floatRN

I work for a hospital that is part of a large and growing healthcare system consisting of multiple hospitals. Currently, employees have health insurance through a large national health insurance company. We have coverage for any care provided by hosp...

We have 2 options: a high deductible plan or more expensive POS plan. Both options have the same restrictions regarding which hospitals are covered.

I love Call the Midwife.

Can the extra nurse be given an assignment instead? That way each RN has fewer patients but acts as aide and RN for some of those patients? That was done occasionally where I work and it worked out ok.

I was curious what some of you would have said in this situation. I had a patient that had very unrealistic demands, was not not happy no matter what I did. I spent all morning calling the doctor and the supervisor etc. trying to please him and get a...

At the hospital I currently work for, it is common to have one RN alone on a unit when the census is low. This RN would have 6-7 med-surg/tele patients. There is one CNA on the unit with her. Sometimes there is a secretary but not always. The nurse a...

It took a full year before I started to feel comfortable with it. Now after 3 years, I am just starting to get the more difficult ones.

5:1 on days but usually only one tech for 3-4 nurses.

That doesn't sound fair. Everywhere I have worked Christmas day was the holiday. If you worked Christmas, you were off Christmas Eve. If you were off Christmas, you worked Christmas Eve. Every year it rotated. The holiday rotation would trump the wee...

When I see work on the caller ID I don't answer ever. When they leave a message I will listen to it and call them back if I want to pick up the shift. However, I do not allow myself to feel guilty about not answering the phone or not coming in on my ...

I usually write them on the dry erase board in the room or I get an extra pen and leave it in the room and write vitals on a paper towel.

I try to get 7-8 hours of sleep a night, get a massage a couple times a year, go for walks or do pilates on days off, eat healthy, bring my own lunch to work so I dont buy junk in the cafeteria. I work 3 12's a week and rarely pick up extra time.

When EMS arrived, wouldn't they have asked why they were called? Doesn't EMS also give a report when they arrive at the emergency room? If one of the nurses reported the fall to the paramedics that did the transfer and they didn't pass that on when a...

What is a G tag? Is that a name bracelet? Anyway, don't beat yourself up about it. We have all made a mistake. We are only human. The patient wasn't harmed and you did the right thing, admitted your mistake, called the doctor. I doubt you would have ...

I have seen alot of nurses texting at work. They will leave their personal cell phones right on their med carts and will text standing in the hallway where everyone can see. It looks very bad and unprofessional both to other staff and to patients and...

Maybe you are hungry and need to have a snack mid morning and mid afternoon. Maybe you are not getting enough sleep the night before. Do you wear your stethescope around your neck all day? I found that was giving me neck and shoulder pain, so I try n...

I have known nurses who worked 2 8 hour shifts and 2 12 hours shifts a week for a total of 40 hours.

Does your employer give you a hard time about this? I would love to use my own soap but we are only allowed to use hospital supplied soaps and lotions while working.

If you are putting inpatients in the hall, what is your nurse to patient ratio? We never have enough nurses scheduled to safely have all our beds full, never mind adding patients in the hall. Isn't that a fire hazard as well? We aren't supposed to le...

I have put signs like this up for a number of reasons. The patient has passed away and we don't want an unaware visitor to walk in without being told first, the patient has requested no visitors/only certain visitors allowed, the patient is sleeping ...

When I call the customer service line for a company, I can tell when the person on the other end is reciting a script. It comes across as insincere and its annoying. I always was polite and respectful to my patients and I would sincerely ask them if...

We have a few weekend-only RN's but they are not hiring any new people for weekend-only. I think they are trying to phase it out.

Date, name of nurse, aide and doctors. I also sometimes put the phone number for the kitchen, phone number for family, reminder to use incentive spirometer, time next pain med is due etc. Whatever I think is helpful for patient. Physical therapy will...

I've always wondered..If a patient requests a copy of their medical record from the hospital. Do they get a copy of all our nursing notes? I have seen some nursing notes about difficult patients that the nurse would probably not ever want the patient...

I don't feel guilty saying no. I need a life outside of work. I make plans for my days off and won't change them. If I'm free and want overtime pay, I'll go in but only if I am free. My employer doesn't feel guilty when they cut me for low census. Th...