brain_rn

I'm the only evening nurse for a 250-bed hospital in-patient radiology department and we're trying to improve our patient care by finding out procedure and protocols at other hospitals. For example: - if a patient on O2 would the Rad RN hook the patient up to the oxygen (from tank to wall or vice-versa) or the CT tech/x-ray tech? - do other hospitals have a protocol on when a floor nurse would either call report or accompany a patient for an exam in radiology (i.e. restraints, stat exam, confused, on 15L O2 via nonrebreather, isolation precautions, etc.) Those seem to be some of the questions that have popped lately. If you have any other information or ideas that you use for radiology nursing please share! Thanks so much!

In my experience I know most new nurses feel exactly the same way. I've been a nurse for 8 years and hated every single day of it for the first 5 years. I started out in ER (a bad place to start for a new grad) and the nurses there certainly lived by the old saying "nurses eat their young." I found myself becoming an angry, bitter nurse and realized that that wasn't the kind of nurse I wanted to be. After two years there I moved to a 12-bed stroke unit where the assistant nurse managers were very kind and nurturing. It took about 6 months there before I felt like I didn't at least hate nursing, but was still unhappy. After three years there I moved to radiology and was surprised that I actually missed bedside nursing. So, now for the last three years I've actually liked nursing. My advice? Give it time, move around to different units and departments. Even go out of the hospital - try school nursing or community health. The great thing about nursing is there are a lot of different areas. Find a place where the nurses are a team, willing to help and most of all have a positive attitude. Also remember, if you're young and this is your first job in the "real world" that's an adjustment in itself. Hang in there and give it time. Nursing really is a great profession and I would hate for you to miss out on it.