I've had repeated problems with controlling/mean charge RNs who make unfair assignments, CNAs who do poor work, toxic coworkers, inept managers, and managers who encourage backstabbing by coworkers in EVERY hospital unit I've worked in. Somehow patie...
Are surgical units any easier than general medical units? I've been working on medical units with the occasional surgical patient and am considering employment on a surgical unit. I have found the surgical patients typically easier - they are younger...
I work on a high-acuity med/surg unit and typically have 6 patients. We are now expected to do walking rounds, hourly rounding on patients documented on a form at the patient room (alternating with CNA's who often don't do it), document extensively i...
Which meds do you think work best for psych patients? Seems like many of our patients have difficulty sleeping, wondering if the doc maybe should be ordering different meds?
medsurgrnco replied to SweetLemon's topic in Psychiatric
Patty Duke wrote a book about her Bipolar disorder. Other books I've read that I recommend, tho not written by people diagnosed with psychiatric disorders are: I Hate You, Don't Leave Me -- Jerold J. Kreisman & Hal Straus The Making of a Psychiat...
medsurgrnco replied to skittlebear's topic in Psychiatric
If you feel you need to see a therapist or psychologist to help you through this difficult time, then do it. It would look worse to your employer for you to attempt to work and not be able to work effectively than to get help. An employer in most sta...
medsurgrnco replied to KristieRae71's topic in Psychiatric
With a MASTER's in Psych, you might make HALF a nurses' salary. Agree with the posters above, find a way to get your nursing salary and do some of the type of work you seem to want to do.
This topic has been covered repeatedly. Suggest you do a search to read info from previous posts. When I worked nights, what worked best for me was to only sleep 5-6 hours after the last night shift. If I slept longer, then I would have more difficul...
Many, many nurses have been fired. Some admit it on applications and in interviews, and some don't. You need to figure out how you're going to address it. You can check with HR to find out what kind of reference they will give. While references can s...
Doxylamine is an OTC antihistamine that works for me. Try half a tab first. From what I've read, users don't complain about feeling drowsy the next day as often as users of benadryl claim. You can find it in the same area as Benadryl in stores. You c...
Since you left your 6-mth rehab job for the med-surg hospital job that didn't work out, this is what I would say in interviews when questioned about your 2 short-term positions. I'd say that I was interested in both rehab and med/surg, but thought at...
medsurgrnco replied to Joandarco's topic in Psychiatric
Most places I've worked, patients could order food/drinks and visitors could bring in food/drinks. Items not consumed at that time were kept at the nurses' station or in the pt fridge. No cans allowed on the unit. No food/drinks kept in pt rooms.
It is not unusual for a new nurse to go through a few jobs before staying in a position for a longer period of time, but you still want to limit this if possible! Downplay the short length of time in those jobs and improve your reasons for leaving j...
Agree with others, try to get your old job back. Then pursue this with the labor board and tell everyone you know about the situation. Probably not worth going after them personally, as the attorney would cost you big bucks and you'd get little $ for...
medsurgrnco replied to usedbrain's topic in Psychiatric
I've learned to do my own investigation, as I've repeatedly found others tell me incorrect data. Psych nursing outside hospitals sometimes pays better than the local hospitals. And you may find that you can work out a schedule you really like at your...
medsurgrnco replied to Bonnielou99's topic in General Nursing
I think you need to explore more this hitting the wall stuff and stopping. If you decide you do have a reason to continue on, can you do an intense mental activity for hours at a stretch? Until you are able to do this outside of work, I don't think y...
Since you already went to the DON once about her, and she has been at the job longer than you have, I would lay low and hope that others would voice complaints. (And if they complain to you about her, you might suggest they talk to the DON who might ...
Call up HR at your former job and ask what they will tell prospective employers. They may only give out dates of employment, position title, and salary and might not say termination details or state whether they would rehire or not. Anyway, with this...
Sorry for your situation. You did the right thing, so that obviously wasn't a good place to work. Could you possibly move to another area if you can't find LPN jobs in your current area?
medsurgrnco replied to IamRN08's topic in Psychiatric
Even if you're not giving meds, much of your time as a psych RN could be spent doing admissions and discharges with extensive time spent on paperwork and/or the computer. It all depends on the staffing, patient turnover, and what tasks LPNs are allow...
You can pay a small fee to a reference check company to find out what your references are saying about you. PM me if you want to know an online source I plan to use in the future if I feel it is needed. And now back to the regularly scheduled program...