Is there any help for this old nurse lost in new age nursing??

[coolnurseclub]

I have been a med surg nurse for 20 plus years. I worked at the same hospital for 20 of those years. I was terminated because I simply cannot keep up any longer. I have accepted and learned CPOE. med scanning,computerized charting, etc. BUT...I cannot go completely "paperless" and always chart in "real time" . ( just to mention two out of many gripes).

The last year of my employment at this facility that I loved and grew up with, changed administration when 2 new hospitals opened in the area. During that time most of us "older" nurses (highest paid) either mysteriously left or retired early after years of employment, all being replaced by new grads. No offense to new grads, you are very much needed and have been trained in the new ways.

I feel like an old dog being kicked to the curb. I am a good, caring nurse. Spent "too much time with my patients". Forgot twice to document if smoking cessation education was given and no flu and pneumonia vaccine status documented. That won't happen again!

So what if I was trying to keep my patient from coding trying to get a transfer to ICU all by myself while all the docs and charge nurses and supervisors were at their morning meetings and not responding to pages "in a timely manner" sooooo... I didn't chart or give all my meds in that "timely manner" many times and have been doing the same since I was a new nurse. That is fact and I'm sure many of you will agree you've had to do the same.

I guess I just don't know how to be a nurse any longer. Can anyone relate to this?

I don't know what to do. I can't retire (lost most of it in the '90's) and had to live off the rest when I lost my job. Its a dog-eat-dog world out there and new nurses are in demand. I am 53 years old and never thought the career of my dreams would end up this way.

I do start a new job in a LTC facility next week. Maybe this will work out. I'm too old and poor to go back to school now.

My greatest advice to all you new nurses is, hang in there and take good care of me when I need you, and start putting in a lot for your retirement right from the start. I truly have been traumatized to the point I feel incompetent and I know that is not the case.(PTSD)

Please help me guys! I need feedback!

[sailornurse]

When computers first came to the nurses station (I'm remembering this huge monitor with orange letters), I took computer classes at the local community college. I was usually the youngest one in the room, everyone else was SilverHaired. I took about 4 different classes, one where we took the computer apart, the instructor threw all the parts from every computer in a pile on a table. We had to put the computer back together, turn it on and see if it worked. I learned what a mother board was, this is when we still had the big floppy discs. I remember one class another student picked up her mouse and was rolling it up & down the monitor screen! ( No this was in the 1990s, touch screens had not been invented.) The teacher had instucted us to "scroll to the cursor with our mouse".

We have to learn/adapt/evolve. In NP school, I did not know how to "attach a file" and as faculty I have had students who wanted to fax their homework to me for the same reason, did not know how to send files, I have been handed the discs/jump drives etc.

EMRs as PPs have stated some are good some are bad. Worst one I saw was at rehab facility. It took one hour to chart for each pt, so with 8-10 puts at night plus med pass, well do the math, not much time left for real patient care!

I jut got this MacBook Pro with a "Retina" display and am learning to use it. My sister got a Mac Desk top and she is taking classes at the Apple store & also taking classes on learning how to use her iPhone, she's an accountant.

I had go Google how to take a screen shot with my iPhone.

Whenever the power went out during our rainy/monsoon season, my dad would call me to reset the clocks on the microwave/vcr because it bugged him to have the flashing red 12:00.

Any one ever run into a microwave oven that you can't figure out how to get it to warm up your dinner so you use the popcorn button? I can't be the only one!

I'm planning/thinking about returning next year for DNP & I know I will need to have current computer/technology skills.

Recently there was an ad in our local newspaper from an elderly couple seeking help with their new cell phone. My daughter's boyfriend met with them.

All these examples just show that technology/computers are every where & it's ok to say need to learn more/learn how to use these tools to do my job.

[Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN]

When computers first came to the nurses station (I'm remembering this huge monitor with orange letters), I took computer classes at the local community college.

>snipped

Recently there was an ad in our local newspaper from an elderly couple seeking help with their new cell phone. My daughter's boyfriend met with them.

All these examples just show that technology/computers are every where & it's ok to say need to learn more/learn how to use these tools to do my job.

i love your attitude. And I do remember the old computers, bigger than a bread box, with the orange letters.

I took my first computer class in 1981 when the office I worked in bought a huge mainframe and server that took up half our department. Turns out the class didn't teach us anything relevant to what our job was, but the management didn't know anything either and ...... Well anyway, I have tried learning new technology as it comes along whenever I get the chance. Everywhere Ive worked if they ask for volunteers to learn something new, I step right up. Now that I'm in my 50s I'm still very comfortable using most devices, setting the DVR, talking to tech support when I need something, and so on. I'm glad I did. I have co workers who are now unemployable because they refused to learn how to use a computer. That seems odd to me. It's like refusing how to use a knife and a fork. Computers are tools. They aren't as mechanical as most tools. You have to be able to visualize what's going on in the background or imagine what the menus look like, but they're still tools.

its not always about age. It's about attitude. I have a long commute and I was telling a coworker about how I like it because it gives me time to listen to podcasts. And without the long commute I can't justify spending two hours a day on podcasts. She said "what's a podcast?" She's probably in her 30s, 40 at most.

It it helps to approach technology with a sense of wonder and fun. I have always thought of computers as big toys, and what motivated me to learn how to use each new technology was being able to play games, or fiddle around with changing the windows colors because I thought it looked pretty.

I think what motivates me best is a simple moment I had back in the 80s. My mother-in-law was working on a skit for her church. Part of the skit was they had music playing on a cassette player. She could play the tape but then she didn't know how to rewind it and play it over again. She had to wait for my husband (at the time) to come over and rewind it for her. All she had to do was push the rewind button but she was "too scared". I swore to myself I would never let that happen to me. Now granted, it is harder today to keep up with technology that's more complicated than a cassette player, but I do my best to try. If I feel myself getting overwhelmed, I tell myself to calm down, take a break, and try again. Eventually I figure it out. And if I can't, there's always tech support. But the most important thing to keep you growing and learning is your attitude. Technology is here. There is no fighting it. But technology is useful and fun if you let it be.

[sailornurse]

i love your attitude. ts not always about age. It's about attitude. I have a long commute and I was telling a coworker about how I like it because it gives me time to listen to podcasts. And without the long commute I can't justify spending two hours a day on podcasts. She said "what's a podcast?" She's probably in her 30s, 40 at most.

It it helps to approach technology with a sense of wonder and fun.

You see technology as a tool & are not afraid. I too have known nurses younger then me who were afraid of computers, new cell phones. I have been influenced too, First by my daughter who turns 21 tomorrow. When she was 3 or 4 sitting at the computer playing games. My brother was watching her and was amazed that she was not "afraid" of the computer as some adults we knew were. I replied, it's just like the microwave or fridge. Both my brother's earned Bachelor's in Electrical engineering & this brother actually built my daughter a computer & she helped put the internal components/mother board in. He had one of the first apple computers that you could put in a backpack to take to classes. He is my tech when I am trying to learn new computer stuff.

My oldest brother completed his degree in 1974 & I remember going to the university with him, that was when computer's used to have the punch cards. He had one of the first Texas Instrument calculators, so he gave me his old slide ruler!

I have had to teach younger nurse/NP friends how to text! I have one friend that still uses a flip phone!

Still has a land line with an answering machine. She misses picking up shifts at one clinic because of that flip phone. The schedule is online & if someone gives up their shift, you get an email. I have sometimes picked up a shift one minute after some one posts it, but you gotta have an iPhone or android.

One other former friend refused to learn computers and it has cost her many jobs. She could not figure out the eMar, the barcode scanning and had a terrible time learning the emr at the facility to the point she was staying 4 hours past her 12 hour shifts to chart.

Another friend does not have a home computer or internet. One job she thought the staff would chart for her. No, didn't happen.

Thanks for sharing the story about your MIL & the cassette player. I will remember that too, next time something new is invented. Oh I even learned how to make podcasts when I was faculty. I was the first in the nursing dept to put my exams on line!