BeHappy!

Here's the story of what happened to me this past Thursday. I work in a Pediatrician's office. I was reaching for a notebook that we pull out of a bookcase hung on the wall at least 5-6 times a day and the whole thing came out of the wall and came crashing down on top of me. It cut my hands, hurt my arm and hit me in the back of the head. I was holding my head and crying with the mess from the bookcase all around me. The Dr. I work with ran in and said "oh thank goodness it wasn't a patient!" and then had the nerve to ask me if a book hit me in the head. I told her "no, the book hit the floor the bookcase hit my head and my head hurts." She told me to take a tylenol. I told her I was leaving and going to employee health. My manager told me she thought I should go as well, being a bit more compassionate than the MD. The bookcase mind you is about 5 1/2 ft tall and about 5 ft in width full of stuff along with things stacked on top of it as well. I checked the wall to see what happened and the four large screws in the back had not been anchored into a beam or with the plastic anchors. There were also multiple holes in the wall where there had been numerous attempts to hang it. I went to employee health and the nurse checked me out. I have a contusion on the back of my head as well as bruising on my lower back and a sore right arm. The nurse told me to come back in the morning when the employee health MD is there. I saw the MD that works with employee health the next morning and he told me to ice my back and my head and if it's still bothering come back monday morning. The MD also requested a safety inspector go out to the office immediately to check for potential problems. I'm feeling better than yesterday but I'm still light headed and Ibuprofen isn't helping my head much. I may not even get paid for the time I had to take off because of something that wasn't my fault. The hospital said under state law you have to be out 21 days and even then they would only cover the first seven days. Then I was told it would have to come out of my PTO which I don't have enough of since I'm new. A nurse in employee health thought I should talk to my manager since it's ultimately up to her if I get paid or not. I talked to my manager on the phone and she said "I know nothing about that I'll have to talk with (MD in the office.)" I would hope they would if they care at all. I'm feeling irritated with the whole situation and how it was handled at my office. Just needed to vent a bit. Any advice on how to handle this situation?

Ha! :chuckle :chuckle :chuckle

Wow, that's a really poor way to enter the nursing profession. To help someone who may not be able to help themselves is what nursing is all about.

Rocephin IM, Ouch! Kids don't like that much, so many tears!

OK folks...bottom line, GREAT NEED for RN's. The need is so large many healthcare provider's chose not to hire only BSN's as opposed to ADN's because they are so short staffed. Also, many nurses are second career nurses and have a Bachelor's in another degree, they also have done the research part of a degree. Shouldn't they also receive the same pay as a BSN? Many grey areas. Added note: Interviewed nursing staff in a previous hospital and city wher I lived....most of the nurses preferred working with /hiring the ADN students/RN's over BSN's simply because they had more clinical experience and were critical thinkers. I thought that was interesting as I thought it would be the opposite considering the added schooling and research etc that BSN students must do. Hmmm.

Ha! Doubtful.

I wouldn't worry about finding another job. Most nurses have been through this and know it's about finding the right fit for you. Look into other avenues of nursing and make sure in your next interview not to tell them you don't like a fast paced environment. Anything new is going to be challenging so don't be too hard on yourself.

You do sound unhappy thus far, maybe you should take some time off to think about some things. Take your time. Don't try to lose one identity and pick up another too quickly. I would suggest to look into other avenues of nursing before pursuing something else too hastily. :smilecoffeecup:

I do agree there needs to be some middle ground...but, there are also RN's out there that have previous Bachelor's degrees in another field. Bachelor's = research is what I have been told by professors which divides ADN and BSN RN's. So that being said...research is done by other non-nursing bachelor's degree as well. If they are going to compensate the BSN's with higher pay than they should do the same for RN's with a Bachelor's in anotehr field.

Thank you so much! That is very much what I'm looking for. Tricks of the trade . One question..what do you tell the kids the shot blocker is for...how do you explain it? Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out! I like the "I see dancing needles in my sleep." Ha! :chuckle

Yipee! Good Job! Congrats!!!

Well, when I graduated nursing school, two of my friends both ended at the 75th question. One passed, one failed...so who knows...don't stress it too much. Go do something fun after all that hard work! I'm sure you did great!

I would definitely say something. She needs to practicing medicine safely. Never should you go from an infected eye into an uninfected eye. She probably felt silly when told to stop and her pride got in the way, not good. I would talk to your regular physician and tell him of your concerns.

It seems that people always like to feel they are doing "more" than others as some sort of validation for themselves. Nurses tend to eat their own kind if you know what I mean. I have worked in the hospital as well as an office. The hours and physical demands of bedside care are exhausting. However, the office is very fast paced, lots of paperwork as well as phone triage, patient care. The office nurse also must educate the patient to make sure they don't end up in the hospital. ADN and BSN nurses should be compensated the same because they are both entry level positions. Associate degree nurses generally have more clinical time in school whereas bachelor's degree nurses have more research time. :smilecoffeecup: