Monique Barber

So, a bit of context. I loved working with my patients in a small community hospital. Only glaring caveat. The nurses and one terrible CNA I worked with were extremely clicky. Just a quick rundown if what I was subjrcted to: Racism & Racist Jokes about patients Homophobic jokes about patients Often compared to new nurses in their clique, and would get yelled at for their mistakes On weekends, a new nurse in their clique would complain about not being able to take on two to three admissions after discharging all her patirnts, so I would be stuck with 7 to 8 patients when our limit is 5 to 6 yet 2 of my patients would be assigned to her on the board, so it would look like she was doing something. An LVN used her daughter, who was a jail guard to spy on me and take back patient information to try and get me fired. This same LVN, who's probably pushing 60 was also incredibly mad that a doctor, who's also the same age as me was friends with me and gave me a lot of attention. She treated me like crap for it. Another LVN attempted to fight me, and screamed at me multiple times on lunch break because she wanted me to take report despite notifying my charge nurse. And also, friends covering for their frirnds on the floor but if you make a mistake your behind is front and center. Anyway, I was fired for a med error I don't evenremember making, which counted as my 3rd. I tried to defend myself and talk about what was going on, but my manager cut me off in front of my CNO..and I just became a wreck and left. Now, no one will hire me due to poor references. Don't know what do. I'm living in my car right now.

I began a new job late last year, and it is kind of breaking me. I'm due to come off orientation, but I feel extremely scared about it. I don't feel like my critical skills are there yet, but I feel like my preceptor and manager expect me to be on their level of nursing. They have like 20-30 years of experience between them. Since I started there, I feel like I'm not wanted due to my weight and my height. They're all extremely cliquish, and I feel like I'm excluded most of the time. A Filipino contract nurse who's been there since the Summer and a new Filipino contract nurse who's been there for one to two weeks were immediately bought into the fold. I noticed they all text each other and ***ociate outside of the workplace, and they immediately began to invite this new nurse from the Philippines on outings and gatherings. When I try to socialize and add something new to a conversation, someone will give me a sarcastic comment, and everyone will go back to ignoring me. I've even caught them talking about me with CNAs as I return to the nursing station. Things came to a head this week when my manager told me that I'll probably be put on call for a week when I get off orientation. That same day, she yelled at me and threatened to fire me because I forgot to tell the oncoming shift about a patient's stress test in the morning. I really notice a disparity in treatment. The contract nurse who has been there for 6 months sent home a patient with a 16,000 dollar piece of equipment, which was never returned. The house supervisor asked who it was, and my manager claimed it was stolen. On the other hand, I as a new nurse make some mistakes while in the learning process, and I have my job threatened. I don't know what to do.

I work with an older nurse who uses a cane. You're not too old.

In ED and larger hospitals, but most rural hospitals are overstaffed, yet they continue to bring in contract nurses to suck up valuable opportunities even for normal pay. Another problem: Nursing Schools are pumping out nurses who just aren't prepared. I know, I'm one of them. I began working on December 6th, and although I love my job, I wish I had been better prepared. I personally get angry when I hear about the influx of new nurses because you know it's driven by money. Stupid people on Youtube, television, and on the Internet, in general, continue to brag about travel pay when we know this can't last. Also, wage compression is becoming a real thing, especially when just anyone can walk off the street get Bs, Cs, and Ds in pre-requisites and still get into colleges that are basically becoming diploma mills. I'm not exaggerating with that statement, I've heard so many local community colleges that SHOULD have taken their accreditation away for doctoring grades.

Get acquainted with your job for a few months, and then do it. Also, keep in mind that the whole rumor of BSNs making more money is a bit exaggerated. It looks great for management positions and getting your master's and doctorate.

Okay, as a new RN, I'm really upset that my job opportunity was not explained to me properly. I'm full-time, but today, I found out that low census supersedes that. I only found out about this when they sent home a CNA, which I felt completely terrible about. Anyway, it was explained to me that I'm going to be forced to use PTOs or go without pay. The only problem is, my PTOs don't roll over, and I only get 288 of them. I'm in a precarious situation because 1. I need insurance due a condition, 2. I need money to pay for medications. I'm kind of regretting my decision to become a nurse, and I feel like this should be explained to you thoroughly in both nursing school and orientation. I had an LVN tell me she went 6 months without PTO and lost her vehicle. Don't get me wrong, I love nursing, but you're really stuck between a rock and a hard place as a new registered nurse in terms of seeking additional employment your first year. What should I do?

That's not my real name. LOL

Thank You!

So, I'm kind of scared. I just got a job at a hospital and was sent an offer package. Problem: They want a health screening. I'm very overweight, I weigh almost 280. I take medication for anxiety, hypothyroidism, and for partial adrenal insufficiency. I'm really scared.

How far along on the spectrum are you? I know that people with autism can often times have extreme difficulty with theory of mind or saying and doing the wrong thing in regard to social situations. Nursing school is not that hard, but it requires you to draw inferences and fill in the blanks about patient care because most people have no idea what's wrong with them or what they need. Another part is therapeutic communication, which does require you use theory of mind to diffuse your own ego and see things from the patient's perspective, even over trivial stuff that may seem small to you and me. I am not asking this question to be rude, but I've heard a lot of people on the spectrum (and their parents) say that they relate more to children. Is this why you want to become a pediatric nurse? It's not impossible. If it's your dream, go for it!

Okay, so I graduated in May. In late September I took my NCLEX and passed in 75 questions. I found the test easy and there were several questions that looked like they were copied from the EAQ NCLEX-RN question bank. I am a COVID nurse, which means my clinical experience and instruction sucked. Sure I'm great didactically, but I don't know anything about nursing skills. Some Background: My first semester went so/so. I got a C in Fundamentals and an A in everything else. The clinical placement was terrible. We were stuck at a terrible roach-infested nursing home where the CNAs were just terrible. Anyway, we didn't get a chance to practice skills or do much of anything because most of the patients don't have acute conditions. I think the most exciting thing I did was watch an older gentleman get bathed and a nurse passing meds. I did get to give one enoxaparin injection, but that was the most. Our instructor did show us what we needed to do for our initial assessments, but that was just a few times. She was extremely nice and kind of treated us like babies that the first semester, but she really made me angry because a few clinicals, we had to make an agreement not to come in because she had another demanding leadership position. 2nd Semester ( late Jan 2020) was Med-Surg/OB. I was super excited to finally get some much-needed clinical time. The first day, I shadowed my RN who was okay. You could tell she felt overworked and tired. I helped position a few patients and watch the customary passage of medication. It was really crazy because we had a poor soul who was ready to pass from colorectal cancer, and the wife was in denial and just made the doctors and nurses uncomfortable with demands that were outside the scope of our practice. Anyway, he became our focus for that day, and the odor was something I've never smelled before and so was the tumor. To make a long story short, I vomited everywhere and had to go home. The next weekend, everyone and everything was on lockdown due to COVID. So, we spend two semesters without clinical. When we finally did get back to clinical in the Fall of 2021, it was for Pediatrics, and it was the weekend. There was practically nothing to do except pass meds and ask the nurse I was shadowing questions. I did see a few procedures being done like a blood transfusion and IV, but overall there was not that much. I did get two nurses who were very rude, one was rude to the techs and one was rude to me directly, so it kind of felt like they didn't want you to step on their toes. Transitions was really nice, but the clinical days were only on Saturdays, and we had the same instructor from the first semester who didn't want to come in some days despite her working at that exact hospital. The huge Winter storm in Texas didn't help much either. Sorry about the long post, but another dilemma I have is that although I did receive my Bachelor's degree online from a university that's only about 50 miles away, I live in a small town, and we only have one residency program. I applied on the 7th, and I still haven't heard anything despite people claiming the nursing field is just booming with jobs. I would like to move to the city where I graduated from, but I have no money, and I can't find anyone to room with me. The truth is because of COVID, I forgot a bunch of nursing skills like how to take blood pressure. I don't know what to do. I feel very lost.

Keep at it. I got an A in both, it just takes dedication. There's lots of info on YT.

Hi, everyone! I am a recent graduate from a BSN program in Texas, and I eventually want to become a psychiatric NP. I'm really scared and sad because although finding a job as a psychiatric nurse and seeking certification probably won't be an issue, I have no research or publication credentials. I do have the diversity thing going because both of my parents are immigrants from different countries, but my cumulative GPA is low/not competitive at 3.593 and my overall GPA at 3.82. I wish there was a way I could seek research experience, but in the part of Texas I'm from, we don't have many opportunities for psychiatric nursing research. At first, I thought I was going to get my doctorate in psychology, but I like the scientific and prescriptive aspects of advanced nursing. As well, I am really interested in the psychiatric NP field because people on the maternal side of my family have suffered from moderate mental illnesses like anxiety, depression, OCD, bipolar, and personality disorders. I'm not trying to insult online schools, but I really wanted to attend an online program at a brick-and-mortar school like Texas Tech. Texas Tech is kind of my first choice just because I can't move somewhere and leave my life behind just to take a semester of advanced health assessment. Is there anything I can do to make myself more competitive besides volunteer work?

I'm not an NP yet, I am about to graduate from a BSN program. I also want to be a PMHNP! Good Luck!