Rocketskates

Starting off, you're going to be task oriented as you begin to integrate everything you've learned into practice. It's like driving: after you've been doing it for a while, everything becomes second nature - buckling up, signaling, maintaining speed, anticipating other drivers' moves...you'll get it if you stay the course. I know it's hard to fathom now but you have to believe in yourself and you'll get there. Consider making a custom brain sheet in your spare time that you can bring to work so you can note all of the important things to report during hand-off. Lastly, I just finished up orientation in the OR; I've been coming into work about 15 minutes early just so I can get my tasks started ahead of schedule since I'm taking so long. I'm not allowed to clock in early, so I'm doing this using my own time, which I don't mind because I'm so determined to succeed in this new role.

The field of nursing is a huge buffet of options, hopefully you can find something that works. The fatigue though stood out to me - I'd consider talking to your doctor about this. Are you getting enough sleep, are you getting good sleep? Maybe a sound machine or a sleep study can help. I've heard people say they didn't realize what horrible sleep they were getting until they found out they had sleep apnea and started using a CPAP machine. I know alcohol can cause me to get lousy sleep. Overeating, lots of sugar...perhaps an elimination diet like "Whole 30" may help pinpoint what, if anything in your diet is contributory. Maybe you could also benefit from a thyroid study; when working in the OR there tends to be a lot of radiation, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to get this checked out anyway. I'm a firm believer that there is a key to every lock, so keep doing what you're doing by reading forums and networking. No job is a utopia but it's possible to find one that's really good. And if one job doesn't satisfy all your needs, consider a side hustle or hobby. I enjoy nursing for the challenges and the personal fulfillment but I also like to come home and garden for its therapeutic effect because it's a slower pace and I get to enjoy the fruits of my labor, literally.

I've struggled with anxiety for a long time and just when I felt like it was under control (when I was comfortable in my last work environment) I switched to working in the OR. I feel like it's eroding my mental health because I'm stressed all of the time. While I realize that being new in this role means things can only get better with time, part of me just wants to go live in a tiny house on a mountain and do farm work or something. Then again, if it weren't challenging, I know it wouldn't be as fulfilling. Would be great if I could always pick the cases I work in and the teams I work with...but that's not gonna happen.

I am enrolled in a perioperative course right now, I'm more and more of the understanding that this role doesn't entail much patient care, if any. If you are a scrub nurse, you're handing tools to the surgeon... if you're a circulating nurse, you ensure that the patient has signed all of the consents, you initiate the 'time-out' before surgery and go over things to make sure everybody is on the same page. Then you document the supplies that get used throughout the procedure and send any specimens to the lab. Aside from helping to transfer a patient onto the operating table, there is little to no patient contact as far as I can tell.

Have a look at BUNAC that company is great for facilitating working holiday visas, relocation and orientation to the new host country. They may have age restrictions which vary from country - it was 30 for New Zealand when I went (as an American) in 2008 (before I got into nursing). Now that I’m a nurse, I’m also interested in traveling abroad but I don’t know how to do it permanently. My best bet now might be to find work in the USA as a commercial medical escort or on an air ambulance that does international missions...

I’m sorry to hear. I’m about 3 years into the profession and my only deaths were comfort care patients; they were expected to pass anyway. Best I can say is that death is a part of life, and so are mistakes. It seems cliche, I know, but just like mistakes with cooking (only higher stakes) you learn as you go and hopefully never make the same mistake again. If every nurse quit after making a major mistake, the profession would be much more understaffed. If it weren’t for the high stakes, we might not have as much pride in our ability to do it, either. Everyone has made mistakes, myself included, and many of us keep them bottled up inside. You probably only need one or two confidantes to swap stories with to reassure you that you’re not alone.

No, (and to preface, I’m in a happy relationship!) But years ago, as a patient on two separate occasions (snowboarding injuries) I had one nurse during each admission who stood out to me, I admired and was mesmerized by. I asked one of them out, and she politely declined but she didn’t want to be my nurse again (I know because she was there on my day of discharge and didn’t say goodbye.) I was pretty sad about that. I considered going back and asking her out again a year later because I thought for sure she might think differently with me being able to walk and not being in a gown LOL) but I didn’t because I didn’t want anything construable as harassment. I’m fine with the past though because as I mentioned, I’m in an awesome relationship! My respect and admiration for those nurses though may have played a minor role in me wanting to become a nurse... if it weren’t for them, I suppose I might not be in the great relationship I’m in now...

I'm looking for a bike, is there anywhere I can get one at a discount as a nurse?

We have an appointed Safety Agent who monitors donning/doffing of PPE of all RNs entering/exiting COVID rooms; they spend their downtime decontaminating all surfaces on the unit and responding to RNs who need supplies/help inside COVID rooms. They also maintain a dedicated COVID binder which contains all updates published by our hospital's infection control officer. Mgmt is said to be lenient about delays (presumably this is true; no one gives me a hard time when I give lipitor/other non-critical meds late). Visitation is restricted to those on comfort care/impending mortality

"I know someone who" voluntarily admitted themself for severe depression in NJ a decade ago. No self-harm, just overwhelming emptiness and feeling unfulfilled. This person has since become an RN, is OK now and legally practicing nursing with full scope of RN license in an acute care setting. Not sure if that is of any help to your question, but I would like to encourage you in your endeavor. You've traversed a major mountain which is just a pebble in the rearview. Now you have a boulder ahead but it is nothing compared to what you went through initially:)

Sorry to hear about your time management struggle; I feel it, too. Best ideas I can recommend (though a disclaimer: I don’t always practice) are to arrive 15+ minutes early to read up on patients charts, figure out their plan of care and map out your evening. I use a detailed brain sheet I made myself to stay organized. Also, I work nights, so I sleep ALL day to maximize my potential energy reserve throughout the night. I try to eat midday and/or prior to going in so I am well fueled, but avoid over-eating so I don’t go in in a food coma. Having a good handle on my responsibilities outside of work helps me to stay focused on the job and therefore better economize time on the job - I tend to zone out, work slower and make more mistakes when distracted/preoccupied. I chew gum and listen to fast tempo music on my way into work to get amped up; this helps to counterbalance the slow-down I inevitably hit five hours into my shift. Obviously, patients with the most pressing needs should come first; I usually let the first-due meds dictate who I see first (apart from post-handover meet-and-greet.) Sometimes though I see merit in handling the easier/less needy (and less chatty) patients first to get more done in less time. That way, I can spend more time with those who need more attention and I can give them my undivided attention. Being comfortable delegating tasks is huge; I’m still working on this area but getting more comfortable because I know it’s not a reflection on my failure as a nurse, it’s about the patients’ needs. Most CNAs/PCTs understand this. If I’m not comfortable asking someone to do something for me, I ask them to help me so together we get it done in half the time. Lastly, a minute of prevention is greater than an hour of cleanup; we’ve implemented hourly rounding to ensure bed alarms are on, call bells are within reach, pumps are plugged in, everyone has some water or whatever other basic need met. We’re not obligated to chart it, just move the hand forward on a small paper clock inside the doorway. I would much rather do this than have a fall occur on my watch. Best of luck (to all of us)!

WAKE UP MR. JONES IT’S TIME FOR YOUR 4AM CIWAAAAAAAAA! HAVE YOU BEEN HAVING ANY TREMORS? HOW’S YOUR ANXIETY?!

I've got about $400 of MY MONEY in my FSA and unless I spend it, I'm going to lose it after 12/31. The only things I can think of buying which don't require a letter of medical necessity and which I might need though are compression socks, sunscreen, Breathe Right Strips and band-aids. I'm considering buying a better stethoscope, but am unsure if that would be allowed though. On the one hand, nowhere does it say stethoscopes are ok. On the other hand, the website stipulates I can purchase DME, First Aid Kits, First Aid Supplies and other items 'which include but are not limited to' blood pressure monitoring kits, thermometers, pulse oximeters and other items. I would assume then that a steth should fall under at least one of those categories. While I would primarily use the steth at work, I would use it for my own BP monitoring should the need arise (so I'd like to think that my company's FSA administrators should therefore not have anything to say about it.) Can I get a majority in favor? I'm open to any feedback. TIA

Many nurses with BSNs have admitted they feel no more qualified than nurses with ADNs. I think this is supported by the fact that many ADN programs have more first-time pass rates than many BSN programs, see here: Best Nursing Schools in New Jersey for 2

Staple1027: I haven't talked about this to many people, so you are the first person to conclude in words similar to my own: politically motivated, get more people in greater debt, indoctrinate everyone with a government-endorsed set of ethics...as if the gov needs to tell me how to be a decent human. Some of my old nursing professors did a great job of showing me how to be a horrible nurse/person (one in particular showed me a pic of a parasitic twin right after it was born...taken with her own cell phone without any authorization.) If you look at stats on schools' first-time pass rates for the NCLEX-RN (at least for NJ), it shows clearly that BSNs are no better prepared than ADNs. I was fortunate though in that I stumbled into one of the better ADN programs, which scored higher than many BSN programs and so I passed the NCLEX on the first try. As you can probably imagine, that fueled my belief that a BS was not going to make me much better, if any. It just goes to show that much of the difference between a BSN and ADN is fluff.

At this point, I have 21 credits to go, which works out to 7 classes. I don't think I can take one class at time without doing [accelerated] Winter & Summer courses and still be done by end of 2020. Unfortunately, I got a later start on things than I should have.

I'm a new nurse working on a telemetry/med-surg unit at a hospital in southern New Jersey. Right now, I'm back in school for my BSN (required by the hospital as a condition of my hire), currently taking two classes: Conceptual Foundations and Wellness & Health Assessment. Most of what I'm learning was taught in my initial nursing program, with the exception of a bunch of APA writing content, nursing theory, different nursing degrees and their associated career paths and multiculturalism. APA writing is apparently to prep nurses of the future for doctorate degrees, which I have no intention of ever pursuing. Multiculturalism is great and I love learning about other walks of life...but on my own terms, face to face with actual people...not through textbook. Furthering my education is the furthest thing down on my list of concerns: I just want to come home from work, enjoy my days off with my girlfriend and our respective families, play with our dog and pursue my own interests as they episodically capture my interest. To give a background, I majored in Spanish at a liberal arts college. I've also done quite a bit of traveling and I speak German, so I think I've gotten my fair share of foreign culture exposure. While there is a lot I don't know and could stand to learn, there are better things I could be learning that would benefit ALL of my patients. They say care from BSNs is shown to have better outcomes, but I argue that it is not the BSN degree per se, it is the increased motivation of BSN students that leads to the better outcomes. In other words, just because you don't have a BSN doesn't mean you lack motivation to learn. If I weren't required to be in a BSN program I know for sure I would still be furthering my knowledge, but in ways that would be relevant. For one, I would take a medical Spanish class. I don't get a ton of patients who only speak Spanish but there are enough for me to feel motivated to want to take such a course. I would also use this time to enhance my EKG interpretation ability. This is a major happening on my floor and I feel like I'd be serving ALL of my patents better by studying this. I'd also pursue an ACLS class and, eventually, med-surge certification. The BSN courses of Patho and Pharma I would take, too, but only these because they focus on the patient care content which I find interesting. Having to come home from working a night shift and think about school is taxing on my other responsibilities, social life, family connections and consequently, morale. To do my job effectively I have to get a lot of sleep. I don't have time for leisure reading. I don't have time to stay in the loop with friends or relatives with the exception of parents, girlfriend and maybe two or three other individuals. Rant to be continued....

I work on a telemetry/med-surge unit. I've been working as a nurse for over 7 months, all in this setting, and I'm very happy. I just hate the fact that I have to return for my BSN and one of my professors is telling us that according to a recent IOM report, even a BSN won't be good enough someday. I already have a BA in Spanish, the BSN is essentially my third time through the college mill...why can't they just smash my BA and Associates in Nursing together and call it a day? The only courses in the BSN program I find as relevant to improving patient outcomes is Pharmacology and Pathophysiology which I am interested in taking without having to pursue a BSN.

How could they prove you didda doody?

I went to community college and, all said and done my cost was about $6000 (books included). My employer reimbursed me (contingent upon passing grades, staying with the company for a year) so my net cost was actually nothing. My school and its ADN program hung its hat on having a higher first-time pass rate for the NCLEX than the nationwide average for BSN programs - a major point to consider when shopping for schools. One reason why a couple of my nurse coworkers endorsed the community college route is because it pays professors less than big name schools, so you know they're not in it for the glory of working at a big name school and so they're more likely in it for the love of teaching. While the rationale seemed to have some merit, I still had professors who, to me at the time, portrayed the devil incarnate quite well; that said, I cannot endorse the notion that community college professors have more passion about their jobs, but I can cosign on their programs being affordable and of sound quality. About your prospects of getting a hospital job in NY/NJ when you're "fresh out" I can tell you that I have quite a few classmates who were able, they just had to agree to finish a BSN within 5 years. Consider checking job vacancy boards for your local hospitals and asking people who actually work there what they've encountered. Another good source is Bureau of Labor Statistics, which will give you an idea of which way the workforce is headed: Registered Nurses : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Best of luck!

When weighing your options for nursing schools, consider what the first-time pass rates are for their grads upon taking the NCLEX, which is the nursing board exam. This statistic will give you good insight into how well the school prepared you for your licensure exam, the gatekeeper to the profession. I chose to go to community college and get my associates because it was close to home and relatively cheap, roughly $7k with books included. Also, I wanted to get to work as a nurse in the shortest amount of time possible; my schooling (after completing my per-reqs) only took me 4 semesters (Sept. 2015 thru May 2017). While there are accelerated BSN programs out there (11mos-18mos), those are much more expensive ($60-80k). I also needed to be able to work full-time (which was a real struggle in my paced paced program, but would have been impossible for me in an accelerated one). If you're living at home and don't need to work, you have a little more freedom and flexibility in your options. The program I was in was a strong one in that it had a higher first-time pass rate than the nationwide average for BSN programs. I was also fortunate in that my employer (medical office job) reimbursed me for my school expenses since it was related to the job; the only condition was that I would need to continue to work there for one year after they cut me the tuition reimbursement check or else I'd have to give it back. So upon graduation, I had zero debt! Something that is not imperative but you might find beneficial: consider volunteering at your local fire and/or EMS department; with a relatively marginal commitment of just one night on-call per week, I was able to get an EMT and fire cert paid for which paved the way for me to get to where I am now. It fueled my suspicion that the medical feed was where I was meant to be and helped motivate me to invest in furthering my qualifications so I could do more for patients. It would be something great for you to think about because you're young, new to the working world and so it will help you network and meet others in the healthcare setting. You may one day find yourself sitting in front of one of these colleagues job interview! Another can of worms to think about is pursuing an associates vs bachelor's; both qualify you to take the NCLEX-RN but depending on your geographical location, the field you want to work in and institution policy, an associates just might not cut it for some employers. Hospitals in more populated areas are said to be seeking this accreditation called Magnet status which basically says that all of their nurses have BSNs or are at least working towards their BSNs; non-hospital jobs like nursing homes or hospitals in less populated areas are typically not as rigid and might accept you with just an associates. For further info, regarding any profession, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) is a great resource on projected pay outlook, qualifications, job prospects and much more; see here for what they have to say about the nursing profession: Registered Nurses : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Also, consider asking your HS guidance counselor about any resources they can offer to help you in reaching your career goals. Best of luck!

It's 3am, I'm studying for my NCLEX is next week but right at this moment, I'm giving into procrastination for a few minutes... 1a. How far into your profession before you felt confident that you could handle whatever the average day threw at you? (weeks, months, years? I realize every day varies greatly, it's hard to define average, so just an approximation in weeks/months/years before you could hold your own in your position at the time). 1b. What nursing field were you working in at the time you reached that point? 1c. What relevant qualifications did you hold at that time? 2. Which did you find more challenging: nursing school or your transition to practice as a nurse? 3a. As a seasoned nurse, which would you say is more challenging: nursing school or your current nursing role? 3b. What nursing field are you currently in? 3c. What relevant qualifications do you hold now? The reason I'm asking is because I often wonder how I'll do in my first few years as a nurse. I told myself at the start of school that I want this to be the hardest thing I'll ever put myself through, that way I know I can handle whatever life tosses me later. I fared really well in my pre-req classes and about average in nursing school, but I understand poor students can make really great nurses and vice versa. TIA

I feel terrible for what you experienced and I hope you find a new setting soon that will be more conducive to learning as a new nurse. We cannot let others dictate how we view ourselves; we have no control over them. All we have control over is doing 'the next right thing' in each situation we encounter. For all we as readers know, you might have messed up big time; but for all you know, you may have done nothing wrong. Perhaps your preceptor had a friend in line for your job and set you up with a caseload that was impossible to handle...who knows? You may never find out so don't dwell for too long. It's noble to be able to examine yourself objectively, but you have to be willing to make mistakes if you are to learn, and you have to be able to forgive yourself when they happen; surely you'll make more, and surely your former preceptor has made worse!

Awful sorry about the unfortunate turn of events. I'm not looking to know your business because we all make mistakes and it sounds like this was a while ago and you're remorseful. I hope things work out for you. I'm waiting to take my NCLEX in just a few more weeks, so I'm new to the field, but my understanding is that nursing is such a broad field that even in a small town you can find a lot of options without having to venture far out. Maybe that's not realistic though. Perhaps you can find a position working for an insurance company as a tele-health nurse? Perhaps doing home health?