AlmostThere19

If you're a hands on learner, nursing school will make you feel like this. I know when I was in nursing school, I mostly was only allowed to watch everything at clinicals and was only occasionally allowed to do skills. Once I started my first job, I felt like I knew nothing. I wouldn't have been able to hang a primary bag of fluid (let alone a secondary) and program an IV to save a patient's life. Now I could do that in my sleep. I used to drive to work praying that my patient wouldn't need an IV because I couldn't hit a vein if it slapped me in the face. Now starting IVs is one of my favorite nursing skills. Once you start working, they'll actually let you touch the patient and practice your skills. That's when it'll start coming together. That's when you'll start feeling like a real nurse.

Hi, I have been a nurse with a BSN for about 8 months now. I've always know that one day I wanted to go back to school to get my Master's Degree, and I've been thinking about it a lot lately. I want to hopefully start in Fall 2021 or maybe 2022. I am looking for any and all information I can get about it. I know I either want to do family nurse practitioner, pediatric nurse practitioner, or adult gero acute care. Other than that I am just in the beginning stages of researching and any info would be much appreciated.

I definitely see what you mean. I know I have a ton more to learn, especially with this being a completely different hospital with a different way of doing things. I just meant that it's a strange adjustment to go from caring for all my own patients for so long and now I'm back to how it was when I first began nursing last year.

Moved to the right forum

I worked for almost a year at my first nursing job. I changed jobs and went to a new hospital after that. I started orientation three weeks ago, and I have to admit it's kind of frustrating. I'm used to taking my own patients and working on my own. I'm definitely not used to having another nurse follow me around and having to explain myself and what I'm doing. Plus, I have a preceptor that leaves like a few hours before shift change when they send someone home early and they make me switch to following another nurse with totally different patients. Anyone else experience with orientation beyond the one with your first job?

I worked for almost a year at my first nursing job. I changed jobs and went to a new hospital after that. I started orientation three weeks ago, and I have to admit it's kind of frustrating. I'm used to taking my own patients and working on my own. I'm definitely not used to having another nurse follow me around and having to explain myself and what I'm doing. Plus, I have a preceptor that leaves like a few hours before shift change when they send someone home early and they make me switch to following another nurse with totally different patients. Anyone else experience with orientation beyond the one with your first job?

I have to go next Wednesday to turn in all my paperwork to HR, so I'll definitely ask about it then! The first time I went to do my drug test and get my paperwork, I didn't want to ask for a tour of the unit because I figured they would want to limit who is in patient care areas due to COVID. It seems like every hospital uses their PCU for different things, but I'm excited to find out what new things I'll get to learn! I definitely want to start studying up before orientation starts. Thanks for the info, I'll definitely be looking up aquapheresis! I'm really excited to go next week to HR and get more information about their specific PCU!

I will soon be starting a new job on a progressive care unit, and I am very excited! I know that progressive care is patients who are not quite sick enough for the ICU but too sick for med/surg. Other than that, I don't know too much more about it. Like, would a patient on a ventilator ever be on a PCU? Or one with CRRT? I guess I'm just wondering what things I might see there that I wouldn't have likely seen at my old job in med/surg.

I have tried everything. I have applied for a transfer within my hospital. I have applied at every hospital within an hour of me. I have had several interviews and it's always "We were impressed with you, but we aren't offering you a position." I even applied at a hospital where a long-time doctor of mine works and tried asking that doctor to please put in a good word for me. The floor I used to work on doesn't have enough hours for me. I finally broke down and applied for unemployment today. I know this is because of COVID. Please tell me there are more of you nurses in this situation, because I feel like giving up trying to find any job at this point. I graduated last August, so I didn't even get to work a full year before all this happend and it's really starting to take a toll on me. I just needed to reach out and find others who can relate.

You're right. I know things are crazy because of COVID, and I'm doing my best to be patient. Patience and waiting are so hard when it's my dream! LOL I plan to follow up with the recruiter next Friday if I haven't heard anything by then.

I had a phone interview for my dream job Wednesday. It lasted a really long time, and the hiring manager told me all about the unit, orientation, and just the overall job. It just felt like a relaxed, casual conversation. When I asked at the end, I was told that they had some more interviews to do but that I should hear something by next week. Now it's the weekend and I'm going to lose my mind ? anyone else in the same boat?

There haven't been enough patients on my floor to get enough hours since COVID 19 started, so I applied for a transfer within my hospital and also applied for jobs at several other hospitals. I am worried that COVID is going to stop me from finding anything. Anyone else looking for a new job right now?

I'm having the same dilemma as many of you. My parents both have respiratory issues (COPD and aspergillosis). My grandparents, who I help take care of, are obviously elderly and more susceptible to this virus. I'm also have many health problems (heart problems), and I worry about how the virus would affect me if I got it. I feel like if I keep working, it's not a matter of if I get it but when. We don't even have enough PPE in a lot of places to protect ourselves. I'm going to keep working for now, but it's a dilemma I struggle with every single day at this point. I feel like I'm playing Russian roulette with my family's lives every time I go to work.

Yeah I get what you're saying. I just didn't even realize the other night shift nurse was even attempting the IV on my patient until the charge nurse called me out because no one had told me.

I had a pt. who kept pulling out IV's and needed one at shift change. I attempted twice but wasn't successful. I was always taught you only attempt twice and then you get someone else to try because it's not fair to the patient. Pt. was begging me to stop. I told charge nurse I wasn't successful, and I put supplies in the room so that she could try. Meanwhile I gave meds to another pt. Charge nurse asked for me to come help with IV but when I went in the room to help she was already giving report to another nurse. I just gave report to the day shift nurse and let her know I was unable to get IV on pt. As I was leaving work, charge nurse said "You're just gonna leave knowing your pt needs an IV? Go and help the other night shift nurse start that IV." She said this in front of the nurse I had given report to. Then she belittled me again in the room when I was helping the night shift nurse with the IV, saying "yeah she was just gonna leave when this pt. needed an IV". I have never been so humiliated. What do you think of this situation?

Where I work, techs and other nurses will often come find me while I'm in one patient's room providing care to tell me that another patient needs something. One time I was giving a patient meds and the tech came in and said "the patient in X room wants their meds". I just said "I'm working on it." And the patient I was with said "I'm pulling you away from your work." I just feel like this sort of thing is rude because it makes the patient you're with feel like they're a burden. I can understand if another patient is having an emergency, but to barge into a patient's room just to tell me something trivial like another patient wants me to hurry up with their meds? Thoughts?

I've learned pretty quickly since I started working as a nurse that patient satisfaction is the hospital's #1 priority. As nurses, we are expected to keep patients happy and get them what they want, period - even if it's bad for their health. I have a hard enough time dealing with this in med surg when patients don't understand that you cannot fluff their pillow or get them more ice water right this minute because you're busy dealing with your high fall risk patient who refuses to stay in bed and is determined to wander off the floor. I would love to work in ICU, but I just know that if a family member or pt. is running me crazy about a meal tray that's wrong or some other trivial thing while I'm busy trying to correctly titrate a patient's life-saving drip...I would snap. How do ICU nurses even handle that?

As a new grad I'm hoping for some advice on the best way to handle a tricky situation I encounter a lot at work. I've had quite a few patients lately who honestly needed a 1:1 sitter but didn't have one for some reason. They were elderly fall risk patients - even one was in the hospital d/t fall related injuries. These patients refused to lie/sit on their beds. They refused to sit in chairs with bed alarms - not in their rooms and not even at the nurse's station. They didn't need to use the restroom, be changed/bathed, eat or any other needs because we tried all that. They insisted on continuously trying all shift to wander the unit and leave the unit. On call docs would not prescribe any sedatives or restraints even when this had been going on for hours. Family members were even contacted to see if they could sit with these patients (no luck). House supervisor was aware of these situations but for some reason no sitter was ever brought in for these patients. Shouldn't one have been? Instead I was the "1:1 sitter". How can we as nurses care for 6 or more patients when a single patient requires 100% of our attention all night? I fear for my license and for the safety of my other patients when I am put in a situation like this with a patient.

I live an hour away from my job and work 12 hour shifts. That means my work days are already 14 hours. I was asked to come in 2 hours early for a coworker. That would have made my workday 16 hours, which I know is more than I can handle. I told my manager I would not be able to come in. Coworkers are also always asking me to cover their shifts, but I say no because I am already scheduled to work a ton as it is I am a new graduate still adjusting to being a nurse. Is it ok to have these boundaries?

My family doesn't understand how much being a nurse takes out of me. I have to work tonight, and I've had to spend all day today and yesterday helping my grandmother prepare our family's huge annual Thanksgiving feast. She can't do it herself and I don't see anyone else volunteering to help her. I live with my parents, and I also had to spend a lot of this morning doing all the housework (including cleaning up after 8 cats) because they won't do any of it. Do they not understand I'm going to work tonight to work my tail off until 7am, and I've had no sleep whatsoever today even though normal night shift people sleep all day before heading into work? I know I'm 23 and the youngest in the family, but I can't do everything. This is ridiculous, and I'm just so frustrated.

The assignments at my job are never made in time to look up patients before the shift starts. Is it like this everywhere? I can't stand going in not feeling prepared.

I'm on nights and still having trouble with time management ? I do fine once things slow down, but it's the beginning of the shift when I'm having to do assessments and meds as well as taking admits all at the same time that gets me.

So true! I've applied to an ER position very close to my house. I want to have a backup plan incase they do let me go at my current job. The worst they can do is say no.

Great advice! I want to stick it out and give myself time, I just hope my managers will give me time!

Thank you for your advice! Your response is one of many on this thread that has encouraged me to stick it out with this job. That's an option but especially to be on my own I would need more experience than I currently have.