JentheHen

Thanks for these replies. Yes, morecoffeepls, the camera thing crossed a line for me and I mentioned it to the nurse manager, who shrugged it off. Unfortunately bad patient care is often shrugged off as staffing is such a problem. (Why do people who think the mentally ill are lazy malingerers and leeches on society become psych nurses and techs? Thus miserable nurses and techs.) I'm in my permanent unit now and I really like it. It's smaller and we all work as a team. Nurses and techs are generous with their teaching and sharing experiences. I even have mentors now whom I cherish. Hallelujah! But because the census is so low, we get floated a lot so I will encounter more Nurse Xs. Fortunately I now know who to be careful around and am learning how to avoid acts of sabotage and backstabbing. There's a lot more good than bad, though--I'm pretty happy. Thanks to all who replied--I've learned a lot. You all sound like fantastic nurses.

I am so grateful for these great responses--thanks to everyone. Mommycakers, I envy the support you enjoy. It sounds like the hospital where I did my psych rotation in nsg school--enough staff, excellent management, a collaborative environment. My current hospital is extremely different. Dave, thank you for sharing your horror story. I'm glad it's over but it sure must have taken a lot of courage to go through all that. I don't want to be a whiner; as I've said, I'm so happy to be employed and in many ways this hospital is exactly what I was looking for, a place that serves an underserved community in heroic fashion much of the time. But my life and previous career did not give me much experience in dealing with this sort of situation. I will take all your advice--be the best nurse that I can, look out for patients as well as I can, politely ignore the bull as much as possible and employ healthy coping strategies for stress. So glad to be here. Thanks again!

Thank you for responding, gnursjr2. That's what I'm trying to do, but the judging and scrutiny (exactly right!) makes me nervous and anxious and just compounds my feelings of incompetence. I need to get a grip and think positive and thought posting would help. I know my friends from nursing school have been bullied far worse than me. I've had it pretty good until now. Thanks again. I'm still so grateful to have a job.

Hi. I graduated last May and was thrilled to find a job a year after graduation at a big city hospital (I wanted to work at a public hospital, not private) in a psych unit. My preceptor was wonderful, my orientation was 3 months and seemed extremely thorough, and I liked most everyone I encountered, from doctors to fellow RNs to patients. I was learning a lot, working very hard but enjoying it. We were always short-staffed but I was glad to experience primary nursing, from making beds to med-passing. Then my preceptor went on vacation and chaos ensued. This was at the last two weeks of my orientation, when I was expected to do charge nursing and run the unit, do admits and discharges, make the schedule under Nurse X. Nurse X could not be bothered to explain anything or answer any questions. She would not inform me about changes in patients conditions or if she gave narcotics to anyone on my lunch break, making me look stupid and neglectful. Under me/her, psych techs exchanged duties without telling anyone, abandoned their 1:1 and COs, other nurses took 2 and 3 hour lunches and violent, psychotic patients were literally running amok in the hallways, scaring other patients, while Nurse X chatted with her boyfriend on the phone. Nurse X was also very territorial. I hadn't done an admit on my own, so my nurse educator explicitly told her that I had to do one. I was in the midst of talking to a suicidal young Japanese woman about why she had taken an overdose of pills (it took a while to get her to talk because she wanted to give me the "right" answers) when Nurse X ran in, said, "What did you take? How much? Did they pump your stomach?" and the girl clammed up and wouldn't talk anymore. This nurse also tells paranoid patients that we have cameras in the nurses station that monitor their every move. Etc etc. Until Nurse X took over my supervising, I had felt (and been told) that I was doing a great job, from my preceptor to docs, social workers and psych techs. But now the nursing supervisor thinks I need another week of orientation and I feel like the biggest loser. I've tried to ask Nurse X why she seems to be sabotaging me, like "Why didn't you tell me you gave Ativan to Patient Y? I need to know stuff like this." She gives me a sunny smile and said, "Oh, I forgot...it's just been so crazy.." My preceptor will be back next week, I will enjoy working with her and learning from her and an additional week of orientation can only help me (even though it may make me look bad to the unit I'm going to). But how do you handle working with someone who actively sabotages you like this? I am not one of those know-it-all grad RNs. This is my second career and I've been unemployed for a year. I told everyone how green I was. I told everyone how grateful I was to learn from them. But I now feel like she has poisoned the other RNs against me (although non-nursing staff has noticed what she is doing and tells me it's typical politics).

I graduated from NYU's accelerated degree program and found it to be an infuriating place. I know there are problems in all programs, but I felt for such a hefty price tag, it was ridiculous that lab supplies would often run out, Simulation Man rarely worked or the lab instructors didn't know how to use him, clinical instructors were so often out way of their league (many had no experience bedside nursing) and there were too many students in clinical groups to really do much hands-on stuff. And that was before they doubled the class size. I did get a great job fairly easily (the name still has clout) but I work alongside ADNs from community colleges whose education was as good as mine and whose clinical skills were much better right out of nursing school.

I loved my OB rotation. We were at Maimonides in Brooklyn, which has a huge number of lady partsl births going on all the time due to the largely Orthodox Jewish/Hasidic population (most of my classmates were lucky to see one C-section). We rotated through Post Partum, L&D/triage and the Nursery. I loved L&D the most; the nursery set my teeth on edge (all that squawling--I'm not a baby person). Spending a shift in the NICU was optional. Everybody was great and we were able to do a lot of hands-on stuff. Hope you have as great a time as we did! I found the class one of the most challenging in nsg school but enjoyed it, too.

Sorry, I misunderstood your question. I'm pretty sure you have to be a fulltime student at NYU to take a clinical as you first have to be accepted into the undergraduate division and have all your pre-reqs tranferred. You should call the College of Nursing to make sure.

Yes, NYU accepts students for the Spring semester, which begins after MLK day. I think the deadline is November 1st or so. Your first clinical course will be Fundamentals of Nursing. This is an intensive program, and unless you have an extremely flexible part time job, I think employment would be difficult. Good luck!

I appreciate all of these replies. Thanks, I feel better.

Our clinical placement director just sent us a last minute email saying that in order to participate in clinicals, we need to take a hipaa test. Deadline is Tuesday. Is this something I should/can study for? Any help/guidance/advice is greatly appreciated.

That's interesting, kaymin. Can you tell me more about the clinical situation--what's involved in registration, how many hours a week, etc. Where will you be working? I talked to a student starting in January who is worried that she won't get enough hours (seems to be a common concern). Thanks, again.

Classes begin Jan 22nd. I don't know when registration is.

NYSBNHopeful, we were asked to respond within three weeks of the acceptance letter's date. To register, you'll need a current BLS (basic life support) for Healthcare Providers, a recent history/physical, and blood tests to prove MMR, chicken pox, and tetorifice immunization. You'll need a polio test, too. Hepatitis B and meningitis vaccinations are optional, but not having the former might bar you from some clinical settings so is strongly encouraged. Hope this helps. Good luck to you and everyone else who is waiting to hear.

Congratulations to you as well, Suzy, and best of luck with the scholarships/grants/aid. Your prior hospital experience is a huge plus, I'd imagine. I will be relying on my savings and loans--pretty stressful! My BA in English is from Barnard and I've been working in publishing for the last 15 years. Nursing will be my second and hopefully last career. I admit, I'm a bit intimidated right now but I'm really looking forward to the challenge come January. Will you be using student housing? I live in the East Village, near the school--lucked into my apartment after college when it was in an unfashionable area. I'm looking forward to meeting you and everyone else. Jen

Hello...I've been lurking for a few months and this is my first post ever. I received my acceptance letter to NYU's 15 month program starting in January about a week ago, and have been going nuts trying to get all the proper bloodwork, immunizations and BLS training in order. I'm very stressed, but even more excited.