Just wanted some thoughts on my situation, here it is...
I graduated in May-gotta job on a med/surg floor- 4-weeks of orientation-and I'm now caring for 6-7 pts all by myself.
But get this. I have no resource person, no one offers help, and I'm still working under a TEMPORARY LICENSE! What's the legalities on this?
Also, yesterday a doctor asked me why I turned off a morphine drip when respirations were 6, and this pt is braindead after a massive MI. The order said "titrate to comfort". A dnr ofcourse but, I almost laughed and said kiss my a**.
Not really-I just told him i learned it in school and the ativan was working just fine until respirations came back up. LORD HELP ME!
I think this is common practice, unfortunately. I have worked in 2 facilities and for a nursing pool, and I was lucky to get 1 week of orientation. My 1st job out of school, promised me 30 days of orientation, it was more like 3 days. Then I was on my own. I found a nurse to help me out, with questions and such, but feel like I missed out on learning alot on the job because of the horrible training. Real life nursing is nothing like school nursing, that's for sure. I always worked in LTC, by the way with 35 - 38 pts.
HI there how are you doing well if you dont have your licence yet you need to have some one with you while caring for your patients
you know what this is my second year as an lpn and still do ask a lot of questions ask the nurse or my nurse manager so when ever your in dout please speack up let me tell you this when i just got my licence i started working on a unit and it did nt feel right for me just because what other nusres been doing witch is not according to the book and i think u know what i mean and i am really paranoid any how i went and spoke to my nursing director explained everything and requested a new floor or am going to have to quit but i moved to another floor and i was happy there so what i am saying is if you dont feel good in a unit please try to change it you worked so hard to become an lpn and am sure you love being a nurse so you need to be happy at your job so if ur not then it could be the floor or nursing is nt for you and am 100% sure from ur message u love what u do so i am wishing but the best u can pm me with any other q thank you
As everyone has already mentioned you can't work independently on a temporary license if you have not taken the NCLEX. 4 weeks IS NOT adequate orientation at all!!!
Come on up to VT. I have 10 weeks for new grads on M/S and I am anticipating orienting my new grad in ICU for 15-20 weeks. There is entirely too much to learn about patient care, communication with patients, families, co-workers, physicians, and ancillary staff to make you feel comfortable working independently after 4 weeks.
As far as your patient with the MS drip is concerned technically you should have called the MD first and informed him of the patient's condition and make sure he was OK with the DC of the MS. Unless of course your order includes parameters that would allow you to decrease or stop a drip. When in doubt CYA. Most docs don't do real well with surprises.
Oh My God!!!!! Are You Nuts, After All The Studying On Your Scope Of Practice, You Are Allowing Them To Use You This Way..... Shame On Them But Shame On You For Taking The Chance . Go To Somebody Or Find Another Job Fast!
we have new grads on our unit with temp licences. they are expected to do the same work as the rest of us. they only can't be in "charge" experience takes time and patience. however, we do not coddle anyone. we are short staffed and really don't have the extra time to follow someone who's graduated a program and has done the clinical hours. try not to see it as being "thrown to the wolves." every grad has been given the tools to do the job and that is the expectation - that they will do the job.
perhaps you have started on the wrong unit. some units are fast paced and speciallized and you have to really be on the ball. 6 -7 patients is not a hard load when we on our unit have 12 patients on a day shift. we are responsible for 18 on the night shift. our orientation lasts two weeks and a lot of times, the ones that can't "cut the mustard" end up finding work elsewhere. so keep your options open. acute care may not be for you.
where i work, if you have applied for the job, you must think you can do it. you have to learn quickly and make sure you know your stuff. i think maybe perhaps you feel this way because you are inexperienced and your expectations aren't very high. nursing is not an easy job. if there is something you don't know, then make sure you know it. you have to have high expectations of yourself and not make mistakes. and don't worry about your case load. i wish we could have only 6 - 7 patients!!! you lucked out there.
Unfortunely the saying "Nurses eat their young" is only to true. In my 30+ yrs. of nsg I have seen this same scene replayed to many times. You need to find a resource person on your shift. There are many of us seasoned vets that really want our new RNs to succeed. If your floor doesn't have someone for you you need to find a new dept STAT. You have far to much respondsibility for an IP. We,( meaning us looking a retirement) need new RNs that maintain a positive attiude and bring a new excitement to the profession. So good luck and keep up the gd. work.
P.S. My daughter just passed her boards and has been facing a similar situation.
The nurse at Metro jail were stress a lot, and most questions I had were met with silence and I was ignored. It was best to get out of there before I hurt someone just as nursing board told me. I'm not giving up yet, but looking elsewhere. Thanks for concern ,
SAFETY FIRST. Your patients are your primary concern and you are the one who makes a difference in their healing. Do your best for them and you.
What are the laws in your state for temporary permits? You have to know and practice within the legal limits. Communicate with your manager and HR on any training needs you have. Do have a workplace policy and procedure book that you can read when necessary.
Dear new grad: Some welcome to the profession!!! :welcome: If I were you, I'd talk to your manager (or whoever hired you) and explain what's going on and ask for more orientation. If the answer is "no", then I'd resign on the spot and start looking for work elsewhere. In my state we don't give "temporary licenses", but I would assume you are to be working under direct RN supervision - not all on your own. Your future license is on the line here and you are responsible to ensure you are providing safe care to your patients within your scope of practice. Here at my hospital our new grads are assigned hand-picked and trained RN preceptors for a minimum of 8 weeks, usually 12 weeks. Our new grad program includes both floor work and new grad didactic course work. Our new grads have weekly meeting with their unit's nurse educator, manager, and preceptor to discuss orientation progress, identify learning needs, and set goals for the next week. We also have nurse mentors that offer emotional support and help integrate the new grads into the "culture" of the unit (potlucks, secret pal, etc). The feedback we get from our new grads is that our process is very positive and really helps integrate them into the profession and our organization. This is a far cry from my experience 12 years ago - 3 days of orientation and then I was responsible for 7-8 patients on an evening shift! My advice: there are a lot of opportunities out there - look for an organization that cares for and values their RNs or you'll never be happy. Good Luck
Just wanted some thoughts on my situation, here it is...
I graduated in May-gotta job on a med/surg floor- 4-weeks of orientation-and I'm now caring for 6-7 pts all by myself.
But get this. I have no resource person, no one offers help, and I'm still working under a TEMPORARY LICENSE! What's the legalities on this?
Also, yesterday a doctor asked me why I turned off a morphine drip when respirations were 6, and this pt is braindead after a massive MI. The order said "titrate to comfort". A dnr ofcourse but, I almost laughed and said kiss my a**.
Not really-I just told him i learned it in school and the ativan was working just fine until respirations came back up. LORD HELP ME!
You need to run to the recruiter and nurse manager. This sounds unsafe. You do not want to loose your license before you even get it! It's no wonder so many new gradutes leave their first job within the first year! One of my focus groups with my job is New Graduate Development. I love working with the new graduates and making sure that they get the training and support that they need to succeed aithout burning out. In my state, you can no longer work as a temp nurse. You either have your license or you work as a Nurse tech until you get proof of passing the NCLEX.
Technically speaking, if you are not yet licensed, you can only do those simple tasks that do NOT require a license. Everything you charted should have an RN co-sign which indicates that your completed work was supervised and checked by the RN.
In the real world, this never happens. I was in the same situation before so I can related to that. You would imagine that honeymoon orientation only to find out you have full pt load. This is because we are all swamped with high pt load, therefore, an extra pair of hands is always helpful. Besides, when they do staffing, the orientee is usually not counted as a floor nurse (but when they can't find enough nurses to come to work, they will count orientee into staffing). So, it all depends how you work out your situation with the manager (and it could be political so plan ahead about what you are going to say).
littlehippie
38 Posts
I think this is common practice, unfortunately. I have worked in 2 facilities and for a nursing pool, and I was lucky to get 1 week of orientation. My 1st job out of school, promised me 30 days of orientation, it was more like 3 days. Then I was on my own. I found a nurse to help me out, with questions and such, but feel like I missed out on learning alot on the job because of the horrible training. Real life nursing is nothing like school nursing, that's for sure. I always worked in LTC, by the way with 35 - 38 pts.
Sher