Lucky#13

Hi and Good Morning from Springboro, Ohio...originally from Dayton. I am a Med-Surg Nurse, and have been for 13 years, and 2 years prior to that I was an aide at the same hospital I work at now. I just really enjoy the people that I work with..they are like family....:dancgrp:It's kinda like that..we work together!

I just bought a pair of Danskos clogs because I have wide feet. They have a hard sole, and at first it felt like I was walking on concrete the entire shift! Got to the car, and in the back seat they went...never to be worn again.:grn: I've been told that they have to be broken in, and after that, you'll never want another shoe. I have worn them since...I bought gel insoles and a shoe stretcher.:hehe:

Yes, I do work in a small hospital, and I have 13 years of Nursing experience. My 1st job was a 3rd shift float..learned alot, and floated between hospitals w/in our group, and I worked in ICU's, ACU, Rehab, Renal/Oncology, ER and other Med-Surg units. And, about seeing a Code on a Med-Surg floor? I have participated in many in my time, and I am ACLS certified, along with alot of other Med-Surg RN's out there. Your opinion will go down once you get out there on your own and actually feel pressure/responsibility for the patients and from the doctors on whatever floor you choose to work on. Once you get family members in your face demanding to know answers and you are extremely busy (and of course you can't tell them that), or doctors wanting to know something about a patient, and then, it happens, a Code, your patient, and the stuff hits the preverbial fan, and you are more behind than ever before. , think of this post...no copy it, and put it in a folder for later, and then read it..you will see a difference in your opinion hopefully. I still have my first Code that I recorded on a paper towel. You have to understand that when you choose Nursing, professionalism is a must, or else trust is lost. Good Luck to You.

This couldn't be further from the truth, at least not on the one I work on, and I believe that my Med-Surg is not the only one. We deal with all kinds of pts. Cardiac, GI, GU, Renal, Oncology/Hematology,OB/GYN, Pulmonology...basically anything that doesn't go to our ICU, or goes home, comes to our unit. So we stay very busy. And I almost forgot anyone with a wound or a wound VAC or has surgery, or any infection or infectious disease. So, I don't know WHY people need a year or even 6 months of Med-Surg...maybe just for the experience of putting to practice what you've been learning for the past 2-4 years? Oh, and BTW, being "miserable and suffering" may be the way some nurses feel, but the way I see it, and I don't believe I'm alone, Med-Surg is the back-bone of Nursing...what everything else in nursing is based on. If it's not your area of preference, don't put it down, it's part of your profession, be proud that ther is someone who likes Med-Surg Nursing. I know I do.

If it is chemicals that make your asthma react, you may want to let your manager know. Because if you're there when they decide to strip the floors, or disenfect a room that held an isolation patient, or use a strong industrial-strength glue,(speaking from past experience) and you have to either go to the ER, or go home..then you have to come clean. I have gone home before d/t glue odor in the air ducts and floor stripper. I also wondered how the respiratory pts. tolerated it! Always, always carry your inhaler/med-neb solution with you. You can always go into an empty room and help yourself!

Well, don't throw anything at me, but clinic nursing is much different than floor nursing, though you have experienced alot. And your experience with prioritization, time management and critical thinking is great. But you said yourself that the area you want "might" specify needing a yr. of med-surg, besides, it can only make you more comfortable in your own capabilities. And like ChristineN said, there are those telemetry monitors to deal with.

The automatic cuffs make the job of taking BP's faster, not accurate. If it's accuracy you want, then take the BP manually. I actually had a suprise the other day with a continuous pulse oximeter...I never trust them for a pulse reading, the pt usually moves their finger. Well, the aide came out of a pts room and told me that her pulse on the cpo was 31..I said "those things are never right, take her pulse manually", and I also went into the room and placed my stethescope on her chest, apically. Her pulse was 34!

my name is lucky i've been an rn for 13 yrs now, and i am a fannypacker. and i absolutely wouldn't have it any other way! i love it! first of all, i work on a very busy, 48 bed med-surg unit and carry 6 pts at best...and i don't have time to run back to the supply room for stuff or search in pockets. i know where everything is, like most fannypackers! :onbch: (i put this smiley here just because i like it, and vaca in 25 days!)

We have been dealing with the Med-Rec at our Hospital in Ohio for about a month now and it's still difficult to get compliance from the docs! I blame it on education. They started w/nursing first...3 days prior to going live! Wonderful. So, now some of the docs we have to chase down, or completely miss and have to call...which isn't right and delays the pts. discharge that much longer! The docs need to get on board with this and really take it seriously instead of running off after writing the dc order...we can't do it all!

Where I work, we have walkie-talkies...and when "a certain person" is at lunch, she fails to let the US/MT know...EVERY TIME! So, when one of her IV's needs attention, or a pt. needs her, she, ever so rudely, says, "I'M AT LUNCH", "CAN SOMEONE ELSE GET THAT!". This same person ******* all the time...about her assignment, that she' not going to get a lunch, or get out on time...etc. So, I would like to tell her to..SHUT YOUR MOUTH, WILL YA? FOR ONCE AND JUST ANSWER YOUR OWN CALL LIGHTS LIKE EVERYONE ELSE DOES...AND QUIT YOUR ********! WE ARE ALL TIRED OF HEARING IT EVERY TIME YOU WORK! JUST DO YOUR JOB AND SHUT THE *******!

Now, don't shoot the messenger...but I don't think they "value new and unexperienced help more".....as maybe they are trying to fill positions because most hospitals are so short staffed. So, that's why the big sign on bonuses...and the increased pay scale. Fair? Not a chance. But it succeeded in getting more staff...THEIR goal... Plus, alot of the new grads are working CSP, or some hospitals offer different options. These nurses make much more than a nurse with >20yr exp.....BUT, with those options, come little or no benefits. Now EVERYONE hears about the budget...am I right? Boy, they have certainly dug themselves a hole. I already buy my own pens/pencils....shhhh....don't tell.

I work in Ohio in an QWE committment charge nurse position..Fridays included..and I also am a preceptor..(BTW, let me know how you get paid additionally for that!)..and I have been doing this for about 8 years...and I know I have the above numbers beat. I also know how hard it can be in her position...it's not all about the money...we as nurses do a very commendable job, and we are sometimes the only ones that recognize that. Sure management can tell us that we are "a good nurse", but I think it weighs more when it comes from our co-workers. I am not a co-worker, but I commend YOU for being a 30 year Nurse! That is quite an accomplishment! And 4.76 and hr...wow...when I started as an aide 12 years ago, I made 7.10/hr...and do you know I have kept all my paychecks since then?

Congrats Daytonite!! :balloons:

Well, I didn't say this, my nusre orientee did. My orientee, I'll call her "Sue" and I were helping a surgical pt. back to bed from the restroom. Just then, the pts. dr. came into the room, and started talking, asking the pt. how she was doing, and so forth, and the pt. stated, "I went to the restroom, but I still feel like I could go again"...That's when Sue felt the need to describe the BM..and before I could get her attention and stop her...this is what she said. "Um, yes, Well, she went into the restroom, and she did go", and then Sue, holding her index fingers apart stated," it was 7 inches, about the size of a weiner and it was soft and formed not hard." The dr. stood and came over to me...(now I have worked with this dr. for 12 years)...stood next to me and put his arm around my shoulder, and just patted my shoulder. Neither of us could speak. When I caught up with him at the nurses station, he smiled, shook his head, and said he was reminded of a picture he had seen in an office, of a young boy in a baseball field with his glove on looking at amazement at all the professionals numbers and names that had been there before him. And he gave me a few words of advice...all of which I respected. Then we laughed!:rotfl:

GO BUCS!! This is my new great-nephew, Connor, from Raleigh,NC...he was def born to play for the BUCKEYES!! Connor is one month old today!!:hbsmiley: Ok, now, what I really wanted to say is...the word coupon...how do you guys say it...with the "q" sound or a "kou"??? HUH??? LMAO!! I've always said it like qoupon...and my son's new girlfriend has corrected me I don't know how many times! She's from Chicago.:smiley_ab