Koalified

If you throw money at me, I will work extra hours. Currently I work part-time but when bonus shifts are offered, I will work extra. I do firmly believe that there really isn’t a nursing shortage. There is a shortage of nurses willing to take crap pay, crap schedule, crap working environment.

You sound like a great preceptor! I wonder if NewGrad and you are just not a good match. Could be personality differences or just something random that you guys don’t jive. That said, one of the things I hated about my preceptor when I was a new grad was making me do things that was the “proper” way to do a chart check when literally no one including her was doing it that way. It was tedious and complicated and involved paging through paper charts and 2 different computer systems - 1 nursing system, 1 unit secretary system. So, what I’m saying is maybe teach/mention something that the administration deems the “proper way to do things” but don’t make the orientee actually do the thing if you yourself isn’t doing it. Someone mentioned the sink or swim method. I actually kinda enjoy that method when it’s used towards the end of the training if the preceptor is keenly aware of what’s going on. As long as the preceptor jumps in when definitely needed, sink or swim method gives the orientee the simulation of a true working environment with the safety net of someone still watching over them.

I wear them. I just feel a bit more protected from whatever may come my way. It’s completely irrational though.

You go to the bathroom, pee, and brush your teeth all with your eyes closed.

Some might after years away from high school with various life experiences. My guess is many won’t recognize that they were bullies. I remembering a funny episode on some show where the character who was going to a HS reunion was nervous bc she was bullied. Come to find out she was actually the bully in HS.

I find it easier and quicker to use my cell phone to look up drugs or medical conditions than my work computer. The work computers are slow and wants to use Bing as the search engine which is not my go-to. Sometimes the work computer blocks me from accessing websites. I believe we have PubMed or whatever but that takes forever to load so I don’t even bother. Good article overall! I agree with all the points made.

I was thinking the same thing as I was reading. LOL

Some people might be aware that they were bullies now that they are older. Maybe you teased people for their appearance or maybe you tied someone’s shoelaces together or maybe you slandered someone. Fess up!

I was scrolling on Reddit and one question that came up was, “What are your high school bullies doing now?”. Interestingly many said that their hs bullies are now nurses. Do you think the nursing profession attracts former bullies? How many of you were bullies in high school?

I have only seen Filipino nurses use that term.

All the hospitals I worked at, CNAs do not touch wound vacs. It's out of their scope of practice. I have never heard of wound certified CNAs though.

Private duty is not hectic and may be a good fit. It's one to one. These jobs are usually through home health agencies. You could also look into Acute rehab (not nursing home). These pts tend to be less acute and stay longer in the facility so you get to know them better. The ratio isn't horrible either...maybe anywhere from 5 to 8 pts depending on shifts. I also think ICU could be a good fit. Although the pts are very sick and medically complex you only have 2 pts that you need to focus on. Many hospitals hire new grads into ICUs. They like fresh meat 😊. Good luck and whatever you choose, hang in there. Being a new grad isn't easy but we all went through it and survived.

A pt may be calling in with chest pain. You use the proper algorithm in your software for chest pain. Ask assessment questions like where is the pain, when did it start, are you having pain now, how bad is the pain, does it radiate, what does it feel like, do you have any cardiac history. Depending on pts response, the software will guide you to what the pt should do. The choices could be call 911, tell pt to go to ED, consult the MD and take verbal order, tell pt to make a same day appt or an appt in a few days, or give some things the pt can do at home for the pain.

I had to take a scenario test during my interview. One part assesses your nursing critical thinking skills. Second part assesses your customer service skills. You would get a scenario where a person calls in with an issue like chest pain or slurred speech or a rash. You have to ask further questions to assess the pt and then determine if they need emergent care or an office appt today or office appointment sometime soon or if it can be managed at home.

Ok so I did some sleuthing. It seems that you can work from home but only if those rare positions open up. It gets posted internally and you can apply once you have been with KP for at least 6 mos. Since seniority is in play, my guess is that it might be tough to get those positions if you are low on the totem pole.

I'm in a similar boat too. Been on the floor too long and now I get crabby over little things. Have you thought of working in urgent care or ED?

I did not know this factoid. Here's what I sent you to relieve you of the pressure to post :) Hey Ninjanurse, how long have you been in the call center? Are you an Advice Nurse or in mgmt? I hear that you are micromanaged but I think thats the case everywhere in nursing now. What is the truly awful thing about working in the call center? Do you get some downtime at all to have watercooler conversations with coworkers or are you chained to the desk? What's your typical day like?

When you say turnover rate is high, do you mean staff turnover? I hope that's not the case. I see from kaiser website that they are always hiring advice nurses. From what I understand, I don't think kaiser let's you work from home. I think you have to go to the call center.

I'm contemplating on switching to telephone nursing from floor nursing. I would love to hear what everyone's thought process was when you decided to leave the floors. I'm a little nervous. What if I don't like telenursing? What if I'm no longer hireable because I left the bedside? What happens if I triage the caller as not acute but ends up needing emergent care? Scary....

Surprised? Not really. I expected school to be difficult and it was. It's very time consuming too. I barely worked while in school. Being an LMT was nice because of the flexibility. As for working as an RN, the first year was very, very difficult. I worked with some mean nurses, techs, and docs. If you are in a better environment, it won't be horrible but it will be difficult. Now, nursing is easy. With the experience and knowledge gained comes confidence. LMT vs RN? I love having PTOs, 401k, steady income, health insurance. I also like telling people I meet that I'm an RN instead of LMT. There is no doubt in what i do for a living. You know what I mean when you tell people that you are a massage therapist. So annoying. With at least one year of nursing experience and a BSN under your belt, you will always be able to find a decent paying job.

I have been a floor nurse for many years and am looking to see if OR nursing is something that I may be able to do. Keeping my eye open for OR residencies. OR nurses make more money than floor nurses and they are in high demand. Even if you are on the cardiac/stepdown unit, not all your pts will be cardiac pts. You'll have your share of drug seekers, ETOH withdrawals, dialysis pts who are freq fliers for missing HD, stroke rule outs, AMS, and other messes. Stay in OR for a few years and get some mad skills. The floor nursing skills you think you are missing out on are not glamorous and they are easy enough to learn quickly. The hardest floor nursing skill is probably time management.

What I learned in nursing school is what I still do today. Just state the facts. Not opinions, not recommendations. Just the facts. Don't use the word "appears" as in "the pt appears to be drug seeking and would benefit from a psych consult". We are not paid to diagnose pts. I would write "pt is laughing and talking on the phone and rates her pain 10/10. Pt sets her alarm clock and asks for pain med q2hrs. Pt states only dilaudid works for her pain". As for mgmt asking for more and more, my thought is that I document for the courts, not for mgmt. If something is in my flowsheet, I'm not going to write a note about it. You can write something like " VSS, see flowsheet".

I was in my 30s when I went to nursing school. Prior to that I worked as a business systems analyst and then a licensed massage thrapist. I really enjoyed being an LMT but I was afraid that my body would break down when I'm older and was always concerned about making enough money. I went to an ABSN program and have been working as an RN for 7 years. I'm in the DC area and right now, major hospitals are hiring ADNs as long as they agree to get a BSN after they get hired. I don't suggest going into an LPN program since you'll most likely be a candidate to work in nursing homes or as a clinical tech in a hospital. My suggestion is to do whatever RN program you can get into and just work hard at it. Nursing is a solid career with steady income. There are varied career paths you can take so if you don't like one area, you can move into another area of nursing. Go for it!

Same here. We ave a computer in the med room to scan the vial into Epic while the pyxis is still open. When you take the syringe into the pt's room, you don't need to scan, just click on the MAR and document given.