pharmgirl

omg, I remember that feeling well. I still get it. I got my lpn in 09 and my rn in 10. It used to make me sick thinking that i was the one responsible for these patients. One thing that helped was that before I started on the floor as an lpn I accepted a position as an extern. It was a good way to get my feet wet. The second piece of advice I can give is....listen and learn. Find out which nurses you can trust, who are good nurses and ask lots of questions. If you don't know....ASK! Don't think that just because you are now "the nurse" means you have to know everything, you don't. And absolutely no one, and I mean not one single soul expects you to. I've even had seasoned nurses ask me questions, simply because they forgot or don't do something on a daily basis. I'm still a new nurse, I dont get sick too much anymore but I've learned that if I have any doubts....ask! You are not alone out there. You are not an island. You have other staff nurses, your charge nurse, yes, even doctors sometimes, that will help...and the silly thing is? all you have to do is ask! Once you get into a routine, it will become easier and easier but you will never stop learning. At least, I hope I never stop learning. That is the great thing about our profession. Good luck to you. Be confident in your schooling but not so much that you don't hear your coworkers who are trying to help you. You CAN do this!!! Really! You CAN!

Well, first off your questions are very unit specific. I work in ER, med surg and ICU. No, I don't take my work home with me. If you are referring to emotionally, then yes, sometimes I have a difficult death that I have a hard time shaking but for the most part it is left at the hospital. However, with that said, I've also recently been appointed as chairman of our Shared Governance committee. Since this is a brand new committee for our hospital, I am often working on stuff at home for it although I try not to. As for your second question, I've only once or twice been asked to stay "over". And it is also not a matter of being "asked". If your relief doesn't show up on time, you can't leave. period. If you do that is abandonment. In my units, we report off to the next shift. If there is no shift to report off to then there is no one BUT you to take care of these patients. Luckily, this has only happened once during a snowstorm and relief showed up a couple hours later and a second time when my relief was just running late. Being "blacklisted" doesn't happen in my hospital either. Due to low census, it is very rare that anyone gets overtime. Even if there was a need overtime is discouraged and monitored. If working another shift is going to put you into overtime you are not asked. On the rare occassion that they may ask you to work overtime, they are desperate and in turn they will take you off a regular scheduled day to avoid the overtime. My hospital is very understanding about people saying no. If we are asked to switch a shift or change things around and its just not possible, they are ok with it and will always come back and ask next time a need arises. I wish we had overtime available but unfortunately with todays economy this just isn't possible anymore.

Ditto Mskate!! Agree totally. Michelle, you probably need to sit down with case management or the RN supervisor or whoever is above the charge and discuss your concerns. Whether you are prn, pt or fulltime does not matter when it comes to the residents you are caring for. Have a discussion first with your charge and tell your concerns and offer constructive suggestions. If those suggestions are ignored, then I would go above her. Tell her superior that you discussed it with the charge nurse but are still having concerns. Don't whine, be objective and offer solutions. No need to chuck the charge nurse under the bus, just explain to management that you have true concerns about the care these residents are receiving.

My first question regarding #1 is if this has been going on for a month, when was the last time the issue was addressed with the doctor. If I was working there I would discuss the situation with the doctor again explaining that it has been over a month and the resident is still displaying paranoia. Depending on the attitude of the physician I would ask for a change in medication or a referral to mental health. (again depends on the physician, some you can/some you can't suggest things to). As for 2, Has anyone discussed with the daughter that you are not able to "lie" to her mother? That this is putting the staff in an awkward position? I would be uncomfortable with this. Residents need to be able to trust their caregivers and this woman knows she is being lied to. The daughter needs to make a more considerate decision on how to handle the situation. If the mother was not in LTC and was in the comfort of her own home, how would the daughter handle having her mother call her? Albeit you are the residents caregiver but you should not be put in the middle of family dynamics. Good luck, I'm not in LTC and this is JMHO. I'm sure you will soon get more responses from experienced LTC nurses.

This is something we are currently trying to address at our hospital. We have a PALS program where coworkers can put a name in and that person can pick something from the "prize" box. It's neat, but rarely used. We are trying to find things to boost morale. Fun little things, so far its been tough finding something that isn't cheesy.

Before we started "re-doing" things we were on a set schedule. The first week we would work Tues, Wed, Thursday and off the weekend returning Monday and then off tues wed thursday and work the weekend. I thought it worked well but a lot of people complained about having to come into work just 1 day (Monday). Some people (myself included) have been scheduled wednesday, thursday friday and then don't return until the following thursday, friday, saturday. I like this schedule much better as it allows for a nice long 6 days off and we still get our hours in.

oh and P.S. I also received a Pell Grant. WIA sent my tuition to the school, my pell grant and other scholarships all went to the school as well. They deducted my tuition and books from the totals and gave me the difference

I live in TN and as long as I was accepted into a "demand" program then I was elgible. It paid for my tuition and a certain amount per day for gas. I didn't have to show proof of income or anything. Now that I have graduated, that keep tabs every 6 months or so to see if we and where we are working. Other than that, its a very easy painless process.

That is sooooooo awesome! I wish I had the balls to do that! Maybe with a little more experience and a few more years under my belt. I wanna be like you when I grow up!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with skyblue. Your cover letter is your opportunity to re-iterate or say what is not included in your resume, such as strengths you don't want "lost" in your actual resume. Secondly, the cover letter is what needs to catch the attention. It is the first thing read by the employer that says "whew, this person is well spoken and could be a great asset, let's see what her resume says". Keep your objective to one sentence and use your cover to highlight what you don't want lost. Good luck....fingers crossed for ya

And stupidity is contagious too....once one patient does something stupid, they all seem to chime in with their clever ways of driving us crazy at shift change! Like burnedout said, its nothing personal....smile and just keep thinking "its contagious and incurable" :)

I would state something to the effect: At the encouragement of Dr. Blahblah I am submitting my application blah blah blah. Secondly, yes I would list the previous job. If you don't it may come across as deceitful if they find out on their own. Thirdly, if you interview then you can diplomatically explain your experience with said company if you feel the need to do so.

Here is what I would if I listened to my brain: I would take the insurance job for the time being. Try it out. It is what you need right now for your child. You will be able to better support him financially and be there if he gets sick etc. Then I would keep my eye on further down the road when he was able to be a little more independent (teenage years etc.,) I would look into L&D. You will have been working as an RN for awhile it will probably be easier to find an L&D RN position. While working for the insurance co., take some online classes on L&D or do what you can to gain extra certifications. Now, if I were to listen to my heart (instead of my brain): I would say go for the L&D job. You will always regret not taking the gamble. If you don't like it, then so be it, you tried it. You satisfied that long lived curiousity. If you can hold out and struggle for as long as it takes to get the RN position, it may be worth it. But like I said, either way, you will know and you can either move on or stay put. When I was in a similar position, I went with my heart. The department I long desired ended up not being "all that". I was welcomed back to my previous job with open arms but still remain prn. I don't regret it. It was a learning experience and I never regret learning ANYTHING! Good luck to you....I know you are in a tough spot and I feel for you. Let us know what you decide.

I agree with the above poster. I work in a very small rural ER....6 bed to be exact. While we do get our fair share of resp. distress and MI, it is not a daily thing. We spend our days mostly doing flu and strep swabs and abdominal pain. If/when we get something major in, we stabilize and ship. I am a new grad (May 10) and started in the ER in July. I precepted there my last semester and when a position opened up the manager called me. With that said, I was in a bridge program and got my LPN in 09. I worked at hospital on medsurg and am still there prn. I wouldn't trade my experience with them at all. The more experience I can get the better

omg does this infuriate me! I am still a new nurse (5/10) too. I have made mistakes. One BIG mistake and my supervisors and DON were so understanding. Yes, there were interviews, yes there were meetings, yes NOW there is a change in procedure also. So all ended well. During that time, I thought I would stop breathing right then and there, I couldn't stop crying. My supervisors had nothing but comfort and support for me. How DARE that nurse make you feel like she did. I find it hard to believe that she has never made a mistake. What a read between those lines is....she never made a mistake that she accepted responsibility for. We all make mistakes, we are human. As careful and diligent as we try to be, it happens. OP, you handled your mistake well, you accepted responsbility and you learned, this is what makes you a good nurse. Gosh, I would love to throttle your supervisor. I'm glad you went to a different unit and are happy. You dont need to be around that mess!!!