Shantas

Job #1= in Canada as a Registered Psychiatric Nurse for 2 yrs then I graduated from RN program Job #2= as a RN for 1 year in Canada, I was in the process of moving to USA Job #3= in Nothern Cali as RN for 2 yrs. Moved to So Cal after my contract is over. Job#4= Still working....I wish I could change it...but the pay is unbeatable

Hmmm I dont look like anyone.....I look like myself:D

You just need one med error.....it can not only ruin your lisense but also can harm a human being:o One Patient At a Time!!!!

In our hospital, each room has a locked med cabinet with two drawers in it. We dont have a pyxis yet so the pharmacy deliver the meds directly in the patient's room. So we just take the MAR, go the patients room and give the meds to the individual patient. We will get pyxis next year, I suppose then we will just have to walk back and forth to the patients room!! I dont think I will feel comfortable with taking all the meds for all the patients out at the same time. I did that once and I placed the meds in individual cups and I marked them, but when I was giving the meds I gave the wrong meds to the wrong patients. Fortunately it was only multivitamin and colace....since than I am very very carefull....we are human and human can make mistakes!!

Also just wanted to add....we never plan to get ill. I have been very healthy all through my life. I really never had to see a doc other than my yearly physical. I am 35 yrs now. After finishing my nursing school I also did alot of over time, two jobs so on. But now I have developed gastric ulcer, back pain, insomnia, IBS....God knows what else is coming towards me. I never ever thought I would ever get ill, but as I got older and with all the stress from work and home I became unhealthy....you can really never predict whats lie ahead of you. I am not trying to discourage the OP here but too much expectation can cause you to have disappointment sometimes. Once again nursing is a very very physically and emotionally demanding profession.....once you get ill its difficult to get your health back ....in my oppinion its not worth while to kill ourselves for the sake of retiring early or money. Life is too short and too precious:o

I worked all three shifts, now I work days. In our hospital all three shifts are hell shifts...busy, short staffed, nasty families, grumpy docs, too many discharges during the day, too many admits in pm, no lift team at night..so and so forth!!!. I like days because I get eat dinner with my family, I dont miss the differential...I can make it up by working a 2nd job plus doing overtime. However I also dont like getting up so early in the morning....but see I can not have it all....so I am hoping oneday I will just be able to quit nursing:lol2:

Oh by the way you can make over $8100/month if you work in the California State Prison!! There benefits are also excellent.....perhaps you should try it out....but mind you, you wont be able to live in California with $2600/month, unless you stay single and rent a room from someone....and eat mac & cheese;)

Your plan will only be possible if you stay single and have mac & cheese for all three meals. Then again you will get burnt out after working all these hours. Trust me its not that easy. I make $41/hr with full benifit, I work 72 hrs bi-weekly, plus I have another job, I make $36/hr without benefit, there I work 40 hrs bi-weekly. I dont get a weekend off. After working all these hours I get exhausted....I only plan to work two jobs another year or so. After making all these money and trying to budget I still dont have enough as there are always some sort of surprises....to add, my husband also works full time....we still dont have enough!! I can gurantee you that you will be wanting to quit your job after working less then 6 months.....NURSING IS TOUGH......unfortunately:o

I was happy to hear that things are working out a bit better for you. Trust me you are not alone in regards to getting stressed out and feeling depressed at times. I am sure there are many of us here have experienced some sort of down moments sometimes in our lives. So please dont give up hope. You are not alone. Life is mean and unfair sometimes, but we have to try to stay positive. Specially because we are not only nurses but also mothers. We have to stay focus for our beloved children....I hope things will get better and better for you each and everyday:)

I just tried to read this post but it says the post is deleted....perhaps he got the messege:angryfire

This is just horrible. Perhaps this Kevin Fisher guy should spend a few days with the nurses on the floor to see what we really do and also perhaps he will realize how stupid he is:angryfire

You may call me a negative person but the points you brought up are absolutely correct. Not just me, every one of us in our floor are overwhelmed. Everyday I go to work hoping things will get better, we will have a less stressfull day but it never changes....bedside nursing is very very hard. Perhaps you should aim for higher education and try out PA, education or case management. Good luck:)

I am sorry to hear that you hurt your back....hugs.. I also hurt my lower back once while I was pulling a patient up on the bed. I was not able lean forward, sit or even lay flat on my back or side becuase it was sooooooo painfull. I was also on workers comp, pt and light duty so on. It was very difficult to get paid through workers comp. I dont think they even paid me 50% of what I made...I was not sure about the exact percentage they pay....so just be carefull. Just for your own shake, may be you should see your own doc, I dont think workers comp will allow you to see your own doc but I think you can request. If you can perhaps ask your doc to have an x-ray done, just incase...Also dont miss those pt appointments!! They really helped me alot! Now I do not lift any overweight pt on my own. We have a lift team and I wait for them, I dont care even if the family bite my head off....my health is important to me....if I am sick I basically wont be able to provide for my family. I hope you feel better soon:)

Perhaps along with valet parking the hospital should also have some slat machine and black jack table....oh also a spa station....just like any 5 star hotel in the country....the patients and their families will have a retreat and hospital will make profit....and us, the nurses will have job security!!!!.......

yes you need to look for a new job. I work both in med/surg and psych. These two are totally different fields!! I know most of my co-workers in psych dont even know how to prime and start an IV, how would they function in a L&D or ER?? Its just like floating a ICU nurse to a psych floor where you have to do groups, deal with all these psychotic patients, understand the psychotropic meds and their adverse affects, so on. They have to give you orientation, only then you can float, other wise it will not only be unsafe for the patients but also for your self.

Today I had my first day of orientation in a psych hospital. We had this 8 yrs old boy, he was there beacause he had problems with anger management and he has tempertantrum, he was throwing chairs at home when he got mad. So during a group the facilitator asked him.." Joe why did you come here?: He replies "I got mad and threw a chair". The facilitator ask "What could you have done differently when you got mad"....Joe goes..."well I threw a chair, parhaps I could have thrown a table instead"......

D50: We have this protocol in our hospital where you have to fill out a tedious form and call a number everytime you give it, because we had a pt died after nurse kept on giving the pt D50 everytime blood sugar dropped:( Go_Lytely: Specially for the pt wih GI bleed for colonoscopy...ufff the smell of it...... Any narcotis: because you have to keep on counting, lock the narc cabinet, sign a sheet...(we dont have a pyxis:()

One more thing: I hope all the management nurses who are here reading these post will be able understand how truly all the nurses are stressed out, how we all feel and take the messege back to their units and make them better so that their staff will enjoy doing their jobs and be able to keep their sanity :)

This is how my days are at my med/surg floor every single day....a chaos....but I have learnt how to organize myself....some days when I feel like a failure I just go to the break room and take time out...I cry:( I usualy have 5 patients, if I am teaming I have up to 7. I know many nurses that float from ICU get overwhelmed when they come to our floor. Most of the time our charge nurses try to give them eaiser assignment. I hope things will get better soon....:)

:lol2::lol2::lol2: thats a great one Leslie!!!!

Yes he does use both hands to use the crutches.....but I still dont feel comfortable because of his behavior, attitude and past history....none of the other docs ever made any request to me like that. Thats why I was surprised and did not know how to react.... Thank you all for making me feel a bit better.:)

Hi Everyone: I have a silly question to ask.... We have a doc who is handicap and walks with crutches. I dont have a clue what happened to him. He is always rude and mean with his patients and nursing staff....anyhow yesterday I was working and I was taking care of one of his patients. He asked me if we made any coffee and I told him, we may have some old coffee. Then I got busy with my patients and when I came back to the nurses station he asked me where was his coffee?? I did not know how to respond....I did not feel comfortable with giving him coffee because he has this "thing" about taking nurses out!! He thinks all female nurses are after him...!! Then again I felt bad becuase he is a handicap and perhaps I should have helped him:(....what would you have done in my situation?? Thanks

I also dont resent my patients but I get annoyed with those patients who knowingly treat me like crap....I get mad and frustrated that we dont have enough bed side help, which makes my patients mad and subsequently they yell at me becuase I am the one who is there....This 67 yr old lady was d/c to SNF today, as she was laying on her gurney she gave me a kiss on my hand and thanking me for helping her, she was crying, I gave her a hug and she told me "you better wash your hand well as you know I have been isolated for bad bugs" She had history of MARSA....these types of patients really touch me....eventhough I had a ****** day that I myself was in tears but her little touch made me forget all the crap I went through all day....:)

There are part time jobs available:)

Oh well I will continue to take care of my patients, I will continue to fill in the blank to make the management,feds and JACHO happy....hope fully one day I will be able to retire and say adios to nursing and I wont have to loose my sleep over those nursing diagnosis and nursing care plan.....life is good;)