medication passes your first year

[emetcal1]

So I should be starting my job Nov 3rd and I am trying to really clear my mind and really mentally prepare myself for the tasks ahead. The biggest fear I have is getting my first assigned patients and not having any idea what their medications are for. How well as new nurses should we know the medications, side effects, correct doses, etc. It just seems impossible to sit there like I did in nursing school and write it all down and to really remember it before I give it to my patients. I want to be safe about it though. My boyfriend's mom is a nurse and she vaguely told me starting nurses is just following doctors' orders...then you learn the physiology. I don't know if I like that. I know mistakes happen, but I hate when preventable mistakes happen. I have a palm pilot, but I still know looking them up, I will have to sit down and write them out to really remember. Any suggestions?

[mama_d, BSN, RN]

You'll get the hang pretty quickly of what the different med classes are that are most utilized on your floor and what to watch out for with each. If you try to focus on med classes instead of individual meds, it might make it easier. Example: I work tele, so I give alot of lopressor, coreg, atenolol. All beta blockers...so I don't worry about the individual med, just the class. It does also come with experience, but don't worry if you're still looking up meds years from now, all the nurses I know still double check themselves from time to time even if they got their license before I was born!

It'll all pull together before you know it. Just use common sense (like checking BP before meds that can influence it, etc.) and you should do fine.

[emetcal1]

That definitely helps. I'm assuming in nursing school they are more strict on what each medication does, but it isn't realistic in real nursing I'm assuming. Anything else I should review really well before I start the real thing? I had trouble with the different IV devices in my Practicum and how to manage them i.e. what to flush it with, how to draw blood from each. Are there any good resources for learning to manage each kind?

[mama_d, BSN, RN]

Your facility will have policies in place for what to do with each kind of line. Additionally, different manufacturers have different guidelines when you start talking about more invasive access like PICCs. We have a matrix which is posted in our med room for easy reference. Your preceptor should be able to get you a copy of your facility's if it's not posted in a handy place like mine is.

The first time I drew blood from a PICC I was a little intimidated; it seems silly now b/c it's so second nature to just grab the junk I need to do it and bang it's done. I still hate using dialysis access to draw from (only happens in extremely rare cases) and always review protocol before doing so b/c the last thing I want to do is screw up their HD access...the dialysis nurses and docs are not nice about that kind of thing, and understandably so!