aainme

i went to school in fla and right after i started nsg school my ex left and took all the money and closed the bank accts....they had a displaced homemaker program in fla and it payed for all my school and books and such..if not for that program i don't know what i would have done...but he left me 15,000 in debt and i payed that off in two years after graduation and i had enough to support myself and my daughter....just keep moving ahead....do what ever you have to do to graduate....the strong will survive:yeah:

I have signed up with an agency to do prn work in california from lousiana a week or two every month. I have talked to some other people that say i can go on staff in a northern california hospital and do self scheduling 12 to 16 hr shifts and this works also and the pay is higher.....I have no idea how this works....Any other nurses that have info for me please let me know......

we also just changed to navy uniforms...new CEO ...same old problems... short staffed...cutting hours....total upheavel....but we all are in uniform now....there are 6 shades of navy...we all never match the tops pants and coats.... we can't even wear white with the navy...just total navy blue....after the shift ends in the icu...we look like we have rolled in dirt......oh well....some things never change......it's always something:lol2:

having worked in a few places in the country, i have never been asked about my graduation from a community college....the only thing anyone ever asked for was my nursing license....when you have your RN the how and where is not important....i have met people that think graduation from an expensive school is prefered....that is just crazy, all nursing schools have a pass/fail ratio, if the nurses can't pass the nclex they will be forced to shut down the program.... good luck on your classes, we need lots of new nurses

This may sound crazy but for a year my foot was so painful ...i dragged around everywhere in pain....i started using muzino running shoes and i swear the day i started to wear the shoes my foot had no pain as long as i had the shoes on....after a few weeks of working and wearing the shoes my foot actually started to feel better even in regular shoes....i gave up my wonderful danskos(4 different colors,,,lol) and have invested in muzinos for work.... i did go to a specialty store and was fitted properly .......never had another pain

i think there are days when we have good patients and bad families and days with bad patients and good families..... and really bad.... is bad patient...bad family.....it is the days with good patient and good families that are so refreshing.....we had a patient in the icu that had a right necrotic stump after a bka.... three necrotic toes on the left....infected old dialysis femoral site...infected new site on the leg with the necrotic stump...she arrived with all this.....and the family was concerned with a small skin tear on the arm.....go figure:uhoh21:

nurse lou good luck on the job hunt....my manager decided after all the fuss to keep our new grad on days for a month to give her a bit of experience before putting her on nights....this is a dangerous world out there for nurses...we work so hard for our license and in one moment we can be in a crazy situation and lose everything we worked for.......

thanks for the input.....that was my suggestion...to keep her on days as a second nurse for a month when the manager was there so she could see her work and be there for a bad day, as a extra pair of hands...that is something we on nights do not have..i think the thing that scared me the most is that the manager saw no problem putting her on nights alone with one experienced nurse and thought that we on the night shift were making a big deal about nothing....go figure

in a 6 bed icu that usually has 4-6 patients.... we work 2 nurses most nights and can have the unit fill before morning...the manager has a new grad...just passed boards and wants to put her as a second nurse on nights...i am scared...and question the decision...i need input thanks

i spoke to ER yesterday....they would not agree to hold 2 patients if we filled up...so we would have to handle all 6 beds with the new grad if we were busy......i have to say last night was a night from $$#@... just what we are all afraid of....we had two patients to start.....both on vents...one coded earlier on m/s unit she was on levophed and having constant seizures.... bp 70-80's.... and looked terrible....the other patient was chillin on the vent...... then a new admit, 44 y/o male ....chest pain on tridil.......15 min after that admit, call from er........gi bleed.....drinker......vomiting blood and rectal bleed....gi md on the way to scope..... we were told we have to have patient transfered to icu and be ready to scope in 30 min.....and get and hang ffp before md arrives...... the other original patient who was chillin... bp 200/101...all at the same time.... we were running until 430 am and then had to bathe everyone....with two experienced nurses we had a hecktic night with only the 4 patients......please tell me how a new grad and i would have handled that?

That is something to think about....i know the ER would have a cow if we held patients...but....you are correct....6 patients is to dangerous even with 2 experienced nurses.....i am already looking for a new icu job....this may just be a reason to go elsewhere....work is abundant here...you don't have to except the unexceptable anymore....thanks for all the good advice....i am so grateful for this forum ......laura

i have to say that when the unit has 6 patients they staff us with three nurses...but....the problem is that when your shift starts at 7 pm and there are 4 patients in the unit and two nurses, anything can happen.....the codes on m/s, the direct admits from the other hospitals in the area with no icu and they come by ambulance crashing...... or just admits from the er.... once the shift starts there is no one to call in to help....there are times we have to bump out a patient to get in a more critical patient, that is when there are 6 patients and two nurses....it is these times we are crazy.....even with two nurses with plenty of experience the night can be more than you can handle....and we do the best we can in sometimes dangerous feeling situations...... we have had two people coding in the unit at the same time and the er dr at a code on m/s and the icu nurses had to run our own codes in two different rooms.....the whole thing is to scary.....i do feel that the new grad has no idea what could happen...only experience can show you that....i know these things don't come up every night....but we all know they do....and then what?

the first thing i did was express my concern to our manager....i also gave what i thought was an answer ...that she remain on days for few months as the second nurse where she would be able to get extra help from management while she was refining her skills.....i explained that we have no resources on nights to pull from if all %$#@ breaks loose....so.... i do feel i may need to change hospitals......the threat to my license looms over my head...

management decision on new grad permalink i just need some help with a management decision to place a new grad in our unit on the night shift.... we have a small unit only 6 beds...we usually work two nurses alone on the the night shift...we have been short handed and the manager hired a new grad right out of nursing school..... she has had a few months of orientation but failed her boards and had to work as a tech for 6 weeks until she could retest....she passed her boards a few weeks ago and will have three more weeks of orientation on days ...then she will work as the second nurse on the night shift with me......i have nothing personal against this new nurse....i am just uncomfortable working alone with a new grad in the icu....we have some very crazy nights there, as we are alone without the benifit of all the resources they have on days....( managers, extra resp people, techs).....to work with only two nurses we have to be very resourseful and be true team players to cope with some of the critical care patients that come in on the night shift....am i crazy to be so afraid? i think back on my first year of nursing and can see how difficult the transition was....i really learned how to be a nurse after i left school and worked on the floor....if this was a three person unit i would have no problem with this decision...that would be a good learning environment for her and there would be two experienced nurses to provide resource for her and care for the patients ...please help with advise....or your experiences, or just some new ideas for management.....thanks again

i just need some help with a management decision to place a new grad in our unit on the night shift.... we have a small unit only 6 beds...we usually work two nurses alone on the the night shift...we have been short handed and the manager hired a new grad right out of nursing school..... she has had a few months of orientation but failed her boards and had to work as a tech for 6 weeks until she could retest....she passed her boards a few weeks ago and will have three more weeks of orientation on days ...then she will work as the second nurse on the night shift with me......i have nothing personal against this new nurse....i am just uncomfortable working alone with a new grad in the icu....we have some very crazy nights there, as we are alone without the benifit of all the resources they have on days....( managers, extra resp people, techs).....to work with only two nurses we have to be very resourseful and be true team players to cope with some of the critical care patients that come in on the night shift....am i crazy to be so afraid? i think back on my first year of nursing and can see how difficult the transition was....i really learned how to be a nurse after i left school and worked on the floor....if this was a three person unit i would have no problem with this decision...that would be a good learning environment for her and there would be two experienced nurses to provide resource for her and care for the patients ...please help with advise....or your experiences, or just some new ideas for management.....thanks again