dsoginer

Wanted to let everyone know that I had to quit this job the stress was not worth it. I now work in another mental health hospital the difference is day and night. Everyone is helpful, the techs know and do their jobs. No bullies; the DON is wonderful, she will call each floor everyday in the am and pm and ask if we need anything. Also to the nurse who talked of "Karma" unfortunately it did come to get him. They put a young girl in for a drug overdose, to bed and did not check on her. She was blue when someone remembered to check. They did CPR for 2 hrs brought her back twice, but ultimately she lost the battle. So sorry it took this, but I hope something good came out of it and changes were made.

Simply hired and Indeed are two job warehouses that probably have every RN postion posted in the US try it but please don't blame people for not putting their companies on here. The could get fired for that, especially if they give inside info such as salaries

Simply hired or Indeed has a listing of almost every RN position in the states

I need everyone's wisdom. I took a job at a behavioral unit 2 yrs ago. First we have an absent NM. He tells us to "fight it out" if we have a problem with a staff member. He hires his friends and one of the big, burly male nurses is his best friend. This nurse and his "now nurse for 2 wks but a tech before" girlfriend run the unit at night. They bully, yell and tell nurses what to do. I got into it with his girlfriend when she was a tech for telling me how to nurse. That did it, the big male nurse decided I was the enemy and has spent the last year making my job hell. I finally reported it to HR but all of the nurses and techs are afraid of him so no one backed me up, or maybe they did and the NM won't admit it. The girlfriend told several people, several times that she would have me fired when she became a nurse. Want you to understand I am one hell of a good nurse, however for the last two weeks she has been submitting to the NM any paperwork she thinks I have made mistakes on. One was justifiable. I have to argue with the NM over each accusation and the stress is overpowering. I am going to have to quit a job that I am so good at and love because of this. Any suggestions?

If you look up the word "expert" or "expertise" you will find that studies consider someone an expert after 10 YEARS or 10,000 hrs at their field. I read in a Nursing Journal that you become comfortable at nursing around 2 yrs. I am at that point. I know when a pt is in distress, I know what to do about it, but still have much to learn. Those two years were hard. I thought about quitting, made mistakes, got on the wrong side of doctors (always the difficult ones), was the brunt of comments on my ability as a nurse etc. I have met or heard about nurses that have made mistakes that have killed patients. Always double check your meds especially if you are not totally positive that the dose is correct. I have gone to another nurse many times and asked, "Here are the figures, please check if they are correct." (never ask without figuring it out yourself first." Keep a "brain sheet" for each pt. (There are links on this website for the best brain sheets on all disciplines) When a pt requests something or you see an intervention that needs to be done, WRITE it down. Fill the sheet out with titration rates, drip rates, doctor's orders, dosage, allergies, all that good nursing info. Then check it every hour. Keep your charting short and to the point right now. No one wants to read a nurses opinion anyway. Good luck, never thought I would make it but I have and you will also

You have brought up a subject that not many will bring up. ALL nurses have problems with SOME nursing assistants. It is like sharks with the new fish. If your boss is worth his/her salt they will handle the problem (and I bet it will not be a surprise to them) to keep you and take some of the stress off of you. At first it will get worse, backstabbing, talking about you, not backing you up when you need help. But don't stop. If ANYONE, a nurse, a doctor or a NA makes your job more difficult or dangerous then they are wrong and the situation needs to be addressed. Eventually they will realize that it is unhealthy to pick on you and will move on to the next new nurse. You have a license to protect, they do not. I love to say, "It's my license, I have the school loans, and you will do what I ask of you. I can do your job, you cannot do mine. If you have a problem with that then talk to our boss, otherwise just do what you were hired to do." You are not their friend. They are taught in school that the RN will delegate jobs to them. I see nurses all the time trying to make friends by enabling those bad workers to not work. That is not doing anyone a favor; in the long run it will hurt the NA. And frankly, the nurses look foolish. You have a job to do that is vitally important, protect that job.

Had to add this one. Working in Well-baby, two residents were writing furiously in a chart and had checked a baby's diaper several times. They finally waved me over and said, "I don't want to alarm you but there is blood in this baby's diaper..." it was all I could do but laugh. In fact it took a minute or so to compose myself to explain uric acid crystals. I left them trying to figure out how to dispose of the charting they had just completed.

Please send me a private message with a personal email and I will send you the notes. D

The best advice I can give you is to take the Hurst review before classes start. I had received this advice but since I had never heard of it AND our Pharm teacher's name was "Hurst", I assumed (never assume as a nurse) it was something she would do. Beep, wrong!! The Hurst review is a week long seminar, that teaches you how to take a nursing exam. It gives you rationals for why one answer is the most correct one (and believe me there are two answers to every question that will be correct), what to look for as important in a question and tips that will help you with your nursing. I am not affiliated with this program just a fan. You will have to take it before you take the NCLEX or you will statistically not pass. My suggestion is to take it before the class starts then for $50.00 more dollars you can go to their website and get help throughout the OLOL program. Then you can take it again at the end of the program before you take the NCLEX for no additional fee. Those who did this in my program made much better grades than everyone else. Of course, we did have some smart people in my class who did not need this (disclaimer, so don't write to me! ) Then pay attention in Med. Term. Let me know if there is anything else you need to know

I graduated from this program in 2008. If you would send me a personal message I will send you the email of the person at OLOL/TUMC that will answer all your questions

If you search for OLOL you will come up with so many threads on this program. I graduated in 2008 from the Tulane/OLOL program and went to work at West Jeff for the past year. I did not feel as prepared as I had hoped, however every nurse has to rely on their employers training program to learn to nurse. I have the pharm. notes but saw that another person has offered the notes from this years program on this site. It would be a good idea to study these notes. A lot of people flunk Pharm. Let me know if there are any questions you have not answered in the threads

As an RN and a mother; one of my children had a fever of 104.2 due to a virus. The ER personnel put her in a tub of ice and water. Her fever went to 108 and she quit breathing. I will never put a child into ice and water again.

Tom send me a private message with your email address and I will send you the notes.

Believe it or not ALL nurses had to learn how to nurse "on the job". I almost quit a few times. There are some things that just will take time. The last writer was right; at around 8=9 mths you start to feel like a nurse. Some of the more difficult medical talk starts to make sense and you quit feeling so stupid. Hang in there. Most importantly, ask questions, print your hospital's policy and procedure clinical instructions and learn them. It will come, promise.

Actually we were discussing this on the Peds floor last week. Some RSV positive patients appear to also have GI problems. Perhaps lowered immune system?

Send me your personal email and I will send you a copy.

Ok, calm down. There are wonderful links to care plans on this website. Search care plans. I found one that the teachers loved and never had a hard time with care plans again. I am at work, but I will put the link for that care plan on here tomorrow. Nursing courses are hard. If they were not there would be way too many nurses out there. Just make up your mind to study, study, study and it goes by fast. Good luck

I finished the Tulane program last year. It is a tough program and you have to have that extra something that will allow you to succeed no matter how hard. There were students who sent their kids to live with family members, and I moved away from my family for the 9 mths because you have to study ALL THE TIME! If you are willing to put in this type of commitment then you will make it. It is worth it. Any questions you have please feel free to email me privately.

I still hang my steth from my rear view window; at last count probably got me out of a good dozen tickets. Two days ago, I looked in my rear view to see a State Trooper. I was only doing about 8 miles over on the interstate but... He switched lanes with me twice then pulled along side, smiled and waved. You can laugh at me all you want.....

I found out that the two calmest nurses on the floor are on Prozac.

I just finished my 5th month and reading your post just made me realize that I had quit laying awake somewhere this past month or two and worrying about what may happen the next day or next shift. How could I not notice that I have been sleeping and not mulling over the myriad of things that could go wrong? When did I stop worrying about those things that I did not know that could cause serious injury to a patient? It comes with time. Last week the one nasty nurse at work literally forgot a patient and did not give the child his meds (nothing that would pose a danger) and had the wrong rate running for a whole shift of IV fluids. Other nurses wanted me to write an event report, but nooo, I called her and she talked me into "fixing" things. She insisted she had given the meds but had forgotten to "save" in the computer. I did so after asking her could I get into trouble doing this. She assured me that I would not and quess what? This statistic showed up on me, not her. My head nurse sent me an email telling me that this nurse would talk with me about delayed medications! Needless to say she has not spoken to me about it. I sent this nurse an email asking how was it that this showed up as my mistake when she said that it would not and cc'd my head nurse. Now I wait for the shoe to fall. That kind of pettiness becomes what you worry about more than your competencies as you put in time. Ain't it a shame what we nurses do to each other?

The worst incident I have dealt with changed my career path. In clinicals I could hear the homeless,double amputee that I was assigned to yelling for me. I went in the room and he had dug out his own impaction! It was everywhere and he was wiping his hands on the blankets. I threw up all over the place, so my poor teacher and fellow students had that to contend with also. I am now a Peds nurse.

My computer is in the shop to fix a problem with the monitor. If anyone else that has received the notes from me could send this student the pharm notes, it would be appreciated. If you do not recieve them, get a Pharmacology in Nursing book (any will do) and learn what you can about the major types of drugs, i.e. the difference between Beta Blockers and Channel blockers or the difference between NSAIDS and Tylenol and the difference between NSAIDS and steriod drugs. Do not worry to much with trying to learn names of drugs and what they do, just concentrate on classes of drugs. Good luck, I do not know when my computer will be fixed, but if you do not hear from me in another month, ask again for the notes.

I have a sheet that I use to give report from; as the shift progresses I add info to the sheet so that it is complete for each pt before the end of the shift. Here is the basic info that is needed for report: Name age Dx secondary Dx Wgt last BM (or void if needed) Diet status (regular? NPO? and why) IV site/ central line what is hanging what is the rate when the bag went up site care if given any meds hanging & infusing, If have extra tubing hanging for Piggy back, (always label) but tell the nurse what it is for, when it expires, rate etc. when last dosage was any pertinent drugs being given, say Igb or Demerol given with lidocaine, etc. any reactions to meds any changes to the med schedule Primary MD name, consulting Md's and when they came, what action they took new orders Dressing care/changes and times skin integrety issues where all drains are located , what they are,and when last emptied Pertinent Labs (any high or low) what labs are needed, when and who are to draw/collect them if pt is incontinent and what type/size of diaper they are wearing Any specific nursing interventions were performed or need to be performed Any procedures that will be performed on the pt and when Any other revelant information needed depending on which dept you work in And ALWAYs end with "Do you have any questions Any one else have something they feel is needed? Good luck

Love this thread! I am finishing my 3 mth orientation on a Peds floor next week. I hated, hated my first 3 wks because the preceptor used my mistakes as fodder for laughs from other nurses. I was then switched to nights with a new preceptor and have learned so much. I learned that the mistakes of the first weeks were common mistakes and I have watched more seasoned nurses make the same all the time. I just had my orientation and the nurse manager thanked me for coming to work for them! NOW I feel like a real nurse. I no longer sweat the small things. Wish that first preceptor had admitted that I was not messing up terribly.