SewHeather

Bosnanurse, I understand what you're saying about sticking with it, but there are times when you have to take your losses and move on. I am at the point where I am considering just taking my losses. Some things are not worth the heartache. When I say that the students are pure evil, I was really only referring to a few of them and was merely venting my frustrations. I don't actually think they are evil and I truly enjoy teaching some of them. But just recently (this past friday) one the students physically threatened me and another wrote a letter to the Director of Education accusing me of discriminating against her because of the color of her skin so a formal investigation has been opened against me. This is what I mean by pure evil. I am not prejudice now nor have I ever been, and this accusation is completly bogus because this student disagrees with a grade I gave her and has decided to make personal accusations because of this. Also, this accusation was told to me by the DOE in front of the entire faculty instead of in private which I found to be incredibly unprofessional. Also, this job did not require a MSN, in fact I was the only instructor that was working toward an MSN, while the others still need to get their BSN. I know how much I can have on my plate at a time and right now my plate is full. So yes, I chose to drop my MSN for 2 months while I spend time with my family (my father has cancer right now and I wanted to have as much time with him as possible) and try to concentrate on being the best teacher that I can without having to worry about my own schooling. Thank you to those who wrote and gave me your advice and support, it has been truly appreciated. Heather

Hi All! I am a RN with 3 years of experience in OB and have recently been hired at a for profit college with the vocational nursing program. I was originally hired for a per diem clinincal intructor position but during the process of being approved, a full time position opened up and it was offered to me and I decided to take it. It had always been my long term goal to get my Masters degree in nursing and then start teaching, but I never expected to be hired while I was in the process of getting my MSN. I decided to take this job because it would 1) get me in the education field 2) it was a daytime position that would alow me more time with my family 3) there was virtually no change in how much money I made. It seemed like a no-brainer. Now that I have been working there for about 8 weeks, I am beginning to wonder if I have made a terrible terrible mistake. They hired me knowing that I had no experience teaching, but yet gave me absolutely no training or orientation. I spend hours and hours of my own time making lectures and exams for areas of nursing that I have never worked in, thus I have very little idea of what I am talking about. After spending hours on my lectures, the DON came to me 5 minutes before starting my last lecture and informed me that I have had several complaints and my test scores are not good and that I needed to change my way of lecturing today. The other teacher keeps throwing me under the bus because I'm low man on the totem pole and don't know any better. I'm used to working with a group of nurses that know how to work as a team and will help each other out. This is completely foreign to me and I feel so isolated and alone. My mother and aunt (both teachers) keep telling me that the first year is the hardest and it gets better, but I'm really having my doubts. I have been thinking of lookin at getting back into the hospital. Does anyone think I'm overreacting? Is this the norm and I just need to stick with it, or is this completly OK? Also the students are pure evil. I feel like I am teaching a group of 7 year olds and not adults that are in college and paying money out of pocket to be there. Signed, Completly overwhelmed and bewildered. p.s. I have also had to drop out of my Masters program because I cannot do both at the same time since I am spending so much of my own time on grading and lectures.

Had a patient bite me in the shoulder when she was pushing. It drew blood so I had to get the full round of testing. I understand that being in labor is painfull and stressfull but that seemed a little over the top. But I did manage to refrain from calling her what I wanted to call her (insert expletive of your choice here).

I'm an L&D nurse and I hear that alot;" Labor nurses aren't real nurses". My favorite part of being a labor RN is circulating for cesarean sections. Been thinking of making the jump to the OR since I like it so much.

ours is very similar, except when we have 2 consecutive readings above 45, we can discontinue to heel sticks unless we have any reason to recheck it, ie jitteriness, unwilling to eat, lethargy, etc... Checking every three hours after a few good reasings seems a little over the top, I would hate having to stick a baby that many times.

I'm curious, has anyone had a labor induction patient that was prescribed vistaril to help them sleep? At my facility, we have a few midwives that prescribe Vistaril for their inductions, but only if they come in for their scheduled induction on the night shift. Their phone orders include vistaril to aid with sleep, limit their vag exams, and let them sleep instead of walk between their cytotec doses. Has anyone else come across this order? This is my only L&D job so I have nothing to compare it to, but it just seems like these two CNMs only want their patients to sleep so that they (the CNMs) can sleep. Why bring them in for an induction if they want them to sleep through it, couldn't they achieve this at home and save the bed for an actual labor patient?

Thank you for your replies! Wow, I'm beginning to feel really ripped off for my orientation. I have actually been in this position for a year and a half now, but it has been so busy lately (I will often times do 2 or 3 deliveries each shift), that I have been feeling completly overwhelmed. I am always coming across things that the provider will tell me I should have known, which got me wondering about my orientation and if it might have been too short. Don't get me wrong, my preceptor was incredible and I still call on her for help when I have questions, but the facility itself was the one that thought I was ready to be on my own after six weeks. I am looking for a new position as I just can't seem to keep up with the pace of this L&D unit anymore. Anyone know of any great L&D units in California?

I'm curious as to how long everyone's orientation was to labor and delivery. I had a six week orientation for my unit and was expected to be proficient with two laboring patients and circulating for c sections. Does this sound about right or was this too long or too little for orientation to L&D for a new grad?

Title: RN status: Full time, staff (non-traveler) Category: acute care hospital Specialty: LDRP # of beds in the unit:38 Geographics: Arizona How has your facility or department been affected?: we don't seem to be feeling the recession at all, I usually have to say no to extra shifts every schedule. I guess as long as sex is still free we will always be full. But I will say that I'm looking for another job and there doesn't seem to be as many job postings out there as there was one or two months ago.

Had a labor pt who said she was allergic to the dyes used in pills and couldn't possibly take the synthroid I was trying to give her as it would cause her throat to swell. Mind you she told me all this while she was eating an enormous bag of M&Ms. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the pills and the M&Ms use the same food dyes.

I have been working in L&D for just about a year now and I was wondering how many laboring patients do you take at a time and where do you work? I usually have 2 patients at a time and it doesn't seem to matter what stage they are in. There have been several nights where I have deliveries 30 min to an hour apart. I love the work, but I just really question how safe it is to have to care for 2 patients where both are in the second stage. I would really like to stay in L&D, but I am looking for another facility that values patient safety. What I'm basically asking is what facilities have either a one to one ratio, or if two patients, one is not in active labor. Thanks so much!

You have 8 post partum patients?!?!? Please tell me you are incorporating the infant in that count. On our MB unit we care for 4 couplets on average and 5 if it's packed and short staffed. I can't imagine that I would be able to give decent care with 8 couplets, much less ever get all my charting done by 7am. Wow, my hat's off to you. What hospital do you work at by the way?

At the risk of sounding stupid.......what does "ncp for a post-nsd" mean?

Our unit's policy is try a variety of things if the infant's temp is below 97.6, such as skin to skin contact, double wrapped in warm blankets or placing under the warmer. We are only to take a blood sugar if there are more hypoglycemia symptoms such as lethargy or jitteryness (or if we simply suspect low bs). I have had several newborns in my care that simply run lower core temps, no matter what interventions you try, and with no underlying cause. Doing three blood sugars on infants with temps lower tha 98.0 does seem a little extreme, not to mention heartbreaking to skick an infant any more that needed.

How do you treat a winter cold? The same way you treat a spring, summer or fall cold! Bah da, bah!