NursShar1

I can see why this upset you, especially since you feel like you were in total control. I have worked in many hospitals that have a straight up policy that healthcare workers are not to consume alcohol within 12 hours of their shift or being on call. The amount is not up for debate - it is zero.. .none. This is a good personal policy to adhere to for the sake of integrity, should there ever be a question. In response to the wine being there/offered, and it was with a good steak dinner, I have to point you back to your statement of being a 44 year old mother of 3. You are an adult, and even if this was offered, it does not mean that you are required to partake of it. The responsibility lies with you, not with those that are offering something to you. I have had to enjoy my steak dinner at a fancy restaurant in the past with iced tea in the past because I was on call. I looked at the bright side and enjoyed the fact that I was at least having a nice steak dinner. That is just my food for thought, since you asked. I hope this gave you something to think about, rather than harboring it long term.

try kbrjobs.com. They pay $110K/year. The first 85K is tax free. You must be out of the U.S. for a year for it to be tax free. They are a bit hard to get. You have to be referred by a kbr employee to have an easier time getting in. This came from the horses mouth while I was deployed as active duty to Iraq. I spoke to one of the KBR guys that does hiring and this is what I was told. Good luck! Sharon

The Joint Commission says that you cannot eat or drink in patient care areas. I have a simple suggestion for management.... consider the nursing desks NON patient care areas and ban personnel from taking labs or any other patient care items to the desk. We have alcohol on every wall to rub our hands with - do they think our hands are any more clean when we go the 1/2 a football field to eat in the break room than if we snack right there at the desk? In the words of Carlos Mencia, "duh-duh-duhhhh". I have an insulated cooler bag the size of a small tote bag. I have to eat every 2-4 hours (just snacks - fruit, yogurt, peanut butter and celery) or I get the jitters. I also have to stay hydrated. I work in a busy children's ER and would NEVER get into the break room, even to pee! I just keep that tote bag with me at the station and sneak into it when I need a snack. If I take some food out of the bag, I walk down the hall while eating it - that is not a patient care area, haha! The US government food pyramid even recommends 6 small meals a day now. When we work nights, typically for me I get one meal before work. The other 5 usually have to take place at work. We need to start standing up for our right to be nourished and hydrated in order to give effective patient care!

I have read some negative posts on other threads about Magnet status and the "hooplah" that ensues. Imagine me, a south Jersey gal, who has always worked in Philly and was trained in Philly. They taught us the philosophy of collaboration, not nurse bow down to thy physician. I joined the Air Force in 2000, and lived everywhere, and it was great. I just got out and am in San Antonio, Tx. All I can say about the difference here is OMG!!! I worked agency on the side for the last year of my Air Force commitment, and nurses in this city both do not get paid, nor do they have a voice. If you go against a doctor or do not jump through hoops when they walk into your ER, you better fear for your job, because administration takes their side. They bring the money to the hospitals, after all, right? When I interviewed for jobs (and trust me, I was interviewing the hospitals, not the other way around - there is a huge shortage here), I asked a lot of questions about their philosophy about what nursing brings to their health care facility. I am in my 12th year of nursing and this is a 2nd career for me. I am not the 21 year old new grad pushover that a local nursing school has brainwashed. I take my job seriously. I am an educated professional, and am a collaborative part of a multidisciplinary health care team that makes decisions about a patient's care. It is hard to stomach being a nurse in this city when you have my outlook on what it means to be a nursing professional. A head hunter directed me to a children's hospital here, and I checked it out. I was pleasantly surprised that they were applying for Magnet Status ( my research a year prior showed that there were NO Magnet hospitals any where NEAR this city). I continued to be impressed through hospital orientation that nurses seemed to be held in high esteem. I LOVE my job, and love what a hospital's being (or trying to be) Magnet does for nurses. I took for granted, being born, raised, and practicing nursing in the northeast corridor of the US, that nurses were respected. If anyone up there wants to go back to work and feel good about the hospitals up there, just take a short travel assignment down this way, and it will do that for ya, I promise! I am just thrilled that I found the one hospital that has seen the light, and realizes that its nurses are what makes the place tick. The job satisfaction is high in my hospital, and turnover is low. We do work hard, but staffing issues are dealt with seriously. We have the supplies we need to do our job. Nurses are also held accountable as professionals, as they should be. The more senior nurses are expected to be mentors and teachers, if they want to advance in the clinical ladder. I do believe in this. If someone wants to just sit there and be a bedside nurse and not do another thing, then stay in your rung of the clinical ladder and take annual pay increases by percent, not ladder rung. No problem. I had to do all of these things as a nurse in the Air Force, but I did not get paid any extra do to them. I also had to come in on my own time for committee meetings, UNPAID. My outlook as a civilian nurse is being happy that I get paid for committee meetings, coming in to make posters, and get more pay on the clinical ladder scale for taking more responsibilities (I guess doing the same things for free in the past will change anyone's outlook???). My advice to you is to go to the websites posted above, and do some research on what it means for a hospital to have Magnet status. Then understand that there are good and bad ones out there. Try to stay in the line of thinking of your hospital "walking the walk" and doing it for real. Consult with some of the senior nurses that seem approachable. You will do great!

I have read some negative posts on other threads about Magnet status and the "hooplah" that ensues. Imagine me, a south Jersey gal, who has always worked in Philly and was trained in Philly. They taught us the philosophy of collaboration, not nurse bow down to thy physician. I joined the Air Force in 2000, and lived everywhere, and it was great. I just got out and am in San Antonio, Tx. All I can say about the difference here is OMG!!! I worked agency on the side for the last year of my Air Force commitment, and nurses in this city both do not get paid, nor do they have a voice. If you go against a doctor or do not jump through hoops when they walk into your ER, you better fear for your job, because administration takes their side. They bring the money to the hospitals, after all, right? When I interviewed for jobs (and trust me, I was interviewing the hospitals, not the other way around - there is a huge shortage here), I asked a lot of questions about their philosophy about what nursing brings to their health care facility. A head hunter directed me to a children's hospital here, and I checked it out. I was pleasantly surprised that they were applying for Magnet Status ( my research a year prior showed that there were NO Magnet hospitals any where NEAR this city). I continued to be impressed through hospital orientation that nurses seemed to be held in high esteem. I LOVE my job, and love what a hospital's being (or trying to be) Magnet does for nurses. I took for granted, being born, raised, and practicing nursing in the northeast corridor of the US, that nurses were respected. If anyone up there wants to go back to work and feel good about the hospitals up there, just take a short travel assignment down this way, and it will do that for ya, I promise! I am just thrilled that I found the one hospital that has seen the light, and realizes that its nurses are what makes the place tick.

I have read some negative posts on other threads about Magnet status and the "hooplah" that ensues. Imagine me, a south Jersey gal, who has always worked in Philly and was trained in Philly. They taught us the philosophy of collaboration, not nurse bow down to thy physician. I joined the Air Force in 2000, and lived everywhere, and it was great. I just got out and am in San Antonio, Tx. All I can say about the difference here is OMG!!! I worked agency on the side for the last year of my Air Force commitment, and nurses in this city both do not get paid, nor do they have a voice. If you go against a doctor or do not jump through hoops when they walk into your ER, you better fear for your job, because administration takes their side. They bring the money to the hospitals, after all, right? When I interviewed for jobs (and trust me, I was interviewing the hospitals, not the other way around - there is a huge shortage here), I asked a lot of questions about their philosophy about what nursing brings to their health care facility. A head hunter directed me to a children's hospital here, and I checked it out. I was pleasantly surprised that they were applying for Magnet Status ( my research a year prior showed that there were NO Magnet hospitals any where NEAR this city). I continued to be impressed through hospital orientation that nurses seemed to be held in high esteem. I LOVE my job, and love what a hospital's being (or trying to be) Magnet does for nurses. I took for granted, being born, raised, and practicing nursing in the northeast corridor of the US, that nurses were respected. If anyone up there wants to go back to work and feel good about the hospitals up there, just take a short travel assignment down this way, and it will do that for ya, I promise! I am just thrilled that I found the one hospital that has seen the light, and realizes that its nurses are what makes the place tick. Sharon

Nursing is not for just anyone. It is not a field that should be entered just because it is makes someone a "good provider" to their family. A good GPA is not the only requirement to being accepted. If a person still has the drive and desire to enter a program, try and try again is the best advice I can offer. Now that being said, nurses listen up! I graduated from an ADN program and thought I would never look for further education than that. I thought I was a great nurse, "as is". I got lured into my BSN because my hospital offered it for free. I am now working on my master's degree, which is something I thought would NEVER happen (again, can't turn down "free" tuition). I learned something important along the way during research for a project in my master's program. The reason we don't have enough nursing school spots is because we don't have enough nurse educators. In order to become a nurse educator, a nurse must advance in their education level. Moral of the story? Nurses, if all you want to aspire to is a diploma, ADN or BSN, the problem will NEVER end. We are the solution, and have no room to complain on behalf of others if we do not get the education. End of story.

Never, ever, EVER act like you know something when you are unsure. Most of the "experienced" nurses when I was new told me time and time again that they trusted me more because I was never afraid to ask questions. Now that I am one of the "experienced" nurses, I feel the very same way. Also - even though it takes a little more time, ALWAYS look up your meds before you give them. Your patients may ask questions about them and why they are being given the meds. Save yourself alot of walking back and forth to the med cart - take the pills still in the wrappers with you, as well as your drug guide. Open all the blister packs at the bedside. This way when they say "what is that blue pill for", you won't have just opened 10 pills at the cart and not remember which one the blue pill is (this happened to me a MILLION times as a newbie)... Best of luck to you!!!

The reaction of feeling manipulated by this patient is natural and justified. However, it seems that being personally offended may be interfering with the nurse looking at the entire picture. I am not Jewish, but have worked in a heavily populated Jewish area and am somewhat familiar with the culture. I do not think that feeding a child is against the Sabbath practice, and if someone sat down with this woman and had a heart to heart talk, I am sure that she may admit it eventually as well. What needs to be done, is to look beyond the feelings of manipulation, and see what is at the heart of it all. If it is a first child, she may feel overwhelmed and need some time. Is it a 3rd or 4th or 5th? She may just want the rest that she knows she will not get when she goes home. This is no reason to call child services. People are entitled to feel overwhelmed or need some rest. Is she being pressured into breast feeding by a family member? If so, she may be using this as an excuse or justification to the family for not breast feeding, and then perhaps say "the baby won't take to the breast - they bottle fed her in the hospital...". What ever the reason, of course this patient is not going to come clean and and give the real reason up front. IT is easier and less embarassing for her to hide behind an excuse. Remember what we all learned in nursing school however many years ago, and do not take things personally, and especially do not let it interfere with looking at the big picture. Yes, this person probably manipulated the nurse by using a cultural practice excuse, but it does not excuse us from digging deeper.