pdmt

I appreciate your concern (for the patients and for me!) As far as the charting.....she was doing the charting, and it never occurred to me to look to see what she wrote. I don't know if she charted that procedures were performed when they were not, or if she just didn't address the procedures in the charting at all. I did tell her at the end of the second day that I would be taking some patients all by myself the next time we worked together. At the end of my school preceptorship, I was taking 4 patients completely independently, so I feel confident I can do independent patient care (and charting) and I know that at least the patients I am caring for will receive the best care I can give them. The usual patient load on this unit is usually 6, and I don't feel ready to take that on, but I can at least take 3-4 right now alone until I get back into the swing of things. So, I *don't* know if she documented falsely, but I *do* know the care was not what it was supposed to have been. I DO know that other staff nurses are aware of her work habits. I do NOT know if this has ever been addressed before with management. I do plan to talk to my mentor some time in the next week. I work Sat, Sun, then Wed and Thurs, and will see her some time in that time frame. Again, thanks for the support.

I appreciate your concern (for the patients and for me!) As far as the charting.....she was doing the charting, and it never occurred to me to look to see what she wrote. I don't know if she charted that procedures were performed when they were not, or if she just didn't address the procedures in the charting at all. I did tell her at the end of the second day that I would be taking some patients all by myself the next time we worked together. At the end of my school preceptorship, I was taking 4 patients completely independently, so I feel confident I can do independent patient care (and charting) and I know that at least the patients I am caring for will receive the best care I can give them. The usual patient load on this unit is usually 6, and I don't feel ready to take that on, but I can at least take 3-4 right now alone until I get back into the swing of things. So, I *don't* know if she documented falsely, but I *do* know the care was not what it was supposed to have been. I DO know that other staff nurses are aware of her work habits. I do NOT know if this has ever been addressed before with management. I do plan to talk to my mentor some time in the next week. I work Sat, Sun, then Wed and Thurs, and will see her some time in that time frame. Again, thanks for the support.

I am a new RN who has worked two full days on a med/surg floor. I did my preceptorship on this floor as a student, 6 weeks with a wonderful, caring, conscientious nurse. The preceptor I have been given as a new grad is not so wonderful, caring OR conscientious. The first day, we had a patient with an infected PEG site, sacral decubitus, rectal pouch (for feces), s/p stroke, etc. Sad case. The nurse didn't even LOOK at the PEG site dressing. She would not have changed the rectal pouch were it not for the doctor coming to debride the sacral wound (30 minutes before end of shift). The second day, she stated in report that she had changed a patient's foot dressing. If she changed it, I didn't see it done -- and I'm working right with her. As new grads we were given, as well as a preceptor, a 'mentor' who is a member of management, and not affiliated with the floor we are working on. When I had met with her during orientation, she had told me that I could talk to her about anything, especially anything that she might need to intercede about on my behalf. Here is my dilemma. I'm two days on a new job, on a floor that I'm planning to be working on for some time. I will be going to night shift when my orientation is over, so I won't be working with my preceptor after about 4-5 weeks. Other nurses that have worked behind this nurse know she is not doing her job. How do I approach this problem. I know that the honest and ethical thing to do would be to talk to my mentor about this. Being the person that I am, I don't think I could stand myself if I didn't talk to her about this. I just don't know HOW to do it. Can anyone give me advice? thanks.

I am a new RN who has worked two full days on a med/surg floor. I did my preceptorship on this floor as a student, 6 weeks with a wonderful, caring, conscientious nurse. The preceptor I have been given as a new grad is not so wonderful, caring OR conscientious. The first day, we had a patient with an infected PEG site, sacral decubitus, rectal pouch (for feces), s/p stroke, etc. Sad case. The nurse didn't even LOOK at the PEG site dressing. She would not have changed the rectal pouch were it not for the doctor coming to debride the sacral wound (30 minutes before end of shift). The second day, she stated in report that she had changed a patient's foot dressing. If she changed it, I didn't see it done -- and I'm working right with her. As new grads we were given, as well as a preceptor, a 'mentor' who is a member of management, and not affiliated with the floor we are working on. When I had met with her during orientation, she had told me that I could talk to her about anything, especially anything that she might need to intercede about on my behalf. Here is my dilemma. I'm two days on a new job, on a floor that I'm planning to be working on for some time. I will be going to night shift when my orientation is over, so I won't be working with my preceptor after about 4-5 weeks. Other nurses that have worked behind this nurse know she is not doing her job. How do I approach this problem. I know that the honest and ethical thing to do would be to talk to my mentor about this. Being the person that I am, I don't think I could stand myself if I didn't talk to her about this. I just don't know HOW to do it. Can anyone give me advice? thanks.

I was given some wonderful advice one time: That it's OK to get angry about something, but don't get bitter. Easier said than done. I collect quotations, and one that I use sometimes for my email tag is ""We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are." --Anais" It would seem to me that what hurt you was that nursing was not what you wanted it to be -- rather, it was only being what it really was. I believe that the difficulty lies in seeing things how they really are, without the cloak of our desires. Hope this makes sense.

Are you looking for something on-line or a school near you? There are a lot of scam schools out there -- especially the distance learning ones. You pay up the wazoo to take their courses and find yourself unable to get a job when you get your "certificate" because you have not gotten any real benefit from what you have done through their coursework. In my opinion, most people want to get into that line of work because they think that they can make a lot of money working from home in their PJs while their children play happily at their feet. The fact is, the business has changed radically in the last 3-5 years with more work being completed by means of EMR and off-shoring (India, Pakistan, etc, etc). You can email me at [email protected]. If you are truly interested in this line of work, I may be able to steer you in the right direction; however, be aware that in reality it's not what it sounds like when Sally Struthers talks about it on TV.

I am embarrassed to say that I see plenty of racism in rural South Carolina where I live. I am not a SC native and have lived on the coast from New Jersey down to Miami for the last 20 years, and have traveled and lived outside the country -- so maybe I see my town/community more objectively than they see themselves. I think that the black/white situation doesn't need much comment. My community is the examplar of the old south, but I can see some enlightenment happening. Many Mexicans have come here for the peach and strawberry crops and now live here year round. With some exceptions, the feeling is that they are here taking local jobs, and hitting on the women. And we have a growing Asian community, as well. One of my classmates is Asian. She is one of the bravest and hard-working people I have met, but there are some in the class who have trouble finding a common ground. All of that being said, I think that a race/culture community whether it be black, white, Asian, etc, has its own identity and sometimes that identity includes a collective prejudice against another group, but I believe the challenge is to make a difference on a one-to-one basis and thereby influence the collective identity of the group. I have seen a lot of posts in that thread that show just that -- a willingness to see people as the individuals that they are. I'm proud of you guys.