MDelainy

Thank you. Her comment of feeling taken advantage of completely caught me off guard, especially as there have been multiple occasions where my toddler has gotten sick and I've still gone to work and left him with his babysitter, if his symptoms were mild. I mainly call out as he ends up getting me sick, and I usually turn out worse than he does! Which is what happened this week. He is now in a toddler developmental group and was only in school three days before getting sick himself.

Hi all, I work at an infusion center as their full time nurse. We have another nurse who used to be there full time but her shifts are now divided based on patient load. I called out recently because I have a sore throat that has left me practically unable to speak and have been taking Motrin 800mg to help with the pain/inflammation etc. I was the only nurse scheduled for today and since there were no nurses to cover my shift, my manager had to go into work today. I usually do not call out unless I absolutely cannot go into work & request time off well in advance. My manager recently advised our office manager that she is feeling taken advantage of which caught me off guard and she also is scheduling a meeting for this Friday to air our grievances. No one person can be relied on 24/7 and it is not my fault that there is almost never enough coverage and whenever there is an emergency everyone is left scrambling bc upper management chooses to only have one FT nurse at each site and the rest per diem. Any advice on how to proceed?

I have an appointment with my MD tomorrow. The only issue is I was scheduled to return to work tomorrow but that was the only appointment available. I also explained this to them but they still want me to come in today. I don't think in this kind of situation, employee health should be clearing me medically. They did X-rays and all seemed fine, but I am still painful. As opposed to improving with rest and time, I feel it getting worse. Last night as I was in bed, I felt a sharp pain in the right side of my back that shot down all the way to my mid buttock area and radiated to my hip- again, all on the right side which is the same side that has been painful since the fall.

Good morning all- any advice from someone who has experienced anything similar would be greatly appreciated! Last week I suffered a slip and fall injury. I was on my way into work and slipped on a large patch of ice near the front entrance to my hospital-I also want to point out that nothing was salted- from the parking lot to the sidewalk where I fell. I did complete an incident report with employee health and they sent me home and gave me workers comp paperwork. I also want to mention. I do have a one year old who is quite heavy and I definitely began further feeling the strain on my back handling my little one- something that did not happen prior to my fall. I work in end of life care so, naturally, many, if not all of these patients cannot move at all on their own. Employee health wants to clear me themselves even though I was able to get an appointment with my primary doctor & explained this to them- still, they insisted I can be cleared at work. I fear I am being rushed back even though I am not at 100% at the moment and am genuinely scared and quite frankly feel apprehensive about returning so soon & what implications doing so may have on me and my body in the future. I'm only 32 years old & fear risking further injury going back so soon. I have no problem doing something light duty or behind a desk, if those options are available. Any advice on how I should proceed?

Hello! I've been a nurse since 2020- worked in dialysis, outpatient, & palliative. I am currently considering moving forward with an interview for a UAS position. It's to my understanding the UAS nurse does the initial assessment as well as reassessments? Just wanted to know if anyone with experience in this area can give me a more detailed description on this role.

I did. I politely declined and said this is not something I'm ready to do at the moment & a few days later I was told it was pretty much still going to happen. So yea Not sure how to proceed now.

I'm no expert in this field of nursing. I am surrounded by other nurses who have not only been in this profession for years, but have been working in palliative care for quite some time. I just started and still have a lot to learn myself. I still ask my preceptor (when we have a shift together) and the other more experienced nurses various questions when I am there. In other words: Why am I being put in a position to teach so prematurely when there are so many nurses with way more knowledge ? Never did I dwell on the "unfairness" of the situation. It just does not make sense to stick her with me when she can be getting a much better orientation with someone who has more experience and can offer her better guidance. I think anybody who precepts should have more than just 4 month's experience in the specific field for which they're precepting in. Aren't there certain requirements as far as years of experience to meet before being allowed to even precept? I don't even care about getting preceptor pay. I just want her to get the best experience she possibly can out of her orientation and I don't feel that's something I can offer now.

No. Which is why I came on here looking for advice and wanting to know if any others have had similar experiences and how they went about it.

Yes, you read the title correctly. Although at some point a few months ago I mentioned my love of teaching and hopes to become an educator some day, I did not anticipate it would happen 4 months after working alone in a specialty of nursing I am new to. I began working in palliative care May 2023 and finished orientation in August 2023. I am now someone's preceptor after just four months of working alone. It's the blind leading the blind and I feel we are both going through the motions and learning together. This is not the experience I want this nurse to have. She should be paired with someone who has years of knowledge in this field to share. Not only was transitioning from ambulatory/outpatient a huge learning curve for me but now I'm tasked with precepting someone who will be practicing on her own. She is also part of the RN residency program which means I'll be her preceptor for about 6 months and then she'll be assigned to someone else for the remaining six months (or so I was told). I spoke with my manager when I heard about this. I was told I was chosen because I've been doing "great" thus far. However, I reiterated the fact that I've only been a nurse for three years and have only been working there OFF ORIENTATION to be specific for four months. I feel this is being forced onto me as nobody else wants to take on this responsibility for 6 months to a year. It's making me want to quit even faster as I'm already feeling burnt out because of this job. The understaffing, struggling to get a break, everyone complaining the nurses don't do anything, etc etc . If this is what it's like in an "acute" palliative care setting, I don't want to work in the acute bedside. It's extremely stressful and I can see why so many nurses do not want to work bedside. It's a lot of work for very little reward and recognition. What should I do?

Mainly money. I do have a savings account but I do not like going into that account unless it's an absolute emergency. This is not something I consider an absolute emergency!

Thanks everyone for your advice! I have been seeking employment elsewhere. Yesterday the third nurse called out yet again so myself and the other nurse along with the wound care LPN were left to oversee the floor. However, the LPN cannot do IV pushes nor hang any narcotic drips so myself and the other RN had to step in for that. That was the second time that's happened on a shift after my orientation. I've only been off for about two weeks now. I know some days will be more challenging than others & I'm not trying to make excuses, but I feel yesterday proved my point as to why there should be 4 nurse's scheduled for day shift- & 3 for the night. The night shift RN was left with another LPN so he basically had to do any pushes scheduled (& PRN!) for the unit (the census is 25). I also want to point out I'm in no way bashing the LPN as the ones we have are excellent! In fact, the other day we had 3 RNs & 2 LPNs scheduled & the day went by smoothly as one LPN did wound care & the other ran a section of the unit. However, for certain things we do need to step in & it becomes stressful if we are already short an RN. Many other staff agree there should be 4 nurses, as well. They all claim it was better that way as people were less stressed & were able to provide better care to the patients. I'm not sure whose idea it was to cut back on staffing. I never see that as a good outcome. Such a shame bc I'm enjoying what I do & all that I'm learning. It's just too stressful of an environment for me!

I don't know who comes up with those kinds of ratios. That's excessive!

Any advice appreciated. I am currently working in palliative care at a hospital. Although I really am enjoying what I am doing and everything I am learning, it is just too much. While interviewing, I was told the ratio would be 1:8. However, when I started working there, I quickly realized the unit had a total of 25 meaning one nurse always gets a 9th patient when it is a full house. I was also informed that there is an admission nurse and wound care nurse, but there have been more instances in which the admission nurse does not show up and the nurses have to stop what they are doing to complete the admission. Thankfully, there is always a wound care nurse on the floor but there have been times where one of the staff nurses have called out in which the wound care LPN has to basically take his or her place and you are left to do your own wound care. My co-workers are friendly, but you can seriously just see the burn out. I also do not think, especially with the acuity of some of these patients, that this ratio is safe. I feel like I am constantly trying to beat the clock to make sure my med pass is done on time rather than taking time to get to know and truly care for my patients. & when I do, I fall tremendously behind and am playing catch up the rest of my shift. I would really love to continue working there, but I do not think the ratio is doable- at least not for me. I don't want to just pass out medications, which at this point is all I feel I ever do! I really want to help my patients. I only have one more week of orientation and have really been considering applying elsewhere with safer ratios or going back to ambulatory/outpatient.

How is your job search going? Have you tried applying for urgent care or other medical clinics? What about ambulatory clinics? Some of them are open to new grads. I am a new grad RN in NYC as well and am currently working at a dialysis center.

Fingers crossed ??. Did you check your state BON site? Sometimes they put up your license number before the Pearson results become available. Or so I’ve heard.

It truly is! All our hard work culminates into that exam. Thankful for only having had to take it once & be done! LOL wishing you all the best on your future endeavors ?

Thank you!! Hopefully you have your results & we’ll hear back great news from you!

First off, CONGRATULATIONS!! I took my NCLEX-RN this past Wednesday & also finished in 60 questions. I found out yesterday I passed! However, I felt so unprepared and as if I knew nothing! I used UWorld and did all 2,183 questions, as well as the assessment w/ a high chance of passing, but I honestly did not feel as though UWorld prepared me. The NCLEX questions were far more vague. It was helpful as far as helping me understand delegation (something I always had trouble with) and prioritization as there is much more to it then just applying ABC's. I found myself struggling at every single question during NCLEX. While doing UWorld, there were times where I'd ignore my gut feeling and go with the wrong answer bc you know... that's just what I do -___- . For NCLEX, I told myself I'd follow my gut instinct and went with the answer I personally felt was correct. This was something the instructors would always tell us in Nursing school & I'd just sit there like what the heck are they talking about?! LOL Finally understood what they meant on Wednesday bc it paid off. I'm glad to hear that you had a different experience regarding UWorld, though & that it helped you pass the exam!! =]

threw me* apparently I'm so stressed I forgot grammar rules. ?

So, I am currently in my last semester and am taking pediatric nursing, maternity, along with trends (our intro to theory course, basically). I am having such a hard time with peds. We just took our Unit 2 exam today & the professor was not pleased with us. I have a feeling I failed. I studied but there were some questions regarding the developmental stages that through me off guard. I went from getting straight A's in both my classes last semester (I took advanced med surg and psych) to sitting around wondering if I even scored an 80 this time around. I am so anxious because this is my last semester and I don't want to fail. I am so close to finishing. Does anyone have any advice on how to study for peds?

No, that is certainly not the case. I was merely asking for help. I've worked very hard to get into nursing school & stay in it, putting in countless hours of studying, writing papers, care plans, etc. ? Thankfully, I was actually able to find someone (through my personal contacts) that I will be interviewing soon!! ? @AdminRN I would like to close this forum, please ?

Hi! I need to interview a nurse manager and was wondering if anyone would be willing to answer these questions. It's only 7 questions. If anyone can assist me with this, it'd be GREATLY appreciated as I am on a bit of a time crunch with this now. The questions are below: Part 1. Method: Student to interview selected nurse manager by using The following structured questions: 1. Describe your management style. 2. Identify strategies to promote staff retention. 3. How do you motivate your staff? 4 .How do you deal with the “difficult employee?” 5. Identify actions to promote patient satisfaction? 6. How do you promote communication both to your staff and from your staff? 7. How do you redesign work processes to prevent errors??? If you would like to email me the responses, that is fine. I can provide you with my email in a private message! Or post here, that is fine, too! ?

@cnhealy93 thank you :) I have a quick question: the fundamentals book is only needed for the 1st semester? I was thinking of renting it on Amazon just for the 1st semester.

@selena02 the day. I did receive addt'l ppw today after submitting the $500. Have you dropped off your ppw yet??

@selena02 my paperwork says December 11th at 1pm