edprincess

You can always call the state department of health. They will come in and investigate. If situations are THAT bad they will shut the ER down. No matter what though, I would leave just to protect my license. If you like the hospital system, try transferring to ICU or CCU until the ER's staffing changes. Or you can go per diem and work somewhere else fulltime. The other option is to leave all together. If you do choose to stay, I would write up an incident report for unsafe staffing each shift you work that it's unsafe and if you can manage to get your coworkers to either do the same or co-sign yours, it should help a little bit. Incident reports go to risk management dept which should get the attention of the higher ups (if flooded by these reports). They can't ingnore you. I'm sure your manager is aware but you can try talking to him/her and see where is gets you. Either way, the others are right, you only get ONE license and NO job is worth loosing it over.

Yes, I agree. Although you got there safely...driving while under the influence of nitro and chest pain is NOT a good combo! Glad to here you're doing well.

And now you know why I wanted Ativan and Haldol in blow-darts. No close contact, no injuries . I thought it was a good idea but appartently the higher-ups didn't.

I don't work in OB but I used to be a dispatcher for an ambulance company. One of the girls was pregnant (about 3 mos) and called out stating she felt her uterus stretching.

I usually politely excuse myself saying I have to take care of other pt but assure them I will return as soon as I can. Also, I ask, "While I'm in here and you have me for a few minutes, anything I can do for you and/or get you?". That usually holds people over for a little bit, enough to check on a few more pts w/o feeling like you just left 'em hanging. As for the Press Ganeys, I agree, their BS. SOme people aren't going to be happy no matter what. If they're in/out, we weren't thorough enough. If the tests take a while, we delaying care (How long can just a few blood tests take?). Yeah, I know, no matter what, you're not going to win. Then you have the others that have been in the ER for 27 hours, poked, prodded, and pinched who knows how many times and they're still smiling and saying, "No problem, I understand". Welcome to nursing and life.

I am so sorry to hear this but you will run into "these" type of nurses (and people)everywhere. 1. I wouldn't confront her alone if you do choose to 2. Noone deserves to be treated that way and give you alot of credit for staying quiet so long. 3. Speak with you nurse manager and request another preceptor. Not only will you not have to deal with her day in and day out but you'll learn a lot more if you ahve someone that wants to teach you and help you learn. I love having students and newbies. I think it's great (except when it's a bad day). Tell your nurse manager there is a personality conflict and you feel you would learn better from someone else. Explain (politely) that you don't feel you're taking full advantage of your orientation because of this conflict and would like someone who would be able to explain different procedures to you. Orientation is YOUR time to learn and noone should deprive you of that. You'll always have someone there (even when you're off and on your own) but it's nice to have seen and done things first with an experienced nurse. You need to speak up either way otherwise she's going to drive you to hate you job and leave. Good luck

I would write up an incident report every time you feel unsafe and that your pt's care is compromised by short staffing. Make your nurse manager aware of the short staffing and note that nothing was done to correct the problem. If all the nurses combined efforts instead of battling each other, maybe it'll force your ER to at least hire agency or travelers if no f/t are avail. I am so sorry to hear about your ER loricatus. We got a poster taped to the door in our locker room wishing us a Happy Nurses Week. Yahoo! Big spenders I know. Happy Emergency Nurses Week Everyone:balloons:

The past few years I've dress up on Halloween and X-mas. I just make sure that it's not over the top and I can function in it. Cat outfit with black scrubs and such. I like to have fun and since I work in the ER, you gotta make you're own fun down there plus sometimes it cheers pt up. Some people may take offense as well. It also depends on your nurse manager and what he/she allows. I've always had managers that dress up with us. Last year we did a barn theme and got the docs involved. It was fun.

Tweety, I agree with what you said about handling others. I think though, the reason you haven't gotten "yelled" at is because you're a male. It seems physicians, men and women, have more respect sometimes for the males then the females. I've been yelled at a couple of times and both times I looked the MD in the eyes and said, "Don't speak to me in the tone" or "Don't speak to me like that". One MD started in on me at the patient's bedside. I politely excused myself and when he exited the room....Oh my! I explained that I didn't appreciate his tone or the fact that he did embarrass me in front of my pt. He calmed down and his voice normalized. I guess some MD are "Me doctor, you nurse" and others are just sexist. Either way, the majority of docs I haven't had a problem with but the couple I did, I did stand up for myself and got the desired result.

A guy cam in for the hiccups (which he's had for 7 mos). I asked him what was different tonight and he said "they got worse"!

I agree with loricatus - good points by the way. There is no way the hospital has your best interest at heart. They are going to defend the hospital - "well, our policy states..."and that's it, you're screwed if you didn't follow it to the tee. Heaven forbid you didn't vitalize you tele pt's every 2 hours because something else went wrong that night or whatever the case is. You want someone who is going to defend YOU and you alone. NSO is cheap and good coverage and the first year I think is 1/2 off. Like $50 for the year or something like that.

Ya know, I did mention aerosolized Ativan to my boss a few mos ago. I thought it was a good idea. Obviously I wasn't the only one who thought of that. And I wanted Ativan in blow darts for the fiesty drugs so we don't get hurt. She laughted! Well, I tried.

I thought I worked at the only facility that did that. At my old job we aren't not allowed to say "no break" either unless the charge nurse signs off. When I was charge, I'd write in our log under every staff member that worked no lunch and sign it. If I wasn't, I'd bug the charge nurse to do it but usually they're pretty good about it. We all covered each other. We did what I'd like to call a drive by eating. Send a tech upstairs to the cafeteria and have them buy several plates of finger food - chicken fingers and fries usually. We all take a small plate and leave it at our desk. Then, take a bite and run. Walk by the desk again, take a bite and run. It stunk but at least we got to eat. My father, who was a director of personnel at another hosp would yell at me, why don't you take your break? I'd tell him, noone to cover. Can't leave my ICU pt on 2 different pressers because I wanted a grilled cheese. Yeah, I'm sure the judge would've loved to hear that one. I don't think employers should be able to do that. I know working in the ER means hi stress level, a million and one things that need to be done NOW, and no breaks (usually) but at least admin can pay us for it. THey just don't want to pay and don't want to be held reliable if haeven for bid something happens to a pt because the nurse wasn't able to pee never mind eat. It sucks!

NYer's complain down south because 1. They're used to getting everything NOW! A New York minute IS different from the rest of the world. 2. Sick people in general are miserable and 1 minute feels like an hour when you're sick and noone is helping you. And 3. because they see other people who came in after them be seen before them and that really pisses them off. Even if you try and explain that it's not a deli, it's not first come, first serve, it doesn't matter. They were first and that's all that matters! The other people are not their problem.

I would imagine you're definitely going to need CPR, TNCC, PALS, and ACLS. As for when to take them, as Bullydawg said, probably will have to take them fairly soon, as in 3-6 mos. You're employer will tell you. Also, don't worry about your schedule. If they want you to take these classes (which most ER's mandate) they will either schedule you or give you the time off as long as you give them notice. Since you're new and on orientation, your manager is relying on you as a staff nurse yet so you schedule can be flexible. If the class interferes, either take another one or work a different night with a different preceptor. Sometimes working with someone else can work towards your advantage; seeing how they work and handle things. As for the other certs, in due time. You're going to need experience first. Good luck and welcome to the ER world :welcome: