Ami_J

Sounds like you work on my floor! Except I am in Minnesota... we are a peds floor with a bunch of adult over flow in the summer. Usually Hyst's or appys, stuff like that. We sometimes have an NA if we have more than 6 pt's on the floor AND another floor doesnt' need them first - but most of the time we are on our own. But we only take 4 pt's per nurse... which I think is best... at least for the day and evening shifts... on nights they can take 5 each I think. Hopefully the staff on your floor works well together like we do - we help eachother out without being asked so pretty much every pt on your floor is your pt... because you are willing to help anyone that needs it... but you only do assessments and notes on your own pt's.... this attitude helps TONS when you have too heavy of a pt load. I've also found that charting everything as it happens helps a ton, and also having a checklist of things you can cross off as they are done so you don't waste any time double checking that you charted it. For example on our computer charting we have section 1, 2, 3, 4, VS and i&O's so I check them off as I complete the section. And never be afraid to ask for help!

Wow that is a good idea! I am for sure going to bring that up. I think that would maybe work for our unit... at least a little, because there are some people that don't mind floating. We take turns the same way... we write down the date of the last time we floated and then it's the next persons turn... now they changed it to float based on hours floated... so if you have 12 hours and everyone else has 20... then you are the next floated! But the problem is when a person doesn't work much, they might be floated 2-3 times in a row.

I was wondering what everyone's floating policy was, and how you like it? Does it work well? I am on a board to work out the problems in our policy, particularly our floor being dumped on. I work on a 16 bed pediatrics unit, our policy says we are a part of a "cluster" the cluster is Peds, L&D, Postpartum, nursery and special care... for Pediatrics we only float to postpartum. One of the main problems is that we float to them, but they don't float to us if we need extra help. It's a one way cluster. Another problem is that L&D and postpartum take priority over our own units needs. If they are short staffed they will pull us and we will have to turn children away on our own unit. We float so often that we can pretty much count on being floated each weekend we work, and in the summer when our numbers are down we might float 2-3 times/ week. What do your hospitals do that might work better for us? Any limits on the amount of hours you are required to float? Anyone get paid more for floating? Anyone have any ideas that I could bring up at our meeting? Also, if you feel you have a policy that would work well, please share it with me... PM a copy if you can. Thanks!

I work in a non-union hospital, and it is VERY common on my floor to be put on call 2-3 times per pay period. They have started floating us to help us keep our hours (but personally I would rather stay home than float so often) Are you able to float to other units? It's stressful, I think, but helps with the paychecks

I had health insurance through my schools health services, check online there are companys that provide cheap insurance for students... I think I paid around $250 per semester for mine.

My summer internship made a huge difference according to my boss... also many internship programs offer you a job after graduation!

We use a system called voice care. It is a taped report by phone. We enter the phon number, and our user name and password, and then either listen to report on just the room number you enter or record report on those rooms. It cuts down on having to listen to everyone elses report, and you can do it on any phone. And there are no worrys of other people on the floor listening in on other patient, because if it isn't their unit, they don't have access to the report. It also saves the shift reports for 24 hours, so if you want you can listen to past shift reports. It takes about 10-15 minutes to listen!

I didn't do even close to 100/day... on a good day I maybe did 80, but usually I did 25. It's better to do a few and get them RIGHT, or if you get it wrong truely understand what you did wrong. Passing the NCLEX is more about how you reason things out... take time to figure out what the question is asking, and becausethere is usually more than one right answer, figuring out why one is more right than the others... if you can do this, what it the point of doing hundreds of questions?

Flash cards work well. I also bought the book "Pharmacology made incredibly easy"... and found it to be very helpful

Yes, I lived off my student loans. I worked part time for awhile, but clinicals made it hard to get hours. With the costs of school plus what I took out for living I now owe $60,000 which I will begin paying next month! Yikes!

I took the test and passed with 108 questions, my friend had all, what 265? Both of us thought we failed... but we passed! Almost everyone thinks they failed because the questions get harder with each one you get right... so they are ALL hard!

That is a cool test :) I took it and many of the top answers are things I am interested in... I work in pediatrics now, and that was 6th on my list, and number 1 was psych and I am VERY interested in doing that later in my career!

My friend got 3 dwi's while in nursing school (dumb her) but it didn't have any impact on career. She did have to write a statement on her application for her license but that is it... but maybe it depends on where you live.

Pediatircs Floor day shift 3-4 pts, no techs Minnesota

I get the same way, when it looks like something that is painful for the pt. Blood and wounds don't bother me at all but if it looks painful I get all tight in my shoulders and neck and if I don't notice my tension I get lightheaded. I have found it helpful to check myself when watching things, making sure my knees are slightly bent, that I relax my shoulders, and take slow even breaths... I know myself well enough to know if I start getting hot, then I better leave the room! :stone What is weird is that I never get this way when I do the procedure, only when I watch someone else do it. So weird... I am glad I am not the only one. I find it happens way more often when I have my period... is anyone else more sensitive during that time of the month??