newohiorn BSN, RN, EMT-P

newohiorn has 8 years experience as a BSN, RN, EMT-P and specializes in Acute care, Community Med, SANE, ASC.

newohiorn's Latest Activity

1. 

   What HARD truth have you learned once you became a nurse and/or CNA?

   newohiorn replied to DesiDani's topic in Nursing

   1. A good CNA is a lifesaver for the nurse and sometimes the patient. 2. Say thank you to the co-workers who are helping you and/or just doing their job well--lab, phlebotomy, dietary, techs, transport, MRI. All of them. All of these people can and do make your day better when they do things well. The ones who suck are dragging us all down so let the good ones know that you notice. 3. Pick your battles with staff/mgmt. Stand up for yourself but if you ***** and moan all the time no one will want to work with you or help you. 4. Patients and families say thank you a lot less than I thought they would when I started this job--a decade ago. 5. The general population has NO IDEA what a nurse's day really looks like. I wish we could do a real documentary and show them the often absurd things we do every day. The bizarre intimacy we have with other people's bodies would shock them. 6. I thought this job would be fulfilling. It is not...at least not for me. 7. No matter how hard I worked at least 75% of the time I went home feeling like I did a ****** job. 8. Ditto what others have said--you are nothing but a warm body to the machine that is the hospital. They do not care about you or the patients. 9. It is shocking how long incompetent staff can keep right on doing what they're doing. I assume the staff before and after them are doing the heavy lifting to keep disaster from striking. 10. I had NO CLUE how much responsibility nurses carried until I did the job. Heavy burden.
2. 

   Hygiene After Hospital Shift

   newohiorn replied to nifty_n's topic in Nursing

   I'm pretty lazy about this but I see from skimming a few of the above posts that I'm not alone in my post-work hygiene habits. I do not change shoes or scrubs when I come home and can even be found lounging on the couch in my scrubs after work, and I float all over the hospital so I'm around any sort of germ we have there. I believe I have removed my scrubs at the door and showered immediately upon returning home twice in eight years. One was for a patient with lice--normally that wouldn't yank my chain that much but this patient had been treated three times and kept getting reinfected by her visiting family members so the nurse before me (with the patient's permission) cut her hair right before I came on shift. Hair was everywhere and I presumed lice too. I made my husband get the lice shampoo before I got home just to be extra cautious (paranoid). The only other time was when I cared for a patient with explosive diarrhea that I swear was just about all over that room. She was so miserable I just really didn't want to get that bug and be that miserable, and I'm pretty sure it was on me somewhere. Other than I guess I just wallow in the germs! :-)
3. 

   best way for a nurse to manage cuts on her fingers?

   newohiorn replied to RNexplorer's topic in Nursing

   As others said, look into Vetbond. Very similar to Dermabond and about half the price. This was a lifesaver for me last winter when my hands were very badly cracked. I was able to use it many times without the bottle tip getting glued shut like super glue sometimes does. I've tried Super glue in the past but work for very long. Vetbond lasted a few days. http://www.amazon.com/Vetbond-by-3M-3-mL/dp/B004C12Q46/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415593068&sr=8-1&keywords=vetbond+tissue+adhesive
4. 

   Talky Nurse

   newohiorn replied to HappyWife77's topic in Relations

   If talkativeness wears you out or is draining, you may very well be an introvert. I am in introvert and too much chit chat and general noise makes me crazy. I self isolate (stole that term from one of the posters above) all the time and I don't care if my coworkers think I'm weird or antisocial. I'm not there to make friends, I'm there to work. Eventually they realize they can count on me to help when they need it and that I'm a good worker, etc. so it works okay for me. I have even noticed if I get together with a couple of girlfriends and we talk for 2-3 hours even about things I'm very interested in, I just get worn out. It's quite distinct where the line is that I'm done. It's kind of a pain because I feel like I need to end the gathering and sign off because I just can barely respond to the conversation at a certain point. I never apologize for being an introvert and I do what I have to do for me--such as not working 12-hour shifts because it's just too much human interaction for me. I will say that my introversion has probably cost me in my ability to network because I'm not the overly friendly chit-chatter at work. People eventually know who I am and learn that I'm a good worker but it takes longer and that can be a negative when you need a network to change jobs or something. And, I can't believe the talky nurse follows you into a room and interrupts your patient interview to tell stories about her family!! Insane, very unprofessional and totally unacceptable. I don't know what I would do with that situation but would probably stand there open mouthed in shock at such behavior.
5. 

   Per Diem availability question

   newohiorn replied to Clovery's topic in Nursing

   I'm per diem float at my hospital and I am required to work a minimum of 24 hours a month. At the beginning of the month I give them days and shifts that I want to work and they put me on their "schedule" but I am not guaranteed to work. I find out the day of about an hour before the shift whether or not they need me. I am required to be available for those shifts that I have told them I will work. For any other days or shifts where they having staffing needs, they can call me to see if I want to work but it's entirely up to me whether or not I work.
6. 

   Nursing school anxiety - need advice!

   newohiorn replied to pandy4321's topic in General Students

   Don't panic. None of us retained every bit of information from nursing school. Cram, take those tests and pass, retain what you can. The truth is most of us really learn how to be a nurse on the job. Commit yourself to being a continual learner. Once you're on the job when you have questions or encounter a particular diagnosis or particular medicine, etc., go home and look it up, research it and you will find that you retain it much better when it's one or two topics at a time that relate to a patient you are currently caring for. To me nursing school was really about getting the basic concepts down. You will learn the complexities once you are working. Use the experienced nurses knowledge (and thank them for sharing it) and do your own research at home. Experienced nurses can be a wealth of knowledge but double check for yourself as well because sometimes practices change.
7. 

   Nurses Who Don't Want to be Nurses

   newohiorn replied to mindofmidwifery's topic in Relations

   It certainly sounds like you are judging. Exactly what would you "confront" such a nurse about? How is it your business to know why someone chose to be a nurse? Do you ask your doctor the same question, your attorney, your grocer, your mailman/woman, your hairdresser, your garbage man? If you feel a calling to a particular profession and have the means to attain it, consider yourself lucky. Many people do not feel a calling to any particular profession, but we all deserve the right to make a living in whatever field we are capable. I do not feel a calling to be a nurse. I became a nurse because my previous job was outsourced out of the country with less than a week's notice. I vowed that I would never be in that position again so I chose a field in which I had some background, could make a comparable living, and likely would never be outsourced again. I provide the same excellent care that most nurses do--those who have been called to the profession and those who have not. It is very unfair and judgmental to assume I would not provide as much care as another nurse. I am still a professional and believe in always doing the best job I can, whether or not I was called to this profession with passion and excitement does not matter. What does matter is my work ethic and my competence. I also do not consider my pay to be a "nice check," rather I consider it to be (almost) adequate compensation for the hard work and heavy responsibility I carry as a nurse. As for taking up a spot for those who truly want to go into the profession--it's a free country--those folks are free to compete with me for that spot. If I'm the best candidate for the position, I am not going to pass up my spot because someone else has passion for the field. I deserve the right to earn a living too. If someone is that passionate about it I'm sure they'll find a way to get into a program even if it means they have to up their game to compete with the non-calling people. Just because someone has a passion for nursing doesn't make them the best nurse. Plenty of non-calling nurses are smart as can be and work like dogs to get the job done, and I've seen some of the calling/passion nurses barely get through the nursing program and then struggle once they get out to find or keep a job. Passion/calling doesn't necessarily equal good nurse.
8. 

   Nauseous vs Nauseated (another grammar lesson)

   newohiorn replied to Emergent's topic in Nursing

   Regarding lay and lie: I finally learned this one with the following tidbit. Lay means to put or place. Lie means to rest or recline. In general (I think), living things like people and animals lie while inanimate objects lay. This thread is cracking me up because I keep reading all the other posts and saying, "YESSSS!"
9. 

   Nauseous vs Nauseated (another grammar lesson)

   newohiorn replied to Emergent's topic in Nursing

   I love perseverate! To me it sounds just like what it is. :-) My pet peeves: Advice vs. advise. People often come on AN asking for advise when they mean advice. Also loose vs. lose. A person can lose ten pounds and then their pants might be loose. Many people use the word loose when they mean lose. Last one and I see this one published all the time: I will try and get that done. Or I will try and remember where I left my keys. It should be try TO get it done and try TO remember. Disclaimer: My grammar is far from perfect. :-)
10. 

    Please stop! Little things that are just bad practice.

    newohiorn replied to JBudd's topic in Professionalism

    Report! Get to it. I float, so every four hours I'm going to another unit. I find the night shift staff coming in at 7p to be worst about this. I recognize that they are just starting their shift and they want to chat and maybe don't care if report takes an hour because they have the next 12 hours to pull it together. I, on the other hand, need to give report so I can get to the next unit where I'll be starting late no matter how fast I can give report so please don't make me 45 minutes to an hour late to start my next 4-hour assignment. It's hard enough to pull it all together in 4 hours without starting any later than necessary. And please try to find me. I work in a huge hospital and I don't know everyone's name on every floor so it's hard for me to find all the people I need to give report to, particularly when they're wandering around the nursing station chatting.
11. 

    Goodbye...

    newohiorn replied to Music in My Heart's topic in Relations

    I enjoyed your posts, but I understand. I have disappeared from AN for months and possibly years at a time. Every now and then I would come to post something knowing it was the only place people would "get" it. Please return if and when you like.
12. 

    How important is your 'look' as a nurse

    newohiorn replied to Nola009's topic in Professionalism

    To answer the original question, looks, of course, do matter. I have an acquaintance who had a difficult time getting hired which may or may not have been due to the fact that he had a lot of tattoos, including all the way up on his neck. I also worked for a cardiologist and was told after I was hired (not in any official capacity) that he only hired people who were height/weight proportionate because he felt their appearance reflected on him (and presumably his concept of good health). Just a few actual examples. As many others have said it's obvious that good grooming, clean and neat clothing, etc. are a must. Our looks shouldn't matter but they do--it's human nature.
13. 

    Would you like your job more if you were paid more?

    newohiorn replied to proud nurse's topic in Nursing

    More money makes it more tolerable for me. I was working more or less at the bottom of the pay scale at my hospital since I'd only been a nurse 2.5 years when I decided to bump myself to the top of the pay scale by going to per diem because I didn't need/use the benefits anyway. It amounted to about $17/hr raise. This is exactly what I said to my husband, "my job sucks so it might as well suck at the top of the pay scale, right?" That being said I think all nurses should be making more because of the responsibility we have. I would probably accept considerably less pay for a job I loved if I could just find one. I was close with a recent job simply because I worked with the best group of people I've ever worked with--naturally the rest of the job was totally nutty but I loved going to work to see my friends every day--only time my job has been like that in my life--it was good while it lasted.
14. 

    4.0 in nursing school?

    newohiorn replied to RubySlippers:)'s topic in General Students

    Definitely doable. I graduated with a 4.0 while working full-time. I did not, however, get 100 on every test nor would I ever spend the time necessary to do so. In my opinion life is far too short to waste valuable time studying more than necessary. When I started nursing school I had applied for a special program through my employer to be paid full time wages while only working 16 hours a week while attending school. I was so sure I would be chosen for this program and was DEVASTATED when I was not because I knew working full-time and school full-time was really going to suck, and it did. My worst fear was that I would get run over by a bus the day after I graduated and would have spent the last few years of my life being miserable studying and working all the time. I had also heard that you should expect to drop a grade level in nursing school because it's that much harder. Like Music in my heart I did not find the work to be any more difficult than any other course work although I should say that I had medical background from various other jobs and also had a paramedic license which familiarized me with the style of testing that nursing school uses. You may notice in another recent post that I said working and school together was very difficult--like Music in my heart I agree that it was the volume of work (a lot of busy work) that made it difficult rather than the material. My BSN completion program, quite frankly, was ridiculously easy. I admire your thoughtful responses to the comments you've received. Good luck.
15. 

    how were you able to live (financially) while in nursing school?

    newohiorn replied to Nursetobe25's topic in General Students

    I worked full time and went to school full time. It was very difficult with the first few quarters being the most difficult. I really did nothing else for myself. I didn't cook for myself, didn't wash my own dishes, etc. My husband pretty much did everything else until I got my head above water. I also did not have children and it was still very difficult. Most of the people in my class who were working and had children ended up having to cut back on school and go part-time.
16. 

    Pedal pulses

    newohiorn replied to shayandkaty's topic in Nursing

    I remember having a lot of trouble finding them when I was a new nurse too! Had forgotten that until I saw your post. Now I can pretty much walk up to someone and know where they should be. It comes with time and practice. Feel pulses on every patient even when you don't think it's necessary. I will say I could do without the stupid socks with the tread on both sides of the foot getting in the way of my pulse palpation.