bluelulu

:(Last night was nuts. I work on a med/surg floor in a busy hospital. My unit is notorious for being "crazy". Anyways, I have been off orientation for about 3 and a half weeks and am totally on my own now. Getting back to last night I had 4 patiets w/ picc lines, one in detox, one with ATC chronic pain meds, and one(the poor guy) with a trach , a g-tube, a colostomy, multple stage IV pu's that needed dsg changes and on top of it a texas cath that wouldn't stay on and a wound vac!!I couldn't believe it. I handled everything OK for the first part of the the night til one of my co-workers, who was trying to help me out asked me about another pts IVF's. "does he need another bag?" I was like"There is no way his 1000 cc bag can be done yet!" I guess I programed 750cc/hr instead of 75cc/hr by accident!!!!! I did an incident report and most importantly assessed his lungs and vs. There were faint crackles in his rt base. Other wise fine. Called the doc. got an order for lasix 20 mg iV and he diuresed (sp?) well. He was fine. BUT I AM NOT FINE!!! I feel terrible and I can't believe this happened! He has a hx of CHF and kidney problems! He was getting iv abt's piggybacked and I must have messed up on his primary bag! I had so much more going on, he should have been the simplest pt. Bottom line--I feel so bad and I am down a few pegs as a new, already insecure, new nurse! thanks for listening...............

I work 11p-7a, and let me tell you, I never stop. Never even get to have a snack usually. we get a lot of admissions and yes, someone said it right before--we are the "clean-up crew" a lot of the time! I walk in and there are IV abt's that are clamped and have never been given, messy rooms and meds not verified when pharmacy closes at 11 pm! I get so peed off! I could go on forever. To answer your question--I am only doing this shift for a year--6 mos. left. I am doing the med-surg new grad thing I hear we should all do at first. This was the only shift available. I am a zombie and do not feel good mentally or physically 1/2 the time. I have no life. At this moment I have been up for 24 hours because I worked last night, but this morning I had to go to my son's game and also conduct normal life stuff so I never rested. Night shift is tough for some ppl. and works for others. I would love to go to sleep. But my son wants me to play a game with him. Of course since I am off tonight I need to put my son first. Even though I am delirious w/ exhaustion! If you are young and childless maybe it can work...otherwise think of your health.

Thank you Nancy, that was a great reply. It is that thought exactly that keeps me going. Just get through the shift w/out killing someone is where I am at right now. I feel bad that when it is really crazy--I am not really doing full assessments because i don't have the time management down. I make sure i do a focused assessment, but then I am running to the room during online charting to check out a stage 2 pu I wasn't told about in report!!!! Am I bad for not fully asssessing a pt when things are hectic and I am aware of vitals? How do exp. nurses do their assessments of the whole pt. when time is of the essence and you just do not have time? I am really interested in an answer to this one because last night I was basically a med passer and it sucked. But I knew by seeing the pt. listening to lung and bs, basic--etc. that they were OK and I had to move on! do not feel comfortable finding out later that a patient has an AV fistula when I did not get it in report. I feel like I shoud have had the pt. head to toe naked! Help me w/ this!

I know exactly how you feel. I came off orientation maybe 3 weeks ago, work on a med/surg floor that is CRAZY most of the time (short staffed, slammed w/ admissions) and work the 11p-7a shift which has limited resources. I feel like I am going to the exectioner most nights. Instead of getting easier in any respect--it is getting harder. The past 3 nights I worked were a nightmare! Last night was really bad--I had a really complicated pt. plus 6 others who were ATC wanting pain meds and one admission that took me forever to get settled. It all depends on the person before you too. I got AWEFUL reports on all my patients and had to figure it all out as I went along. (We record our reports, and the previous nurse was long gone by the time I listened!) I wish I had some advice for you, but I am in the same boat. I also try to take it day by day. I am not ashamed to be a pain in the butt and ask for help or ask questions. Last night I actually wanted to just LEAVE! Abandon ship! Of course I could/would never do that, but I wanted to! I was sighing loudly all night! Anyways--I pray that it gets easier. I see that some new grads get this nursing profession better than others. There are new nurses 20 years younger than me who are more confident and not as spazzy as me. I think it has to do with how our coping mechanisms are and our confidence level. Good luck....stick w/ it for a while because I feel that it is the same no matter what field of nursing you are in--if you are the type of personality that frets a lot like I do--you need to stay and harden up, that is what I am planning to do. lulu

Beautifully said and so inspiring!

Also just have to add: got served with divorce papers during my last (and hardest) semester. He did it to try and make me fail since this thing was pending for years and who would serve who. I have NEVER brought my baggage into work even though, obviously, I was going through a hell of a lot! My hair was falling out, lost a ton of weight from stress, but not one person saw a weird or incompetant behavior on my part. Point: Why do people bring thir sh** to work? There is no need for that when ppl are sick and need us! I don't get that either. OK I am done --but hope I made sense! blu

on another note--which I forgot to mention: There are a pair of cousins or sisters who work on my unit (unit clerk and aide) and they loudly speak to each other in their native tongue--on the unit and during lunch on days. I think that is rude and ignorant! The aide uses her cell phone while she is taking care of patients and no none says a thing! It is just big loud, bold, unfamiliar language--doesn't matter--and my stomache cringes everytime I hear this because it is not benefiting anyone! It only causes confusion and frustration! Okay , I am done ranting. But I am a fairly new grad with values and I will always have that about me. I just cannot believe what some ppl get away with!

I think it is atrocious for iPods and all that to be allowed on the floor unless it was going on during an unpaid break! I work on a med-surg floor and my ears (AND eyes) are all on the patients! I work 11p-7a and I am constantly making rounds on my "down" time, if I ever get any. When I am in work as a nurse--I am a nurse--monitoring pts and prioritizing. I graduated last May, have been working as a nurse for 10 mos. and I can tell you that I am not doing anything on my shift but pt. care, charting, monitoring, etc.! I think in order to be a "real" nurse, you have to be somewhat anal, but with a calm demeanor. When you are there, you should be "there"! When I see another nurse online looking at dresses for a wedding they are going to, I get sick! BE a nurse or not! And it isn't always the young new grads! That is for sure! I understand that an experienced nurse has his/her time management down, but I know that there are things they can be doing or looking at besides their own personal interests while there are pts. on cardiac monitors or have askew VS! In conclusion--the new nurses should not always be stereotyped as slacking off in this manner! I am new, I know, but I will always be what I was when I started out--there for the patients. When I go home, I will deal with the rest of my life!