My 10 tips for a new RN or PCT

Nurses Professionalism

Published

1) Stay out of trouble: Making mistakes during orientation will likely result in security showing you the door. "But I'm human".....Yes you are human but society see's you as superhuman (don't ask me how, must be the movies), so you can't make any mistakes. Also Hospitals are concerned with liability.

2) If you made a booboo, chances are your preceptor will tell on you, to not just the manager, but the whole unit. Your name will be forever defamed. Also it's likely people you work with made similar mistakes. They were just good at hiding it. That's why they still have a job.

3)Work fast/steady or forever be doomed: In healthcare you realize you have to work fast. 1 patient leaves, another comes in. You'll be running around to get things done on time. Expect staff to ridicule you if you're not performing at a fast enough pace..."But i may make a mistake"....Yes you may indeed but they don't care, they have to fill beds for the mullah (money)....

4) Don't take things personally: There is no way you can survive, esp. as a newbie. Like my saying goes, expect the worst, hope for the best.

5) Don't rely on your co-workers: Everyone is going to be busy, sometimes (all-most all the time), you'll have to try and manage on your own.

6) Expect to be thrown in the fire starting day 1: Yes, there is no holding hands in this profession, prepare to work with patients, starting in the very beginning.

7) Your replaceable: As a newbie, your easily replaceable. Hospitals try to maintain individuals who have been working there for many years, since they are the most skilled and will likely not make mistakes, or at least tiny ones=saves money.

8) School doesn't teach you everything you need to know: Don't expect NS to have taught you much, you still have a lot to learn. Think of yourself as a child, starting to learn new things.

9) You will likely be shocked, nervous at first: The amount of work/resp./stress, will seem unbearable. If you manage to survive, things will become more routine.

10) There is a reason why your nurse manager decided to become a NM: To escape the bedside.

*My last bit of advice is, you don't have to remain where you are if your unhappy...try finding another job 1st before quitting and if that doesn't work out, quit take a break and try the job hunt again. Realize though, this method won't pay your bills. If your stuck where you are then prayer is the only other method for deliverance.

Specializes in Public Health.

Most of this is awful advice to give a new grad, IMHO. Just because you think it's awful doesn't mean everyone else does.

Specializes in Emergency Room, Trauma ICU.

This is satire...right?

Specializes in Public Health.
This is satire...right?

Please God, let it be satire.

lol yes it is, but i'm sure some will find some truth in those statements.

This may be satire, and unfortunately some of your statements may ring a lot of truth for some unfortunate new grads. However, there ARE more positive, supportive nursing jobs out there. Sometimes, you just have to get through a job that isn't that way, get some experience and look for something that's better. Some are even lucky enough to start in a positive environments...

Prettyboyswag, it seems like you are very unhappy in nursing (from your posts). I hope you either find the right fit for you in nursing or are able to transition to something you like better.

Look Ekrn2014. I know what your thinking. It is not true. Let me shine some light on what goes through the mind of a prettyboyswagger. Nursing in itself is a great profession that deserves a lot of respect. What i dont like is what nursing HAS become. Meaning, your now a pill pusher, understaffed, treatment in the workplace, admin freezing pay increases, patients looking to healthcare to solve their problems as opposed to the patient trying to help themselves. I guess you can say, i believe our healthcare system is going down the toilet. If their was proper staffing levels, low patient ratio's, you'd actually get to spend time and know your patient, you would have proper ancillary staff to assist you, thus saving your back, your paid what your worth, which i believe should be a lot, you actually get to spend sometime off on the weekends and holidays, and so forth...You get the jist. Again the issue isn't nursing but it's what it has become thats the issue. Good day little cat lover.

Specializes in ICU.

#2 is how people get killed. I know this is satire, but that is really too serious to joke about.

Besides, in my personal experience, the nurse whose patients code and die (or nearly do so) because of the nurse is a lot more ridiculed than the nurse who 'fesses up and saves a patient's life. There is teasing in the latter circumstance, but outright hate and ostracism in the former. I know which treatment I'd rather get from my coworkers. I have had two coworkers at two different jobs earn the killer nurse label, and that is something they will probably never get away from until they get new jobs. Not a situation I ever want to be in!

Good point Calivianya. Nurses do make mistakes which could possibly lead to death but let me ask you. Why is it they made those mistakes. 99% it's probably b/c they are overworked, tired, understaffed. The working conditions make it possible to make those "killer" mistakes. Yes, there names will be forever defamed and will likely not find another job. Nursing essentially destroyed their lives. Those 2 you speak of probably would of never gone into nursing if they could rewind their lives. So basically they make a mistake, workplace created that environment, nurse gets blamed, sued, defamed, and no blame goes to the employer. Coworkers backstab nurse, and nurses life is ruined. Welcome to the world of nursing

Specializes in none.

Man, I sense a crusty old bat here. Nursing doesn't have to be that bad. But what can I say? I am no more a student than prettyboyswag.

Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

I am intrigued about PPs statements that nursing 'has become' something awful.... as compared to what it used to be. Hmm. As someone who has actually experienced those changes first hand over the last ~ 30 years, I don't agree with all those observations. For example - nursing has ALWAYS been at the bottom of the healthcare professional hierarchy. We're the generalists that cross discipline-specific boundaries and glue everything together to ensure that our patients receive the care that they deserve. We've always been taken for granted... if we want riches, glory and adulation, we need to become CV surgeons - LOL.

But there's another hard truth that we 'old bats' understand... there's no real benefit from reveling in nostalgia or focusing our energies on celebrating past victories. We have to move ahead. If we don't like what's happening, we need to make changes. We're the single largest group of health care professionals. We could wield enormous power if we could only stop bickering long enough to do realize that we're all on the same team.

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