Laurel RN

In my opinion, I have seen nurses of all ages and experience who just "don't get it". I had a 50 yr old come up to the desk on an extremely busy day when no one had lunch and proclaim, "why is it i'm the only one who does any work around here?!" yet she is the one who is not able to get her work done, frequently causing her co-workers to pick up the slack. If you are not organized and efficient, you always feel overworked and overwhelmed. I think open and honest communication is important, whether it's a new nurse or an experienced one. It is much better to have an authority figure talk to you than to have co-workers feeling resentment behind your back. Feedback is a good thing, otherwise, how can we ever improve if we don't know what we need to work on?

Pre-sedation does help a lot, the kids do wake up calmer. We only pre-sedate kids having bigger/longer/more painful surgeries, like T&A (which hurt a ton!). Most dental procedures don't hurt as much (if there are no extractions) and they don't want the kids too sleepy afterwards so they can go home more quickly. Also, I've had grown adults wake up screaming, yelling, kicking, hitting, and biting - yes, biting. Usually it is emergence delirium and it passes when they are through that stage of anesthesia. Definitely not easy to deal with at the time, but fortunately, it passes.

Go on as many interviews as you can. You never know, one may offer you the job and one may not. Or you may find out things at the interviews that make it clear what to do. It's nice to have options!

An elderly gentleman had just had a cystoscopy and was being discharged to home. His wife was helping him dress. She's comes running to the desk yelling for me to come quick. I go rushing into the room thinking he's passed out or fallen over. He is standing in a puddle of urine. In a calm voice I say, "that's okay, it happens all the time, we'll just get you cleaned up." The wife says "No, you don't understand, after he went to the bathroom on the floor I thought he might not make it home to I think he might need one of those pads, like "Depends'." I say " we can certainly get one of those for him. It's not a problem" She says, "but you see, I didn't have one, so I thought I would just use a maxi pad and, well, you see... " and she couldn't go on. So I take a closer look at the gentleman and he has a maxi pad stuck to his crotch. She had taken the wrapper off and stuck it to him the wrong way! Needless to say he did not enjoy when I had to remove it! As if a cysto isn't bad enough.

He definitely should not have grabbed you. It depends on how you want to handle it. If you don't want to write him up, you could talk to your manager and ask her to handle it. But if you are really upset and want to make sure it gets addressed, then write him up. Yelling at you is bad enough, but grabbing you is uncalled for. You should definitely do something so that he starts to understand that this kind of behavior is unacceptable. Who knows, maybe he'll think twice before acting like this again!

We ask about things like working well together and handling conflict, dealing with pressure. We are usually just trying to get a sense of that person and how they would fit in our unit. Also, if you can be prepared with questions it would help. I interviewed at a couple different places and I asked about how well people got along. At this one place they told me that most people just stayed b/c of seniority and that there was tons of conflicts and most people were miserable. I couldn't believe how honest they were. Needless to say I did not accept that position. Good luck on your interview!

Post op heart patients putting on their call light to ask for another beer, "and bring one for my roommate." Bringing in the beer to find 2 middle aged men smoking and watching football. It seemed more like a family room than a hospital room. Actual doctor's orders that said "May have beer and smoke". On post op hearts. Crazy.

Thanks for your replies! That is a great idea, I think I will contact HR and see if they can give me some additional information, just to clarify. Thanks again.

I posted this in another thread, but at my hospital nurses work 12s and 8s. So shift change is at 7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm... and on and on. I work in PACU and the floor generally does not want to accept report an hour before or an hour after shift change, so from 6-8am, 10-12am, 2-4pm etc.. As you can see, this is next to impossible. Sometimes it is impossible to hold a patient until after shift change. We have no control over when patients hit the unit (as is also true in ER) and we may need the bed for another patient. In units like PACU and ER it is important to get patients turned over fast... there is always another patient waiting to be seen/ coming out of the OR. Sometimes as a new nurse it takes a while to increase your time management skills so that you can get out on time. There are unusual circumstances that can cause you to be late (like a code). But sometimes it takes a while to be able to plan your day so that if something hits at 6:15 you can manage it . Do you enjoy nursing? Do you like patient care? If so, give it some time to see if it gets better. If it is really hard on your schedule, and impossible with your family life, but you really enjoy it, maybe you could find some other aspect of nursing that you do like. (BTW, we can't "hold" a patient until shift change to get out of getting a new one. The patients come in and we take them, no matter what else is going on.)

I almost started a new heading for patients who try to get away with something... I had a patient the other day who pulled off the crown from her tooth and asked if I could get the hospital to pay for it. Now it had come off at home 4 times on its own. "I normally just pop it back on, But since it had happened in the hospital don't you think the hospital should pay for it? I really need a new one." Hey, okay, we'll just right you a blank check for any dental work you might need. Geez.

I took care of a patient in Recovery who was so glad when she woke up and she didn't know me. She had heard about that Recovery Room nurse who had killed her patient b/c the patient stole her boyfriend in high school. I asked my patient if she had ever stolen anybody's BF in high school and she said that she might have, but she didn't know what that girl was doing now or if she was a nurse. She was just so glad that I wasn't the girl from high school. She wasn't afraid of surgery or pain or anything else that might happen, just that her nurse might be some girl from her high school. Weird! She must have been really mean in high school to be so worried.

If an emergency comes up - you are lightheaded or your dad wrecks his car - you need to go to your charge nurse. That person can dismiss you and get your co-workers to cover for you. If you are unwell (heart problems) chances are they will send you to the E.R. if it is an emergency. I'm not sure where you would be that you would have no co-worker, but if so you would need to call your supervisor. Also, you will find which doctors are open to collaboration and which aren't. Some will do the exact opposite just b/c it was suggested by a nurse. But usually if you are open to learn they are willing to teach why they are going a certain way or another, depending on how you approach the situation.

I felt like you did when I was in nursing school. I worked in a step down, then ICU, then PACU. I eventually left nursing b/c I still had that dissatisfied feeling. I found myself back in nursing after 10 years b/c of life circumstances, and I am amazingly surprised at how much I'm enjoying it this time. Also, my time in nursing has opened sooooo many doors for me. It has caused me to mature in many ways. I've learned compassion and strength and other skills I would not otherwise have. You may find you are better able to deal with stress over time. Nursing school is just a glimpse into what nursing life is like. School is stressful, not knowing what you're doing is stressful, no matter what field. There are a million different ways you can go once you have your degree, in nursing or out. Good luck

Hospitals do staffing differently, even floor to floor. Ask on your interview how they do staffing. In my area we do self scheduling. But I've worked in areas where the manager made out the schedule and where I had a set schedule that rotated every couple of weeks. In many places per diem means you sign up to work and if they need you - you work, if you don't - you get cancelled. It's good b/c you decide when you can work, but there is no guarantee they will need you (most places are pretty busy and will almost always need you). Also, most places will try to work with your school schedule so you will be inclined to accept a position with them when you graduate.

I know your worried but she should be okay. Getting out of bed should not cause her to hemorrhage. It is actually good for her to move around some, to get her blood flowing, prevent blood clots, pneumonia, etc. I know when it's your own family everything you've ever learned goes right out the window. But just be there for her in whatever way she needs you to be there for her. Her strength is a good thing, it will help her get through this. But knowing she has people like you supporting her may be what helps her be so strong. Good luck to both of you.