edisongirl25

My mom says I started talking about being an L&D nurse when I was 4....though I didn't call it that. I just wanted to help deliver babies. As I grew up, I bounced around with what I wanted to do, but always went back to L&D RN. When I was in high school, I participated in a health careers camp that took us on a tour of a labor unit and I fell totally head over hills in love. Several years and 2 kids later, I entered nursing school with the plan to work on an L&D unit right out of school....med/surg just wasnt interesting to me. Unfortunately, it's not always easy b/c nurses who love L&D really really love it and don't leave. I needed to work, but there were no openings, so I applied to a med/surg unit. I didn't get the opportunity to follow my dream until 3 years after I obtained my RN license....just a couple of months ago. I can't even put it into words how it is for me after all these years. Don't get me wrong...things are tough.....they can change in a millisecond and when things in L&D go bad, they go REAL bad really quick....but I love it! It's a lot of work and a whole lot of charting and sometimes I don't get to eat....but I love every minute of it.

We have this one resident that thinks he's God in a white coat. The first run in I had with him we had a 24 y.o female postop pt who was tachy in the 140-150 but her pressures were barely 100-110/50-60 so there wasn't a whole lot I could give her. The doctor came and wrote to start Labetalol 200mg PO BID first now AND Metoprolol 5mg Q2H...just like that...no route....I called him and said I knew he meant IV, but I needed a verbal for it and was he sure he wanted me to give it scheduled or could I make it PRN b/c if I gave her the PO Labetalol and gave her IV Lopressor Q2, she'd bottom out....he said..."uh, your right, lets make it PRN." DUH!! Third time, another hospital to hospital transfer arrived so I called to tell him the pt was there. He said, "ok, we need a cbc, bmp, mg, phos, NGT, blah blah blah. I politely told him that he needed to come assess the pt and write the orders and I'd do all the above. He said "can't you just take a verbal?" NO, you LAZY A$$, not for admission orders! Next run in, we rec'd a pt from an outside hospital with a Groshong catheter the day before my shift. He was on TPN and when I went in to check him beginning of shift, his TPN was leaking all over from the site. I got a flush and flushed it and as you pushed it, you could see it leak from the site, so I stopped the TPN and the leak stopped. I called the same guy and told him I needed a CXR...he said "I don't see why you think you need a CXR, take a verbal for TPA, he obviously has a clot" I told him that if there was a clot, I wouldn't be able to push anything through, but I could, it was just leaking at the site and that I wanted the CXR to verify placement. He got an attitude and repeated that he didn't see why I thought I needed one....then said fine, I'll come check the pt....2 HOURS later, he showed and said that maybe it just needed another stitch to secure it, but he looked at my expression and said he'd get me the CXR....and you know what.....catheter was only in 2 INCHES. I wanted to smack him. He pulled it. Later I was wondering out loud why the pt didn't notice that it was much longer than usual...he'd had it for several days....and this jerk had the audacity to tell me he shouldn't have to, that we were in the hospital and we should have known! WTH....what was I supposed to compare it to, I'd just met the guy. Later in conversation I was talking to one of the nice residents and come to find out, this guy was a surgeon in Ireland and came to the States a few years ago and he's been an INTERN for 3 years. Get a new attitude and maybe someone will pick you up.

My aunt has had 4 different types of cancer since I was a child. Once her platelets were 2. Just 2. A cousin of mine was admitted to ICU last month b/c he fell at home and broke his leg. His b/p was 50/30...he was in septic shock, acute renal failure, liver failure (long ETOH hx), tib/fib fx, acidosis, and pneumonia. He was on a vent for 2 weeks. Turns out that breaking his leg saved his life. He's doing better now.

In the accident that killed my uncle and cousin on Thursday, there was a 3 year old boy that was ejected from the vehicle as it rolled. He was later found under the SUV...alive. He's still in the hospital, but he's alive...he's very lucky. Supposedly, he was buckled in, but it's unclear if he was buckled into a safety seat. Florida is a click it or ticket state, but sometimes it's not enforced enough. I've always been anal about seatbelts and car seats for babies and young children. My kids are 5 and almost 8 and still sit in booster seats. My daughter will be 8 on the 27th, but she's only about 53lbs....nowhere near the recommended 80lbs for seat belts.

I'm not in the ER, but I wear my seatbelt everytime I get in my car. I don't have much choice b/c my car has an alarm, but I wear it in other people's cars too. My uncle and cousin lost their lives on Thursday in a car accident because they weren't wearing their seatbelts. They save lives.

Thank you. That is how I felt. I couldn't think at all. I'd go to do things then not remember what I was doing or what I needed to do next. It was terrible and I felt so incompetent. That was the breaking point and that was when I went to the charge nurse. I wasn't any good to anyone...myself, the staff, or the patients. I just wish there was a way to fix it.

Thanks. I thought work would help, but last night, it wasn't enough. Maybe by Monday, I'll be ok....idk.

Ok, I need help. I am an RN on a busy GI/Vasc/GYN/Oral etc surgery floor. Last week, one of my cousins (my dad's first cousin) was admitted to the ICU at the hospital across the street. He fell at home and broke his leg and when they took him to the ER, his BP was 50/30. It was discovered that he was in septic shock, liver failure (long alcohol history), renal failure, acidosis and he has pneumonia...in addition to his new tib/fib fx, which ultimately saved his life. He's been on a vent since last Saturday. Tuesday, he was coming out of renal failure b/c he'd been dehydrated and they'd given him fluids, but was now in right sided CHF. Of course with all this going on, we had family coming down to see him. Thursday, my uncle rode down to pick up another cousin that had been sitting with him during the day. On their way back to Tallahassee, their tire blew out and they flipped and both died at the scene. Now, I wasn't really close with them, they've lived pretty far away my whole life, but they are still my family. I've never seen my dad cry and I've seen him cry twice this week..once when the one was doing so bad in the hospital and then when he called me to tell me about the accident. I was supposed to work Thur night, but I got the call just before I usually get ready and couldn't think, let alone work. I tried to go in last night, but I just wasn't able to keep up. We have 6 patients on our floor, and I was falling further and further behind. I felt off and one of the clerks told me that my cheeks were bright red. I eventually made it to the breaking point and I pulled my charge nurse aside and asked her about staffing. At 11pm, we have some senior nurses who have 8 hour shifts that come in. She left and came back...and said that I could go home at 11, that someone else was going to go, but that he'd stay. I did go home, but I feel so guilty. It's not immediate family, so it doesn't qualify for the bereavement leave, and I hate calling in.....I don't know why this is bothering me so much. My uncle had 5 kids and in the last 6 years we've lost 4 of them, him, and one of his grandchildren....that's 6 in 6 years. I don't know if it's the fact that so much is happening right here before Christmas or if it's the effect it's having on the rest of my family...I just don't know....I just feel off and don't know how to fix it. I have to go back to work Monday...how can I shake this?

Stretch marks aren't anything to worry about. My abdomen looks like freddy kruger tore it up. I know it's not going to help, but don't worry so much about them.

This is me. I've always seen female midwives or female MD's. I'm very modest also, and I'm just not comfortable with male nurses or doctors for OB/GYN related issues. I'm barely comfortable with females and didn't have anybody in the delivery room for the births of my children except there father.

I agree with this. I had the opportunity to go back the the unit where I was a tech, but I felt that the other nurses wouldn't be able to seperate my roles there and always see me as the tech. I think you made the right decision.

:chuckle:chuckle:chuckle:chuckleThat is funny. I imagine coming up to number 18 next month, she'd be an expert by now. At least she should know by now what causes that. I was asked that when I was preggo with baby number 2.....I wonder if someone has asked her each and every pregnancy.

Here in FL, the start rate for new nurses is about $21/hr..give or take a dollar. It goes up with experience of course. There are a couple of cities that pay a lot less, but 21 is the majority. At the hospital where I work, the shift diff starts at about $3.00 for week evenings and goes up to $7.75 more for night weekends. We get 7.2 hours paid for 10 holidays a year regardless if you work it or not. There is no limit to how many PTO hours we can accumulate and the insurance benefits are great. As for things being cheaper down south...it depends on how far south you go. GA, TN, SC, NC...yes. FL...no. Since the weather is "nice" (I don't think so, it's too hot) and the snowbirds come during the winter and retire here....and the theme parks in central FL, its not as cheap as people think. Some places aren't as bad as others, but the cost of living compared to wages is terrible.

It takes awhile to adjust. Unitl it gets easier, I would avoid the one on, one off, one on....you never really adjust to any schedule and you will feel exhausted. I too prefer mine 3 in a row, and the night before the first, I'll stay up until about 3 or 4 so that I can sleep all day before my shift. Then when I get home, I shower and sleep.

I would just do the CNA course. If you get hired at a facility that allows you to draw blood (mine did), they will have a 2-3 day skills course that incorporates this into it....but you will be a PCA/PCT, which basically is a CNA with more responsibilities...Good Luck!!