dopaminequeenRN

I hope you are the one who gets to train the new-hires on your floor! After one shift with you, they would know how to do the job right. You Rock!!!!!

My Iguana scrubs are the ONLY scrubs out of my 9 yrs of working in healthcare that shrank!! :angryfire The fabric wrinkled very easily. I love Dickies Workwear scrubs and urbane pants. Urbane has finally started making tops with a pocket on each side. Woo hoo!

I am also horizontally and vertically challenged! I buy Urbane XX small pants (regular length) and I like the x-small unisex Landau tops. They are both made by the same company so the colors match. The problem is, XXsmall urbane pants only come in two or three colors. Navy is one of them.

OMG! I'm not the only one with an IV phobia!? Starting IV's is one of the major concerns I have regarding traveling because in the ICU, my patients usually have central lines and if I need an IV, I grab one of the old veterans! I have not taken a travel assignment yet, and I'm glad to know there will be IV teams out there!

I hope to start sometime this spring. I haven't contacted any agencies yet. I've just been doing some research before I actually start the process. There are so many places that I want to see and I can't decide where to go first! The sad thing is, I really like my current job and all of my co-workers, but I've been wanting to travel for a long time. I will definitely let you guys know when I get an assignment--hopefully some of you will be close by and you can show me all the "must sees!" I'm thinking about Oregon or Washington and I would love to go to New England! Decisions, decisions.....

Thanks baglady and neurorachel!! You guys sound like really fun people! I'm so glad you shared your stories with me. I feel much less nervous now about traveling and way more excited to jump in there!

After reading hundreds of posts (all were very helpful), I've found that I'm not the only one out there with lots of fears/concerns about traveling. I wanted to start a thread for folks to share some of their positive experiences. I'm hoping your stories will calm some nerves. Thanks!!!!

I was a CNA for 6 years before becoming an RN. My CNA experience is what convinced me to become a nurse. (I was pursuing a different degree while working as a CNA and went back to school to become a nurse.) It was such a tough job but It was very rewarding. In fact, I got a job in the ICU after graduation because the nurses do more total care with those patients and I didn't want to give that part of the job up. That sounds gross...no one likes wiping butts, but I enjoy being involved in all aspects of my patients' care---not just passing meds. Good luck! :heartbeat

Been reading some posts about travel agencies/hospitals cancelling nurses due to bogus allegations of "clinical errors" just to save money, etc. Does this really happen? What can you do to prevent it? I really want to travel but don't want to be cancelled because I forgot to chart a bowel movement on a flow sheet. Please share your experiences. Any advice/insight would be greatly appreciated!

Please don't be discouraged. My dream is travel, also. I had the same concerns as you but after talking to some co-workers who have traveled a lot, I feel relieved. They told me that most of the time, the nurses are glad to have you and are willing to help. My co-workers have only done ICU and ER, so I don't know if that made a difference. I have two yrs. ICU experience and am finally ready to bite the bullet!

Flightline is right about all of the above. My best advice is to concentrate on the present for now--make the grades, get good scholarships, etc. Five years from now, you may have no desire to be in the medical field, but that's OK because if you get a good education, many doors will open up to you. As a nursing student, I was lucky enough to observe several surgeries. The OR was awesome but there were negatives....It's cold and you are on your feet for several hours depending on the type of surgery. Check into shadowing someone in the OR. You may not be able to do that at age 14, but it never hurts to ask!

That must be nice! I wish we had a unit like that! Do those nurses get hazard pay? LOL!!!

I was a tech before being a nurse, so I know how demanding that job can be. I can share with you some experiences from the ICU I work in and the things we nurses do and do not like about our techs. Please don't: Tell the nurse how to do her job. Harrass the nurse about trivial things when her patient is crashing Roll your eyes or cop an attitude if she asks you for help Constantly be on your cell phone (my personal pet-peeve) Please do: Take initiative and be proactive Be gentle with the patient's tubes, IV's, etc. Show interest and ask questions--most of us love to explain things if we have the time! If you have a genuine desire to help people and be good at your job, then you will be fine. It's obvious which techs/nurses are burned out and they are usually the ones who have problems at work. I'm sure you will do great, because if you didn't care about your job, you wouldn't be asking for advice. Good luck and have fun!!

I was nauseated before every shift I worked for the first year!! I've heard that from several of our new grads right now, too. I tell them to keep on truckin'! It gets better, I promise. At least you admit that you are overwhelmed. It's the nurses that won't ask for help or think they already know it all who make major mistakes and nearly kill people...I could tell ya some stories.... Anyway, after only two years in the ICU I find myself being the "veteran" many nights, surrounded by newbies and they are relying on me to help them. I never thought I'd be anyone's resource! Soon, you'll be the one giving advice and calming the nerves of those new nurses. Hang in there, the unit needs good nurses like you!!

I love ICU! I worked at an ortho/stroke rehab facility for a few years before going to ICU as a new grad RN--so I can relate to your story. Making the transition was hard at first because the two environments were so different. Thankfully, my co-workers were good to me and with time, the unit became my new comfort zone. At my hospital, we have 4 ICU's under one manager--MICU, SICU, CVICU, and CCU. We float to all of them, which isn't a big deal because each of our units is very similar to the other. I work 7p to 7a. We never have more than 2 patients per nurse (we are lucky, some hospitals aren't that way). I come in, do a chart check on each patient, do a full assessment on each patient, chart the assessments, and try to get one bath done before visiting time at 8:30pm. Then at 9pm when visiting is over, I get my meds ready and give those. At 11 pm its time for more assessments and charting. Then there are usually midnight meds. In the mean time, you have to suction and turn the patients every 2 hours. The night goes on like that---usually. Sometimes you move a patient out, and get a new admit. Sometimes you have to pack them up to go to CT. Sometimes you spend 12 hours just trying to keep one or both of them alive. Then at 6 am its time for visitation again. I went from taking care of 7 to 12 patients as an LPN at the rehab hospital to having just two. I feel like I am giving better care now because of that. I felt so guilty not being able to spend enough time with my team of patients at the rehab hospital. The knowledge I have gained from working just two years in ICU is awesome. My experienced co-workers are extremely intelligent and I am so blessed to have them share that kind of knowledge with me. I hope my little story gives you some insight. I wish you the best in your decision!

Wow! This sounds interesting....Have you gotten most of the labs back and if so, did they point to a more specific diagnosis? Athena55 sounds like she knows her stuff! I wish I had something to contribute here, but I'm flabbergasted. Please keep us posted!

Any comments about Faststaff?

I work at a 315 bed hospital with 32 ICU beds. It is the largest facility in the area and has the busiest ER in the state. We have SICU, CVICU, MICU, and CCU. They are all under one manager and we float to each one. I bet 95% of our ICU applicants are new grads, and that's pretty much all we hire for ICU. I think this is because our local university has a CCRN program and many of our new grads have to have ICU experience before they can pursue that degree. Another reason we hire so many new grads is because the experienced floor nurses are less likely to leave their comfort zone and make the transition to ICU. I started out in ICU as a new grad. I had 3 years of LPN experience, though, and that helped me a lot. Good luck!!

I am sorry to hear that you are having a rough time. On a positive note: the paramedic experience you have can open a lot of doors. I don't know how experienced you are, but you might look into trauma nursing (either a trauma ER or ICU). Your first-responder expertise would be put to great use in those environments--plus, you won't have to deal with families very much and if your patients are crazy, more than likely they will end up sedated. My friend works ina level I trauma ICU and loves it. He was hired there as a new grad. Good Luck!!

I feel your pain! I've had this same problem. My OT, shift diff, on-call pay, etc. is all lumped together in one catagory and I still haven't been given a straight answer as to when my night shift diff kicks in. I've been told 3pm, 7pm, and 11pm. Who knows? My paycheck certainly doesn't make it clear. Also, my hospital is notorious for "technical errors" which short us money a lot of times, but they're hard to catch because the paychecks are so vague. When you catch an error, good luck getting your back-pay. It takes an act of congress. I've gone to HR to try to clarify my questions, but they couldn't even interpret my checks either. I wish we could have one of those inservices, but the hospital isn't going to offer it. We've tried. I'm glad you brought this up. I didn't realize it was a problem at other places.

omg! are there really such things as vip floors? and do you get a major pay increase for working on them...lol. please tell me more, i'm curious!

Maybe this little story will give you some encouragement.....Picture it, southern Arkansas, 1982. My little two-year old sister in the tiny county hospital with pneumonia. My scared parents who are in their early 20's at her side. My sister is, of course, hard to console at this age. Nurse after nurse gets frustrated with her and seems aggrivated every time they have to come into the room, or give her any medicine. She won't eat, drink, or speak. My parents don't know what to do or what to expect. One night, a black nurse is assigned to her. This nurse offers her ice cream (none of the other ones took the time to do this). The black nurse sang to my sister and managed to get the meds down her. My sister cried when the other nurses took care of her, but not when "Nurse Bea" was there. My sister is 25 now. She still loves to hear my mom tell her about the time she was in the hospital. I can't imagine the challenges this nurse faced--It was 1982, 95% of her co-workers were white, AND she was a travel nurse so you know she probably didn't know anyone at this hospital. My sister is now a nurse and I know "Nurse Bea" would be proud!

This too shall pass.... Talk to the staff that has been at your facility for 10+ years. I promise you they will tell you that the bad and good times cycle over and over again. Don't bail yet. You loved your job six months ago and six months from now, you'll be glad you stuck it out through this difficult time. Hope it all works out!

The test I took pertained to dosage calculations such as "The doctor ordered morphine 4mg IV. You have a vial lableled 'morphine 2mg/ml.' How much morphine do you draw from the vial?" There were also drip factor and drops per minute questions. If this stuff was a breeze for you in school, don't fret. You should do fine. I was always terrible with math and still managed to pass the test at my current hospital. I hope this answered your question. Congratulations on becoming a nurse!!!!!!!!!