dunkinut

Congratulations! It's a great feeling and its even more wonderful to be able to share it with your daughter! Good Luck!

This is what is wrong in nursing today! Its not about the documentation, its about the best care of your patient, and if it takes more time to check these important assessments, then it takes more time; Period! I dont know about your institution and what you are allowed to delegate, but wouldn't it be easy and effective to utilize your nurse extenders and CNA's to get your assessments done and proceed from there? These important assessment parameters should not be looked upon as a hassle, they should be utilized to the best degree for the best care of your patient! If its a matter of no time for the assessments, then its time to take the issue to those in charge, not take it out on the patient and give them less than top notch care!

I am new to this forum, but I would like to throw something out there and have some input. I am a first-year, non-traditional nursing student. I am considerably older than my colleagues, at least the majority of them. I am in my second year of school, did one year of gen eds while waiting to get into the program. In the process of waiting, came to be friends with some students also awaiting acceptance into the program. In particular, one girl and I became very close. She and I were in the same classes as well as clinicals. She was great in clinicals, but extremely weak in foundation and was actually failing the one class. Another student, (older male) offered her "questions and answers" to a test that we were about to take, knowing that she was failing and needed to pull a 100 on the next few tests in order to keep her place in the program. She told me of the situation, to which I told her I did not agree. She stated she did not either, but had them already and was not giving them back. I was not about to loose my position and that of my roommates by allowing her to come study at our house. It caused alot of problems, but the bottom line was this....It put the integrity of the test, as well as our program on the line. I felt it was necessary to speak up, which I did, and our test was not given on the scheduled day. While the rest of the students had no idea who was involved, they were all very angry that the tests that they studied for were not going to be given on that day....they did not understand the situation, or, better yet...did not care about the integrity of the program. I have been chastised and ignored in this program since. The student that gave the information is still in the program. The student that received the information is no longer in the program, but only because she did not pass the class. Nothing was done by the faculty, other than changing some policies regarding remediation of testing in their offices. Several students have made very derogatory statements to me about the situation, not knowing all the information but just hearing one side. A few students with some bit of maturity have applauded the action. It has been an eye-opening experience, to say the least. I would be interested in hearing from anyone else that may have had a similiar situation and what they did. Or...it would just be nice to hear words of understanding and support!

A new grad in a position of such authority/responsibility is probably the mistake. Yes...we want to be in great positions with good pay, benefits and the feeling of responsibility because we have just spent so much time being a student....but...know your limitations. Distraction of any type, personal, professional has been known to interfere with your ability to concentrate. Maybe it is time to step back and rethink where you want to be. Being a new grad is overwhelming in and of itself, never mind supervising people that have been there since the beginning. Sometimes, it's ok to say I can't do this, where else may I be of benefit to this organization? Propose staying in a different position and show them your talents and you may be able to flourish from there! If you go to them with your thoughts of being overwhelmed, they may be able to offer you some help with time-management, etc.