dottiejane30

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel excited about going to work and I do love it but most the time I'm scared to death and hate it at the same time. I graduated in May of 2008 passed boards in June and started working on a Med-Surg floor in July with only 6 weeks of orientation and no previous nursing experience. I'm not sure this is the way to start nursing. It seems like the smart thing to do is to work up the line from CNA to LPN and then RN. Just to learn from a book and the few clinicals we have in school is not enough. Every time I ask an LPN or CNA or even unit clerk something they smartly say you're the RN you should know this. The night shift RN's get so irritated with me because I'm not experienced in giving report or I'm not quick enough and I don't know all the short hand stuff when taking report. This past Sunday there were 39 patients and the three RN's each had 13 patients and the 5 LPN's had about 8 patients each and we were all just trying to keep from drowning. Is this the normal load of nurse patient ratio? I need to go to bed so I can get up and go to work tomarrow.

Hi I___Scream, I think we on this message board are more likely to understand exactly what you are saying. I too am resolved to get out of nursing after only 6 weeks of orientation and on my own for about 9 weeks now I'm thinking of going back to school for a different career all together! Stay strong and know there is something special for you and your resolve and bravery to change is commendable.

BORING???? The last thing I could describe my time on the med-surg would be boring. Yesterday I started out with 10 patients for myself an LPN and an Aide. One bipolar pt. demanding to be discharged with no discharge orders and discharging 2 others with assessing all 10 of them and checking vitals and ADL's. After lunch I have an RN come from education to have me lead in a mock code blue. Then a distraught family member of a pt. comes wanting medical information on their family member and of course stupid me forgets all the hippa stuff and am saying well let's look at his vitals and she has the records when the med-surg manager comes and sees this and about comes unglued and tells me that this is a huge hippa violation and then my floor manager comes barking and turning all colors of red and purple and then I have two calls for two new incoming patients one from dialysis via the ER for a GI bleed and another from ICU from another hospital while I'm taking these calls my LPN calls a staff emergency with a pt. bleeding out after losing about 250 to 300cc of blood. Plus there is a new patient in one of my rooms from surgery that I didn't even know about. Then when I am calling doctors for help with the bleed out one doctor says it's the others doctor's problem then that doctor tells me it's the other doctor and I'm about to start screaming. While all this is going on I have two pt. threatening to leave AMA with one pulling out his IV and another throwing stuff, another LPN is telling me to give him the Ativan which I had ready but the pt. refused. Then right at six o'clock we get a doctor to cauterize and stitch up the bleed then the dialysis nurse brings the pt. who is crying for his family and his preacher then the ambulance brings the pt from ICU that was suppose to go straight to the cath lab but because it toke so long for me to take report the pt got here too late for the cath lab. That was a little of my day and I really feel very overwhelmed! I am a very green RN just graduated in May took boards in June and started working in July after being a stay at home mom for 33 years. Med-surg to me could be called many things crazy, chaotic but NOT BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hi all, my name is dottie and i graduated may 08, took nclex june 24, started working as an rn on a med-surg floor at a county hospital on july 21st. i can quickly see the reason for such a high turn-over for new nurses. i am 51 years old and was a housewife for 33 years with no nursing experience. what was i thinking? i need to have my head examined:banghead: to think that i could handle being treated like a dog by patients, coworkers, doctors and managers. it seems like everyone is barking and so impatient that if you're not quick enough you get bit. :argue: to top it off while i was at work getting treated like a dog, somebody broke into my house and stole a bunch of my children's electronics and my camera and my husbands guitar. i did have to laugh:lol2: that my jewelry box was spilled out on my bed but since i'm sensitive to metals they didn't steal any of my plastic jewelry. thanks for letting me vent! dottie

I've been thinking that perhaps the night shift 7p - 7a may be better to start than to jump right in the day but I'm a morning person and I like my sleep at night. I have a hard time sleeping in the day time I can't even sleep with a nightlight on. Not sure I could adjust to something like that.