Name9335

Yes, it really is a whole different animal. HUGE learning curve. My only frustration/regret? is that I started in this position about a week before COVID exploded back in March. It hasn't been the most fun trying to learn this position on top of all the other positions, but praise GOD, our facility hasn't had COVID (we have had a couple of "scares", but they never turned into anything

Hello All, Just wanted to update after my posts a little over a year ago (check them out for backstory). Just want to say that I am still working as a nurse and have FINALLY found my niche in nursing! I now work as an MDS Coordinator. Is it all rainbows and roses? No, it's still hard work and I still haven't even scratched the surface of learning this position. Is there a part of me that will always miss my dream of working on the floor in a hospital? Yes, most days I am fine, but there are days that the pain and sadness come roaring back. I think a part of me will always wonder why I wasn't able to cut it. I think there will always be a part of me that misses it. But in general, I am HAPPY. I don't feel like I have the target on my back like I did before. There IS HOPE for those that don't really know what is going on with your nursing career.

Thank you for your comments. This helps a lot, but unfortunatly too many people, including my parents, and others have recommended that I no longer go back to bedside nursing. I am a believer in Jesus (yes, I understand that many are not and wouldn't understand what I am about to say), but we are believing that for some reason, He has closed the door to the bedside..... When you have three different facilities essentially say the same thing, perhaps in different ways, there must be an issue there.... Wether it is the way that my brain is wired or something else? I don't know. It hurts immensely to consider the possibility that I will never return to my dream, but I also want to be a SAFE nurse and protect potential future patients. If that means that it is not possible for me to return, then i will find a way to come to the acceptance of that....Might take some time, but I will get there.

I have some people in mind that i am trying to get ahold of... Some of the nurses/NP's/retired nurses from my church as well as a family friend that is a nurse, but none of them have worked with me or know me super super well..... I also have my counselor/job coach that I am working with, but she isn't in nursing. She is helping all she can, but it's hard when you don't know the industry No "friends" from previous work places..... There was one, but she just kept saying to keep trying.... that I would find my place, ect....

I guess if this IS the case.... (not saying it is or not.....) If I am not aware of what I am doing wrong/can't wrap my mind around it..... How can I fix it? I am truely asking! Or is it just a matter of how my brain is wired and there is no "fixing" it. This is where the frustration lies.... And no one (in my real nursing life) seems willing to talk with me/help me figure it out. I have reached out to my former boss (at the nursing home) as well as a professor at my nursing school and none of them seem willing or able to talk with me about my journey. So then I am forced to come here and speak with strangers that don't fully understand my journey and therefore can't fully help with my situation (and that's not in "anger" or anything, that's just the nature of the beast with the internet.

Thank you for your comments. I am quite introverted, but I wouldn't necessarily say that i have poor communication skills or don't fit socially. I do fine in a retail setting, but financially and career goal wise, I don't see myself doing something like that long term. Nursing is my passion, even if I end up not at the bedside

Thank you

That is what I am currently trying to do. I don't know what my career goals are now. I am honestly lost as the only thing I have EVER wanted to do (bedside nursing) apparently is not a safe option for me to continue in. I am lost. I know there are so many more options, but nothing is exciting me:( That is why I am currently not working in nursing (working full time retail) until I can figure out where to go next

Thank you for your comments. I am taking everything into consideration

Alright everyone. Thank you for all your comments... As I said before, I was not really convinced that ICU was going to be the answer (although I was secretly hoping). I went to bed shortly after I wrote this last night, so I am going to try to answer some of the questions. Give some examples and maybe ask some more questions. 1. I was forced to resign from both hospitals. Terminated from the LTC. 2. Although there were several concerns that probably led to the termination at the LTC, here was the situation that essentially put the nail in the coffin.... We had a resident.... parkinsons.... baseline shaky and not very verbal. When mad/irritated, resident became markedly more shakey and yelled out We had a newer aid that day. Aide came to me and stated that he was having one of these episodes..... I stated to her that he does this sometimes and to just ensure his safety and let him calm down. Aide wasn't happy and went to other nurses and management. Honestly I am not sure how I feel about this situation. I honestly thought I WAS using my nursing judgement and didn't believe that it was an emergent thing that I needed to go and assess. Perhaps if it had continued? Again, I don't know how to feel about this situation. Some of the concerns at the second hospital were as follows "lack of progression in orientation, mis-prioritization of nursing assessments, reminders to assess and document routine cares, lack of asking questions when uncertain...." While I don't necessarirly say that this is "unfair", I am a much more quite person..... I don't always say outloud what I am thinking/planning/questioning. I believe they took that as me not being safe and asking questions. To my recollection, there were no specific "incidents" at the second hospital that were of concern. It was more an underlying concern. At the first hospital, I did make one major mistake, and to this day, I regret it. I had a patient that was a known difficult straight cath. I was on "transition" at that point, so my preceptor wasn't right next to me. I had the assistance of the nurse aide, but attempted to cath that patient too many times (3-4). I was not aware that there was a policy of how many times that I could try. And even when I had asked for another nurse to come and take over, they stated I was doing fine and declined to attempt to cath the patient. I learned something that day, and honestly I hate foleys now. I avoided them as much as possible. I would NEVER make that mistake again. Some of the other concerns at the first hospital, There was a situation where I was dealing with a brace on a resident. I had stepped out of the room and had asked for help (which I believed at that point that I was following the coaching to ask for assistance. There was also the orthotics provider in the room asking me a bunch of questions about the brace. I honestly believed that he would be the expert about the brace and was throughly confused as to why he was asking me all the questions. The patient/family became concerned because they believed I didn't know how to handle the brace (I hadn't dealt with one before, so no I didn't, but i would have learned!) There was another incident with a patient where we recieved a call from central monitoring. I said something about that I was concerned about his head, rather than his heart. It was a neuro floor and his heart rate was increasing or something.... So I believed it was possible that perhaps there was some swelling in the brain or something neuro related. They also stated that the preceptor had to prompt me to go and get vitals and assess the patient. This I completely DISAGREE with. As stated earlier, I was kind of quite. I already knew and was planning on getting into that room asap to assess and get vitals. So, the question becomes, where do I go from here. I realize that it might not be the bedside. While I am incredibly saddened by that, I also am begining to "accept" that might be my reality...... but I don't know where to go next. I have a BSN and am licensed. Really have no passion for anything else, especially outside of nursing. I tried, trust me. I HATE this. Thanks for hearing me vent. I am taking ALL the comments into consideration and am trying to work through what my steps will be

I don't even want to pursue it if it is not going to come close to fitting my strengths.

Hello All! Sorry for the long read Currently, just beginning to explore the possibility of ICU nursing (among many other options....). I am NOT convinced that ICU is going to be a good fit for me, even though ICU nursing has always been my dream. Please look back at my previous posts for some more background, but here is the very basic details of where I have been and my current situation. I started out in my first job (2 years ago) (middle of July) at a neuro med surge unit (later apparently designated as a step-down unit long after I had left the facility). I started out ok, but as the acuity and number of patients increased, it became apparent that management had concerns regarding my critical thinking, reasoning, prioritization and delegation. I TRIED to fix their concerns, but by the end of October, it had become clear that I didn't' really fit on the unit and that it was not going to be safe for me to continue on my own out of orientation. I resigned. I started on as a PRN at a local nursing home, even though that was not really what I wanted to do. Very shortly afterwards, I found a position at a smaller general med surg unit at the hospital across town (ages 0-100's). Unfortunatly, I think at this point, my confidence had been completely shattered after what I had been through the first hospital. I only lasted about a month at this second hospital.... with the same concerns that were noted at the first place. I then went full time at the nursing home..... Things seemed to go fine for almost a year. Then at some point, the providers for the patients became concerned with the same concerns that the other facilities had. I was terminated after about a year and a half at that facility. That was almost 6 months ago. I have not worked in nursing since, until I can reevaluate and figure out where I am supposed to go next. Here is the deal/problem/confusion, ect. I do GREAT when it comes to critical thinking/prioritization/decision making ON PAPER (NCLEX, case studies, ect), but when it comes to the in person critical decision making in the moment, when I am trying to prioritize between several different patients/residents/tasks, i struggle. I am a very task oriented/check the box/black and white thinker, but CAN think critically according to case studies and tests. I posted this in another nursing group, and surprisingly, several actually suggested ICU (which I thought was crazy considering the issues that the facilities stated). I don't really have any nursing friends/mentors in real life that are able to help me with this, although I am working on it and am trying to get in contact with some of them. What I can't figure out is if these issues would be lessened/I would do better if I was in a more 1-1/1-2 situation like an ICU, or if I just completely need to get away from the bedside. I am NOT convinced about the ICU yet, although, it would be a miracle if that ended up being something I could pursue. I realize that it is basically impossible for people on the internet to fully know my situation and tell me what to do. That's not what I am asking. I am just looking for experiences/suggestions on what it takes to potentially work in the ICU.... or if I should completely mark it off my list of options that I am pursuing (including non bedside options) P.S. Other options that I am considering: MDS coordinator, Pre-op nursing, diabetes nurse educator, hospice??, outpatient infusion, outpatient clinic.... others.... Honestly overwhelmed with all the options in nursing. All I have EVER had a passion for was the bedside.... so learning that my brain isn't wired for it has been disappointing. But I need to pull myself up and figure out what the next thing is going to be. Don't have much of a passion for anything other than ICU, BUT I need to know that I am going to be safe for my future potential patients. I HATE that we cannot do shadowing in nursing due to HIPAA, as then I really have no idea what the other areas look like or if they would fit my strengths better. I am currently working with a counselor/job coach and we are making some progress, but not as much as I would have liked

Thanks, yes, that is an issue with a lot of the office jobs. Doesn’t quite look that way with MDS. The problem is I literally can’t get more bedside experience. I have tried three places now and all of them have essentially said I don’t have the critical thinking skills needed for floor nursing. I HATE it, all I ever wanted to do was floor nursing, but I also need to make the safe choice for the patients/residents. I need to step away

Hello All! I have posted some of my story on here, but long story short, it is looking like I will need to leave bedside nursing. As much as I hate the idea, by brain just isn't wired for the critical thinking/judgement that on the fly/floor nursing requires. I am beginning to believe that an office job will be more suited to my strengths. I am VERY detailed oriented and a black and white thinker. I have about 6 months of experience in the hospital (orientation that didn't work out), then about a year and a half of experience in LTC, so I am somewhat familiar with a lot of the MDS terminology. Any thoughts? What does your typical day look like?

Or health information management