Azee

everyone has given you great advice!! i just have to put in my ten cents....i was a cna from sixteen on. started nsg school 3 times and first two tries ended up not being the right time in my life. so with many years of cna experience...went back for time # 3. at my school there was a&p #1 and #2. everything was going great until a&p #1. i was barely passing (like a 76%) thinking nursing was not for me and almost quit!! but what i did was changed my study techniques. the instructor was soooo dry, and rude. we would ask a question and he would very belittling way tell us to figure it out ourselves. he also lectured straight from textbook. i realized his class was pointless/waste of time - and started going home to study during that time (while my kids were in day care!!) and found ways that worked for me to learn, like taking the highlights of text as notes, etc. and i would really recommend study groups. there is no better way to learn something than to teach it to somebody else. and when you have those groups your continuous interaction is continuous learning. i also learned that the instructor makes a world of difference. for a&p # 2 had excellent, interactive, vivacious instructor and helped so much!! good luck to you and don't give up!!

I Think I Would Keep This Offer On The "back Burner" And Look Elsewhere. I Still Work At The Hosp Where I Started As A New Grad And If They Had Spoke To Me Like That Upon Hire I Would Have Definetly Looked Long And Hard For An Employer With Fairness, Compassion Fro Family And Self Etc!!! We Only Work Every Third Wkend, Big Difference. And As Far As Holidays, It Shoul Be Split Evenly With All Nurses On The Units And Rotated Every Year. There Is No Way You Should Work Every Other Wkend And All The Holidays!!! As Far As Mandatory Overtime, That Is Up To You, If You Are Willing To Commit To That Then.... Good Luck And Remember You Are A Valuable Asset And They Need To Treat You As Such, There Are A Lot Of Places Needing Nurses!!!

I Changed Units 4 And Half Mos Ago. Had The Urge For About A Year Before That. Previous Unit Was My First Out Of Nursing School And Was Good For Most Part. Lots Of Reasons For My Change, But I Am Very Glad I Stuck It Out On First Unit For Almost Three Years. That Experience Is Priceless!! I Would Advise To Take Your Time To Think What You Like About Where You Are And Maybe If Any Other Dept Would Be A Better Fit. I Also Agree That A Lot Of Times You Could Be Changing One Set Of Problems For Another!! If Toxic Co Workers Are An Issue Try Your Best To Ignore, Hold You Head Up, And Do The Best You Can. Maybe If It Continues, An Email From You To This Mgr Re: The Negativity Is In Order?! Oh, And I Knew It Was Time To Move On When I Dreaded The Repetitive Madness My Unit Became To Me ( Rather Than A Stimulating Challenge!)good Luck To You!!

Loved your story and animations!! ha ha! Make sure you take your breaks, the 10-15 min ones and lunch. Just remember all that work will be there when you get back. Find somebody to do a few things while you are gone on break if you must. How ong you been doing 12's? Can take quite a bit of time to adjust. Also, take care of you when not at work too. Enough sleep, exercise and all that happy crap!!

Might not hurt to have two nurses or staff in with this employee at all times for the sake of having a witness. I had a pt like this in hospital setting with major psych issues. Came in with abd pain and never wanted to leave. She was constantly trying for a new drama! It was very hard to take!!

Am fairly new to ICU, yet have seen handful of these cases already. If you have been around healthcare a long time then you know that sometimes these things (vents) just prolong the suffering. I agree, sometimes it is for the best.

Agree with bagging pt with 100% O2 and ACLS states 6-8/min.

I have been in ICU orientation for approx 5 weeks. My hospital had me start basic EKG prior to transferring b/c ACLS is one of the first classes they wanted me to complete ( you need EKG for the ACLS). Have you learned about ventilators?

cheryl, also want to tell you i agree with the immunity idea as posted previously. i work in a hospital and have three children at home and truthfully we all do very well with staying healthy. i have said many times i feel nurses build up immunities. you children willl also do this the longer they are in daycare, school or whatever. i wondered if you have ever tried career counseling? in my area there is a not for profit organization that has different kinds of career profiling "tests". helps you pinpoint what are the most important things in a career for you and the realities of different careers. they even have porjections for estimated future demands for careers. this helped me immensely because i had been a cna all of my working life prior to nursing school and i needed to make sure this what i really wanted to do. another idea would be to shadow a nurse and see first hand.

i love being a nurse!! it is hard and it can be very draining. nursing offers opportunity to grow through out your career, not to mention all the different areas you can take nursing, i could never do the same job for years on end. and when you have the patients that sincerely thank you for being there for them you then know why you are there. when you look back at how competent you have become and continue you to become self satisfaction swells in you. i think one of the biggest things to remember is to take good care of yourself!!

ooooh! How cool, thanks smiley!

what are leathermans?

i am starting an icu internship next week. at our hospital there is a separate general orientation (to cover payroll, etc) and a separate nursing orientation for new employees. i am just transferring so i am taking classes through our company that our held at our hospital and our sister hospital about 20 miles away. the classes cover things like ekg, acls, cardio and resp meds, lines. i will cont to take these while i precept with an experienced icu rn for approx 12 weeks. i will also soon start an online ECHO education program that covers each body system from the icu point of view. i am told it is accredited by the ACN and takes about 12 weeks also. THEN.... in january i will take a cardivascular specific program that our educators have developed. i like the layout and it seems to cover everything. i like that can take these classes on my days off and will be able to apply what i have learned while precepting. we also get paid 4 hrs a week for the online program. let me know what you think?!

At my hospital the students are allowed to give meds with the nurse's or their instructor. 99% of the time the instructor is off the floor. I always have the student check the meds with the MAR and then I double check. I stay with the student to give all PO, injections, IV abx, etc. I feel it is my responsibility as they are my patient. (Students don't always see little details, for example :to cut tab in half for correct dosage, no offense!) As far as late meds....we have a 30 minutes before and after per policy. After that I would cross out time and write time given. Then also retime upcoming meds as necessary for my shift and next shift.

i have never seen or heard of such a thing.