SillyInScrubs

What is in your emergency med box? We don't have those where I work. What I bring usually just depends on my patient and what's most likely to happen based on their condition. If they're too unstable to travel, but for whatever reason the team insists, I like to bring a doctor with me :)

Confession: At work, I sometimes spend a good portion of my shift making phone calls to doctors, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, lab technicians, patients' family members, etc. Occasionally, some of these people might yell at me or even hang up on me, causing me to have to call them back and fight with them for what my patients want/need. This doesn't really scare me anymore. But whenever I have to order takeout at home, I make someone else do it, because "I'm too shy". At work, I scrub up every bodily fluid imaginable with a smile on my face, and then go to the break room and eat something that might even slightly resemble whatever was I was just cleaning, and I don't even give it a second thought. I go home and find some dog doo-doo on the floor, and suddenly I'm all, "Ew-ew-ew! I'm NOT touching that! I'll throw up!" At work, I listen attentively and love hearing about my patients' stories and helping them sort through their feelings (I feel privileged to do so, even!). When I get home and log on Facebook and see a friend whining about something, or my roommate is in a bad mood (again...) I sometimes feel like I have no empathy for them. And I cross my fingers hoping they won't want to talk to me about it. (Burnout on my end, maybe? Or resentment towards them for being attention-seeking?) I'm not looking for anyone to analyze my examples; I've done that already, but I think it would be fun to hear yours! Ready... GO!

People treating me like I'm incompetent because I look young, and constantly commenting on it. "You look like you're 12... how old are you? Really?? Are you sure you're not a student?" You look like you're rude. And people always assuming I'm "just scared" because I'm a new grad. I called a REV (RRT, rapid response, whatever) the other day on a patient who was suddenly lethargic and not following commands or responding to me. I called in another nurse and she was also unable to fully wake the patient, who kept whispering "I'm dying, I'm dying". The team got there and he woke up and seemed "fine" again so they said we're probably not going to do anything, and they understand I "just got scared because it's hard being new". Turns out that patient had a massive MI. Then I asked a tech to try a blood draw for me because I missed it twice and said "thanks for helping out, I guess I'm just having an off day." To which she responded, "You're just scared, that's why you can't get it." I'm not "scared" of a blood draw. Bite me :)

Oh no no! The rapid response team would only be called if you assess your patient and suspect that they may be becoming more critical or just have a "bad feeling" and need quick intervention to prevent a code situation or ICU admission. Family members can also call them if they want to. You would still be the primary nurse taking care of your patient, but the team would be there to assist you and help you obtain the necessary orders quickly as well as help implement them. Tele is just like med-surg, except most of your patients will have a history of heart disease and be on cardiac monitors and you will need to know how to read the tele strips and what to do about whatever funky rhythms you identify. (And no you don't sit and look at the monitors all day, but if the techs see something they will let you know so that you can take care of it.) You'll also be doing EKG's every now and then. My orientation was about 7 weeks including classroom time.

I'm a new grad working in tele, and I am not ACLS certified nor am I required to be. I talked to my manager about my interest in becoming certified and she actually recommended that I wait a couple years until I have more experience so that it will all "click" better. We have a rapid response team and our floor utilizes them a lot, anyway, but if I wanted to be a part of that team then I believe I would definitely need the ACLS training. For now the only special training I'm required to have is the AACN telemetry course and exam, which is incorporated into my orientation. I work days and so far I'm finding the floor to be VERY busy, but I love it! I should also note that my floor is soon going to be requiring that all newly hired nurses have at least a BSN, which I do have, but you should check to see if they require it where you're thinking of applying.

I'm in CT and starting at 28.50 on orientation and 29.50 off. Another hospital I interviewed at in CT started at 31.43. But as others have mentioned, cost of living is a factor here.

UPDATE! I applied to two other hospitals, both with excellent reputations and both about 50 minutes away from me. I spoke with a classmate I graduated with about one of them to ask her what she thought about working there, because she had worked there as an intern and an aide during school, and she raved about how much she loved it and offered to recommend me to the recruiter. After she did, I called the recruiter to introduce myself and inquire about the possibility of interviewing for the job. An interview was set up for the following week and I went to it, very nervous but still feeling confident. It was the best interview I've ever experienced, because I was the only one asking the questions! Apparently she was so impressed with my resume and the recommendation that the only question she felt the need to ask was "Do you have any questions?" Then, to my surprise, we went to the floor to meet the manager who was already waiting to see me. We had our introductions and repeated another light-hearted yet very informative interview. All of my questions were answered to my satisfaction and I started to REALLY want the job. I was showed around the floor and met the staff and as I was leaving the manager said, "We're glad to have you! The recruiter will call you and set up your drug testing and physical, and we will be offering you the position," and I was told my start date. :)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's perfect. Just what I wanted. Totally worth the commute. It's on a cardiology floor, and I can't wait! Thanks for your wonderful advice and helping me get my butt in gear! :) As a side note, my friend at Dream Hospital texted me after the interview to tell me that one of my classmates had just started in the position I had been waiting for. She had already interned and done her preceptorship on that floor during school. I had no chance against that, and I'm SO glad I moved on!

Please excuse my ignorance here, but I'm new and was just wondering about whether or not doing these things is outside of the scope of practice for a registered nurse? Could you somehow get into trouble for ordering tests, EKGs, and labs and giving oxygen without an order (I know it's OK with standing orders, but I mean if you do not have them)? I am very concerned about the legal aspects of care and want to cover my butt as much as possible!

I have the same problem! Just wondering, are your feet doing better after seeing the doctor? :)

When I was forming my resume, my nursing instructor (who is an extremely intelligent woman and who I trust very much) advised me to remove my unrelated work history and add more of my nursing projects, organizations, conferences, and activities that I was proud of. I got an interview pretty much right away, so I don't think it hurt much to take it off, especially because most online applications have a designated section for entering your work history anyway. A couple years ago when I was interviewing for my internship, I omitted a couple jobs that I didn't think were all the important or impressive from the application, and after we discussed my work history the recruiter said that she would have liked to see my entire work history, even if I didn't think some jobs "counted", because any work experience at all is helpful. So I would say based on that encounter that if you are going to put it on there, put all of it. But recruiters have different preferences, so it's tough. I try to ask my friends (if there are any who work there) who may know the recruiter I will be interviewing with if they have any pet peeves I should know about before I apply. :) Oh and just FYI I also participated in a nursing professional development webinar last week, and the presenter advised that putting job descriptions under those sections of the work history on your resume is outdated and unnecessary. Good luck!

It sounds like a gift to me that you can be a sensitive person and still be seen as a leader to people around you! I am also a sensitive person, but it shows so much that I wonder if makes me seem "too soft". You sound like you have a good personality that would be a great fit for nursing! Also, it would be great if for each person in the profession that seems to be giving it a bad name, we had a compassionate, "sensitive" one like you to cancel them out, until all anyone could see was compassionate, sensitive leaders. If you do choose to go on in nursing, your patients will know that you care, and that in and of itself is one of the best medicines. :) Oh, and you get used to the poop and the puke.

Thank you so much to everyone for your responses! I woke up this morning and before my feet even hit the floor I immediately grabbed my laptop and got to work on updating and fine tuning my resume and researching other opportunities. I think I had an epiphany- I need to stop being stuck up! Haha. I think I felt like since I worked so very hard in school and graduated at the top of my class that I could afford to be picky and refuse to buy into the whole "desperate-new-grad-scrambling-to-get-ANY-job-he/she-can" stereotype. I think maybe I felt like I would somehow be able to rise above all that and that I should get to choose where I want to be, like the way things used to be when a license could get you anywhere you wanted to go. But I am starting to see that it may have become a sort of rite of passage to settle for any old staff nurse job at any old hospital and stick out it for a year or two before you get to follow your dreams. And for the record, I am strongly against taking a job and then bailing as soon as something better comes along. That's a topic that has been discussed in many other threads and there seem to be different schools of thought on it, so I won't go into it here, but that's just my position. Of course, if I ever found myself in an unsafe environment I would leave, but I have ruled out leaving because "the grass is greener". Wherever I get my first job, I will be there for at least a year. So hopefully I will get lucky and get one I actually like! :) Thanks again for the wake up call from those who provided it and the support from those who gave it! Any advice on my next moves would be welcome at this point... haha.

I graduated in May with my BSN and am currently licensed and ready to work. I immediately applied at Dream Hospital upon graduation. I have had several very positive clinical experiences at this hospital, and many of my friends work there and rave about how much they love their jobs. Everyone I know who has been a patient there has had nothing but great things to say about their experiences. They have a fantastic orientation program, the best pay I have ever heard of, awesome benefits, tuition reimbursement, the list goes on and on. They appreciate their nurses and treat them very well. I want a piece of that. I got a quick response, before I even applied anywhere else, and an interview with the nurse recruiter followed, which went very well. At Dream Hospital, the recruiter interviews the new grads first, and then refers them to interview with the manager of whatever floor has a suitable opening for the next interview. Knowing that this is where I really want to be, despite the fact that it is notorious for taking a really long time to get to that next interview, I decided to wait it out for fear that if I got an offer somewhere else I would most likely accept it, then I would miss out on an opportunity at Dream Hospital and be kicking myself. I am not the type to ditch a commitment after I've made it. Fast forward five months later, and I still don't have the job. My friends who know the recruiter have told me I did everything right, I am doing all of the right things to follow up at the right times, and that if she were not interested, she would definitely not be leading me on. The recruiter and I have developed a good rapport by this point, and when I see a new opening on the website and contact her about it, she assures me that if it is not filled by an internal candidate by the time the 11 day posting period is up, she will definitely call me. In a phone conversation she said to me, "I know you're going to get nervous when you don't hear from us for a while, but if you don't hear us say we aren't interested, then that's a good thing. Most people end up getting impatient and we lose them to other hospitals, but we do want you [new nurses in general] here. I don't want you to think we've forgotten about you, it's just a matter of waiting for the internal candidates to finish moving around within the hospital." Sounded pretty promising to me. The position I reeeeeally want is on the telemetry floor, which just so happens to be where one of my best friends from school works. My friend took the liberty of personally and enthusiastically referring me to her manager, who advised me to apply whenever a position on the floor opens up and she would be happy to interview me. Great! And a position opened up! So I relayed this information to the recruiter, and asked how I should go about applying since I am a new graduate and I need to go through her since technically I am not applying for the "staff nurse" position listed online but the "new graduate" position that I have already applied for. She said that she was sorry but the position had already been [snatched up by an internal candidate] (how the manager of the floor didn't already know that when she told me to apply is beyond me), but next time one opens up she will most definitely call me and set something up with Manager. Since then, another position on the floor has opened and been quickly filled again. Discouraging. I have still not applied anywhere else, because I still have hope that if I keep showing interest, eventually all the pieces will fall into place and it will be worth the wait. In the meantime I am working as a waitress and I don't hate it. My bills get paid, it's not about the money. I've been enjoying the extra time I've had to recharge and take care of myself again after spending my entire life in school. My feeling is, what's the rush? I have the rest of my life to be a nurse. And nurses are infamous for relying on their gut instincts. My gut just keeps telling me I'm doing the right thing. But countless conversations with friends and acquaintances about "my situation" have left me feeling like I am the only one who feels this way. Everyone seems to think I'm just crazy. Honestly, and I mean be brutally honest... Am I??

You are right, I should have worded that differently and said "be careful if someone has asthma". Thanks!