Jahna

Hello All, I will be moving from GA to the Leonardtown, MD area in the summer and I need some advice. Would it be better to research travel assignments first or is there a facility that stands out above the rest? I have 6+ years in ER nursing and I would like to stay in the ER, but I'd keep the option of Cath Lab or ICU open as well. Where do I even start? Thanks for any advice. K..

I am grateful that I will be able to leave my baby with a very trusted friend and caregiver, so I have no worries about his safety, etc. while I am at work. I AM a little worried though about my return to work itself. I work in the ER and (pre-baby) I was one of the strong ones. I have given zero thought to work during my leave. I haven't picked up one trade magazine, haven't given any thought to lab values or protocols, yadda yada. I go back to work in 2 days and I am little worried that it may not all come flooding back to me. I have a few questions: -is it like riding a bike, i.e. - will it all come back? -for the moms/dads, what were your fears about returning to work?

I would only add ketamine to this list. In Peds, this drug is one of the go meds for moderate sedation procedures.

Same here. The situation at the ER that I work in sounds eerily similar to the original posters' note. We work hard, and the vast majority do actually care and have great bedside manner, even with the most minor of complaints. Yet, it is quite clear that @billyboblewis has no earthly idea of the actual state of things or he would not have made such an egregious remark, I hope. He had a bad experience, it seems, and has chosen to paint all ER nurses with the same brush. Typical and sad. Also, I have never seen an ER that had a "light" workload. That has to be the funniest thing I've read today.

Lilarox, I also feel like I have to defend myself. I, too, am an ASN grad and I am currently about halfway through to my BSN. I took this route because the thought of graduating with a mountain of debt produced way too much anxiety for me. As an aside though, I've met quite a few LPNs who are far better prepared, knowledgeable and competent than their BSN counterparts. So while the BSN sounds like some kind of holy grail, I resent when people try to diminish someone else's accomplishment or reasons for taking the path that they did. To the OP, while in Nursing school, I took a job as a float pool Unit Clerk and I worked on literally every floor and unit of the hospital. It was then that I decided that I wanted to be either an ER or ICU nurse. The higher patient acuity, level of critical thinking required, and the overall camaraderie of the nurses on these floors was (and still is) very attractive to me. I ended up working in the ER after graduation and will continue to do so once I complete my BSN.

Thanks for your kind words. I suppose I just couldn't shake the feeling that we're both somehow expected to fail.

I've been asked to orient a nurse to our department who has been a nurse longer than I have and has even been a charge nurse at one point. She has re-located to our area and so now, here we are. Thing is, a few people have worked with her at her old facility and it seems she has an awful reputation - not professionally, but her personality. I've worked with her twice so far and other than a very flat affect, I'm yet to find the 'w'itch that people have made her out to be. I know that we all have a mean streak, and I will admit that I tend to take the Polyanna approach (I try my best to give people the benefit of the doubt and let them show their colors versus pre-judging and hanging them without cause) but I can't shake the feeling that we're both being set up somehow. Other co-workers keep asking me "so whadya think of her"...and because I don't have any juicy bits to offer, they seem genuinely disappointed! It all seems so childish to me. Why hire her if they think she will be disruptive? Or is it that they think I am so naive that this is truly a test for me? I don't get it.

Most of this stuff will only come through time and experience. The books don't teach you everything. Anyway, I think you should always have a little "fear". It's the cocky ones, who think they know everything, and thereby forget all that's at stake, who run the most risk of making a critical error. Don't be afraid, be mindful. I think you'll be okay.

Maybe it's just my warped sense of humor, but I found this hilarious on so many levels. Thx.

Might I suggest some options that worked for me: One is called the Workforce Initiative Act. You can inquire about the details at your local Dept. of Labor office. Basically, this program paid for tuition, books, and gave a stipend towards childcare and transportation. Also, the college that I attended had a very helpful financial aid office, and the school had a very good scholarship program that I also took advantage of. The scholarship was about half the semesters tuition and the money from the Workforce Initiative Act covered the rest. Since I already had a 4-yr degree, this option didn't work for me, but if you live in a state that has the HOPE Scholarship or a similar program, you should explore this as well. I also tried straightforwardmedia.com and fastweb.com. Those never panned out for me, but it may be worth a shot for you. Good luck.

None of us are immune to life and its inevitable end (at least as we know it - for argument's sake), but as an ER nurse, I find it a challenge when it's one of us that's just come in by squad and is now laid up in the trauma room and we all know the outcome is not going to be the one we are hoping for (or secretly bargaining with GOD for while we run down the ACLS algorithms). Becoming a nurse was a dream come true for me - becoming an ER nurse was icing on the cake - having to struggle through scenarios like this one? - humbling, sad, gut-wrenching, a giant b^tch slap of reality to the back of the head. Off I go - hanging up my SuperNurse cape for the night.

i had this one instance of nurse-speak gone wrong. in doing bedside report, the off-going nurse was telling me that the pt was on a "dope" drip. the family member at bedside got offended and said "excuse me?!" it took just a second for me to see where the family member took offense. i had to explain that what we meant was that the pt was on a "dopamine" drip.

For me, the choices were either ER or ICU. My career began in the ER. I love my job!!! Plus, I volunteer at hospice for a change of pace and the tremendous emotional rewards that I get from that environment. My only advice is to "never say never", i.e - never say you will never work in one area because you may find yourself there one day. Keep your options open. Think of the things that spark your interest and go from there.

Not intending to start a war here, but "pro-death" is a label that is in fact beginning to circulate as a response to all this health care reform talk. Perhaps you need to do a little reading yourself. I UNDERSTAND what palliative care is all about, in fact, I volunteer for hospice. I understood the choice of words (i.e. - pro-death), and I am aware of mine. You should also think of the context of the conversation before you make such a comment. Thank you.

You are exactly right. One of the beautiful things about being a nurse is that the field is so varied and you can tailor your career to an area that does not impose on your views, be it pro-life, Jehovah's Witnesses (who oppose the use of blood and blood products), and there's even "pro-death" who oppose life support especially for the terminally ill or elderly. Point is, there is a niche that you can fit in.