casperx875x

Absolutely is there a nursing shortage. Unfortunately it is being resolved as hospitals are forcing larger workloads on the staff they already have. Eventually, they will see it does not work as even more nurses than before begin to leave the profession due to over-exhaustion. Everything in life is cyclical. Soon enough we will see hospitals crying out for help. It will probably be several years, but I'm fairly sure it will happen again. I'm sorry you're having such a hard time finding a job. I have many nurse friends who are in the same position. My best advice is to be as aggressive as possible! The squeaky wheel always gets the attention!

I never apologize for calling a physician. It's BOTH of our jobs to care for the patient whether it be 10AM or 2AM. I will clearly state that A) I am concerned about a change in the patient's status, B) I have a direct order to notify the physician if X, Y, or Z occurs or C) I am required to notify a physician for critical labs, etc. If they don't want to be notified about a certain event, ask them if you can discontinue that order, otherwise they will continue to be notified. I've only been yelled at once in my 8 months so far *knocks on wood* but actually received a return phone call from that physician stating that I was right to call him, and he even apologized. If you feel a physician is ignoring your concerns, file a complaint, notify your NM, get your charge nurse involved and call an RRT if you have that available at your facility. Better to be safe than sorry. Continue to be an advocate for your patient!!

Working nights and going to school full time together is really, really hard. I did it myself and had a really hard time. I think you need to grab a schedule book, time out blocks of when you're in school or when you're working and pretty much just schedule your sleep. It sounds weird, but it really helped me. This way you know when you'll be able to get your sleep in and it will help you to organize your time much better.

The first year is tough, from what I heard, and I definitely have had my fair share of near nervous breakdowns in my 6 months so far. I think that is contributing to how you feel, but your job does not sound safe. I would run. And run fast.

I agree with ordering bariatric equiptment for your patients. Also, for females on a bedpan, have them bend/spread their legs as much as they can and place a pad between their legs. Any urine that doesn't make it into the bedpan will be absorbed by the pad.

Where I work, we have a fantastic tool that allows us to report incidents such as these. The physician receives a warning and is tracked for further incidents. Many nurses I work with have even received apologies from these same reported physicians. No one should be treated that way.

Lexapro

Nights can be really rough. If I didn't absolutely love the people I work with on nights, I would definitely be wanting a Day/Evening position. Evenso, many times I wish I lived a more normal life. I also think that being a new grad more than likely is highly contributing to your feelings of being sad and depressed. Ever since I finished orientation and was on my own, I was extremely sad and depressed. I cried every night before I went to work and every morning I got off of work. My anxiety level was through the roof, I was a nervous wreck at work, though I apparently hid it very well. Like you, it was a hard pill to swallow, literally, but I started taking medication and it has made a world of a difference. Know you are not alone. If you really think it is the night shift, maybe your other job option would be best for you right now. Being a new nurse is stressful and I definitely think only another nurse can truly understand.

I myself am anxious for my first code. I've seen a few in progress, but have never actually been in on the action. Most of the time, the residents take over with compressions, respiratory already has the airway covered and the nurses are all drawing up drugs, recording, running for additional supplies, etc. One of my preceptors told me something that I will never, ever forget. She told me to always take care of my patients first and then help where I can, unless someone else's patient is coding. It sounds like common sense, but I've been on other floors where the nurses run the opposite direction when a code is called. On my floor, we all drop everything we are doing to help in a code situation. So while I am scared, I know that I will always have the support of my coworkers if one of my patients is ever the patient that is coding.

I always ask for Bipap and Vent settings and am always, always amazed at the responses I receive... mostly "I don't know. Respiratory deals with that down here." I don't understand how a nurse can feel safe not knowing what settings their patients are requiring. My personal favorite was just the other night, hearing that a patient's been on 100% Bipap for nearing 12 hours with failed attempts of weaning down the FiO2. Are you planning on coding the patient on the way up or are we intubating before that happens? My other favorite - "The patient's been fine on 100% NRB the past 4 hours." I'm sorry, what? No way are you sending me those patients...

For me, 10 weeks of orientation (8 weeks on days, 2 weeks on nights) 1 on 1 with a preceptor plus 2 weeks of classroom orientation. I was hired for FT nights. I was anxious about being on my own, but felt prepared.

I work on an ICU stepdown floor. Vitals are every 4 hours and I&Os every 8 hours.

I am so sorry you are having to deal with this. I am even more sorry because I know exactly how you feel. I found myself in an eerily similar situation over a year ago when I was a tech. I was bullied on by a nurse for a very, very long time. She totally had it out for me. I documented everything she did to me and flooded my manager's email, sending her something almost daily. I even filed a letter of harassment because it was out of control. That brought attention to the situation. My coworkers vouched for me, I met several times with this nurse and my managers, but nothing ever changed. She was unable to be around anyone on our unit and caused trouble with everyone. Finally, she was asked to leave - she was clearly mentally unstable. Please just hang in there. Document what happens, make sure your manager is in the know. If something big happens and your other coworkers are around, ask them to send an email and document the events. If things continue to worsen, go beyond your manager - follow the chain of command. Most workplaces offer a service where you can file inappropriate work behaviors/harassment in the workplace. No one deserves to go to work and be in the situation that you are in. Let us know if things get better.

:chuckle I don't even know what I would do with myself!

I wish somebody had told me that nursing school is not even close to real-life nursing.