summerrose_10

to the OP if you were that pt. what would you want ??? Just curious, I got my BC in hospice/palliative care and that is where my focus is. However, I'm curious if you were the patient, what would you want.?

Run, run fast run far. Of course there are always 2 sides to a story, however, in my experience, if there is lateral "harassment", someone is still behaving like a school kid and management/supervisor can not fix their issues. Most of the time these "staff meetings" only make the childish one act out more, usually in a passive/aggressive way. Life is too short to be having that type of stress in your life. Seek employment elsewhere, if this environment seems to be repeating itself, that would be the time to 'look in the mirror'. Good luck and remember it's usually their issues and there isn't much you can do about it. Fortunately there are a lot of great places to work with adults who act accordingly. :)

Don't give up. One of the hardest parts of nursing school is getting in. I took the entrance test 3 years in a row. Finally accepted when all of my scores were 89 and/or above that. All my prereqs were complete with the most recent 2 year GPA 4.0, been in health care field over 9 years. It was frustrating and I shed many tears and wanted to give up applying. Been a nurse now for over 3 years and am so thankful I kept trying. It helped to prepare me for nursing school, very intense. You can do this :)

Our facility uses a couple different airmatresses. The prim-aire, we do put sheets and a cloth washable chux on them. The air overlays- our WOCN advised us to only use the "cloth-like" chux on them. These are different then the ones that tear with minimal tension. These feel like cloth, but they are a woven(breathable) disposable chux. We can easily move the patient up in the beds with them. Our WOCN said your defeating the purpose of the airoverlay the more linen/chux you put between the pt. and the mattress. Makes sense. That being said, despite the teaching to new/old staff, I constantly find sheets/cloth chux under the patients while on these beds. Great post:up:- looking forward to reading any/all evidence base articles.

Definately humor!!! Laugh ALOT. Taking care of the caregiver.... helping with meal prep....clean up...do it together, and do it as a surprise. A good foot massage upon arrival at home...PRICELESS. A glass of wine to sip during the massage, icing on the cake. Getting homework done with minimal "nagging" Quiet time Just listen, don't offer advise or try to "Fix It" Are you for hire?

that is great you want to become a nurse, there is definately a need for them. i too, as many of the people who post here, was an "older" parent wanting to make a better life for my family. it isn't easy. what helps is learning to communicate with others in this profession, asking for help when needed, flicking that "chip" off your shoulder, being humble, and always come to work with a positive attitude. there is way too much drama with the patients and their families, don't need anymore from coworkers. as my preceptor once said to me "check your personal issues at the door, pick them up on your way home". your there to take care of the patient, do your job and there won't be any problems. that being said, please don't give up your dream, if being a nurse is what you want to be then don't let anything get in your way. especially one rude rn. just use your monkey see, monkey not do for unprofessional behavior. :redpinkhei'm sure this past year has been tough for you. it's only the beginning. nursing school is difficult, and when your caring for kids it only makes it tougher. hang in there.

#1) Sleep is so important. Sounds like your body is out of sync. Talk to your manager and see if you can't get consistent shifts. #2) Don't eat anytime/anything when ever you get a chance just because who knows when you'll get a chance to eat again. A healthy power/protein bar is adequate. Eat healthy before shift, healthy snack during and a light healthy meal after shift. Alot of the unhealthy eating/snacking is to comfort ourselves because we're angry with the situation. #3) As many others have said DON'T drink diet drinks. Look around at who drinks those, MOST are overweight..hhmmmm..could there be a link there???? If you want a soda pop drink a regular ONE, sipping on those diet drinks all day are bad for weight control. Water may seem boring, but it helps to flush your system, have a filled water bottle within arms reach at all times. #4) Stand instead of sitting. It takes more energy/Kcal to stand, use down time to stock/clean rooms. Did I say don't sit? Don't sit, the more you walk the more calories burned. If your feet/legs hurt, get ted hose and good walking shoes, (CROCS may be comfortable for some, but I spend the majority of my 12hr shift on my feet and I know CROCS hurt. rockport,saucony..there are great shoes out there). #5) We all bring in treats, hard to resist ones, so, I always take a small portion, then I get up/out walking and stay away from the treat until other coworkers have eaten the temptation away. It's hard, especially with your rotating schedule. Don't give up. I've been fighting my fat cells for years, and I'm sure I will for many more. I'm most successful when I don't deprive myself of food, instead I try to burn more calories. Doesn't have to be a cardio workout, just getting up off my butt and moving helps. Good luck, there are many of us out here fighting the fat:yeah:

If acute rehab is anything like the "subacute" rehab wing I work on, it is anything but boring. It may "look" better on a resume to be with IV therapy, but, you would get ALOT more experience on the rehab wing. I We start IV's there too, so if that is the experience you want, take the rehab job that is closer to home. It really depends on you and what your future goals are. Good luck with your decision:redbeathe

Can you tell me what book you found this in? I'm all about EBP, I graduated 2yrs ago and this is a great example of EBP. To me 30-45 degrees is almost "splitting hairs", but, if EBP shows better outcomes (shearing issues?), it is definately something my employer may want to research. Thankyou for the new info, it is SO hard to keep up with everything:nurse:

She may have said "common knowledge" because if one reads Perry&Potter 'Basic Nursing' 2003,Mosby Inc. pg 756 it reads "Elevate head of bed 30 to 45 degress. Also states "If volume (residual) is greater than 100ml on several consecutive occasions, hold feeding and notify physician". As you stated you have to look at the big picture, and use your nursing critical thinking , and sometimes that really can't be taught.

I always appreciate family members, yes, they can be a pain in the _ _ _. But...I've also found if I can find them jobs, helping their family member, they feel useful, and tend to criticize less. At my facility, pre-op generally goes over much of the post-op instructions. Deep breathing/cough, ambulation. Floor staff reinforces the teaching, encouraging ambulation etc. Pre-op ALWAYS gives pt I.S. for any of our surgical pts. Not sure why staff never assessed heart/lung/bowel sounds. Maybe it was done before you arrived? Maybe pt. didn't remember? I once had a pt. tell me, "no one listened to my heart/lung's and no on put lidoderm patches on me the last 2 mornings like they are suppose to..." I assured her "yes, I did listen, and you told me you did not want the patches on the last 2 days and would ask for them..." her eyes opened wide, and she says something like "oh, yeah, thats right, you have been my nurse the last couple days, I forgot..." I would be slow to blame/criticize, alot of times the pt is not a good historian, expecially if on narcs, and also, sometimes the pt. does not want the family to know everything about them. Did you leave the room during your 10-12hr stays? Perhaps staff was waiting for you to leave and then went in??? hopeful?? I would voice my concerns to the charge nurse, maybe she has some explanations?? Your family member is fortunate to have you as his advocate:) in the absence of his nurse:mad: advocate:o Hope he is doing ok:heartbeat

PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!! i would love to see ANY of you, experienced or not, to give prilosec/synthroid (1/2-1hr before other meds) on 60 pts. what if even 2pts werent feeling well.... aides are busy with other toileting/fall risk pts?? bs's need to be taken before brkfst, adl's etc etc. not only is this not safe, but...it causes extreme burnout. its disgusting that some "experienced" nurses say its "do-able", yet, i have NEVER seen these experienced nurses modeling the way for us newbies. well...there's been 1 or 2:lol2: be honest, anyone can "run" to get a med pass done, but...how many can actually keep up this unreasonable pace day in and day out????? yeah, i have seen and worked with some lazy nurses who could do more, but, the ones who never sit and get the job done are few and far between. We all know it is 10% of the people who do 90% of the work, why do we have to burn out that 10%???

only been a nurse for 2yrs now, and can count on 1 hand how many lunches/breaks i have taken. 2 weeks ago a very seasoned nurse pointed out to me... "look around at the end of shift, see who is clocking out and gone..." i did... all the CNA's were out of there. so this week, i quit being the first one to answer the call lights and get the ice,juice,washclothes,assistance to BR...etc. it was very DIFFICULT, but, the result this week....i stayed late a max of 45mins each shift. the CNA's still got out ahead of me, but, they were in the report room charting at the end of shift just like me:yeah:. misery loves company ya know:lol2: had to put up with "attitude" from CNA's, including comments like "i miss "so and so" (another nurse with "time management issues"). CNA's gave me dirty looks when I walked out of a room with the call light still on for someone who routinely wants tea at a certain time, or needs bowel setup etc...most have been working there longer then me and have just as good "anticipating a need" skills as me). I know CNA's work VERY hard, but, everyday I have seen them standing around eating,socializing, texting on cell phones, etc...The truth is, I can do their job, BUT, they can't do mine. So... look around and see who leaves on time. If their habits are good, try to adapt them into your time management. I work with alot of LPN's and when we have a lot of IV pts on the floor, I ask them to do alot of my "tasks" so we can both leave on time. I have GREAT coworkers and we really support each other. Communication is key. Good luck:clown: and... I really wish the more seasoned nurses would be more specific in letting us know of their secrets of time management. Just hearing "it will get better/easier/whatever" is really not very supportive/helpful. Can you all be more specific?????

Well...it all "depends"... first, 22.72 is not being "overpaid" for a RN. you say you "argued", was it an argument, or were you advocating for a fair wage? with the down turn in the economy, yet, with the increase in basic living expenses, and the skill level required of RN's 25-26/hr is still a fair wage for an entry level RN and their education. second, you have it in writing, via email. most places will honor that. present the evidence, back it up with why it should be so. let the powers that be know you are open minded and willing to listen to their side. you ended your post with "i've gotta get out of there." perhaps you need to do some self reflection, decide what you have to give to your employer, and if you feel your giving more then you receive, you may need to put in your notice. its not fair to your coworkers to show up to work with a bad attitude, get out if that is the way you truly feel. bad feelings/attitudes bring everybody down. it's not fair to you or to your employer. good luck, you deserve to be paid what you are worth, don't settle for less:up:

Like so many others, I LOVE the seasoned nurses. I graduated nursing school at 47, so started off "seasoned". When I work with those who have been nurses "forever", not only am I thankful/grateful for them and their knowledge/experiences, I go out of my way to hang with them. Of course there are the slackers in any age group, but even the laziest can have some pearls of wisdom to impart. Glad you reflected upon your original post and realized the folly of your thinking :) :redbeathe