my experience at various hospitals, I was always assigned my patients (up to 8 depending on where I was working at the time). Sometimes I would have a CNA (nursing assistant) assigned to them as well, sometimes I wouldn't. Ultimately, even when I have had a CNA, it is still the nurses overall responsibility to make sure all of the personal care is done each day for the patient. We always had a charge nurse on the units I worked, though sometimes they had their own assignments.

Getting help is usually just a matter of asking the nurses working in your area if they can give you a hand. Getting coverage for lunch is the same. You check with the nurse working closest to your assignment and give them a brief run down of your assignment.

I have been in a situation where one patient was in a rapid response (our call for help before they code) and then a second patient of mine actually coded. I was in with the rapid response, made sure the rapid response nurse was good and said I'll be in room X if you need me since that's my patient coding. Generally speaking there are teams that respond to these calls. If you two patients with major issues at the same time, use your resources on your unit and be available to give information as best you can.

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Apr 14, 2016

As the previous posters have stated, you will get a better idea of the dynamics once you start clinicals. You are solely responsible for your patients. If you need assistance from another nurse to help turn a patient, help with a procedure, start an IV that you were unable to get, you ask another nurse. They will prioritize their next 30 minutes in their head and try to find 5-10 minutes to help you. There will be nurses that have no organization skills and will be in panic, rush mode from the beginning to the end of their shift. You will not get any help from them.

If you have a patient code, your fellow nurses SHOULD stop what they are doing and rush to your aid. In addition, most hospitals (in the US at least) have a Rapid Response or Code team (ICU nurses and doctors) that respond to codes throughout the hospital. Once they arrive, they take control of the code (they are ACLS trained) and you are there to assist them. At that point, your co-workers can return to their patients. That applies to codes in a non-ICU setting. If you are working in an ICU, all nurses are ACLS certified and you and your co-workers are the Code team. You just push the code button and your co-workers and doctors come to your aid. We are required to attend a simulated code (on a fake patient) twice a year in order to keep up on our code skills.

loriangel14, RN · Apr 14, 2016

Practical Nurses ARE nurses and will have their own assignments. Two codes at once will not happen and if a code is called there is plenty of help around. Once you push the code blue button there is an overhead code called and all sorts of folks will come running.

Yes the PSWs will help answer bells and do cares but ultimately it's the nurse's responsibility. Some places have no aides of any kind and you do it all yourself. Where I work you always get breaks and yes, the other nurses are quite capable of taking care of yours while you are gone. Breaks are usually assigned and the others still on the floor answer your bells while you are gone. Yes you are responsible for your patient assignment and no one else. That " unpleasant stuff " is your job too.

Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN · Apr 14, 2016

Hi everyone,
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Lastly, how much of nursing is bathing people, helping them go to the washroom, and all that other "unpleasant" stuff. Here in Canada we have personal support workers and practical nurses. They don't have as much schooling as nurses and I'm under the understanding that they do most of those things? But I was wondering how they tie in with nurses in a hospital? If my patient needs to be bathed, do I personally ask one of those workers to do it? Do they just know to do it? Or do I have to do it myself? (I'm not complaining, just genuinely curious as to how it works).
Sorry for for the absolute novel, I've just always wondered how the system is in a hospital.
Thank you.

Nursiing in Canada is much more hands on than nursing in the USA. It might be better to get this moved to the Canadian Forum.

RPNs are highly trained nurses - they will have their own assignment and their own pts to attend to. They are not there to do your work for you. In fact, you will probably be helping them if their pt becomes unstable as needs skills they do not have. Although even that is becoming less and less as their practice is greatly increasing.

You may have a PSW or two - depends on the hospital but they cannot do everyone.

so yes, you will be bathing people, changing them, assisting them to the BR and all those "unpleasant" stuff. There is a lot of unpleasant stuff in hospitals. Its not like Grey's Anatomy or General Hospital.

It is a great profession with a lot of awards, but it also a very hard job at times. Be prepared for everything.

xokw, BSN, RN · Apr 14, 2016

An RPN (who is a nurse, as others have mentioned) will have her own patient assignment who she cares for. RPNs will not be doing any of the "unpleasant" things for your patients, only their own who are also sick and in need of nursing care. Your patient, your responsibility for the care they need during the shift. Those unpleasant aspects, toileting, bathing, etc., are a huge part of nursing and this is when you will do a great deal of your own nursing assessments.

So yes, you'll have your own patient assignment and they are yours for the day. You are entitled to breaks and should be able to brief a nurse quickly on your patients in order to leave. When you become overwhelmed or fall behind you can always ask for help, nursing requires a lot of team work. The majority of hospitals do not have PSWs (at least where I am, there's a couple but not many), and even the ones that do, the PSWs are just a helping hand and if they are busy you have to do your own patient care not wait for a worker to help (for example, if your patient was in a soiled brief which needed to be changed and no PSW was available, you would do it yourself rather than wait for a PSW in order to avoid leaving a patient sitting in a dirty brief).

Unpleasant aspects aside, nursing is pretty great. It is also nice to see prospective future nurses who are trying to inform themselves prior to beginning school, so many students show up first year with stars in their eyes and no idea as to what they signed up for!

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Apr 14, 2016

Why do people think it's so unpleasant to toilet a person or bathe them? It's truly not a big deal. Think about it, how would you feel if you were incontinent? Would you be embarrassed and uncomfortable? It's part of the job to comfort them. Giving them a bath helps them feel better which inturn can help with the healing process.

I am a PCT. Our nurses are in charge of total patient care. I assist them. I do answer call lights, I toilet people get them water. But the nurses and I tag team bathing, and changing out the beds and cleaning up stool. We also tag team repositioning. It helps save our backs also. As a PCT, I have my own responsibilities. I ensure rooms are stocked and ready, that dirty ones are on the list to get cleaned, I get new admits, discharge, and transfer.

When end a nurse goes on break, she gives report to one of the other nurses. We all help out with watching out for her patients. Two codes do not happen at once. We just work as a team. I know not every unit is like ours, but the nurses on the unit where I work are truly a team. If a nurse gets behind on their charting, the others help out with their patient care. It's really not hard. I feel very lucky to be where I am.