ladyandthetiger

No. I hate and despise having to put up with other people's music at work. I don't want the hassle of having to tell a coworker that their music is to loud or distracting and end up looking like a kill joy. If you must have music on use headphones- just in one ear if you must. If you are listening to music to avoid falling asleep get up and clean or restock or if you can't leave the bedside do something for your patient.

Research shows that using cola actually makes blockages reoccur more quickly and worse. Current best practice is hot (not boiling) water and patience. Hold tube up, sryinge in hot water, lower end and drain, repeat until cleared.

Cardiac ICU all the way. I work in a lvl 1 ICU which does Med/surg and Cardiac and the Cardiac work loads are almost always better. They can be complex enough to be interesting upto and including the occasional reopen in the ICU. Med/surg is often the home of frequent faecal incontinence, full contact precautions, ICU psychosis, please just let me dies, and lots of other nursing nasties. Don't get me wrong, all my patients get the same skilled and compassionate care regardless of how frequently they are incontinent in the bed or how often I have to don full PPE to stop their drip beeping again but I'll take a fresh CABG or valve replacement any day given the choice.

An over 30 year old post is hardly convincing evidence base. Maybe something from this century?

Ok so you are a "not my fault, it just happened" type of student. Maybe nursing isn't for you if you find it so dull you can't stop yawning.

Yawning isn't a good look. It implies that you are; 1) Bored 2) impolite 3) Bad at time management 4) Lack attention span 5) disinterested 6) Not a team player So it's a pretty unprofessional thing to do. Now meet the nurses best friend caffeine... Coffee, coke, Pepsi, red bull the choices are many - unless you aren't able to tolerate caffeine in which case you need to get used to ensuring you get adequate sleep. But if this is the only issue with your performance so far it is unlikely you'll get kicked out of the program.

I have a portfolio which I take to interviews with me. Inside it has my resume, current registration certificate, current ALS certification, degrees, academic transcripts, academic awards, letters of reference categorised by type (employer, patients, students I've tutored) letters of recognition for outstanding teamwork, etc and copies of learning packages and projects (non proprietary) I've written. Not only does it keep all these documents safe, tidy and well preserved but also allows me to show these as evidence when asked about my experience and things listed on my resume. Every nurse should start one as it really impresses at job interviews and that letter is exactly the kind of thing that you would put in your portfolio.

Absolutely NEVER bring a child of any age to any kind of job seeking activities. Just no. It clearly states that your judgement about what is okay in the work place is suspect and you might even be silly enough to show up with your infant in tow to an actual shift.

The bottom line is Doctors are at the top of the food chain because they ALWAYS back each other up. That is why it is so hard to successfully sue for malpractice - because Doctors stick together, they demand high pay as a group and they (except under extreme conditions) won't ever contradict each other. Nurses, however, will always tear each other down, throw each other under the bus and won't stand strong as a group to negotiate better pay and conditions. If nurses supported each other and demanded the pay they deserve- or go on strike - we would all benefit.

Adequate pain relief is not euthanasia. This debate was settled in the 1970 -1980's thankfully! Would you prefer the era when Drs withheld adequate pain relief from the terminally ill because "they might get addicted" or the drugs might lead to their death? This may not be the right field for you if you are unwilling or unable to care for the dying on their terms instead of yours.

Consider this - a bad way to die in medical hands is an all in, full heroic measures advanced life support resuscitation attempt. The patient lives there while person after person punch them in the chest, while others stab them repeatedly with sharp objects (cannulation attempts, arterial blood has sampling, maybe even a couple of tries with a bone gun). We repeatedly administer electric shocks powerful enough to cause burns and their body to spasm painfully - especially if they have a few broken ribs. Pain relief and sedation don't scare me - I'll take that over a resus any day.

Have you ever even heard of a patient being able to switch doctors once they are an inpatient? Once they are admitted they are pretty much stuck - much like you must have been the day you had 27 mammograms (I'll take you at your word about that). The only nurses who have a problem with me are the burnt out or lazy ones - like you sound. Not getting abused has more to do with my advanced situational management skills and ability to head of problem behaviours before they escalate. That combined with my exceptional reputation with doctors, shift leaders and hospital coordinators who listen to me when I suggest putting behavioural assists in place (prn orders for chemical restraint, additional staff to special patients likely to cause problems etc) means I prevent the problem rather than cleaning up after the fact.

Anonymously report the CEO to the IRS. This kind of douche is inevitably cheating on his taxes. Use a public library computer so it can't be traced back to you.

OMG That whole thing made me want to punch those staff. The arrogant, superior, condescending attitudes of those healthcare staff were the main cause for the problem. How about acknowledging how stressful the situation must be for the patient? If a patient tells you they are hearing voices it really helps to establish empathy with them by responding with "that must be really stressful for you. I'm really glad you have come to get some help, it was a really good idea for you to come in today and I'm sure we can help you get through this." Ignoring the comment about the new nurse was more attractive- how about replying with something like "She is such a nice person, we are really lucky to work with her." How about NOT talking about the patient like he isn't there and all forming up as a gang openly discussing IN FRONT OF HIM how you are going to "take him down". Remember, it is you vs. the voices in his head - try and make it more appealing to talk to you than listen to them. If you do need to "take down" a patient try a little stealth and coordination. I've seen it done beautifully- 2 security guards and a nurse with a shot to the ass of haloperidol. I work in ICU, we deal with ICU psychosis regularly I've never had a patient abuse or take a swing at me. I always volunteer to take care of patients who have psychiatric comorbidities - usually they are stressed and unhappy when they are handed over to me and laughing and happy when I hand over to the next shift. 1) Don't be judgemental, use some empathy and try to understand that while you may be an overworked, stressed out nurse at least you get to go home at the end of your shift. The patient is trapped in the situation, often dealing with stressed out, bad tempered, burnt out Nurses. 2) You're pissed off that the Doctors won't listen to you? If the doctor treats you like an idiot just imagine what it must be like to his patient and be completely at the doctors mercy. 3) it's not about you. This is the patient's experience and taking the time to explain, nicely, solves a lot of problems before they begin. 4) Drug induced psychosis needs different management - sedate, restrain and wait.

"You are paid for me to treat you like garbage? " My response would be "actually I'm paid to decide if you get the good pain meds or the Advil."