Andy 12

I haven't been on the floor since January, but my experience is in ICU, Hospice, and ER. I agree with those who are saying that there is not much nurses can do, except educate. Some families handle grief differently, but education has alot to do with it. Hospice families would thank you for for being so good to the pts, because they had the education to know it was coming. ICU families sometimes blamed the staff, but many times they took it better if they were prepared. ER was usually the worst because the pt was usually fine the day before. They don't have time to prepare themselves. We need remember that the first two of the five stages of grief are denial then anger. When it was slower, families were closer to acceptance. With covid, pts are sometimes declining so rapidly that there is no chance for families to move towards acceptance.

My police officer older brother likes to introduce me with "this is my little brother, he's a male nurse." I'm about 6 inches taller than him, and outweigh him by about 80lbs. It was a running joke, but I never took offense. At the end of the day, I'm a guy and about 90% of the ppl I work with are women. It's great. I probably wouldn't have met my wife if I wasn't a nurse.

I think this post can also be geared towards new grads. If I could, I'd like to take a bunch of students/new grads to that unit of the hospital that has a dozen beds, only used for overflow and give them imaginary patients. If still in school use the sim lab. Make their assignments appropriate for whatever floor they are working on. The catch is that that day is going to be Murphy's law day. Just to show them what to do. For example, they need a med stat, but the pyxis is out. The chf, sepsis pt. The dr ordered cardiac ada on a g-tube pt. A pt in a-fib rvr. Teach them when they should wait for the doc to call back vs calling rapid response or even a code. When to call case management. Plus the things that go wrong that aren't pt centered. Toilet is busted, call engineering, if it can't get fixed, move pt to other room. What to do when a family member says "I'm diabetic and don't feel right, can u check my sugar?" These are things that experienced nurses take for granted, but we never really had to deal with as students.

Been in a similar position. Started as new grad. Got a 1 dollar raise 2yrs later, because the new grads I was training were starting off making $1 more than I was. Then got $0.60 another year later. Then I went from nights to days I lost my $2 differential. So I left 3.5 yrs later making $0.40 less than I did when I was a new grad. It's sad to say but these days some hospitals would rather pay someone more to start than keep good employees. My advice is apply to another job. When u get an offer, tell your manager what it will cost to keep you. I know personally that ppl aren't jumping to be charge in a busy icu. Most nurses would rather have their 2-3 pts than deal with the headaches of being charge. The key is not being afraid to say goodbye. I left a unit where I had been with the hospital longer than everyone but the charge (who trained me) and I'd trained about half the staff. It wasn't easy leaving.

You are doing exactly what I would do. I understand the fear of signing a contract. I did too as a new grad (stayed almost 4 years when my contract was for 2). If u do end up signing one read to see if u can work at least prn at another hospital, some say you can't. You have to understand the reason hospitals have new grads sign contracts. Depending on the hospital, some orientation periods that can last 8 months. For that time period, they are paying you (a staff member that cannot take a full assignment) and paying your preceptor extra to teach you. Its over $20k for just your orientation. They just don't want to train you, then have you apply to another hospital for a raise, because you now have experience. As far as working in a level 1 trauma ICU, I understand the stress can be a lot. Most contracts that I've seen/ heard of say that you have to work for the hospital, not the department, so you can possibly ask for a transfer if it's too stressful.

Well, hold off on getting new scrubs until you figure out what colors u can wear at your new job. I've gained weight since becoming a nurse cause there were always snacks in the lounge. (sometimes all you can eat is the junk food that someone was nice enough to bring in for the rest of the staff). If you can't get your morning routine figured out, and you're going to be late, be the person who brings food for the rest of the staff. And every nursing unit has the person who works 2 jobs (sometimes full time), because they can't get their finances in order. All in all, nurses are nowhere near perfect. They just learn to act the part so students, families, and patients think that they are. Sounds to me that some of the nurses you shadowed had it down.