Need Some Encouragement Newbie to ICCU

[angelique777]

Hi

Really could use some encouragement. I started on nights and finally off preceptorship and really struggling. Struggling in the sense that I feel that I am moving to slow and not getting my entire task done. I had only one day that I felt I completed my entire needed task. Even took a well deserved break :) but that day has not repeated itself. Each day I get something new and feel like I reach the end of the shift in a blink of an eye and still have not done everything.

Example of some of my patients

1. The patients I had was a man admitted with DKA but who now was being followed for fungal sacral wounds and who was on insulin drip q1hr. He also had 14 beats of VT. I monitored him closely

2. Then I had a post op CABG patient who was sinus tachy my whole shift and very needed,

3. Then my other three patients had sinus Brady .........two going for cardiac catherization in the morning

Then last night

1. I had a patient who had Vent Bigeminy all night who I had to give two units of blood........wound care for foot ulcers both feet had to do the dressing changes

2. Then one admission that came to us with AFIB from failure of the PPM having it removed in the am.

3.then another patient who had fluid over load DM aneuric..........who just came back from dialysis who was having occasional pauses blood pressure of 210/100 had to monitor her that night and repeat blood pressures

4. The other patient was the one I had previously who had the wound debrided and now off telemetry. Important for him was to monitor any fever, do wound dressing sitz bath......

5. another patient who God help me do not remember what was significant about him he had been a walkie talkie all night and remained sinus rhythm I did not get on report that he was for an TEE in the am and that he should have been NPO I missed it really upsetting for me luckily he only drank sanka and his doctor said it was ok.......gosh I remember when he asked for the sanka and I was busy with my admission and my charge nurse gave it to him. I should have checked the work list...

I also admitted another patient to help out my preceptor because she helped me with stuff ..........for instance it was the first time hanging blood for me........I got the admission for her because she spoke only Spanish and since I can speak to her I thought is was a nice way to help out my preceptor.....

Gosh by the time morning came I was just finishing up the wound care and called the PA to see if I can give my high blood pressure patient her meds early ........thats when the morning shift came in........the day nurse was really crabby :angryfire and said well are you giving me report or not....I looked at her in shock cause I was like what is with her........I said who are you taking .........I gave her the room numbers ..........I thought the nurses from yesterday would be back and take report again but here was this crabby nurse demanding I tell her who I had.....I calmly gave her the numbers of the rooms I had and asked her which one she was getting ........she said nothing so I continue get the med ready for the patient who blood pressure was thru the roof........the nurse again really nasty said are you giving me report or not.....I said I asked you which ones you are getting report on and you did not answer me I figured you where still figuring that out ........she said I assumed I did not have to tell you that I was getting report again.............inside I was so infuriated :angryfire :stone I worked so hard all night and had kept my smile and good attitude I should be the one in a hurrry cause I would like to go home but all on my mind is to give the patient her pill.......my preceptor signaled to me to just give her report and so I sat down never once answering her back nasty and gave report............latter the nurse who was suppose to get my patient asked her why she did not let her get her patient back.......any way it still did not help me cause the nasty nurse still played it off................I knew it was the other nurse but when someone is as nasty as her you can not get in a word with out her making you look bad...........I really wish I did not have to see her again ........my preceptor asked me if I wanted to come in again tonight but I decline did not want to have to take report from miss nasty even though I need the money this month just not worth it..........either way i woke of sick today........have a sore throat and really feel worn out..........I hope this changes

The jest of my post....... I feel awful today wishing that by 7am I had it all done and I could sit down with enough time to just be waiting for the am shift instead of finding them already in my seat by the computer .....I pray I never have to give report to that nurse again I really do not like her or her attitude........it was unnecessary and disrespectful to me

I am new and know if I say anything to a person like her she would make it her business to talk about me and cause other people to give me trouble you can see it in her personality that she would dramatize it and I would lose in the end making enemies.......it a really sorry thing when people act that way.....it hard to translate that on to a post cause you really have to be there to understand...

But forgetting about her I think only about how much I wish I can be as quick and fast as my preceptor and really have all my work done on time and not miss anything..............

I have a test tomorrow for emergency room training I took it cause it is free for me and I figure with time maybe I can do overtime on that unit and gain some new skills that will help me on my main unit that was my plan any way kind of feeling disappointed with my performance if I can not get this down pack how can I manage the ER ......or is it so different that there is no comparison..........I know a NP who took great care of my son and I was thinking to ask her to let me shadow her in the ER for a night or two to see how it goes..............

I starting to feel like will this change will I pull it all together.

It's upsetting to me. I hope this changes soon and everything falls into place for me I really want to be good at what I do.

Thanks again room for listening to us newbie's :)

Curious to know how long before you adapted to all the skills for your unit......do you have any stories to tell about what you forgot to do or how it was when you first came to your unit........would like to know it would help me not feel so alone in this

[Bwick]

There certainly are shifts that leave you feeling like you accomplished nothing but I think you will find that in many in-patient units in a hospital setting - ED included. Nurses are carrying heavier loads and often don't have the time we'd like to care for our patients.

You are doing good. You are watching over your patients.

You will encounter unhappy people in any work environment. Don't let them get you down.

At the end of your shift, instead of focusing on what you didn't accomplish, focus on what you did do. I monitored the patient closely so they wouldn't get worse. I checked the blood sugar every hour and titrated the insulin to keep thier blood sugar under control. I comforted. I gave pain meds to those in pain. And on and on.

[angelique777]

Gosh I needed that .........I am sick (I got a sore throat today) and really feeling down I have a test for the ED class I am taking....The instructors are great and they are the people who hire you if you apply to the ED I really want to do well ................When you admire your instructors and want to be like them well you want to really perform well in class ..............but yesterdays event with that nurse and my body feeling sick does not help..........now I have class tomorrow............. then I go to work that night......I am a little overwhelmed. .. I did it last week but tomorrow will be a challenge ........gosh feel so beat ......turning to the post and seeing your reply uplifts me ............just to see some one answer plus your words encouraged me a lot......thanks again ......I will do as you say and see what I did do instead of what I did not do...... :) .....but I think I will also try to make some sort of check off list to help my self stay on track as I gain more experience so I do not miss a lot ........thanks again you do not know how important it was to get some feed back from you today it was important for me

:loveya: :icon_hug:

take care thanks again