dee78

I currently work 8-4 and will begin the FNP program at Frontier next month. I am saving up every possible hour that I can to prepare for clinicals because I am fearful that I won't be able to complete clinicals. The nurse that I replaced in this office was actually going to South and had to quit because she couldn't complete her clinicals. I have already lined up one preceptor that has a family practice and sees everyone, she will be my primary but I'm hoping to line up another preceptor that works weekends. My manager has said that she will work with me. My office stays open late on Wednesdays and a nurse comes in 30 minutes early to do QCs, so I could do both of those and give myself 4 extra hours of time off each week. It is doable but sometimes you have to think outside the box to come up with a solution.

I've applied for Class 151, how long after the deadline did you find out if you were accepted? Do they wait until the deadline to accept everyone? Thanks for the information!

I have been for day camp, was supposed to for a weekend but they found someone else. My understanding is it is mostly insect bites/stings, scrapes, minor ailments, and maybe sprains. But obviously anything can happen. They gave me a radio so they could contact me if needed, so you are basically on call, drop what you are doing to run to the "emergency!"

I wear Brooks running shoes. I have a high arch and need lots of support and cushion.

This week celebrates my 1 year anniversary as a working RN. I believe that I finally have it together, people come to me with questions (though I still have some of my own). My time management is where I excel. Then yesterday hits... The night nurse tells me that she is worried about my patient. I had my first "real" rapid. I suppose the others were but this was the first one with a cardiac rhythm issue. I didn't call it, I called the doctor immediately. I had patients with this rhythm before but they usually come out. This is a doctor that I work with daily but he was asking for drugs that we didn't have. Thankfully my charge was walking behind him when he called it so she was there to run it for me. I felt helpless. I did what others told me to do. We get the patient to the unit, they were still trying to stabilize her when I left them. Could I have done anything to prevent this one? No, they came back from surgery, my tech went right in to hook up the monitor, and I was sitting at the desk charting on the patient when I heard the alarms the moment she was hooked up. So I get back from ICU and monitor room calls me again. The patient in the next room is having the OPPOSITE rhythm. I page the doctor. Doctor asks if everything else is stable, it is. Okay. The rhythm keeps trending the wrong way. I call again, I ask her at what point she would like me to call her. She asks for an EKG. I call her again when her bp is also trending in the wrong direction. I made a suggestion and was just told that she would be down in a little while. This went on for 3 hours before she came to see the patient, the only orders were to hold certain meds that weren't due for 7-19 hours. I thought I was going to call a rapid but I was trying to trust the doctor. Should I have called a rapid? Without a doubt, they would have swept her to the unit. I know I bugged the fool out of the doctor and I felt bad about it but I didn't feel she was treating the situation urgently enough. Maybe it was my adrenaline still pumping, making me more anxious than I normally would have been or maybe it was my coworkers walking by asking if I knew about the rhythm, calling me when they walk by and see it, etc. Oh well, I know that in both situations I did what I knew to do. That really is all that I can do, I'm not going to second guess myself.

Known hallucination pt called out that there were 2 men with guns drawn in his room. When we entered the room he was very upset, we explained that it was a mirror. He turned toward the empty chair beside him and said "Back me up, Jim!" At one point he was asked what the guy looked like. He pointed to the chair and said "Like that!"

I work on a renal/tele/medsurg floor. These stories sound like my typical shift. I am happy if I only have 1 AMS pt at a time. No details as I tend to block out painful memories.

I just got off night shift this week. I loved the people and the teamwork but it is a lifestyle that my body can't handle. I slept as much as possible, which meant other things were neglected. I had to be awake at 3 when the kids got home so I was lucky to get 6 hours. Most days I averaged 4, there were many days/nights I was up for 20+ hours. I was constantly exhausted and sleep deprived. I fell asleep driving almost every single morning. That was ultimately the reason I had to get off nights, it wasn't worth it. My floor is just as busy at night as during the day. We are lucky to sit for 20 minutes without interruption, there were many nights that a nap would have been awesome! I work on a renal/telemetry floor in Tennessee.

TN does not offer temp license for new grads.

I have also given up...for now. I have always had plan A and plan B. I always thought A was the one for me. But I have interviewed 3 times with the same NM and each time I have left feeling great only to receive the rejection email later. It has made me reconsider my long term goals and knowing things happen for a reason, I believe I am where I need to be.

I am also a new nurse, I understand the anxiety. There are a few things that have helped me. First, I have found a system that works for me. I use post it notes to keep organized...if interested I will give details. Second, I am not hard on myself. I realize that I am new to nursing and imperfect. Give yourself a break, learn from your mistakes. Last, I have great coworkers, some better than others. If I am unsure then I ask...sometimes several people. Give it some time.

This week we have had an unusually large number of mentally altered patients and our bed alarms have been malfunctioning. Not a good combination.

You have to weigh your options. I chose LPN then RN because of my circumstances but it took longer and cost more to go that route.

I went home after a really bad night last week and got a quote, I immediately purchased liability insurance. It is worth the security and peace of mind. I also got NSO but the least coverage and it was $46 a year.

I was just thinking about this driving home this morning. Waitress, maid, concierge, drug dealer:), room service, counselor, verbal punching bag, psychic, errand boy, and that is off the top of my head, I am sure I could add many more.

It took me 4 months of actively job hunting to secure my job. I finally applied for a floor that I knew was rough but would hire me on the spot.

Yeah that night I had 4 HD pts, 1 was blind, 1 had an AKA, 1 had a partial foot amputation, the other had an awesome wife that took very good care of him to prevent these things. The 5th was a semicompliant type 2 diabetic with acute renal failure due to narcotic abuse. I am all too familiar with this segment of the population.

I don't believe they knew about this situation. We talked quite a bit the first night I had him and he lead me to believe he LIVED there with his sister. It wasn't until the moment of discharge that he said he didn't have a key.

You will develop your own eating schedule. I eat my main meal with my kids just before I go into work, I take leftovers to work when we have them. I usually grab something small from the cafeteria (ours is open until 1) and maybe a snack in the early morning hours.. I don't eat before I go to bed in the morning. The snack is what will get you. I am trying to bring healthy snacks with me so I can avoid the candy bars we sell at the nurses station. I have worked nights for 3 months and, so far, I look like I've lost weight, at least that's what everyone says. I think it has redistributed as muscle where I went from sitting in nursing school to walking for 12 hour shifts.

Describe "exciting". Every day is not going to be "exciting" and fun, few jobs provides that unless you work in a bounce house with kids. Or maybe a sky diving instructor. If you are an adreneline junkie then the ER would probably provide the most boost for you.

Congrats!

Update: I got an email back from my assistant nurse manager, she assured me that there will be no write up. It was a messy situation, she said I handled it to the best of my ability. So lesson learned, no black cloud over my young career.

Degree type: Associates Graduation month/year: 05/12 Sex: female Age range: 30-34 Job Setting: Hospital. Geographical Location: TN Race/Ethnicity:W How long have you been looking for your first job before being hired? 4 months Did you do any volunteer work before your job? No Did you possess any additional certifications (i.e. ACLS) before you landed your first job? No Did a family/friend/clinical instructor or other connection help you land your job? Explain. No Did you work in the health care setting at all before your job? If so, what field? Yes, Radiology in the late 90s Did you apply online, in person (at the facility), or other? Explain. Online, plus called and emailed the nurse recruiter with each application Did you participate in any follow-up inquiries after resume submittal of your application or interview? If so, explain. Email, phone call? I always sent a thank you email after the interview. How far away do you live from your job site? Include minutes/hours. 30 minutes Did you hold a p/t or f/t job while enrolled in your nursing program. If yes, list whether it was p/t or f/t position: No If you held a job during your nursing program that was not related to the health care field, please report the general field in which you worked (restaurant, retail, educational, business, etc.) Feel free to expand: Did you receive any scholastic honors while in nursing school (Dean's List, Cum Laude, etc.?) No General comments: I applied for over 50 positions, interviewed for 3.

I do know that discharge does begin at admission but with so many of our patients it simply isn't that simple. Case management did their job, this discharge plan was approved by everyone the night before. I suppose in an ideal world there would be a plan B on all patient discharges. I will hopefully know more about the write up this evening.

It was just a few days ago so I have not seen the write up. The clerk was the one making most of the phone calls.