I was not trying to force a stereotype on the nursing profession as a whole, but I do feel like the "older" and more seasoned nurses are not as forgiving as the new (few years in) nurses are... I think that maybe some of the people need to remember just how it felt to be where the babies are!! I think that maybe they remember how it feels to be the new guy/girl and not knowing everything and they are more apt to help you without automatically forcing a stereotype on you as being slow or idiotic!! I feel like if you train someone well then they may be one of your best resources/allies later in life!
@Woodenpug I documented the assessment and pain interventions and urine output in the chart. I also verbally told the nurses and my nursing instructors. I did not know that the patient had died until about 5 days later when the actual instructor of my class discussed this patient as a case study in class!!! You can imagine how much worse it made things for me! I talked to them about my options and they told me that I did everything that I could have done because they both reviewed my charting. It was probably the hardest patient that I have EVER had just because it was the first to die on me and I kept backtracking everything that I had done and if there was a way that I could have changed the outcome. I beat myself up about it for the rest of the semester!
I completely agree with the saying... as a new nurse/nursing student, I have been treated like an idiot by "old" nurses. Not applying this to every nurse that I have worked with as a student or new grad, but there are definitely those who will throw you under the bus for no apparent reason.
I actually had a patient die during nursing school (not on my watch) about 3 days after I cared for this patient all because the charge nurse/nurse caring for the patient thought I was over-reacting to the symptoms she was experiencing. I had her 2 days post op for bowel resection following discovery of colon cancer. She complained of upper abdominal pain EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS MAXING OUT HER PAIN PUMP (every hour). Her urine output was <240 on an 8 hour shift. I went to the charge nurse and the nurse who was assigned this patient and told them that I had a bad feeling about her symptoms. Well they proceeded to tell me that it was trapped gas and to get her up and walk her. Before I left I begged them to call the DR for an abdominal XRAY they told me I was over reacting and that those symptoms would go away. Needless to say the patient died in the ICU 3 days after I cared for her of MULTI-SYSTEM ORGAN FAILURE because she had a failed anastomosis! I was torn up about it for a while (my first patient to die).... I keep thinking that MAYBE if I had pushed a little harder they could have caught it. Thank GOD there wasn't a lawsuit because my documentation was impeccable and I woud have thrown their a**es under the bus in a heartbeat!
SO in conclusion, next time you "older" more experienced nurses think that a nursing student or new nurse is "over reacting" or mis-reading S/S just think they ARE in school and they probably have just studied what they are caring for... They may be more sensitive to subtile signs and symptoms than you are. You might just save a life!
Mikey I completely understand what you are saying. I am just looking for some way to get manager to consider me for a position. I had an interview at the ED I work for and the manager pretty much told me that none of that would replace experience. (Keep in mind that I have been working here for well over 2 years and cant get a job in their facility) I explained to him that I have applied for EVERY job within a 200 mile radius Med/Surg, ER, ICU/CCU, Nursing Homes, Dr Offices etc. I have put in so many applications that my fingers bleed lol. I have done follow ups until I have used my plan minutes on my cell phone. It makes me sick that these people don't appreciate a new grad right now. I am at my wits end and it is driving me nuts that my immense amount of student loans come due in 3 months! I need a job and I needed it yesterday. He told me exactly what EVERY other recruiter told me that it doesnt matter what grades I had in college or awards I had that I have no experience so I am un-hireable. I am not one to let someone sell me short and it has made me very angry when they tell me I am not qualified (for a medsurg job esp). And recruiters act like I am bothering them to no extent. I just wish all of these "nurse managers" (if you can even call them that) could remember what it was like to be a new grad and have the WORST time finding a job.
The camel toe (or as my Canadian friend calls it moose knuckles lol) is a problem I find a lot of nurses are having (not just female). Also to the poster who said that men must design scrubs you obviously are not a male! Scrubs are most definitely designed for women. Men DO NOT like to pull the pants up to your chest! I take issue with the fact that the tops also make men look like blobs. They are the same shape from arse to elbow! Straight up and down. (contrary to popular belief men do like to feel attractive at work too after all we are surrounded by mostly attractive women)
I was an education major for 2 years and HATED IT! The summer after I was accepted into the program my great-grandmother (who I was really close to) became ill and needed someone to stay with her around the clock. I moved in and began caring for her; taking her to dr visits staying in the hospital with her, giving her meds, changing dressings etc. I found out then that I really enjoyed it! I closely watched the nurses in the hospitals and her doctor took a special liking to me and took time to explain the diagnoses with me and taught me how to care for her. So, long story short I started nursing school instead of the college of education the next semester. I love every minute of it, and even though my grandma didn't get to see me graduate I owe it all to her. Best decision of my life!
There are a few nurses in the ER I work in that are of the male persuasion including myself (even though I am not working as a nurse). A couple of the nurses and myself decided to put together a calendar of the nurses that work in our department and called "Nurses of the ER". So we took pictures of all of the nurses posing in their scrubs throughout the department (nothing offensive of course) and compiled a calendar. July was dedicated to Murses of the ER because it is just a running joke amongst ourselves. We use it kidding around and we thought it would be great to dedicated a page to us! So we printed them up (just for us) and handed them out. We had several requests to re-print to sell for fundraisers! It was a hit and everyone liked the murses of the er page!
I don't have a problem being called a male nurse. If anything is to be said for male nurses it is that we have to work real freakin hard to perform our jobs constantly swimming in a pool of estrogen. I mean if you think working on a floor that employs 2 male nurses compared to 14 female nurses is easy you are in for one HUGE surprise. It takes a lot of crap to perform under those circumstances. If you think that the term "NURSE" is the worst thing coming try being elbow deep in poo or knee deep in someone else's urine when the shift before you "forgot" to empty the catheter bag! If you aren't secure enough with who you are and the work that you perform to deal with the "label" then move along. Try medical school. Maybe that would be a label that wouldn't embarrass you!
I am proud to sign my name and end it with RN BSN I sign it on EVERYTHING!
I have recently graduated and still trying to find that first job. I am still working for 8.00/hr and need a job bad... A nurse that works with me in the ER told me that she would suggest taking the TNCC or the CEN. She told me that as a new grad a hospital would be stupid not to hire me if I become certified. I did a little research and it costs around $300.00 out of pocket either way. Also, it was suggested that I take the ACLS and PALS. Would the old hands out there suggest taking these without experience? I am just looking for the foot up to get the job. Any advice would help!
I also like to just wear scrub bottoms and throw on a solid colored polo over the top! Management doesn't really mind and it looks nice for work and then whatever after!
a lepper, manwhore, male stripper, a mortician, etc... I think all of those get less strange looks than we do when we tell someone our profession! My parents flipped when I told them I was going to nursing school! They said WHY? I mean really, if I wanted to be a physician I WOULD HAVE. I am smart enough, I would just rather not pour 8 years of my life into school, ok thanks for asking!
Ok so after reading 4 pages of these my ribs are killing me... I have 3 stories both from before my nursing days but are notable...
I was a tech in the ER for a couple of years while in nursing school this gentleman came in and stated that he had something stuck in his penis... well we all thought he was crazy, but after the physician ordered the X-Ray the radiologist came out of the x-ray room(which is connected to the ER) and said, "you have to come see this to believe it" so of course all of the nurses went running along with the doc. This gentleman had obviously felt the need to stick a BIC brand ink pen into his urethra. The radiologist adjusted the digital x-ray on his computer and you could actually read the brand of the ink pen!
Number 2 about a year after I started in the ER a lady came in with the chief complaint of having a tampon stuck in her vagina for several days, upon further inspection by the nurse it was discovered that it was not a tampon but a generously sized cucumber. It had OBVIOUSLY been there for several days as it had started to rot. The smell in that ER was completely unbearable. The housekeepers and nurses had to bring out the peppermint oil just to get through the 4 hours it took to de-scent the ER.
and last but not least, a gentleman in his late 40's came into the ER and as they were rolling him back you could see that he was a grayish-blue color. Everyone knew what was coming.. So EKG is done, and one of our male nurses was sitting on a stool at the bedside starting the man's IV. As the nurse was finishing the IV the poor man CODED, he sat up and vomited all over the nurse's head back and into the floor along with evacuated his bowels full of blood. It looked like a flood of vomit and blood on the floor. So as the ACLS protocol is started there are about 4 nurses, resp therapist and doctor, all wading in bloody stool and vomit. There was no time to clean the floor as the man was dying.. Needless to say the ER had blood and vomit tracked all over by the time this code was finished. It took 2 techs and 3 housekeepers just to clean the floor and the room afterwards..
Seriously liked that! I have probably 50 applications open right now... no reply.. $32,000 student loans coming at me like a ton of bricks. NO NEW GRADS (this is what I keep seeing on job descriptions). I am SICK to death of hearing nursing shortage. If some of these hospitals would kindly remove their heads from their rear-ends and train us "new grad" nurses, then I wouldn't feel the need to punch someone in the throat every time I hear NURSING SHORTAGE!
I was not trying to force a stereotype on the nursing profession as a whole, but I do feel like the "older" and more seasoned nurses are not as forgiving as the new (few years in) nurses are... I think that maybe some of the people need to remember just how it felt to be where the babies are!! I think that maybe they remember how it feels to be the new guy/girl and not knowing everything and they are more apt to help you without automatically forcing a stereotype on you as being slow or idiotic!! I feel like if you train someone well then they may be one of your best resources/allies later in life!
@Woodenpug I documented the assessment and pain interventions and urine output in the chart. I also verbally told the nurses and my nursing instructors. I did not know that the patient had died until about 5 days later when the actual instructor of my class discussed this patient as a case study in class!!! You can imagine how much worse it made things for me! I talked to them about my options and they told me that I did everything that I could have done because they both reviewed my charting. It was probably the hardest patient that I have EVER had just because it was the first to die on me and I kept backtracking everything that I had done and if there was a way that I could have changed the outcome. I beat myself up about it for the rest of the semester!
I completely agree with the saying... as a new nurse/nursing student, I have been treated like an idiot by "old" nurses. Not applying this to every nurse that I have worked with as a student or new grad, but there are definitely those who will throw you under the bus for no apparent reason.
I actually had a patient die during nursing school (not on my watch) about 3 days after I cared for this patient all because the charge nurse/nurse caring for the patient thought I was over-reacting to the symptoms she was experiencing. I had her 2 days post op for bowel resection following discovery of colon cancer. She complained of upper abdominal pain EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS MAXING OUT HER PAIN PUMP (every hour). Her urine output was <240 on an 8 hour shift. I went to the charge nurse and the nurse who was assigned this patient and told them that I had a bad feeling about her symptoms. Well they proceeded to tell me that it was trapped gas and to get her up and walk her. Before I left I begged them to call the DR for an abdominal XRAY they told me I was over reacting and that those symptoms would go away. Needless to say the patient died in the ICU 3 days after I cared for her of MULTI-SYSTEM ORGAN FAILURE because she had a failed anastomosis! I was torn up about it for a while (my first patient to die).... I keep thinking that MAYBE if I had pushed a little harder they could have caught it. Thank GOD there wasn't a lawsuit because my documentation was impeccable and I woud have thrown their a**es under the bus in a heartbeat!
SO in conclusion, next time you "older" more experienced nurses think that a nursing student or new nurse is "over reacting" or mis-reading S/S just think they ARE in school and they probably have just studied what they are caring for... They may be more sensitive to subtile signs and symptoms than you are. You might just save a life!
Mikey I completely understand what you are saying. I am just looking for some way to get manager to consider me for a position. I had an interview at the ED I work for and the manager pretty much told me that none of that would replace experience. (Keep in mind that I have been working here for well over 2 years and cant get a job in their facility) I explained to him that I have applied for EVERY job within a 200 mile radius Med/Surg, ER, ICU/CCU, Nursing Homes, Dr Offices etc. I have put in so many applications that my fingers bleed lol. I have done follow ups until I have used my plan minutes on my cell phone. It makes me sick that these people don't appreciate a new grad right now. I am at my wits end and it is driving me nuts that my immense amount of student loans come due in 3 months! I need a job and I needed it yesterday. He told me exactly what EVERY other recruiter told me that it doesnt matter what grades I had in college or awards I had that I have no experience so I am un-hireable. I am not one to let someone sell me short and it has made me very angry when they tell me I am not qualified (for a medsurg job esp). And recruiters act like I am bothering them to no extent. I just wish all of these "nurse managers" (if you can even call them that) could remember what it was like to be a new grad and have the WORST time finding a job.
The camel toe (or as my Canadian friend calls it moose knuckles lol) is a problem I find a lot of nurses are having (not just female). Also to the poster who said that men must design scrubs you obviously are not a male! Scrubs are most definitely designed for women. Men DO NOT like to pull the pants up to your chest! I take issue with the fact that the tops also make men look like blobs. They are the same shape from arse to elbow! Straight up and down. (contrary to popular belief men do like to feel attractive at work too after all we are surrounded by mostly attractive women)
not just in your area BELIEVE me! We have the same problem in my area (TN, AL, MS) area!
I was an education major for 2 years and HATED IT! The summer after I was accepted into the program my great-grandmother (who I was really close to) became ill and needed someone to stay with her around the clock. I moved in and began caring for her; taking her to dr visits staying in the hospital with her, giving her meds, changing dressings etc. I found out then that I really enjoyed it! I closely watched the nurses in the hospitals and her doctor took a special liking to me and took time to explain the diagnoses with me and taught me how to care for her. So, long story short I started nursing school instead of the college of education the next semester. I love every minute of it, and even though my grandma didn't get to see me graduate I owe it all to her. Best decision of my life!
There are a few nurses in the ER I work in that are of the male persuasion including myself (even though I am not working as a nurse). A couple of the nurses and myself decided to put together a calendar of the nurses that work in our department and called "Nurses of the ER". So we took pictures of all of the nurses posing in their scrubs throughout the department (nothing offensive of course) and compiled a calendar. July was dedicated to Murses of the ER because it is just a running joke amongst ourselves. We use it kidding around and we thought it would be great to dedicated a page to us! So we printed them up (just for us) and handed them out. We had several requests to re-print to sell for fundraisers! It was a hit and everyone liked the murses of the er page!
I don't have a problem being called a male nurse. If anything is to be said for male nurses it is that we have to work real freakin hard to perform our jobs constantly swimming in a pool of estrogen. I mean if you think working on a floor that employs 2 male nurses compared to 14 female nurses is easy you are in for one HUGE surprise. It takes a lot of crap to perform under those circumstances. If you think that the term "NURSE" is the worst thing coming try being elbow deep in poo or knee deep in someone else's urine when the shift before you "forgot" to empty the catheter bag! If you aren't secure enough with who you are and the work that you perform to deal with the "label" then move along. Try medical school. Maybe that would be a label that wouldn't embarrass you!
I am proud to sign my name and end it with RN BSN I sign it on EVERYTHING!
I have recently graduated and still trying to find that first job. I am still working for 8.00/hr and need a job bad... A nurse that works with me in the ER told me that she would suggest taking the TNCC or the CEN. She told me that as a new grad a hospital would be stupid not to hire me if I become certified. I did a little research and it costs around $300.00 out of pocket either way. Also, it was suggested that I take the ACLS and PALS. Would the old hands out there suggest taking these without experience? I am just looking for the foot up to get the job. Any advice would help!
thanks in advance,
Casey
I also like to just wear scrub bottoms and throw on a solid colored polo over the top! Management doesn't really mind and it looks nice for work and then whatever after!
a lepper, manwhore, male stripper, a mortician, etc... I think all of those get less strange looks than we do when we tell someone our profession! My parents flipped when I told them I was going to nursing school! They said WHY? I mean really, if I wanted to be a physician I WOULD HAVE. I am smart enough, I would just rather not pour 8 years of my life into school, ok thanks for asking!
Ok so after reading 4 pages of these my ribs are killing me... I have 3 stories both from before my nursing days but are notable...
I was a tech in the ER for a couple of years while in nursing school this gentleman came in and stated that he had something stuck in his penis... well we all thought he was crazy, but after the physician ordered the X-Ray the radiologist came out of the x-ray room(which is connected to the ER) and said, "you have to come see this to believe it" so of course all of the nurses went running along with the doc. This gentleman had obviously felt the need to stick a BIC brand ink pen into his urethra. The radiologist adjusted the digital x-ray on his computer and you could actually read the brand of the ink pen!
Number 2 about a year after I started in the ER a lady came in with the chief complaint of having a tampon stuck in her vagina for several days, upon further inspection by the nurse it was discovered that it was not a tampon but a generously sized cucumber. It had OBVIOUSLY been there for several days as it had started to rot. The smell in that ER was completely unbearable. The housekeepers and nurses had to bring out the peppermint oil just to get through the 4 hours it took to de-scent the ER.
and last but not least, a gentleman in his late 40's came into the ER and as they were rolling him back you could see that he was a grayish-blue color. Everyone knew what was coming.. So EKG is done, and one of our male nurses was sitting on a stool at the bedside starting the man's IV. As the nurse was finishing the IV the poor man CODED, he sat up and vomited all over the nurse's head back and into the floor along with evacuated his bowels full of blood. It looked like a flood of vomit and blood on the floor. So as the ACLS protocol is started there are about 4 nurses, resp therapist and doctor, all wading in bloody stool and vomit. There was no time to clean the floor as the man was dying.. Needless to say the ER had blood and vomit tracked all over by the time this code was finished. It took 2 techs and 3 housekeepers just to clean the floor and the room afterwards..
Seriously liked that! I have probably 50 applications open right now... no reply.. $32,000 student loans coming at me like a ton of bricks. NO NEW GRADS (this is what I keep seeing on job descriptions). I am SICK to death of hearing nursing shortage. If some of these hospitals would kindly remove their heads from their rear-ends and train us "new grad" nurses, then I wouldn't feel the need to punch someone in the throat every time I hear NURSING SHORTAGE!
Brown Littman Cardiology III... everyone knows my stethoscope.. 2 years old still goin strong.. also have my initials engraved on the rubber tubing.