Need to interview an RN for a report at school!!! Help Please!!!

JayVArn · Oct 31, 2011

1. What drew you to this profession? I wanted a career in the health field with 1 on 1 patient interaction and good pay and stability

2. How much education did you complete and where?

I completed a 4 year bachelors of science in nursing, but education ranges from one year for those with a degree to 2 years associates program

3. Please describe a typical day in your work week. what do you do on a daily basis?

Typically report is at 0730 where we learn about all the patients in the ICU. We hit the floor around 8, do our initial assessment of our 1-2 patients. From then on we monitor patients, treat problems. We get new patients from the ER or from Surgery so we accommodate for that. Every day is a little different.

4. What are your favorite aspects of your job?

I like that I am not sitting behind a desk all day. Also the ICU can be fast paced and challenging at times. I like thinking on my feet and working as a team to accomplish a goal.

5. What are your least favorite aspects of your job?

Sometimes you see patient's on their worst day (or couple of days). Sometimes the stress and sadness can be mentally draining.

6. What frustrates you the most on the job?

Families and patients who have unrealistic expectations about medicine and their plan of cares. We end up doing a lot of unnecessary (and painful) procedures for patients who end up dying, which all could have been avoided with good communication

7. How many hours per week do you work? Do you control you schedule? I work 40 hours per week, we get to choose our schedule

8. How stable is your job? Do you worry about losing your job?

My job is stable. I have no fear of losing my job. Despite what some people say, there is currently a nursing shortage and it is only going to get worse. By 2025 there are estimated to be 260,000 nurses needed in the workforce

9. How much stress do you experience from your work? When you are not at work, how often do you think or worry about aspects of you work?

Stress is a state of mind. Some people deal with it better than others. I'm lucky to be not as affected by stress as others. For the most part I don't think about work when I am at home. Some patient's really get to you. One important thing is to have good hobbies outside of work to release stress and a good support system.

10. what's your advice to someone thinking of entering this field?

Go for it. Its has been a great experience, there are a lot of fields of nursing you can get into and a wide variety of education levels. If you don't like you work, you can move to something else.

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Oct 31, 2011

1. What drew you to this profession?

Not really sure. My mom was sick and I spent alot of my teen years taking care of her so that might have had something to do with it.

2. How much education did you complete and where?

I started out with a 2 year hospital based RN diploma program. When I finished that I started working as an RN while getting my RN-BSN through an on-line program. I am currently working on an MSN program in a campus program

3. Please describe a typical day in your work week. what do you do on a daily basis?

It's hard for me to describe a typical day since I currently work in a staffing pool. I float all throughout the hospital going to adult med-surg, step-down, ER, PACU, peds, NICU. No day is ever the same.

4. What are your favorite aspects of your job?

I like being able to make someone's hospital stay less stressful. I like educating patients on what is going on with their body and how to take care of themselves.

5. What are your least favorite aspects of your job?

Being there when a patient receives bad news. Low staffing.

6. What frustrates you the most on the job?

Low/Understaffing

7. How many hours per week do you work? Do you control you schedule?

I work anywhere from 12-48hrs a week. Since I'm PRN I completely control my own schedule and work when I want.

8. How stable is your job? Do you worry about losing your job?

My job is very stable. I do not worry about losing my job at all because even if they got rid of my position I feel with my experience I could get another job very easily.

9. How much stress do you experience from your work? When you are not at work, how often do you think or worry about aspects of you work?

I do find a need to decompress when I get home, often by talking to my significant other about the stress of my day. For me, that helps me "let it go"

10. what's your advice to someone thinking of entering this field?

Don't have your heart set just on one type of job like peditrics or ICU. New grad jobs are still hard to come by so be willing to take whatever you can get.

heav90 · Oct 31, 2011

Thank you all soooo much!!! :)

Jenni811, RN · Oct 31, 2011

someone already answered, but here...just in case you need 2.

1. What drew you to this profession? . My mom is a nurse and my older sister is a nurse. they both tried convincing me to go into nursing school after i graduated high school. I didn't think i would like it, but to shut them up i shadowed my cousin who is a nurse practitioner in family medicine one day. I loved it. Now im a registered nurse on a medical surgical unit.

2. How much education did you complete and where? i completed a 4 year degree at a private college in Wisconsin.

3. Please describe a typical day in your work week. what do you do on a daily basis? It depends what shift i work. Since i'm new, i graduated may of 2011, i work mostly night shift. I get to work at 6:30pm for shift report. at 7:00pm, we start our shift. I have about 4 patients i need to do an assessment on, medications passed, address any other issues particular to that patient. Such as wound care/dressing changes, turning patients every 2 hours, bathroom etc. Everyday is so different because no patient is the same. Even if you get a patient who has congestive heart failure, its never the same as your other patient who has congestive heart failure. You have to really learn to individualize care to that one patient.

4. What are your favorite aspects of your job? Going home and knowing you made a difference in someones life. Not a lot of professions you can go home and think "i just saved a life today."

5. What are your least favorite aspects of your job? being worked HARD!!! i work 12 hours shifts, and there are times i get a 10 minute break in a 12 hour shift. Just last week, i got my first break at 3:00pm and started at 6:30am. i havent had one bite to eat or drink. I inhaled some left over spaghetti just in time for my admission to get there. I don't mean to scare people from this- because 90% of the people can find time to take a break. But if you "wait for the right time" to take a break, you'll never get one! im the type of person that has to have EVERYTHING done before i take a break. But the only time you'll get everything done in your shift is at the end. So you have to learn to prioritize. For example, what things can wait until you get back?. Nurses are worked very hard, and you have to be aware of that.

6. What frustrates you the most on the job? The high demands of the nurse. there is a lot expected of the nurse, and we are the ones who know everything about this patient. We are the person that is the bridge between doctor and social worker. or doctor and family. or family and patient. It's a lot to deal with, when you can have anywhere from 4 to 6 patients. I'll find myself getting confused between two patients. "Patient X is going to a nursing home and patient Y is going to a swing bed, or is it the other way around.?" Information overload sometimes!

7. How many hours per week do you work? Do you control you schedule? i work .6FTE at 12 hour shifts. So about 2 days a week on average. There are times i get a week off and don't even request it. However; i don't control the days i am scheduled to work, but i can pick up almost any day i want. It always seems like they need more help. even if it is on another floor, there is always always hours to pick up. So i have part time status but i am working full time, by my choice of course.

8. How stable is your job? Do you worry about losing your job? i think my job is very stable. i work at a hospital in Wisconsin in a medical/surgical unit. I don't ever forsee me losing my job unless i do something awful. But healthcare is always something that is going to be in need. My aunt lost her job because it got sent over seas. Healthcare is something you just cannot send over seas, we need it here. With people living longer now healthcare is always going to be around. Only time i worry about losing my job is if i do something wrong. This is why i practice VERY safely, refuse to discuss work related issues with coworkers, it will come back to haunt you.

9. How much stress do you experience from your work? When you are not at work, how often do you think or worry about aspects of you work? We use pain scales, such as rate your pain from 0-10. 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain of your life. If we used the same scale with stress, i would rate my stress during work a 7. I am normally very kind, sweet and gentle. At the end of a stressful work day, i turn into a bear! People see a side of me they have never seen. When i am at home, i do my best to not think about work. i once had a patient that was so mean (from a prison for murder), i woke up with nightmares about this patient. but life went on and i forgot about that patient. Rarley does it affect me at home.

10. what's your advice to someone thinking of entering this field? Be confident in your work, but not over confident, that is when mistakes happen. Everyday is a learning experience...you will never ever stop learning. I always tell students your learning begins after you graduate nursing school. I felt nursing school gave me the tools to pass NCLEX and give me a knowledge base, but once i started working thats when everything clicked and starting making sense.

DaniannaRN, ASN, BSN · Oct 31, 2011

1. What drew you to this profession?

To be honest, I wanted something quick and that would bring in a lot of money. For women, there aren't many options out there for that.

2. How much education did you complete and where?

I have an Associate degree (2 year). I finished in 2005 in a great community college in central Jersey.

3. Please describe a typical day in your work week. what do you do on a daily basis?

I do quality management in an insurance company. I audit doctor's charts, make sure they're doing what they're supposed to do. I make site visits to doctors and go over the constant changing NCQA specs with them and office staff. I review patient charts to determine if their infection or DVT was hospital acquired or not.

4. What are your favorite aspects of your job?

I work Monday thru Friday, no weekends, no holidays, no nights, no waiting for my relief. I can work 9am-5pm or 7am-3pm if I want. I can work 5 hours one day and make up for it the rest of the week. I get bathroom and meal breaks. I can go outside to exercise. I don't have rude patients or demanding families or horrible bosses.

5. What are your least favorite aspects of your job?

The job can be very monotonous at times. I have carpal tunnel and being on the computer constantly bothers it.

6. What frustrates you the most on the job?

Dealing with the doctors that don't feel like ordering necessary testing, the doctors that show no indication in their charts of counseling patients to make better choices.

7. How many hours per week do you work? Do you control you schedule?

I work 40 hours per week. I control my schedule and can work from home if I want.

8. How stable is your job? Do you worry about losing your job?

Insurance companies aren't going anywhere. My job is very stable.

9. How much stress do you experience from your work? When you are not at work, how often do you think or worry about aspects of you work?

I have absolutely no stress from work. I don't think about work when I'm off.

10. what's your advice to someone thinking of entering this field?

I know not everyone will agree with me, but this is my opinion. My advice is to get out of bedside as quick as possible. I did it for 3 years and was overweight, stressed, drinking alot, angry at my poor son all the time, exhausted/insomnia. I was tired of being looked at as a college educated maid/waitress/verbal punching bag. I got in trouble a lot because I have zero tolerance for verbal abuse. So, do bedside nursing only long enough to get something better.

dosamigos76, RN · Nov 1, 2011

1. What drew you to this profession?

Having the opportunity to be able to make a difference.

2. How much education did you complete and where?

I have an Associate's Degree from Clovis Community College from Clovis, New Mexico. Graduated December2005

3. Please describe a typical day in your work week. what do you do on a daily basis?

I am a hospice nurse, currently working as the Patient Care Manager and the Interim Executive Director. I arrive at the office by 0700, Find out what happened over night. Check in admissions, deaths, and prepare for referrals for that day. I often meet with families and explain how hospice will benefit them and their families. I have various meetings with peers and receive phone calls from families, facilities and staff. I update the physicians on pts they have referred to us and support our nurses. By 1630, I update our on call nurse and our president on any pertinent information. I usually leave the office by 1800 and am available for administrative call.

4. What are your favorite aspects of your job?

I love that we make a difference. I love teaching staff and supporting the important work that they do. I love the autonomy, of working with people that I am so proud to know and the belief that we do make a difference.

5. What are your least favorite aspects of your job?

The complaints from people that you can't do anything about, the game playing some people are stuck in.

6. What frustrates you the most on the job?

Call ins and laziness

7. How many hours per week do you work? Do you control you schedule?

50+, am salaried, so it goes with the territory.

8. How stable is your job? Do you worry about losing your job?

My job is stable, and I do not worry about losing my job. Am contacted by headhunters, if I wanted to move on, I could do so, but I have no desire to.

9. How much stress do you experience from your work? When you are not at work, how often do you think or worry about aspects of you work?

10. what's your advice to someone thinking of entering this field?

I love hospice. It is an honor to be invited in to something so personal as dying. Advice-become comfortable in your own skin.