Pity Floating CNA's :-(

[mario_ragucci]

Now, with my unit closed w/low census, I float and sit constantly. It's getting harder for me to sit still all day, but I am not complaining since it is important work none the less.

The hardest part is to sit someplace new to you, and everyone there at the new unit knows your a sitter and basically ignores you. Yall know how I will be my best nurse and yours too, so I want to know if anyone else has ever suffered from anxiety when they are feling like they are being ignored by any staff. How do you deal with that? Has anyone just accepted not speaking to other eople for an entire shift - like some kind of "radio silence" nurses keep because they are cracked :-)

Today, a male nurse made fun of my name Mario because it's pronounced with a short "a" sound, and not with the hard "h" sound. Then I actually confronted a nurse about entering the room and not looking or attempting a standard, minimal greet. I felt like a teacher having to explain how it's necessary to at least make eye contact with other staff as you enter a room. I don't wanna feel like someones pop :-(

Will taking an anti-depressant make the sad feeling of experiencing this behavior go away? It's just hard sometimes, I guess, when you sit for too long. Any sitters out there who want to vent like me. I need to read. Thank you. I'm sorry :-(:uhoh21: :uhoh21:

[micro, RN]

M'a'rio,

you know the answer to the antidepressant ???

other than that, yeah, ..it can get hard sometimes.....

and GOOD FOR YOU SPEAKING UP TO SOMEONE ENTERING THE ROOM, even if they are the EVER SO SPECIAL NURSE...........

a sitter is such a valuable necessity in the hospital and something that i avoid doing myself at just about all costs........

because of what you speak of right here..............

hang in there Mario.........

get a good book and hope that you can read it some during your shift...........

and remember this too shall pass

[sharann, BSN, RN]

Poor Mario (with the short a sound). Sounds like you work with a few folks lacking in the common courtesy and manners department. Hang in there, but speak up gently if they do this. "Hi, I'm Mario, I usually work in xyz dept, but they heard you guys needed a sitter badly...." Good luck. Focus on school as well, you'll be a great nurse when you finish.

[sharann, BSN, RN]

Oh, bring some good books. Have you considered learning how to crochet? Now don't beat it till you try it!

[thisnurse]

i want to learn to crochet!

sitting has to be the worst. ive never had to do it a full shift but i have relieved for breaks and i hated every second of it. get a medical terminology book....might even be one on the unit.....start learning that...i cant tell you how much that class helped me. i took it before i started nursing....while i was doing my prerequisites.

i dont mind working on other units....i like seeing how the other ones are run and i like learning about other specialties. so far ive been lucky to work with nice people who tried not to make me feel left out.

i always say hi to everyone. if im walking down the hall and someone is walking the other way i always say hello, even if they never do.

some people are just rude...you cant help that but it doesnt mean you have to be....know what i mean?

and the nurse who was making fun of your name must be blessed with quick wit....lol

[eak16]

I'm a CNA who floated tonight. I was offered the choice tonight between sitting for 8 hours on my "home" floor or floating as a nursing assistant (aka, gopher) on a very busy floor I had never seen before.

I chose the new floor. I would much rather be crazy busy and stressed in an unfamiliar setting than bored and ignored!

Take up knitting, sketching, reading the classics, anything to keep your mind going. Dont forget that jsut because you are sitting doesn't mean you dont have a skill. Like Lactulose, this too shall pass!!!!!

[JMP]

Mario

When I was in nursing school, I worked one summer as a HCA- aka health care aide. It was in a nursing home. The staff where rude, abrupt and I know the first day I was in tears.

One staff member was so rude, if you asked her a question she would just walk away from you. I had never seen such behaviour!

I stuggled thru it. I finished my summer and vowed I would never treat anyone (ANYONE) like that.

I became a better nurse for the experience. Take this experience and learn and grow from it.

I know you can do it. Find the positive in the negative. It is there.

Take heart.

J.

[l.rae]

hey Mario, we've all been there.....you'll run into these types off and on all of your career no matter what your title. I can relate a bit...when l was an LPN l did private pediatric duty while l was in school. some of the families were great..sadly most were not, they treated you like a servant, ignored you and were just plain rude. l always suspected they were directing the issues of a handicapped child at me.....one of the reasons l don't like peds to this day......l did a lot of homework and studying on my 12 hr shifts....honestly l came home more tired than l do today after a 12 hr shift in an understaffed ER......These things are mentally draining.......hang in there......the pendulum swings..good luck...........LR

[dawngloves, BSN, RN]

I hope I don't come off sounding like a smart ass, but you mean there was nothing to clean, restock, organize anywhere? I know our stock room is always a mess and I always wish I had a couple of hours free to clean it.

Otherwise I'd just go to the bookstore before my shift.

[Furball]

Just a gentle word of warning.....

Be very careful about getting too involved in good book. I had a recent incident on my floor that will scare the hell out of you.

Another nurses' pt required a sit and this sitter was reading a text book in preparation for a final exam. In an instant, the confused pt yanked out his TLC, suffered an air emboli and died!!

Haven't heard yet if there are any lawsuits brewing....:stone

Horrible things can happen in a split second...

Hang in there Mario. Folks who don't say "hello" are morons.

Observant sitters are worth their weights in gold and can be the difference between life and death.

[dawngloves, BSN, RN]

Nevermind! I don't know what I'm talking about! Can you tell I've worked all weekend?

[b-lansing]

Hi everybody! When I was working as a psych. tech. at a state hospital, we had to float all the time! And when we wern't floating, we were sitting! When I first started on the 11p-7a shift we used to sit for 1 hour at a time without doing anything except stare at the patient. Let me clue you, it was very difficult to sit in semi-darkness and watch someone sleep! Later the policy changed to half hour sittings but still no knitting, coffee, puzzles, etc. VERY BORING!!!