mycatmax

hello all!! i have been a cardiac nurse for 2 years. i went into this immediately after graduating nursing school. i also began to work on my bsn immediately after i earned my associate degree. tonight is my very last bsn class and i am graduating with a 4.0 :) (just had to throw that in) last week, i accepted a full time position as an rn in a long term care psych facility. i believe most of the consumers are coming from state hospitals which have closed down in the last year. i believe our goal is to use a holistic approach in helping them to meet goals. the reason why i am writing this thread is because i am concerned about therapeutic communication techniques. i feel that i would be perfectly capable, but i must learn them first. i realize that someone without training or knowledge in this area could actually harm patients and that is the last thing i want to do. i think that i desperately need help in this area in order to keep patients safe and be an effective nurse. i do not believe there will be any experienced pysch nurses to mentor me, because this is a new 14 bed facility, and i believe staff consists of 1 rn each shift with additional techs. the other rn that works there is only a few months into psych herself. the main thing i am concerned with is therapeutic communication, assertiveness... etc. although there is probably a whole lot more i could be concerned about.... i guess i was wondering if any of you knew of a book on therapeutic communication. i wouldn't have the patience to read a long drawn out book. i would be excited to read it if there were short stories/case studies which described a situation, the interventions, and the therapeutic communication techniques in detail. does anyone know of such a book?

Thanks:) this is the very first post I chose to read on this forum. It makes me feel more comfortable and happy to read and learn.

I was a brand new nurse still on orientation. Was taking care of a guy who had a lobectomy d/t lung ca. I work on a step down unit. This guy was obviously affected by icu psychosis. He was completely nuts and wanted to take his CHEST TUBE out and go home. He thought his bed was a car, thought there was bugs on the wall, crazy crazy crazy stuff. But I about crapped my pants when he grabbed his chest tube and tried yanking it out... Then, while in nursing school doing my L&D rotation, I was helping to care for a woman giving going into labor. She was nice up until the transition phase (is that what it's called?). She was 9cm and wanted to leave. She threw her phone and wanted to get dressed and leave! Leave at 9cm....

Last week I was assigned a patient that I was not qualified to care for. The supervisor said that I HAD to take this patient so that I may get the training even after I protested very strongly. He said that the other nurse on the floor would be there to help, as would auxiliary staff. This is were I had the problem: the other nurse had very little experience with this type of patient and could not even answer my questions correctly and It was a ventilated patient. I have never taken care of a ventilator. At 11pm that night when I began my shift and was told that I HAD to take this patient, I did not even know how to suction a vent. However, the supervisor tends to think that I was in a safe situation (As was the patient) and that I needed the training, so this scenario was mandatory. However, I feel that patient safety was compromised. I am angry that he did not listen to me when I said, I HAVE NEVER TAKEN CARE OF A VENT BEFORE. And I am angry that he thought it would be okay to assign me this patient and have an inexperienced nurse to "oversee". I would just like some of your input. Thank you, Jill

That is quite disgusting!

Had a guy who was just getting over a sm bowel obstruction. He was on complete best rest. He had to move his bowels so i put him on the bed pan. Couple minutes later I go into his room to clean him up. His poop looked like a think soft slimey gray snake.. and stunk SO FLIPPEN bad. I was emptying in in the toilet and I threw up right on top of it. I just wonder how long that poop was in his instestines before he was able to pass it. It was the NASTIEST thing I have ever encountered. I still get the dry heaves just thinking about it.

Recently I worked in an area of of the hospital that I do not normally work in. A couple of the nurses were nasty. No reason to be that way, just catty. I just don't understand what is inside these people to prompt them to act that way. I can't imagine being nasty to someone for minor minor reasons. Did you ever meet someone and you know right off the bat that you want to steer clear of them; it's like you can tell they are a trouble maker, liar, just a nasty attitude all over... I just don't understand why people feel the need to act that way. It just amazes me. I thought this was highschool bs, apparently it continues way into womanhood. How immature. What is it inside those nasty coworkers that makes them that way? I truly do not understand.

One year in and I just do NOT want to do it anymore. I went to PRN status because I just did not want to be full time anymore. I have 8 more months and my BSN will be complete. My fiance and I plan on marrying at the end of this year and we want children. I have to work, but I just pretty much hate bedside and I do not know what I can do. I love the people and the problems that need to be solved, but there is just something else that makes me hate bedside and I am not sure that I can pin point it. Maybe it is the confused patients who try to get out of bed but can't walk... sends my anxiety level through the roof. Or maybe it's the guy with a chest tube and wants to pull it out so he can "go catch the bus"... he's crazy.. the anesthesia got to him. I just can't take it. Last night i had a 68 year old lady who could not keep her hands off the call bell. I undestand it was probably because she was anxious about being hospitalized, but I could NOT get my work done... I was ready to poke myself in the eye with my pen. She just kept calling for no reasons. It was so terrible. I plan on going to grad school in fall of 09, but I am not sure what for. I guess my question to all of you is... what else can I do besides bedside? Any ideas? What might I want to do my grad work in? I almost feel hopeless and I question sometimes whether I should have done this:(

I have been a RN for almost a year now. Work on a fast paced telemetry step down unit. I work (3) 7p-7a shifts a week, but also go to school (RN-BSN program). I used to love my job, but for the last few months I have hated it. I dread going in. I call my mom everyday in the parking lot and whine about how much I do not want to go in. I think it is mostly because of the scheduling and because the weather is starting to become beautiful in my area and the midnight shifts are causing some depression. I am looking for another job. I almost want to just put a two week notice in before I have even found a new job. I am so sick of it. Guess I just needed to vent about it. Thanks for reading:)

I too work nights, and what you said is very true!

Currently, I work on a telemetry step down unit. I work 3 12h shifts each week, midnight shift, and I work every other weekend. I am ready for some structure. I would love to work straight monday through friday, 8 hour days with weekends off. I have NO idea where I would look for such a job. I could only think of a doctor's office. Can you think of any others? Also, this is my first "professional" career. How do I apply? Do I just put together a resume and submit it to the company?

New 7 month old nurse here. Kind of embarrassed to ask this question. Is there a difference between lungs sounding "decreased" or "diminished"? I always assumed they meant the same thing. They do, right?

I am a new nurse too- 6 months in. Last night I worked on out telemetry overflow with another nurse who had 27 years experience. She wasn't very friendly at first, but since it was only the two of us working together, she started to open up to me after a few hours. She said, (FROM HER HEART) that she hated nursing. She hated taking care of patients. I told her that I thought that was sad. I told her that she should try to find another field and renew her passion, but she just laughed. She saw me as a new happy go lucky nurse. But I felt bad for her. I told her she should make an honest effort to try to find a new job. I really felt bad for her... and her patients:(

This article was so CUTE! I loved it! JUst adorable!! I'm going to email this page to one of my close friends! It's way too cute to not share. Thanks!

I have been an RN now for 4 months now. I love it! There are times that are difficult, but the good drastically outweighs the bad. I love people. I love the stories they have. I love taking care of truly ill people. Being able to give medicine to take their pain away and having them say thank you. Sitting down and listening to them tell you about their day, how frustrated they may be with their illness. I like listening to their personal stories. I have met some wonderful people. I was recently taking care of a man with cancer, older man. He was also in CHF. His feet were the biggest feet I have ever seen! Anywhoo, I accidently made the comment..."do you live with your wife?" and he told me his wife was dead. She died 2 years priorwhile he was ion surgery. So we sat for about 15 minutes and talked about his wife. He told me about what they used to do when they were younger...etc. It was great! It gave him so much happiness to talk about it with me! And it made me happy that i could share that happiness with him. I just love nursing. I love the scientific part of it and I love the caring part of it. It is sooooo awesome! When I was ending my nursing education, I had severe doubts about my ability and if this profession was really for me, but I think everyone has those doubts at some point. Because it is hard. It can be very hard on a person, metally, physically, emotionally. But the doubt passes over time and soon you realize what an awesome and rewarding career it is. I love it! I would do it all over again in a heartbeat! Good Luck!