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Thank you for answering. I think I was forgetting about H & Ts. I'm new to ACLS and codes and just want to understand the process and be an asset to the team. For my ACLS course they have you run the codes right? but you are only suppose to use the algorithms and I got a little hung up on that. I truly appreciate you guys taking the time to answer!

Thank you so much! I will definitely read these links! Knowing it's normal will really help my ability to work with it!

Hi all! Question regarding ACLS algorithms vs real life codes. For background I am a RN of 8years. Last 1.5 years I have been on a step down cardiac unit. On my floor we have a resource/crisis RN each shift that will respond to code blues throughout the hospital as the "med Nurse". I have recently been trained and have started taking on this roll a couple shifts a month. When I have gone to codes it seems that often the code captain(senior resident MD) does not follow the algorithms well. Often adding additional meds into the code (narcan, sodium bicarb, calcium gluconate, mag to name a few but not all) So my question is so this normal/expected? It just seems that ACLS is very straightforward on what to do and I've studied and studied to know it front to back so that I'm prepared and then they start sprinkling in these other meds(pretty early in the code) and it frustrates a little. But I don't have the experience with codes to know if it's expected! So I just would like to hear others experiences so I know wether I need to lighten up :). TIA.

Hi everyone! I’m hoping to get some ideas. I am an RN in the float pool at a hospital in Washington state. Our float pool is med surg, telemetry, and step down units. I am a member of our float pools Unit Based Council(UBC). We have decided to pick a monthly education topic or skill to Add to our units newsletters. The idea being that we pick a topic that maybe is something a nurse is not 100% comfortable/familiar with and then do a breakdown of the steps required to perform that skill as per our hospital policy and EBP. For example, this month we did drawing blood cultures from a central line. My question for my fellow nurses: what topic or skill would you find helpful and would like to know more about if it was you reading these newsletters?

@JKL33 I think you are right. This particular manager is actually an interm manager hoping to fill it permanently and is trying to flex a little. But I definitely shouldn’t of let it get to me so bad and I regret that now. I’m normally very coolheaded, I can’t tell you how many reviews or pt cards that mentions my “calm presence” LOL I have a motto about patients that I often tell students or nurses I am training when they get flustered/upset by a pt “you can’t take it personally, this is your job, you need to be professional”. So I think I understand that I’m taking this to personal when it should be professional. But I’m still feeling like maybe I need to step back from the charge position just so I don’t feel like it’s personal.

Our union knows. I have, and so has several other nurses that I know of, filled out unsafe staffing forms(which go to our union reps). We have been told that there are clauses in our contract that relate to the current state of emergency/pandemic situations. Our whole hospital is running short. On one day there were 158 sick calls for the house. It’s definitely not going to be a quick fix and I understand that these are fairly unique circumstances.

Thanks for the insight. I know that I need to cool down before I make any decisions. It’s also one of the reasons I’m posting and asking here for opinions in case I’m making too much of this. I have been charge for over a year now and have had ALOT of challenging days, for a variety of reasons (codes,rapids, combative pts, staffing snafus)and I’ve never felt like I needed a break from it. The reasons I’m not liking being charge lately is due to us being understaffed and feeling like I’m shoveling crap on the floor nurses with their assignments day after day. So I think it’s very unfair to say that I only like being charge when it’s easy because I’ve thrived under other challenging situations. And I asked for a break ONE time, in a year LOL

Hi all! It’s been awhile since I was on this site(long enough for me to forget my account info so I had to create a new one) I need advice. Back ground:I work on a large(80 bed)surgical trauma unit at big hospital. I’ve been a nurse for 5 years and this last year I’ve been a relief charge nurse on my floor. I typically do about 4-5 shifts as charge a month. I work 12 hr shifts 3 days a week, but my unit has many different shifts. I’m pretty easy to get along with and am generally well liked. My reviews from my manager have always been exceeds. I’m definitely not perfect but I show up on time and have minimal sick calls. I’m a big team player. I was asked to be charge and I thought why not? I have no management aspirations and do it simply to be helpful on my unit.   Situation: over the last two months being charge has been soooo stressful. We are short staffed everyday d/t vacations and people being out in quarantine from covid exposure. We are having night nurses stay over until 11 with no relief scheduled to take over, so if we don’t really push discharges or get staff floated in we are left to absorb the pts from night shift with unsafe staffing ratios and Me as charge having to take an assignment. (Of note this is a Union hospital for RNs and we have defined ratios, which we are exceeding) it has just been so stressful to manage this situation. Upper management and hospital leaders are aware of the problem but seem to be doing very little about it. After 3 shifts like this a couple weeks ago another nurseoffered (I didn’t ask) to switch the next shift so that I would be in the floor and she would be charge. She loves being charge and seemed to really want to do it so I switched. Fast forward to yesterday (I was charge over the weekend)that same Nurse told me she’s not allowed to switch Shifts anymore with me because one of my managers told her I need to “suck it up”. I was a little offended because, up until switching that one time I have never asked to not be charge and have often came in to charge when not scheduled when asked ifsomeone was sick or unavailable. But I just figured I’d bring up with that manager the next time we worked together and clear the air, get some feedback because maybe I’m missing something. Fast forward to the end of that shift the manager that was working with me that day came over to my side of the unit(we normally split it in two and have a charge in each side since it’s a big unit) to go over staffing numbers. This weekend we we were actually fully staffed and I made acomment about how nice that was and he started saying that I only want to be charge when it’s easy and I disagreed and said it’s rarely easy but I’m always here doing it. He then said well you weren’t here doing it last Sunday (the day we switched shifts) and that he thought I needed to suck it upbecause this is the way it is. A lot more was said but it was a little heated and I had to walk away because I was getting upset (I always cry when I’m angry ugh) But the way he said some things made me think that it’s not just his opinion but that it’s shared by the other managers, whom I always thought I had a good relationshipwith. So now I’m hurt that I go in and give my all and ONE time I asked for a break and now I’m thought of as the girl that only wants to be charge when it’s easy and I need to suck it up. I want to stop being charge at all over this. I mean, I’m only doing it to be a team player but now I don’t feel supported by the team and feel ridiculed. Am I overreacting? I was crying over this at work and that has only ever happened 1 other time when I was a new grad and a Dr yelled at me LOL. I just feelhurt and angry.   thank you if you made it though this verylong winded post!

Hi all! It’s been awhile since I was on this site(long enough for me to forget my account info so I had to create a new one) I need advice. Back ground:I work on a large(80 bed)surgical trauma unit at big hospital. I’ve been a nurse for 5 years and this last year I’ve been a relief charge nurse on my floor. I typically do about 4-5 shifts as charge a month. I work 12 hr shifts 3 days a week, but my unit has many different shifts. I’m pretty easy to get along with and am generally well liked. My reviews from my manager have always been exceeds. I’m definitely not perfect but I show up on time and have minimal sick calls. I’m a big team player. I was asked to be charge and I thought why not? I have no management aspirations and do it simply to be helpful on my unit. Situation: over the last two months being charge has been soooo stressful. We are short staffed everyday d/t vacations and people being out in quarantine from covid exposure. We are having night nurses stay over until 11 with no relief scheduled to take over, so if we don’t really push discharges or get staff floated in we are left to absorb the pts from night shift with unsafe staffing ratios and Me as charge having to take an assignment. (Of note this is a Union hospital for RNs and we have defined ratios, which we are exceeding) it has just been so stressful to manage this situation. Upper management and hospital leaders are aware of the problem but seem to be doing very little about it. After 3 shifts like this a couple weeks ago another nurse offered (I didn’t ask) to switch the next shift so that I would be in the floor and she would be charge. She loves being charge and seemed to really want to do it so I switched. Fast forward to yesterday (I was charge over the weekend)that same Nurse told me she’s not allowed to switch Shifts anymore with me because one of my managers told her I need to “suck it up”. I was a little offended because, up until switching that one time I have never asked to not be charge and have often came in to charge when not scheduled when asked if someone was sick or unavailable. But I just figured I’d bring up with that manager the next time we worked together and clear the air, get some feedback because maybe I’m missing something. Fast forward to the end of that shift the manager that was working with me that day came over to my side of the unit(we normally split it in two and have a charge in each side since it’s a big unit) to go over staffing numbers. This weekend we we were actually fully staffed and I made a comment about how nice that was and he started saying that I only want to be charge when it’s easy and I disagreed and said it’s rarely easy but I’m always here doing it. He then said well you weren’t here doing it last Sunday (the day we switched shifts) and that he thought I needed to suck it up because this is the way it is. A lot more was said but it was a little heated and I had to walk away because I was getting upset (I always cry when I’m angry ugh) But the way he said some things made me think that it’s not just his opinion but that it’s shared by the other managers, whom I always thought I had a good relationship with. So now I’m hurt that I go in and give my all and ONE time I asked for a break and now I’m thought of as the girl that only wants to be charge when it’s easy and I need to suck it up. I want to stop being charge at all over this. I mean, I’m only doing it to be a team player but now I don’t feel supported by the team and feel ridiculed. Am I overreacting? I was crying over this at work and that has only ever happened 1 other time when I was a new grad and a Dr yelled at me LOL. I just feel hurt and angry. thank you if you made it though this very long winded post!