Dazedgiggle

When I was a CNA and for my first year and a half as an RN I worked full time nights, 5 eight hour shifts a week. As much as I HATED it, I did get used to it and it was very convenient for school. But like you said, it's nearly impossible to develop retlationships or do the things I like to do. When I switched jobs, I worked 12 hour rotating shifts, and I was really screwed up!! And I was lucky!! We didn't rotate for 6 weeks!! (6 weeks nights, 6 weeks days). I LOVED the day rotation, had no problem adjusting to that, but nights was a big problem, even though I had done it for so long. Problem was when I did 5 nights a week I just stayed up the other two nights and kept to my schedule, but with 12 hour shifts I only worked 3 nights a week, and I certainly wasn't going to stay up the four nights that I wasn't working. I hate to say it, but I have to agree with most people here, nights probably isn't good for too many people, but it's probably better than rotating if you have to do it. Just stay confident that you'll get that day position! It only took 8 months before I got my 12 hour days! Good luck! :)

When I first became a CNA in 1993, I never wore 'em...I had never been really sick before that and I think I thought I couldn't catch anything. Well, I DID get sick...VERY sick!! I was miserable, got diagnosed with Hepatitis C (although I've been retested and looked over the past results with my doctor, we both think it was a false positive)...but no matter! I WAS SICK!! For a good two months.....sleeping 18-20 hours a day, fever of 102-103 for 2 weeks, itchy rash head to toe, no appetite, etc. You get the picture. I've never gone a day since then without wearing gloves whenever I can possibly come in contact with someone elses bodily fluid!! I learned the hard way!!

Yes, unfortunately doctors are more valued than nurses, in the public eye. I'm not saying docs don't deserve the respect they get, they do have more education and a lot of responsibility.....but nurses certainly carry their own load of responsibility!! I work in a non-teaching hospital, when a patient crashes at night, on a holiday, or on a weekend, who do you think is there? The surgeons I work with are TERRIFIC, but they're just not there 24 hours a day......not to mention the fact that SOMETIMES, believe it or not, an doc makes a mistake on med orders, etc......while they should be responsible for their error, it's ultimately the nurse (or pharmacy) who needs to catch the error, and God forbid they actually administer the med!! They'll catch a whole lot more flack, to say the least. This is only my opinion, but nurses don't the receive the respect or the pay that they deserve. I know I'm certainly not in this totally for the money......I honestly LOVE walking into work everyday......but a few extra dollars and a little more appreciation from administration certainly wouldn't hurt!! LOL

The first time I ever called in a prescription to a pharmacy, I told them my name and that I was a nurse. They asked for the name of the meds, then that was it! I asked them if they needed my license number or any type of proof that I was who I said I was....they said no, they were lucky to even be GETTING a nurse to call them in! It was usually secretaries, med assistants and the like. I was horrified! How easy would it be to just call in scripts for myself if I wanted? I had access to DEA numbers galore! This is in NH by the way. I'm not sure of the law, but this is what I'm told goes on. I call in as few scripts as I can now, just to help out a patient once in a while and I actually get permission from the doc or the PA-C before I do it. I really think if they're going to do anything like that over the phone they need a little more I.D. info so people can be held accountable.

I'll use clean gloves for superficial wounds, incisions, etc., but for anything deeper than an abrasion, I use sterile technique! This is how I was taught, how everyone I work with does it (including the wound team) and what the books I've read say. Maybe something new is coming down the pike, who knows. I don't understand how it's not necessary to culture wounds? Obviously, if it's a clean wound with no signs of infection, we don't culture, but we always culture everything if we suspect the patient has an infection somewhere. Don't know if this helps much, but that's what I do.

I've seen it before too, in small amounts. Always figured it was mucus.

Oops!! That was supposed to be a smiley face up there!! Sorry!! LOL

I've never heard that it was okay to use regular tubing!! We still use nitro tubing, but now I'm going to look into it more! Thanks! )

I work on the CV-surgical step down unit....nurses who have been checked off on the competancy and supervised pulling three sets of tubes (this must include pulling Argyles or Atriums, converting a blake to JP and pulling the JP when appropriate) do all D/Cing of chest tubes. Nurses who are not comfortable do not have to do it, but it really is nice not to have to wait for the surgeons to FINALLY have time to do it!! In our hospital surgeons do not have to be in the building for us to perform this procedure. RN's also pull epicardial wires where I work, for this the surgeons do need to be in-house in case of tamponade. I can safely say that there has never been a problem with RN's doing these things...we all know when NOT to pull and there has never been a complication. :)

Hi....I travel 30 miles to work each way, and about 29 miles of it are highway miles. It's really not too bad, I drive pretty fast, and make it in about 25 minutes. Also, I only work 3 days a week thanks to my 12 hour shifts, and I'm also driving against Boston traffic since I work in NH, so I've got it pretty easy! I've had to drive in the snow, that's the only really nerve-racking part.....just have to go really slow. Once I even brought some clothes to work because I knew it would snow pretty hard and just spent the night at work. Good luck if you take the new job!! :)

Where I work, people who work 12 hour shifts get straight pay and time and a half for anything over 12 hours in a 24 hour period OR over 40 hours a week. People who work 8 hour shifts as part of their regular schedule get time and a half for anything over 8 hours in a 24 hour period and over 40 a week. We get paid differential during any time we work a shift that has a differential. Hope this helps!

For me it's definitely mouth care! When I was a CNA worked in a nursing home where the CNA's did the post mortem care. One lady was quite dehydrated near the end, so her mucus secretions were pretty dry. When I swabbed her mouth the mucus stuck to the swab and was the consistancy of pizza cheese! It just snapped back. Gross!! I still have a really hard time with mouth care! I'm also not crazy with anything that has to do with eyes. Otherwise, I can handle anything.....I think. LOL

Hi. I work in an acute care setting and we use a gurney that hides the body. But I've also worked in a LTC facility where they used a stretcher and a sheet over the body, but all the residents were brought to their rooms and the doors closed, as long as they weren't a safety risk, of course, while the body was wheeled to the elevators. Hope this helps a little!

I take verbal orders often on my unit (cardiovascular surgical), I can't imagine getting along without them! I'd never imagined there would be a problem with a doc owning his/her verbal order, and it's sad to know this problem exists. I also work in a non-teaching hospital. The surgeons and the nurses have a good relationship with each other as do the physicians assistants, whom we deal with more often, and have NEVER seen a problem with an MD or a PA not owning their order. We also have many protocols we can follow in case of certain emergencies, which is also a big help, or the PA/MD will include parameters with many of their orders so we don't have to call them or chase them down for anything. But if this is a problem where you work, then I guess getting verification from a second nurse is necessary, just to cover yourself.