Beijos

I understand the relationship question and why you might not want to provide that information. I doubt this is the situation that you are in but when I initially started on my unit, I hated that question. Not because I didn't like answering it but I hated the comments and questions that insued afterward. This is because I have been dating my boyfriend for 8 years. The reaction I got from nearly everyone is...why aren't you married? Well who cares? Do you have to be married to be happy? No. Everyone has their reasons. So I tried to avoid the question at first because they made me feel like there was something wrong with it (in a way) by saying things like well someone must be this or that. When you hear things enough, it can upset you. As they got to know me and him better they realized it was nothing in the rumor mill. Now I still hate float people asking me because you can see the judgement on their face but it's happened so many times it almost doesn't annoy me anymore. Anyway, tell them what you want. I understand everyone has their reasons for why they might not tell others about topics that don't seem personal to others. Just know people talk either way...if you tell them or if you don't.

Have you ever reported your work to the board of nursing for unsafe practices and working conditions? I wondered what happened-investigation, etc...if anything. If you could elaborate or if you know there is a link to a discussion about this already, please post. Thanks in advance.

.....and like i said...in my opinion your instructor did exactly what she should have done. i never said you should fail the nursing program. i am not blaming anyone. i think what is being typed is not coming across the way i wished it would. so hopefully the following will not either. if the student comes to clinical unprepared, then eventually she will fail but what is the harm in helping them out in the mean time? i never said you know everything either. i apologize if that is how it sounded. i was pointing out the fact that you will eventually come across a situation where you will need help...and i hope you do not find yourself in a situation where your fellow nurse feels that you are unprepared or "incompetent". your future fellow nurses might not think that it is their responsibility to educate you either as there will mostly be an educator but just like the educator your instructor is only one person. they cannot be everywhere at one time. so sometimes, we have to rely on each other to help out. be thankful that your instructor felt you knew the material well enough to teach the other student. this is not a missed opportunity as you are learning how to teach someone how to learn a concept. you have to do this in nursing, it's called pt education. i understand you feel it is not your responsibility and you are concerned that this individual will put others at harm but eventually this person will be weeded out no matter if it is by clinical, tests, nclex, or future employers... if they are truly incompetent. i know this is not very reassuring but honestly i do not recall much of anything in nursing school that did not require a licensed staff member to observe but maybe my school was a lot different. finally, pleeeeeeeeeeease in the future take this situation as a complement. speak out about it if you cannot get what you need to do for your own patients to care for them adequately. i can honestly say i have not read every post in this thread, and maybe that was happening but i doubt your instructor would have asked you if this was the case. anyway, you obviously are excelling right now and i hope that continues. i hope the situation did not seriously change your grade but if it did, i am sure understand that grades aren't everything...even if you want to go to grad school one day. what is meant to be will be. good luck!

I would have docked you all of your grade for the day. One day you will need help, or be seen as "incompetent" to another...probably when you graduate. I don't care how much you know someday you won't understand something. How would you feel if those fellow nurses did not help you out? I hope it never happens to you but what goes around comes around. So, I'm sorry to be mean but yes this was a good move by your instructor in my opinion. Have some compassion for your fellow student.

So, I got a call today saying that my manager needed to do a review on me...by Friday. A little background here. I graduated two years ago with my BSN, have been on the same unit since graduation, and yes this will be my first review. Let me tell you though...HR has known about this for about a year now. That didn't get me a review though. So far I should have had a minimum of a 3 month, 6 month, 12 month and now 2 year review. Probably more since I was a new grad! I am not the only one who hasn't had their reviews and asked. Everyone is in the same boat. I just don't know what to do or say. There is so much frustration built up that she already knows about because she sat in the same room with me and HR. (The meeting with HR was b/c I left one day and gave my patients to a nurse that came in extra who didn't have a load of patients. I had been so verbally abused by a doctor that I felt I couldn't take care of my patients like I should. My manager was unavailable as usual, and the shift leader and educator let me leave after I requested, they said take as much time as I wanted. I thought it was ok and after report, I left. The next day I had to go to HR. Basically they claimed I abandoned my patients but I had given full report to someone who was about to go home anyway and agreed to stay in my place. I felt I did the right thing protecting my patients.) The units turn over is staggering. I feel that speaks for itself. In fact, we had someone on staff that left after working here for over 20 years because it was so poorly run. I really don't know why I have stayed for so long, I guess I am just comfortable with what I am doing. I just want to know what I am good at and what I need to improve upon and I feel like I haven't got that. I have had reviews for other jobs in the past but I was wondering how will this go down. I mean I need to know what is going to be asked because I am really afraid I am just going to go off. I know no one knows on this forum, and I should be asking my fellow employees but many have never had one since they have been there. The whole staff was nearly new when I started. I mean after all, my preceptor had been there for a month when she began orienting me. I guess one of my biggest concerns is that this is my first real job. I had only worked retail, food service, etc. I don't know what a good raise is...assuming I get one. I really feel like I should be making more than a new grad. I just don't know how to go about it, and I am afraid that I will feel insulted with whatever I get and I will want to quit there. I guess all my pent up emotions are in part because of every little thing that is messed up on the unit. It's nothing different from what you see on everyone else's posts it just seems to be all of those complaints at once. I really want to transfer in stay in the system but I know if I don't get a raise my pay won't change until my new manager feels like it should. I guess could you all tell me what your reviews were like. How to act, I'm really nervous. Honestly, how much of a raise is too much to ask for considering I started two years ago as a new grad? I know that all depends upon where your at, how well you perform, etc...but how much did your pay go up after two years as a nurse?...if any :/

I graduated in June 2008 with my bsn. Have worked since in TN. I make 19/hr. I would be making prob 25-26 in Ohio-where I graduated and where I used to live. There is essentially no cost of living difference here than ohio. It says there is but after living here since...if anything tn is costing me more...even with no state tax. So I feel underpaid in comparison. I guess it could be worse though, an lpn I work with who has a year more experience, only makes 12/hr. That's how much I made as a tech in Ohio.

I love everyone's perception of the south and southern hospitality. I used to live in the north but now I am in the south. Where I lived up north, my patients often did not say please, thank you, etc... after each time I was in the room but when they did which was at least once a shift and I knew they meant it. People from the north I feel are less about the people pleasing and more about just being real. If a patient was upset about something, nurses didn't have to find out in a round about way like we do in the south. Get to the point southerners. I hate people minding their p's and q's each time your in the room because it is a reflex that you have created by living in the south. You don't mean it. Save them for situations where you mean it. I am not saying that I don't appreciate people being polite but there are ways to be polite without saying generic words. That's how I feel every day in the south. Everyone is just full of it. I have never seen more talking behind peoples backs than I do down here. If living in the south has taught me anything, southern hospitality does exist...until you walk away and after that those southerners sure can talk. The north may have some blunt-rude people but isn't it better than never knowing how people truly feel? I am not just applying this to patients. Anyway, I hate to generalize but that's what I see from my prospective. After all, everyone else is generalizing on this board. I will say there are exceptions to everything.

What does TSM stand for?

I know the package said gripper or it was gripper plus I'm not sure.

How do you know what size needle you need for a port-a-cath? Is it just trial and error? The reason I ask is I accessed one the other day for the first time with a 20g x 1inch needle with the help of a nurse who had accessed one before. It seemed like we needed a shorter needle, but she didn't know how to decide either. I asked 8 nurses over the past day, no one knows. I checked the chart too, it wasn't listed. Anyway, does anyone know?

If you value your physical and mental health, do not choose nursing as a career.

Mine was probably a male TBI that was in his 30's. He required a soma bed for his safety. For three months he was on our unit, every day I would come in and ask him orientation questions. Out of all the TBI's I worked with he had some of the most clever answers that made me laugh (inside) like when I asked...where are you at? he'd respond I'm driving a garbage truck. He was referring to his soma bed which was big and green. I'd get round about responses when I'd ask about who he was like I know your the biotch that took the pizza's to the forrest. This went on for the entire time he was there but as time progressed he got less aggitated. Instead of trying to pull out his peg tube each day he started to hand me it and say things like mmmmmmm that was a good milkshake, cheeseburger or whatever....when I'd give him his boluses of feed. One day, nearing the three month marker I went in not even wanting to ask orientation questions because everyone on the unit thought he was never going to progress as I did I in part but I did. I asked what his name was and he responded...correctly. Then he said and you're Stacey. I nearly peed my pants. Then he said and your the one that ate the moon and only left a small piece for me. I thought...yes he's getting better! By the time he left, he still was not oriented, only to self. I was not longer Stacey the woman that was working the corner but just Stacey, his nurse. All the rest of the staff was still working the corner in his mind.

LOL....nurse managers coming in when not properly staffed? Ummm I want to work were you work. My nurse manager would never do that. In fact this weekend we had 27 patients on the floor and as of when I left the next morning we were to have one tech, one lpn, and on rn. Now I'm not sure how many people they got from staffing but I know one day when I worked we had 2 techs and 2rn's for 26 and we were getting 6 admits all of which were arriving conviently 1-2 hrs prior to shift change and she left at right on time that day. Staffing was nice enough to provide us with one more tech from 3-11 that day....how sweet of them. As for how much she makes...not sure. I was browsing the internet for new jobs and I saw that they were looking for a new director of HR at one of our facilities. It said that the starting rate was 100-140K....meanwhile I make 18.1/hr. It depressed me.

First of all, yes I am in the US....Second.... So this is what happened: My manager forwarded on my email to the manager of employee health, which ironically was the woman who was rude to me and said it wasn’t an incident and made me cry (I’m a cry baby). Well, I heard nothing back all yesterday from my manager. I went in to work today and tried to find my manager but she was out for a class. So I was upset that I hadn’t heard back from her. I didn’t know what to do so since everyone was telling to me go the house supervisor I did. The supervisor was nice to me but it was like pulling teeth to still get something done. Finally she called the manager in employee health and the lady said it was ok to draw the labs of the patient (which is one of the things I wanted to be done the day before but for some reason or another my crying wasn’t enough for her to give in). The house sup told me that I had to walk over the unmarked labs over to employee health and they would send them. So I started feeling like this was fishy again but apparently it is because of HIPPA or that is what I was told. I was just getting paranoid that this was somehow going to be swept under the rug considering they were the ones that didn’t consider this an incident. So…I get over there and say I have to see the manager to give her personally the labs. At this point I couldn’t help but get angry. I very b*tchily asked why this couldn’t be done yesterday. Then the manager said it could have….ummm yeah right. I asked why didn’t they when I asked why they couldn’t do anything else, etc… No reasonable answer…that makes sense really was given. Then she started lecturing me for contacting the house supervisor for this incident claiming if I would have came over today she would have gladly done stuff for me. Again, yeah right….just like she gladly did it yesterday? She also said that she told my manager yesterday that I could have the sources labs taken if I wanted as well. Now this could be true, considering I haven’t spoke with my manager, but I would think she would have called or at very least emailed me back to tell me this. After the conversation went on the manager did get a bit more polite with me, although to be quite honest I wasn’t feeling too friendly at all. I told her she needed to be a bit more sensitive to others. After everything, I will get follow up labs if I wish in Jan, April and October. In addition, I should find out tomorrow about the source. So in the end, I am happy that I got my follow ups and the patients labs drawn. But I did have to be what I consider to be a mega-b*tch to get my way and I don’t think it had to be that way….and I’m sure I’ll be hearing about someday down the road like in perhaps annual review. But hey…like I believe someone said before, it’s my life we are talking about here. Oh one other thing…I did also get lectured on how I still did not have an exposure in her opinion. In addition, she told me never to consider urine, vomit, sputum, or feces as body fluids unless it has visible blood in it. According to her that is the CDC’s rules….I couldn’t believe that either. I don’t know how many times I’ve sent down a stool for an occult as a student and I could not see visable blood but I could tell it probably did have it in it mostly by color/smell….and it would be positive. So whatever….I’ll still freak out if I get vomit in my eyes. Third....thanks to all who replied.

I was splattered in the face with blood yesterday on my unit. It got all over my face near my eyes, nose, on my mouth. I am pretty sure it got in my mouth as well due to the taste. Of all things I was doing a finger stick....which just amazes me that it happened considering I usually have to fight for a measly amount of blood from those. Anyway, immediately after I washed my face and mouth out, I went to the desk to ask what I am supposed to do. I am a brand new nurse. I couldn't find the policy and it was our charge nurse's first time being charge at the hospital because she is pretty new. She said call our manager since she did not know. Ironically, my manager is just as new as her and she said for me to call employee health. I called employee health right way, unfortunately they were closing. I asked them what I am supposed to do and they said I could come over tomorrow and that is all I needed to do. So I come in this morning and they give me a slip and tell me to go to the lab to get my blood drawn and that's it. I get to the lab and tell the tech I am a bit confused as to why I have not had to fill out any papers or answer any questions, etc. In addition, my slip does not have the exposure panel for employees checked either. Now they were checking all the same labs except for Hep B which I have been immunized for, but I thought it was odd and so did the tech. The tech told me to go back to employee health after my blood was drawn to see what the situation was. I asked them and they said that they did not consider me being exposed so I didn't have to fill anything out not even an incident report. I thought this was BS so I went over to my unit and filled one out anyway. I am concerned because although the likelihood that I got something is small, they don't even think it is possible. They aren't even having me do follow up draws at the very least. I was hoping someone would know when exactly they do follow up draws so I can get tested again even if they won't. I emailed my nurse manager and have attempted to call her again to see if maybe she could at least help me out but I am just waiting here for a response back and getting very upset. Please help.