chuckz

I was just doing my job.

I've been a nurse for about 6 years. Like you when I started nursing school I was so excited to do something to help prepare. I wish I would have taken the advice of others and did nothing. That's a long 2 years. Enjoy time with family and friends. Watch Netflix. Do anything else because when you do get in school you will not have the time to do it.

I echo. It takes time. That was the hardest part of nursing for me. The time mgt and prioritizing. It takes a while and will come with time. Just learn more everyday. You will be fine. We all felt like you.

Nope!

Nice reference to Stuart McGill. I never thought I would see somebody reference him in here. Good stuff. Thank you for that. His vids are very good and he is wonderful on knees too. As a competitive powerlifting and also a Male nurse I am stronger relatively than most people. I don't mind helping people. I always take the side that pulls to turn a pt and allow the other person to stuff the pillow. I always will be there if a pt becomes abusive as I feel it's my job to protect the others who can't protect themselves in those situations. I always am asked to help lift Pts and get them up in aChair. I don't mind any of that. It's the same everyplace I go. I understand that. The problem I have is that there sometimes may be others that are capable of doing the lift but they will tell others "chucks the strong one, he will help." Or there will be another male sitting that is capable to help but they will come get me from another unit to help them move or turn or whatever. I don't mind helping but sometimes I feel that like anything it can be taken advantage of. I'm not the only guy nor just bc I am strong should I always be the first one asked. Move it around. Rotate who you ask. If there is something like a very hard Pt I'm ok with it and I will always be ok with being asked but please utilize all your resources as I am not the only resource you have.

I was 36. Best decision I have ever made. Unlimited overtime in er and icu. I work 5 12's because I need cash and get called or texted to work the days I don't. It's fantastic. My 7 yo looks up to me and that's the best thing of all. What a great choice I made.

Yep. Male nurse. Did MICU ER and now CVICU. I'm also a former competitive bodybuilder and currently a competitive power lifter. I think being a bit bigger and muscular has helped me out many-fold in nursing. I worked in the emergency department at a large urban trauma one hospital that is know to be on of the busiest ERs in the country. There were stabbings shootings drug usage and people that were not so friendly. It was to my benefit to be bigger and stronger because the sense of me being able to take care of myself by the patients had them give me less of a hassle than the small petite nurses that are also there. We have security that is armed with police authority and a holding cell in the basement. To walk through the ER you have to go through a metal detector. It's pretty rough. I enjoyed and the police enjoyed having another man who was larger and they could count on to help them. I am not saying its the end all be all. I am a really good and compassionate and caring nurse. I will do things to break the ice and make people feel comfortable and I work in the CViCU now and I will come to the bedside and will tell people sometimes, "no I'm not security, I'm actually your nurse." They usually laugh and it breaks the ice and its pretty cool. It's a part of who I am because I have been doing it for almost 24 years of my life and it has only helped my nursing career. The only thing that sucks s that people always ask me for help lifting the heavy Pts. That's a pain in the butt but one I will take gladly. Train hard my bruthas!

I was 35 and male when I started......still male. I had a son who at the time was 2 when I started. I had the time of my life. I enjoyed making friends. I did not feel I "stood out" or didn't fit it all. I would drink with my friends and would hang out them at the end of the semester. I worked full time and also did nursing school full time. It was doable and I really felt as if my class didn't make that destination of young or old. It was all about being a good person a good friend and a good student. Time of my life.

As a student instructor while I was in school.........learn the Mechanisms of action of all the classes of drugs and you can figure out anything you need to know. That is the key to learning forever as opposed to memorizing.

No increase and I had to pay for test out of pocket

Yes you can get an icu job as a new grad and yes it's doable. Worth it's weight is a good preceptor. A lot of new nurses will come into icu and there preceptor will expect them to know everything and will not be understanding. A new nurse does not have honed instincts yet but they can be cultivated by a good preceptor. It's subtle things such as how to fix an art line when the wave form becomes messed up or how to tell when a pt is crashing. All of that takes time but a good preceptor can help you with the changes and alert you to them. To get the job? I would try and extern in an icu. I would make myself marketable and always be friendly to everybody you meet or come into contact with in the hospital. Making it known that you are friendly and willing to work goes a long way in getting a job. The other thing is act confident but not over confident. Trust yourself but trust yourself to learn from others. As a new grad a couple years ago I had a wonderful preceptor who took the fact that I was a new nurse and helped mold me into the the template that I teach others. Don't let anybody discourage you. Do what you need to do in your career. Congrats on almost being done.

When I was a new grad I hired in at a MICU at a trauma 1 hospital. For nine months every day I thought I was gonna kill somebody. I would leave and just hate the thought of going into work because i didn't want to mess up or do anything wrong. I went without sleeping because I would be awake thinking of how I could have done better. It drove me and I became a damn good icu nurse. I then left there after 18 months and became a trauma nurse in the er at the same hospital. It is one of the busier ERs in the country and I was overwhelmed. Again the fear. Again the idea that i now had to start every iv somehow someway. The fear that in the resuscitation room I wouldn't be able to get the line or or do something wrong and kill somebody. Again that fear worked to my benefit because I think I am a damn good ER nurse. If you are a new grad and get a job in icu or ER it depends on you. If you can deal with stress and thrive under that environment I think you can do it. Let me tell you though it is a steep learning curve. I wish you all luck.

Trauma 1. Cat1...High acuity Usually 2-3, but have had 6 when busy Cat2...Pts don't need to be monitored, but can be sick. Usually 7, but have had as high as 20. Cat3/peds. Laceration, ob and peds. Usually 6 or so but can be as high as 20. MHT...Mental health....6 at the most. I am in one of the busiest ERs in the country. It's crazy but I love it.....most of the time.

No way.

When I worked in the MICU we didn't place them, only peripherally. I work in the ER now and yes, we do put in EJ's. Seriously, I'll place a line anywhere I can to get access in certain situations. I've placed them in toes, calves, upper chest, shoulders and just about anywhere else I can think of. EJ's are used as a last resort though. I just keep it in the back of my mind that I can get one in if I need it.

I don't know about now, but back when I graduated in 2010, I was a graduate nurse that hired in at the MICU at Henry Ford Main. I also was an extern in the Emergency Department prior, during school. I went back to the ER and I know they have some nurse externs there. Just apply and talk to people. Go to HR and talk to them personally, that's how I got the externship. Good Luck.

Gosh that was the same question I asked myself when I was in school. When I was in nursing school I was an extern for a year in a large inner city hospital. My last semester of nursing school I precepted in a CVICU. As a nurse right out of school I worked in an MICU for 18 months and now I just transferred right back into the ER as a nurse. I might be able to help you distinguish the differences. In the ICU, you will concern yourself with whole body systems. If you work in a CVICU, Neruo, or any kind, you might have a focused specialty, but you will concern yourself with the presentation of the disease process on the body as a whole. You will learn patho very well because the multiple co-morbidities will make you. If a person has liver failure, what will you see? How will the labs look? What will I do for pain? How can I sedate? Are they vented? Do their lungs comply? Why are their peak pressures up? Are they septic? What does the central line tell you? How do the pressers effect the body? It's a wonderful learning experience because seeing the body as a whole and the long term effects of disease conditions will be invaluable to you. Now that I am in the ER, it is a way more focused assessment. Patient can't breath? Make them breath. Patient is dehydrated? Get them fluids. Pt has a gunshot? Where is it and what is it doing to the body. Patient needs blood? Get them blood. The ER is way more direct and I feel it helps you become almost as a "jack of all trades" because you don't get great at one thing, you get good at a lot of smaller things. It's wonderful for somebody that likes to see a lot of different things, such as myself. You will get a great experience anywhere you go. ICU and ER are two different things, but each has their benefit. I like them both and continue to work overtime in the ICU where I was at, while still working in the ER. I guess right now I like ER because of the acute immediacy of the situation. I like getting patients stabilized and moving them on when they are. The ICU I sometimes would have the same patients for months. Take every experience and learn from it, no matter what you chose. Good luck to you and I hope this may have helped even but a little.

I have been a nurse for almost 2 years now and I still feel stupid at times when I don't know something. It's called, "Caring about what we do." I did the lat 18 months in an MICU and I just transferred to the ER. I put IV's in maybe once or twice a month in the ICU because everybody has arterial or central lines. I never had the need. When I started in the ER I would hack somebody's arm up or have to poke multiple times. I was so mad at myself that I couldn't do it. It just took some practice and I did get better, but it took time. I care about what I do and want to be the best I can at something. We as nurses, sometimes get lost in tasks. I can tell you that your most important skill will be your critical thinking. Nurses don't get paid for their tasks, they get paid for their mind. You are on the right path by caring, but any skill you attempt multiple times you will get better at, but it's the critical thinking that makes you a good nurse. Keep that in your back pocket when a surly person starts to try and belittle you over a task that you have not had experience in. When a patient starts to crump and go bad, that same person will be asking you what to do and it will be your responsibility to make a decision on what to do. That is what we get paid for. You will be fine. Just learn what you can. The skills will be learned when you are on the floor, just make sure to train your mind to think critically and you will be a helluva nurse.

Graduate in may 2010. Licensed in June...started in the MICU at a large hospital right before I got my license. As the above stated, I am real lucky to have gotten in and I never take it for granted.

Dano, They did the same to me. Kept asking, "Then what would you do if that didn't work....Then what?" Luckily we have 2 great managers that trusted us enough to hire us as new grads. I didn't have the floor time like you did when you came to the floor so I was behind the 8 ball a a little. I agree with Dan....critical thinking skills are the most important thing for a nurse and especially a critical care nurse. It's knowing when to call the doctor and not. It's knowing what small nuance might have changed in your patient, and what it might mean and what could happen.

Lor, I got hired as a grad nurse in an ICU and let me tell you, I wanted to quit everyday. I would drive to work with a messed up stomach and have it until my last of 3 days where I could walk out the door and know I had 4 days off. All I wanted to do was not feel stupid. 6 month mark: Started to grasp things. Thought I might be able to do this. Thought I might not just walk off into the sunset myself. 9 Month mark: Things becoming routine. Started to anticipate care more and make myself more efficient. 1 year mark: Ok. I can breath a little. The thing is the more experience you have and the more stuff you see, the better off you are. It's the experience of dealing with a major GI bleed that makes the next one not so intimidating. It's the first couple codes that make the next one doable. It's experience. You will get it and thank yourself for it. Stick this out.

Thank you so much folks, but like I said, Ben is an amazing kid in his own right, without my input. Last summer at the gym I bought him a water blaster to play with at the gym pool. It was the first day he got it and he was so excited. When other kids saw the fun he was having, they came up and wanted to play. My son let them play with it for about 45min without touching it. He wasn't being bullied nor did anybody take it from him, he just allowed them to play with it and splashed about. I asked him about it later and he actually told me, "I had fun seeing everybody have fun, plus I get to take the water gun home." It's funny because I never wanted kids like some of you. I was/am selfish with my time and I always said I won't have a child. Ben came and my life changed. There has not been one day.....NOT ONE DAY that I have thought that this day with him wasn't better than the day before. I don't believe in children being an emotional crutch for the parents. I think I have to be there for him to show him right and wrong and how to be a good person. Never had a dad or mother around too much. I was raised by my Grandfather and he showed me that a man can be tough (He was a pro boxer and a Russian farm boy) and still be thoughtful, generous and kind. I am a competitive powerlifter and am not a small dude, most of my patient's think I am security.....but I always try and be kind and compassionate. It's a lesson my grandfather taught me and now I teach my son. My grandfather lives through Ben. Ok....waaaaaaay too much insight I know, but I just want people to get a sense of the importance of this little boy to me. Thank you for listening and all your kind words about him....I appreciate it very much....I also appreciate people thinking I am a a good dad, that makes me feel better than anything anybody could ever say. Thank you again.

Last one of him at his school play.

Here is a pic of my cool awesome wonderful little boy. It is such an honor to be his father. I owe him so much.

Just a hello to all my Madonna people out there. I graduated with my BSN last May and have now been a nurse for over a year. Let me tell you, I hated Madonna when I was there, but am thankful for it now. I really feel that place prepared me to make judgements and critical decisions that otherwise I wouldn't have had fostered. The patho teacher is wonderful there and it puts you a step ahead of a lot of people because it teaches you mechanisms of action and how to think things through. Most Madonna grads I know usually go on and work in specialty units. 3 of my friends that graduated a year before me are now in anesthesia school. Madonna has a good reputation for passing CRNA's as well. The place drove me nuts, but I am thankful. I want to get my MSN, join the staff and put a dude's stamp on that place and teach. Good luck all my Madonna people.