AlisonBSN

Some people in my graduating class did that. I think it's a great idea. You'll have more of an idea what you want to do and where you want to go when you graduate. Good luck!!

I'm the OP again (if you didn't notice my name) When I left I cleaned up all the stuff, and the guy that ended up helping me told me which stuff I could throw away and which ones needed to be taken to sterile processing, then I took the chart and took the patient back up to the room. We were there for maybe 20 minutes. The fact that the attending physician is a very well known Pulmonologist around here may have had something to do with it...He's known for yelling and pitching a fit and has been practicing at our hospital since the late 60s I think. I also think he didn't know that we don't send patients down to the ER anymore. Another reason that I just thought of that might half-way excuse their nastiness is that my preceptor may have been nasty to them. I wasn't there when the call was made to the ER, but I did suggest that we call as a courtesy to let them know that we're coming. I assumed that we would stay with the patient from the beginning, but when I came back to the nurses station my preceptor was like, "They said we have to stay with him the WHOLE time!" I was thinking...Well yeah! He's not an ER patient. Everybody just had their heads up their butts that night I guess. I'm sure it was one of those full moon nights for everyone, but without the full moon. I definitely learned something from all of this. If I were alone I would have called the supervisor, or either told the doctor what the deal was. But I'll also assert myself more with the ER nurses, because they could have helped me more considering they weren't in the middle of anything. I'm still new so I don't know what the norms are, but I'm learning! Thanks guys.

Thanks for all of your responses. The doc said to take the patient down to the "treatment room" in the ER. So I went bouncing down there asking for the treatment room, and they just put me in a regular room. I found out later that there is no treatment room. They said later on that stuff like that used to happen all the time, where the ER nurses would have to take that patient from upstairs for such consults, but now they make the floor nurse stay. I understand that...he's my patient whether he's in a different location for 30 minutes or not. I guess they were defensive because they expected an argument from me about it, but they had already said on the phone that they aren't responsible for him, and that one of us would have to stay the whole time. And I understand how people can seem snappy in critical situations, but there wasn't one going on right then. It looked pretty slow to me. There were a few of them talking at the nurses station, and they were the ones that I asked for the stuff. It was a male nurse that came in on the day shift that wound up making like 7 trips for me for every time the doc asked for something that wasn't on his first list. I sent him a Smart Service award too because it was very much appreciated. He didn't make me feel like I was being a pain in the butt, although I'm sure I was. Before I left the floor, our nurse manager happened to call to ask about the fire and everything, and we told her what was going on so my NM and my preceptor decided to send me down with him, and have my preceptor stay with the other 5. It would have been the other way around if I would have known what I was getting into. I just thought I was going to be "babysitting" more or less...like hooking up his O2 and getting him out of the wheelchair onto the table while the doc did his thing. I didn't know I'd be assisting in a minor procedure. I guess if I was on my own, and didn't have the luxury of a preceptor, I would have called the nursing supervisor, or I would have left the other patients with the other floor nurses to watch while I was gone but the other patients had junk going on as well. When I told the nurses down there that I was new, it was to excuse myself from not knowing where things were, but now that I think about it, I still wouldn't have known where all of that stuff was if I had been doing MedSurg for years, because it's in the ER. Someone said that I put them in an awkward position by telling them I was new, but I assured them that I was capable of drawing up lidocaine if they just showed me where the needles were. I guess it still freaked them out a little, but he wasn't their responsibility anyways, right? So what did it matter if I was new? Again, thanks for your responses and understanding.

I'm a brand new RN on a MedSurg floor. I had a patient last night that had an awful nose bleed around 5am. The doc consulted an ear, nose and throat doc to come in since the bleeding would not stop. The only thing was that I had to take him down to the ER, and that doc would meet us there at a certain time. I guess the doc wanted us down there instead of him coming up to our floor because of the equipment...? I guess that's a common thing. So I call the ER to let them know what my ENT doc said, and they said that I have to stay with him the whole time since he's my patient...and I can understand that too I guess. Anyways, I had to leave my other 5 patients upstairs with my preceptor, and she would give report to the day shift since all this happened right at shift change. (I don't know who I would have left them with if this happened a week from now when I'm off orientation...I guess the house supervisor since we don't have a separate charge nurse or anything.) I wheel the man down to the ER about 5 minutes before the doc is supposed to be there, and I'm directed into Room 6 where I try to get him set up as best as I know how. Well...the little O2 "Christmas Tree" thing wouldn't come off of the metal part so that I could hook up his humidified O2...so I go out to one of the two or three nurses at the nurses station and say "I'm sorry...Can you come here for a sec?" Actually...before that, I asked where they kept the water bottles for the humidified O2. Anyways...somehow it led to them telling me a bunch of orders that the ENT doc had called up there with, part of those orders were to draw up some lidocaine, and gather up a bunch of equipment/supplies/stuff that I had never heard of. (And they didn't tell me any of that until I came out of the room to ask about the O2...but that's sort of irrelevant.) So when they tell me to get those things, I say "I might need some help with all of that, I'm a new grad and never heard of some of that." After I said that, one of them starts going on about how they're not responsible for him, and that I'm going to have to chart on him...as if they haven't already established that. I wasn't really asking for patient care help, just a point to the right supply room. (And some of you may be thinking that I wanted someone to hold my hand, but believe me, the last thing I wanted was to ask any of them for help, because I could tell that they weren't pleased with the fact that me and my patient were there in the first place. Heck...I didn't want to be there either, but that was the doctor's arrangement, not ours.) I don't remember what was said after that but I just go back in the room and try to draw up the lidocaine that I now noticed had been set out on a tray...but there were no needles to draw it up with. So I go out again, and I ask where the needles were. I walk over to the place where they're getting the needles from (so that they won't have to walk all the way back to me...I'm trying to please these people). So I'm trying to make small talk and I comment on how crazy the night was upstairs with the FIRE and all...lol. (Yes...we got 7 transfers at once because something caught on fire on another floor...then there was a crazy guy wandering the halls where the fire started.) Anyways...that nurse starts on how much more horrible her night was with a lady in cardiac arrest, and this guy and that...But she was doing it in a way where she just kept talking about it...Like in a "put me in my place" kind of way. So I was like..."Yeah I know, it's the ER, I'm sure it was bad." Luckily, the doc put up with me not being fast at handing him what he asked for, and I found a nurse that I kinda know that helped me find the things I needed. I just want to know if you all think they were snotty, or did I do something that was rude or aggravating? I mean...is that just our ER, or is that a typical ER? I'd like to work in the ER one day, or ICU, after I get a year or so of MedSurg, but if it's that bad where it makes you that rude to people then I'm not sure. I did a couple of hours in the ER before, but I was just doing IV sticks and the nurses kinda seemed the same way...Just unwelcoming and unfriendly. Not that I expect a big hug or anything, but geez. And I know they're busy, but we are too and our MedSurg nurses aren't that unfriendly. I understand people don't have time to hold your hand, but everything they said was defensive. They'd squint at me when I'd ask something, then in their response they'd look away with raised eyebrows and kinda shake their heads quickly while talking. You know the look. lol

I can't find any for oncology. I think I might be transferring off of my MedSurg floor, and they mentioned this oncology floor on another campus. I guess oncology experience would still be similar to MedSurg experience, right? The reason I would NOT think so is because the floor I come from is a MedSurg/oncology floor, and they said this other oncology floor is different, like there are no techs so it's total care, but you have a 4 patient maximum with walkie talkie patients. I'm a new grad, by the way. So if I did a year or two on that oncology floor, would mean that the only travel positions I'd be qualified for are oncology? And if so...then are there any oncology travel nurses out there?

There's a reason why people say not to leave your things lying around...because it might get stolen. Nobody's happy that it happened, but when you leave your things lying around someone that requires supervision in the first place, you can expect that they'll do something wrong when not being supervised. It was a stupid thing to do on her part, and I do things like that all the time, so I do understand how that sucks for her...but then again, why be dramatic about it and call the nurse in there to show that you're crying. I'd be crying too...to myself...about how stupid I am. To the OP, I would have been aggravated too if I was called in there to see just how much of a girl she was being about it. Big fat waste of valuable time. Especially from a co-worker...she should know better than to leave her crap alone with the type of person who requires a sitter, and to not bother people about it afterwards...ESPECIALLY when it's been determined that nothing further can be done about it. At that point it's just pointless blubbering.

If so, what do you chart?

I think 75% of PEOPLE come from dysfunctional families. We're all a little dysfunctional though.

Someone asked what my preceptor was doing... She knew I was behind, and knew I still hadn't had lunch at 2pm when the cafeteria closes. She said she would like to help me but she can't do that because I need to learn how to catch myself up when I get behind. I understand the rationale, but I was super behind...like unsafe behind. Giving insulin for high blood sugars waaay after I was told what the blood sugars were. It felt like hours would pass in a matter of minutes, and before I knew it, I was 30 minutes late hanging Vancomycin, then I realized that I needed a vanco valley first, so that pushed it back even further. Sometimes she'll be talking to someone at the nurses station, and I'll have to say her name a few times before she comes to answer my question about charting...or a med that's different or whatever. I feel like I should be the priority, but that's how another orientee on my unit felt about another preceptor. She said it's like you have to wait until they finish telling their story or joke before answering your question...which wastes a good 30 seconds to a minute...which adds up when I ask 100 questions a day. Sometimes I just "wing it," which is scary and wastes time when I have to redo whatever I just did. Someone else said that you wait until 10am to call docs for lab results? I always call first thing in the AM...I just thought you'd get yelled at if you didn't. I guess it depends on how critical the value is. I always call when the potassium is off, even one number out of range. That would help out if I didn't have to stop and call the doc, then fax crap to the pharmacy first thing in the morning for messed up labs. Another thing I just thought of is that my preceptor lets me make my own decisions about things...but I think it's too early for that. I guess she's trying to make me think independently, but I haven't developed a foundation to think independently...so then I do something wrong, and I waste time having to go back and fix it. It seems like if I kept less patients all day, that I could spend time learning more about their condition and how to chart the not-so-common things. I know nurses like to have the same patients again, but it would be a better learning experience for me if I had three different patients each day to see a variety of medications, conditions, and things to chart. Like I said in the original post, it's like I'm just trying to learn time management at this point. I'm really not 100% sure that time management is my problem...I just get hung up on the stuff that I don't know...then I have to come out of the room, find my preceptor, say her name 5 times, click my heels 3 times, spin around, then say her name one more time, and all that is just exhausting!

I'm a new RN and I'm in my 6th week of orientation on a MedSurg floor. I'm orienting on days, then I'll be going to nights next week for a few more weeks, then I'm on my own. It's been kinda hard for me. I've been staying over til like 9pm every day, and I get there at 6 or 6:10 every morning to get my stuff together, look up labs, and eat so that I can get out of report ASAP to be first at the pyxis, etc. I know I'm new, so it's expected that I'll be behind, but THAT far behind?..so that I don't get to eat lunch and I'm charting Assessments at night? I try to do all the little time management things that people tell me, but I don't know. And if somebody's going for an EGD or something else that's out of the normal "assess and pass meds" routine, and I have to do a pre-procedure checklist, or something of that nature, then I don't know where I should fit that in. I don't want to save it for after meds and assessments because...what if they come earlier than they say they will? ...Like they do sometimes. And I don't want to do the checklist before passing meds because I find myself already passing meds super late because there's never just one patient going for one procedure. I also have a hard time remembering which patient is going to what procedure and when. Or like if I have two transfers, one to Rehab and one to Transitional Care, it involves faxing different things to different places and etc. Another thing that slows me down is when the meds I need are not in the pyxis, so I have to make a list of the ones I don't have, while pulling the ones that I need, then calling the pharmacy and hoping that they'll send the meds without me having to call them again. I guess I'm wondering if every place is like this. Is this what I'll get used to one day? I feel like I would do better with sicker patients, but less of them...and possibly even have them sedated...lol. So that I could learn the right way to do things and be more involved with patient care, and be safe. It just seems like I'm not learning anything but time management. Seems kinda backwards. By the way, I'm taking 5 patients now. I took 6 once, but that was on a Sunday so it was a little slower...but I was still behind. And I gave Lovenox in the arm. I thought you could give it wherever there was fat, like insulin. I want to learn the right ways to do things and not run around crazy. Is that just not going to happen in nursing? Do I just need to suck it up and try to try harder?

Some CNAs will say that even if you aren't new...You're gonna hear so much passive aggressive crap like that. You learn to laugh at it. That phrase is probably heard in hospitals all over the country. "We work together around here..." That was actually said to me when I started as a PCT. One of the other PCTs training me said to not let the nurses work you to death because "we're supposed to work together around here." I'm actually having this problem now. I'm a brand new RN working on the floor where I worked as a PCT for a year, and it's very difficult for me to delegate things to the other techs. I just remember working as a PCT and having a nurse walk out of a room from a patient who asked to be taken to the bathroom or put on a bed pan and thinking: You were just there! Now I get it...It's a lot easier to get behind as a nurse, and a lot harder to recover from especially when a lot of nursing tasks have to be done by a certain time. I still know how the PCTs think, and I don't want to be "that nurse." I know that I'm not the type to overwork the techs, so I really hate it when I'm questioned about the things that I do ask them to do. Like..."why can't the patient do that himself??" I feel like saying..."I don't know, get him to do it himself if he can, but if he can't, then help him...Either way, make it not my problem!" But I would never say that. I just end up doing it myself. :trout: Sometimes I feel like it takes longer to find the PCT to ask them to do all the little time consuming things...so that's my excuse for doing them myself, but really - it's just because I don't feel comfortable asserting myself. And I wonder what the patient will think if I say: Hold on, let me get someone to do that for you. So...The CNS on the floor is sending me to a delegating class because I'm doing the job of two people. Close to it, anyways.

Do any of you have two Bachelors degrees, one being non-healthcare related? If so, which was harder for you?

I just don't think the whole family story is relevant. Neither is my belief that the daughter is a loser. I will say that the hospital knows this family, she's a frequent flyer and related to some of our staff. I have a pretty clear picture of things, but that's all irrelevant. All I'm saying is that the hospital staff is listening to the daughter and not the patient, because the squeakiest wheel gets the grease...and that is wrong. I see it all the time. He who raises the most hell gets what he wants. I know I'm young and inexperienced, that's why I started this thread. Don't lecture me on being judgmental. I call them like I see them. I still treated them with respect. I guess you showed me with your bold typing. I needed a good talkin' to. Really. :monkeydance: Settle down, ladies. Just enjoy the monkey.

And I wasn't shaking my finger at you, Suesquatch. That was my personal rant about her putting Iodosorb on the sacral wound, and Dakins on the feet even after we told her it's the other way around. I should have been more clear, I apologize.

The patient has MS and receives a check. She was alert and oriented, it was her decision. I felt sorry for the granddaughter because her mother has made a living from caring for her mother and has become dependent on that money, instead of developing the necessary job skills to make it in the real world when her mother passes away. It's a lose/lose situation, but our responsibility was the best interest of the patient. Sending her back home doesn't seem like the best thing, but it gets her out of the hospital, which makes the chiefs happy.