Need to interview an RN for a paper! Here are the ?s!

RNPATL, DNP, RN · Feb 11, 2005

Hi! My name is Gayle, and I am a first year college student. I am enrolled in a research writing course and I chose nursing as my topic. I will narrow it down later of course, but for right now I need to interview an RN (or a few) so I can brainstorm on ideas. If you have time, PLEASE HELP ME! I am not sure if this will give your name and a way to contact you by e-mail or anything.... but that would be great if you could include them. I need some proof of consent. Here are the questions. THANK YOU!
1. How long have you been a nurse?
2. Why did you choose nursing?
3. Was your journey through training difficult?
4. Where do you currently work?
5. Do you like your job? Why?
6. What do you like most/least?
7. What is difficult about your job?
8. Have you ever been disappointed in your job?
9. Does your work always stay at the hospital?
10. Do you feel your job is stressful?
11. Does being a nurse create stress in your everyday life?
12. Describe your typical week as a nurse.
13. How do you think your life differs from that of another individual not affiliated with the medical field?
14. What do you think are the benefits of being a nurse?

Just wondering if you have received a response yet from an RN? If now, this reply will bump your thread and perhaps some RN's will be willing to share their thoughts with you and help.

RNPATL, DNP, RN · Feb 11, 2005

Hi! My name is Gayle, and I am a first year college student. I am enrolled in a research writing course and I chose nursing as my topic. I will narrow it down later of course, but for right now I need to interview an RN (or a few) so I can brainstorm on ideas. If you have time, PLEASE HELP ME! I am not sure if this will give your name and a way to contact you by e-mail or anything.... but that would be great if you could include them. I need some proof of consent. Here are the questions. THANK YOU!

1. How long have you been a nurse?

I have been a nurse for going on 21 years. I started as an LPN and then went for my RN and am now trying to complete my BSN and graduate degree.

2. Why did you choose nursing?

Initially I chose nursing because of the job opportunities available and the fact that I felt compassion for the ill. As I grew in the profession, I discovered that I had a passion to provide care and nurturing to people that were less fortunate than I am. Today, I stay in nursing because of the diversity and flexibility it has offered me across the years. I hope to finish my degree so I can spend my older years between teaching and clinical practice.

3. Was your journey through training difficult?

It took me a while to finish my RN due to family obligations and work commitments. The actualy educational portion of my training was tough, but enlightening. I discovered a great deal about myself and my abilities. Overall, I think nursing education has changed over the years and I have developed into a very strong clinician. Nursing is a life-long learning profession and your learning and development never end. Just because you are a graduate or out of school does not mean that your learning or education end. There are many things to learn with changes in health care and advancing technology. In addition, as nursing changes, the educational requirements for certain types of positions change and that requires additional education and/or training. So, my jouney through my nursing education continues even to this date.

4. Where do you currently work?

I work for a small rual hospital in Western North Carolina.

5. Do you like your job? Why?

I love being a nurse. There are days I wonder why I do it, but overall, yes, I do enjoy working with patients and the activities of being a nurse very much.

6. What do you like most/least?

Most - I enjoy working with the patients and knowing that I had something to do with their healing process. I think it is a very humbling experience to work with people. Patient's trust nurses and allow them into their lives because they are sick and need care. It is a very vulerable time for a patient and being a nurse and knowing that I can help with their healing is very rewarding to me.

Least - I wish nurses were more unified as a profession. We can accomplish a great deal if we worked together to solve the staffing problems and some of the issues that nursing face.

7. What is difficult about your job?

Time management and balancing the care and needs of many different types of patients.

8. Have you ever been disappointed in your job?

A resounding yes .. this disappointment stems many times from my inability to provide the type of care that I wish I could provide to my patients. I am always disappointed that money plays any role in someone getting services they need to live a better life.

9. Does your work always stay at the hospital?

I have a very diversified background and have had the opportunity to work in many different environments as a nurse. I love acute care and think I will be there for several more years (if my poor old body can manage the med-surg unit)

10. Do you feel your job is stressful?

Being a nurse is very stressful. We are responsible for another human life and that is an emense responibility.

11. Does being a nurse create stress in your everyday life?

In the beginning of my career, I took much of the stress home and sometimes I still do. But over the years, I have realized that I must leave the stress of the job there and come home with a sense that I did everything within my power to meet the needs of my patients. But there is a great deal of stress. Some nursing jobs are less stressful, but being an acute care nurse is very stressful these days!

12. Describe your typical week as a nurse.

There is not enough room on this response to descibe all I do as a nurse in a week. Sorry!

13. How do you think your life differs from that of another individual not affiliated with the medical field?

Probably less stressful .. that is for sure and I think not as fulfilled. My life as a nurse is very fulfilling for me. I know that I am contributing not only to the individual patient's wellbeing, but to the community as a whole and that is very fulfilling to me.

14. What do you think are the benefits of being a nurse?

I have always felt very proud to be a nurse, knowing that not everyone can do what I do on a daily basis. That is probably the best benefit of all.

Good luck with your project and I hope my response has helped a little.

CardioTrans, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2005

Hi, I wanted to help if I could to get another response.

1. How long have you been a nurse?

11 years. First as an LPN, then RN. I am currently working on my BSN (will grad in April) and will hopefully be starting Graduate school this summer for NP.

2. Why did you choose nursing?

I chose nursing when I was little, my father was diagnosed with cancer when I was 8.

3. Was your journey through training difficult?

Yes, it was. I had a family to take care of and my mother was sick as well while I was in nursing school.

4. Where do you currently work?

I currently do home care. I see an average of 5-6 patients each day.

5. Do you like your job? Why?

I love my job. I get to see patients in their own home and their environment. I teach them how to manage their disease from diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, lung disease, strokes, wound care, IV medications. Just about everything that you would find in a hospital we see in home care. I help them control their symptoms and teach them how their medications work.

6. What do you like most/least?

Most: I become part of the family. I can build a relationship with each patient. Least: the politics of home care. Tons of rules and regulations.

7. What is difficult about your job?

You drive in every weather condition imaginable, you can go into bad neighborhoods. Then there is always that pt that will not do what is asked of them, and not do what the doctor has instructed them to do.

8. Have you ever been disappointed in your job?

Yes, sometimes I find certain situations that I cant change or help. Things that the pts need, they are unable to get due to certain rules or guidelines.

9. Does your work always stay at the hospital?

In home care, nothing stays at work. Its a 24/7 job. Tremendous amts of paperwork, phone calls to MDs, keeping up with when certain things are due. Alot of it can be done in the home, then alot of it is done away from the patient.

10. Do you feel your job is stressful?

Its stressful, but a different kind of stress. Driving in the rain I hate. Meeting deadlines, keeping up with the ever changing rules of Medicare.

11. Does being a nurse create stress in your everyday life?

No. I have been doing home care for so long, that my family knows when Im working, that it has to be done.

12. Describe your typical week as a nurse.

LOl, how much time do you have? This past week.....

Monday: Admitted one patient with CHF, approx 2 hour visit, taught some new medications, inst to diet to help decrease edema, 1 hr of paperwork..... 2nd pt Amission for physical therapy only...... 1 hr visit, 1 hr paperwork. Last pt was a wound vac change... 1 hr visit. Day took approx 9 hrs of paperwork and visit time.... drove 135 miles.

Tues: 6 visits, one CHF, one COPD, one wound, 2 teaching visits, one IV. 7 hrs and 130 miles

Wed: One recertification on a wound care pt. visit 45 min, 1hr paperwork, 2 admissions..... paperwork and visits combined 4 hrs...... 2 regular visits. 9 hr day and 100 miles

Thurs: 3 admissions: One was a pt with severe PVD, with multiple necrotic areas that were for wound care.... 2.5 hr visit, 1 hr paperwork, next admit: Viet Nam vet with recent hospitalization for a blood sugar of 1700. Massive wounds to feet. 3.5 hr visit, 1 hr paperwork..... last admit: therapy only 2 hrs paperwork/visit. One regular visit that was anything but regular.... sent him to ER for extremely low BP and HR. 2 hr visit. 145 miles.

Fri: 5 regular visits.... each visit 30-45 min.... drove 100 miles.... done by 3 pm.

Mon- Thurs after I get home about 2-3 hrs on computer finishing chart. Fri afternoon talking with MDs and following up on lose ends from all the admissions.

And some people say that home care is not "real" nursing. :uhoh21:

13. How do you think your life differs from that of another individual not affiliated with the medical field?

I may not be paid as well as the mechanic down the road, but my job is more rewarding when I see the light bulb go off.

14. What do you think are the benefits of being a nurse?

I can make a difference in someones life.

Hope this helps some. Good luck in school

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Feb 12, 2005

1. How long have you been a nurse?
2. Why did you choose nursing?
3. Was your journey through training difficult?
4. Where do you currently work?
5. Do you like your job? Why?
6. What do you like most/least?
7. What is difficult about your job?
8. Have you ever been disappointed in your job?
9. Does your work always stay at the hospital?
10. Do you feel your job is stressful?
11. Does being a nurse create stress in your everyday life?
12. Describe your typical week as a nurse.
13. How do you think your life differs from that of another individual not affiliated with the medical field?
14. What do you think are the benefits of being a nurse?

1. 29 years

2. My parents thought I should try to get in nursing school. I had no intention of being a nurse after graduation. I was just apeasing them because it was either go to school or work.

3. I graduated with a 3.85 Once I got in I began to enjoy it very much and excelled and never had any problems with any classes.

4. Mid-size hospital

5. I work on an acute care med/surg floor and I enjoy it because we see such a large variety of patients. We have peds to geriatrics and ortho to neuro with everything in between. I love the people I work with, I love 12 hours shifts and I like being both a staff nurse and a charge nurse because I don't get tired of doing the same thing everytime I work. I do prefer being a staff nurse to a charge nurse. I'm more of a people person than a paper pusher.

6. Being left understaffed by the night shift supervisor. Our ratio is 6:1 on days. Yesterday we started out with each nurse having 6 patients, no one on call and at 0730 the ER started calling for beds. I had to refuse to take patients until we got some discharges. I called all the off and PRN nurses without any luck. Even the agency couldn't come up with a nurse for us. There had been two other nurses scheduled for the shift and the night supervisor had cancelled both of them at 0500 !:angryfire

7. I"ll be 50 this year and physically it's beginning to get hard on me.

8. Many times. You see things that are wrong, you complain, try to make things right and nothing ever gets done. It's discouraging.

9. Yes

10. YES, YES, YES........!

11. No, I leave it at the hospital. It takes practice but can be done.

12. That would take just too much time. I work 3 days a week. Usually 1 or 2 shifts is as charge nurse and the other as staff nurse.

13. My job is more flexible in terms of hours and days worked. I make much more money than 90% of my friends. My job is much more stressful but I enjoy some stress on the job.

14. The money, the flexible schedule, (my kids were never in a daycare) and the wonderful feeling I get from helping people whether it be the patient or the family members or both.

You may contact me: [email protected] Good Luck!