Please help, need to interview nurse.

[ISUnurse]

Hi. I am a nursing student at Indiana State, and am completely new to this message board. I have got this assignment due tomorrow, and I was just wondering if someone could help me out. I have to interview a real nurse. I will post my questions, and if anyone could help me out and answer them, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you.

1. What area are you involved in and what responsibilities are involved with that area?

2. What is the most stressful part about your job?

3. The best part?

4. Did you get an associate or bachelors degree for nursing?

5. Have you ever thrown up or passed out on the job, for reasons associated with your job?

Thank you very much.

[KaroSnowQueen, RN]

1.. I work on PCU, a stepdown from cardiac care. We are a telemetry unit. We are ideally responsible for four patients a shift, but usually end up with six. We do not do primary care, but do get our own vital signs, rather than the aides doing it. The only specialty drips we do are heparin and cardizem. Anything else and they go to TCU or back to CCU.

2. UNDERSTAFFING AND OVERWORKING!!!!! One nurse cannot care for six patients who are or are potentially cardiac patients and do a good job. There are days when the doctors come in and discharge three or four of your six patients, and then the ER fills up your beds and you get two or three admissions between three pm and seven, and the "old" patients want to know why they haven't seen you in a while and where is their pills and why aren't you taking care of grandma like you did this morning and the charge nurse wants to know if your admission had been charted and why didn't you tell admitting that you had three empty beds and on and on and on.

3. Being able to make someone feel better. Taking the time to sit and talk with and/or comfort the patient or their family. Leaving the room and knowing that THIS is why you became a nurse!

4. LPN, then associate.

5. I have not ever thrown up or passed out, but sputum and trachs make me gag. I have to narrow my eyes and breathe through my mouth or I'm afraid I will. Blood and urine and feces don't particularly bother me. I did watch a surgery, an anterior/posterior repair which grossed me out but I didn't faint.

[shannonRN, BSN, RN]

check your pm's. :)