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It sounds to me like you handled it well. I also work in an ICU and frequent phone calls be be extremely disruptive to patient care and workflow in the unit. Most places I have worked ask for a designated family member on admission and we will only allow updates via telephone to that person. I have often had similar conversations (not quite to this extreme) with family members about coordinating updates, talking to each other, or physically coming to the hospital together to all get an update. It is unfortunate that the DON could not hear your side of this situation and understand patient care can be negatively impacted by an overbearing family. Family involvement is key, but when a family is trying to direct care at a level that is this disruptive, that is unacceptable. Ultimately you are there to care for the patient, not the entire family, although in the ICU, we often have no choice.

Hi there, this is my first time posting. Looking for some insight, career advice, personal experience, or just general comments. I am a young nurse (5 years of experience) working in critical care. I am happy at the bedside but have always been drawn to leadership roles. I am involved at work on several committees and enjoy collaborating with other disciplines and my peers on QI projects. I started my MSN a few years ago and finish this May. I am meeting the dreaded close to graduation question "what next?". I am feeling a sense of anxiety and uncertainty about what to do when I finish my MSN as I feel I still have plenty to learn at the bedside (though I am a firm believer that learning never stops so this would not keep me from moving forward). My ultimate goal is to go on for a doctoral degree and serve as a CNO. The way I see it now I have a few options when I finish school. The first is do nothing different. I am happy where I am. I see this is the easy way out though. I am comfortable, and I am feeling like it is time to push myself professionally and work on advancing my career. (so basically I have already ruled this option out). The second is to teach clinical. I was inspired to start my masters degree while looking for opportunities to teach clinical but did not meet the requirements from clinical instructing at any of the local nursing schools around me due to clinical experience requirements. I am also doing an internship this spring with a nurse manager to gain insight into the role of the nurse manager and get an idea if this is for me. This will be a great networking opportunity as well and could turn into potential job offers or at the very least, recommendations. If anyone has any advice to offer to a young nurse looking for the next steps that would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!