Interview an RN

iNurseUK, RN · Jul 13, 2010

I'm probably not much use to you because I'm English but happy to help.

1. I have worked in various settings as you can see in my info and have a first-class BA Honours degree in Nursing.

2. 20 years.

3.Where to start? I do meds, arrange radiotherapy and check chemotherapy do personal care, take vitals, make beds, admit, discharge, refer patients to other services, liase with other professionals like dietitians, physios, OT's, speech therapists, start NG and PEG feeds, cannulate, take bloods, hang IVI's, do ward rounds with the doctors, answer phone enquiries, chat to relatives, empty catheter bags, change stoma bags.......we could go on forever. Did you pack a lunch :)

4.Love the direct patient care. Hate the stupid time-consuming writing everything down in triplicate then signing it in the blood of your sacrificed firstborn.

5. Not having an extra pair of hands is a bummer! Seriously though Oncology can be hard going at times. You have to learn to distance yourself a bit.

6. Atypical on this particular unit which is well-staffed and well-run.

7. OK you GOT three weeks?

8. Sickest first, routine stuff later. Never mind what they tell you at handover look at your patients and assess them yourself.

NocturneRN · Jul 13, 2010

Hello everyone im Natalie, and i am currently in school to become a RN and i have to interview 2 RN's as part of an assignment. Anyone that is a current RN that can answer my questions is greatly appreciated.
1. Identify the person you are interviewing and thier credentials
2. How many yrs have you been an RN
3. What is a typical day for you
4. What do you like least and most about your job
5. What type of stress do you experience on the job.
6. Is overtime typical or atypical
7. Describe the activities,responsibility and functions of a RN
8. How do you organize your time to care for your patients
Thank you so much for your help.

1) I'm an ADN nurse with a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field

2) 30 years

3) I work 8 hours night shifts in the ER, a level 2 trauma center. During that shift, I triage and treat up to 4 patients at a time (or more if we're insanely busy). As soon as one patient leaves (either out the door or to an inpatient unit), we clean the room and bring another one back.

4) What I like most is the variety, the level of autonomy, and the great rapport ER staff have with the doctors.

What I dislike most is having to deal with belligerent and manipulative patients, and doing painful procedures to

babies and very young children. (I admire pediatric and NICU nurses!)

5) One big ER stressor is speed: juggling several patients, all or most of whom need several interventions immediately. Add to that the fact that you never know what's going to happen five minutes from now: just one bad accident, or one really critical illness, can upset the whole apple cart. You have to have some skill in ALL patient areas, because it's common to have a big variety all at the same time. In room 1 you might have a pregnant woman who's having profuse lady partsl bleeding; in room 2 a croupy two year old with serious wheezing; in room 3 a belligerent drunk yelling obscenities (and scaring the child in room 2); in room 4 a diaphoretic 54 year old who's experiencing crushing chest pain and shortness of breath, and who can't speak English. Another stressor: these patients haven't been diagnosed yet. And that means that your initial assessment and response could make a huge difference in their treatment, before the doctor ever even sees the chart.

6) Overtime isn't typical in my ER at present, although it can happen when we get an unusually big influx of unstable patients at shift change. One nice thing about ER is that there isn't nearly as much documentation as I used to do when I was a floor nurse. Shift report is simpler, too, since the ER tends to focus on presenting complaint, rather than all body systems.

7) ER nurses are often described as being the doctor's eyes and ears, and that's quite an accurate description. At night, we do our own triaging as well, so I'm often the first and only nurse who deals with the patient from beginning to end of his visit. It's my job to triage the patient, perform a nursing assessment, and decide on the basis of those findings whether an IV and/or blood work are likely to be needed. I order Xrays for suspected fractures; EKGs for patients with possible cardiac problems; IV boluses; antinausea medications and (within standing orders) pain medications. Because the ER doctors see many more patients at a time than I do, I'm expected to keep an eye out for problems they might have missed.

8) After a while, you get a feel for which procedures need to be done immediately, and which can be delayed a bit. All ER nurses are very familiar with the ABC acronym----ensure airway, breathing and circulation before anything else. So, if a patient's airway is compromised (for example, a patient with an apparent allergic reaction feels his throat swelling), that is a top priority, whereas a cut on the arm, even if there's a lot of blood present, might not be. You also learn to do various procedures---starting IVs, inserting catheters and NG tubes, applying and reading monitors---very quickly, since you're doing them often.

Another important factor is teamwork. On the night shift, we all help each other out. Sometimes, it's almost like a ballet: chest pain patient arrives, Nurse A is taking off his clothes, doing vitals and putting on a monitor; Nurse B is triaging, and calling for someone to do an EKG; Nurse C is drawing blood and starting an IV, and Nurse D is applying oxygen and going for medications. No one says, "I'll do this, and you do that"----we just do it.