randomramblings

With the nursing shortage, I was able to jump from psych to mother/baby without a problem even though I had no real experience. I was certified in Fetal Heart Monitoring while I was a senior in college, though, so I think that helped. I'm sorry to hear it's been difficult for you. Maybe that's a good sign that the unit is run well and so there's not a lot of turnover! There are only 2 things I can think of that might help. One is transferring to pedi and getting in that way. A lot of hospitals have a maternal-child health floor that includes maternity, pedi and the NICU. If that's the case, you can be cross trained to one or two of the other specialties. The other is signing up for classes through the hospital that are relevant to maternity. Things like NRP (neonatal resuscitation-ACLS for newborns, basically), Fetal Heart Monitoring, that sort of thing. If class size is limited they'll probably restrict it to those who already work in maternity, but otherwise they shouldn't say no. Good luck either way!

I don't want to go into details right now, but I wanted to throw my two cents in. I went through something like this twice: once as described by most people here, and another time that was much worse and lasted for 5 months. Anyway, that second incident is what prompted me to apply to law school. I contacted 3 lawyers about the second hospital, and they all told me the same thing. The law doesn't protect you from that kind of thing unless you're a member of a protected class, ie a minority, foreign-born, gay, etc. If you're a woman being treated this way by other women, assuming everyone's the same "color", it's NOT ILLEGAL! Check out www.bullyinginstitute.org or the book called The Bully at Work. Believe it or not, nurses are infamous for treating each other this way.

Because that's when you learn everything! Ok, no one really knows everything, but the first year is your crash course not only as a nurse, but in the specialty in which you work, so it's kind of a double whammy (You will always feel a bit like you're starting over if you switch specialties, but it will never be as hard as your very first year). Also, it's at least 3 times the work (if not more) than you had in your clinicals. That's a pretty big adjustment! You have way more to do, much less time to do it in and even less time to stop and think about what it is you're doing. It's scary and stressful!!! Plus as others have said, nursing school really is nothing like real life. Oh, if only we had it that good! :wink2: But you'll survive just like the rest of us, I promise. Accessqueen hit the nail on the head, by the way. But in addition to her great advice, mine is this--memorize this response: "I don't know, but I'll find out". Patients and other health care professionals can tell when you're not sure about something, and it's much more reassuring--and safer--to be told the truth. Make sure you write important things down as you go, whether it's in report or during the shift! No one remembers everything if they don't, and it sucks to sit down and chart only to realize you forgot to write something down and now you can't really remember it. I would also add that you should find the nicest nurse on your unit and unofficially make them your mentor by going to them with your questions. It'll be easy, because she'll be the one who is always willing to help you when you need it. It's important to have a nonjudgmental nurse who's willing to help you out and answer the questions you'd feel silly asking anyone else. Good luck on your last year! Yes, you will have a really hard time for the first 6-12 months, but you can do it. Get through the first year, then look at whether nursing is still something you want to do. Just don't judge it by the first year! It gets better, really.

Just out of curiosity, if the people in RT are always joking and seldom really stressed out, why are you becoming an RN instead of an RT? Don't you know we're a stressed out bunch? :wink2: For me, my personality just isn't suited for nursing as it currently stands. I'm too outspoken as far as nurses' rights. I stand up for what I believe in, and believe that nothing will ever change if everyone just ignores the problem. I just can't stay in a career where I'm expected to put up, shut up, and not use my brain. Andreas, I feel the same way! Except that I'm actually going into my second year in law school. Funny thing... whenever I tell lawyers that I'm currently a nurse, I swear I can suddenly see dollar signs pop up in their eyes. Apparently nurses who become lawyers are a very hot commodity! If I had to do it all over again... I might, with the knowledge that I'd end up in law school in the end. Or I might choose to major in English, Art, or Journalism. I'm still interested in the health and medical field, but just not as a nurse. I need to be able to fight for causes and things I believe in. Idealistic, yes, but after 10 years of being an RN I'm still idealistic about the profession. It's just that I feel most everyone else has already given up.

Exactly! Most young/new nurses I've met say they can't see themselves being nurses for the rest of their lives, myself included (which is why I'm now in law school after 10 years of being a nurse). Older nursing students probably have a better idea of what they're looking for and what they want than younger students do. As for the spots, I say anyone who is offered one deserves it. Thank God my law school didn't have that attitude towards me when I applied, or they might not have offered me a spot! :wink2:

I had friends who graduated with an ADN and became RNs after they graduated just like I did after I graduated with my BSN. I've never heard of an ADN not being able to take the nursing boards... Am I misunderstanding you? As for the original post, I have to admit I've found myself feeling jealous at people like dental hygienists who make more than I do with less training, but I would never hold it against them or treat them differently! Of course, if I knew then what I know now I might have chosen a different career path.... :wink2:

I still get told that I don't look like a nurse (despite being 32 years old) because I look too young. Or so the patients say. :) I wouldn't read too much into it, either. It reflects more on her as a person than it ever would on you. :)

I tell patients that if you don't take all of your antibiotics, it doesn't kill all the bacteria. The ones who survive are stronger and could make you sick again, only this time they're resistant to the antibiotic so they're harder to kill. The same thing happens if you take "leftover" antibiotics [which we all know they shouldn't have anyway] or insist on antibiotics for viral infections. Then I tell them that that's why we have superbugs like the guy with TB or things like MRSA. Most patients at least pay lip service to the fact that they understand when I put it that way.

Congratulations on passing the boards!!! I'm not surprised to hear they have you scheduled as a charge nurse, either, but I agree that it seems pretty soon and that if you don't feel ready you should speak up. It's your license on the line, no one else's. You should be able to focus on learning your job right now, not on managing other people's jobs. If they don't support you and change it, I'd think about whether you really want to work at a place like that. Unfortunately in nursing, administration will take advantage when they can, including putting a brand new RN as the charge rather than pay for the extra nurse. And don't feel guilty--I think every one of us would feel the same way in your shoes, and every one of us deserved to have help when we were so new.

Good luck!!! Don't try to analyze it, though, because you'll drive yourself crazy. You won't know until you get your results no matter how much you try to figure it out, so just try to distract yourself and not think about it (I know, I know, easier said than done!) until you get the envelope. But I had about the same amount of questions and I passed. I also worked with a great, great, great nurse who took the boards 3 times before she finally passed, so it doesn't mean you can't make it as a nurse if you don't, either. It just means you get nervous at taking a test that determines whether you can work in the career you've been preparing for for years. It's an incredibly nerve-wracking thing. When I got my results in the mail, I had to make someone else open it, I was so nervous!

I worked with teenagers in long-term psych units for several years. We didn't do rated R movies, but otherwise anything went. Obviously if there were certain themes that were inappropriate we wouldn't show them, but one of the kids' favorite movies was "What About Bob"! A safe bet is probably a good rated PG or PG-13 comedy, though. :) Kelly

So then, they DO give it to Rh neg moms regardless of positive or negative coombs? I knew that in practice, most providers give it to their Rh neg moms regardless of the baby's blood type or coombs result. I didn't realize coombs testing on pregnant women was routine. So I assume that it's not indicated if coombs is positive, but it's also not contraindicated? Or is this just all academic with no real bearing on actual practice (and therefore confusing to this nurse)? :)

Ah! I was just coming back to write that I've worked post-partum/maternity, not prenatal, so I wasn't 100% sure about the positive coombs in moms. Thank you for clarifying! So if I, having 0 neg blood, have a baby who's Rh positive and I develop antibodies, they won't give me rhogam even for subsequent pregnancies?

There's a difference between blood type (pos or neg) and Coombs. A coombs tests whether blood you've been exposed to is incompatible with yours. If you've received a blood transfusion or been pregnant and therefore exposed to the baby's blood cells, a coombs will be positive if your body's attacking the foreign blood cells, basically. A lot of providers will give rhogam to an Rh negative mother regardless of whether the baby's blood type is positive or negative, just to be on the safe side. If not, a positive direct coombs on the baby (which is the test they usually do) is an indication of an incompatibility between mom and baby's blood, so they'll give mom rhogam if she hasn't already received it and will monitor the baby for potential complications. If the coombs testing you're referring to is a test on the mother, though, they should give it if they're positive, because it means the mother has been exposed to blood it's incompatible with, meaning her antibodies (if they get into her baby's blood steam) could attack the baby's blood. I haven't really heard of them doing any coombs tests on the mothers, though... at least not in the normal course of things. I'm surprised it was on your test! Kelly

Welcome to nursing! That's exactly what it's like in real life. When I worked in medical hospitals I'd wake up over and over again thinking the call light was going off because they'd been going off all night. :) It's quite the wake up call, isn't it? You're so focused on learning the overwhelming amount of material you need to learn while in school that you don't realize how idealistic your clinical experience is! By the way, I'm sure those nurses would appreciate a thank you note more than you could imagine, so I say go for it. :) Unfortunately, nurses get that kind of appreciation far too little. Anyway, it took me about 6 months or so to finally stop feeling like I was constantly struggling to keep my head above water. After about a year, I suddenly realized that I didn't have to stop and ask about everything anymore, and that I wasn't doubting every single thing I did. I remember thinking when I first graduated "am I ever going to feel like I know what I'm doing?" It hit me one day at work, and I realized I was able to get through my shifts on a regular basis without having to stop and ask basic questions. My questions had become more sophisticated--i.e. about complications or unusual circumstances, not about basic nursing. And I agree that you never know everything. Even nurses who've been RNs for 30 years will stop and ask other nurses questions, because everyone's past work experience is different and no one knows everything. The best nurses--from the most to the least experienced--know this and will ask questions instead of trying to look like they know everything.