dede1956

Work with some people that have said this also.

I'm curious ...why you have an open shop and not a closed shop? Where I work we voted in a union 5 1/2 yrs ago and will finally be going to the negotiating table soon (we hope). It has been tied up in local labor board, regional labor board, and the court system in DC...we just got notified just before Christmas that the court sided with the nurses and the hospital has to negotiate with us. When we were trying to get a union in we decided that we would have a closed shop. We talked about an open one but the union reps explained an open shop means you don't have to join, pay dues, BUT you GET EVERYTHING that the union members get. We all decided that wasn't happening, everyone pays dues and everyone get represented! No unions aren't perfect but they are only as strong as your membership/leadership is. If your leadership is working hard for you then you need to hold your elections and vote them out and put new nurses in. I look at it this way, the money that I will have to pay to get representation and people on my side is soo much more than I have right now without representation.

Where I work now it is a 1 year limit for scheduling vacations. Having said that, everyone knows that if you are planing a special vacation (cruise or out of the country flight) more than 1 year out we will make sure not to take that week(s) vacation. However, where I work it is seniority first until Jan 31 then it is first come first serve. The manager still has to approve the vacation time!

1-6 miles/night, depends on how busy we are

For new providers, those that don't have codes frequently, and when the new changes come out for ACLS and PALS it should be a two day class. For experienced providers, ICU, CCU, Trauma, and ER absolutely recert should be one day. The dummy computer program only teaches you how to point and click!! Everyone should have face to face and hands on no matter one day or two day class.

If it is an average night...5800-6500. If it is a busy night up to 7800. If I am pulled and it is a busy night 12,000-14,000 steps.

I agree with the responders...you are new and you will get better as time goes on. Will there still be issues that come up and you need to put the other patients o"on hold" for a short time. Your aides need that push to do what you request, review their job description, explain what you are asking them for is part of their job descriptions, and then follow up with them that they did their job. I have found when I ask an aide to do something for me I freq find that I have to say, "I'll check in with you in 20 min to get the results of...(BP, I&O, spec collected). This way they know that not only am I serious about them doing the requested job but I will also be checking up on them...I also thank them when they have done the requested job. Does your hospital have bedside report? If so, when you are in the room doing report do a quick look at the patient and make sure s/he is clean, the IV is working, the ABC's. If there is a problem, politely and professionally point it out to the previous shift that the patient and room is not acceptable and needs to be corrected before they leave to go home. With your vascular surgery patient without pulses, if the pulses had been checked during bedside report you could have asked how long there hasn't been pulses and again politely and professionally tell the nurse that they are responsible for calling the physician. He will have questions that you won't have the answers for and that nurse will have those answers, and it makes her/him accountable for their actions. I have done this for the past 3 yrs that we have been doing bedside report. The previous shift is not always happy that they have to fix/correct issues that are found with the patient but I stand up for myself (doesn't make me popular) and I'm being a patient advocate!!!!

must be nice. we are told that the survey is voluntary but if you don't do it, you are harassed until you either do the survey or lie and say you did. if mgt did something with the results staff would be more inclined to fill out the survey. I used to do them ignored the demographic section except for the dept where I work (need that so they know who you are evaluating). because the scores are so very low, staff is told to pick a couple of the low sections to "improve mgt's scores." why are we supposed to fix their scores? if we have a poor eval then we need to fix our scores, but this is mgt scores...aren't they supposed to fix their own scores?

AMEN!!!! You put it in a nutshell that the rest of us are trying to say. You are currently going through it, and the rest of us have already gone through it.

that's what we in the profession call a "warm fuzzy" enjoy them, they are far and few between. I was told this by one of my LPN nursing instructors. as nurses we are on the receiving end of abuse from patients, families, visitors, dr's, management, and administration...so when we get a thank you, good job, break from studying for 1/2 hr, "got that information this time when I looked at it" it is considered a "warm fuzzy"

Does your husband have spring break coming up soon? Talk to him, find out what is going on, ask how you can help. I'm not bashing you, I'm trying to look at the situation from both sides, my own experience, and from my students experiences. Like I said before, nursing school is very intense, and he might not be aware on a cognitive level that he is "neglecting you and the children." He is probably looking at it as he is trying to do well in school so that all of you are proud of him when he graduates. I know each time I was in school, I had to find that compromise between studying, friends, family, work, and then boyfriend...now husband. Everytime I tell my husband I'm thinking about going back for my Phd, he rolls his eyes and says....Oh God, here we go again...am I going to see you at all? How long will this take this time? Am I going to have any place to sit down in the house with all of the books you will have? How crazy are you going to be this time?" I know it is said with love and that I have drove him crazy with all of the studying that I had to do, and I felt really really really bad that I couldn't spend much time with him...and yes, I neglected him freq during all three school times, and spent a lot of time with classmates to get the work done on time, pass the classes/quizzes/exams/clinicals...because it doesn't get any easier each time I go back to school, for me or him.

sorry to hear about your sister, but she and your parents knew you were there when it counted the most...at the end.

My husband used to call me a professional student because after 10 yrs out of RN school I went back to school for my BSN, graduated and 2 yrs later went back for my MSN. He stuck by me through all of that schooling, even postponed our engagement until after I graduated with my RN. Nursing school is very hard and demanding. We all have the best intentions when we start to NOT neglect our families, but as the pressures to succeed in school and pass quizzes, tests, and clinical increases we become so focused on passing that unfortunately our families are kind of left in the dust. School is very intense 2-4 years, and as you go on with your education it can be an additional 2-6 yrs per degree. The information is giving to you, some in great detail some not so much, and you need to figure out how to fill in the blanks. After he has had a couple quizzes and tests he will become acclimated to how the instructors ask questions and what they are looking for. The first month is a busy time learning information and procedures that need to be "perfected" before he can go onto the clinical area. As a nursing clinical instructor, as occ classroom instructor, I can tell you the requirements to pass clinical are just as strenuous as passing the didactic portion of the program! Hopefully when he gets to the clinical area he will have an instructor that will help as well as challenge him. The information given in the classroom has been so compacted in a very short period of time, that the student has to look/read the textbook. I have some questions for you. What is your husbands class load? Is he full time or part time? Has he done all of the pre-requisites or is he trying to do them with the nursing courses? While he is studying from one book, look at one of the other ones along with the syllabus and make note cards to quiz him and help him learn. If your children are in school, try to do homework at the same time so that the family is together. He is setting an example for your children by going to school, studying, and trying to get good grades. When they look at what he is going through, they see him struggling like they are to learn something new. Get your date night/family night during school breaks...spring, summer, thanksgiving, christmas. Yes it's hard but look at the reward at the end. 2 yrs seem like a life time when just starting school, but the time does fly...many of my students have said the time flies too quickly and they can't believe they are graduating and becoming responsible for another persons' life without the instructor to "help/bail them out." My students have said that just having their family there by their side through school is what kept them sane, also having a study group helps too. Offer the use of your house for your husband to have a study group, and be the one to ask questions and see if they can get the right answer. I have used my clinical and post conference time to quiz the students jeopardy fashion, I also ask my questions to make them think outside of the box...to see the big picture. Hope this helps.

The doctor was way out of line with his comment "If you ask me that question again, I will beat your head!!! Are you stupid? Didn't you see my name on the board!? Don't you dare ask me that. Just get straight to the #^#/ point. " He needs to be reported. It is not only abuse but also bullying!! I hope you told the other nurses that you were working with that night what he said. I always tell my student nurses "don't apologize for waking up a doctor. Just get to the point of why you are calling them." I have been on the receiving end of verbal abuse from physicians in the past and have reported them. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. It is a shame that JCAHO had to make a mandate against abuse/bullying in the workplace.

All of our doctors are pretty much on the same page as far as comfort care is concerned. Everything is stopped except O2 and meds for pain/anxiety. Our patients are usually on a morphine PCA continuous rate and we can adjust the rate if the patient appears to be in pain, anxious, or SOB. Sometimes a family member will come out and ask if we will give more medicine to make the patient comfortable. Our policy states we must look at the patient at least every 2 hrs and do vital signs once a day. Once the patient is on comfort care we don't restrict visitors in the room. We do however, ask the visitors to leave the room if we need to do anything for the patient: turning, suctioning, cleaning.

I have interviewed twice for ICU positions both as a new nurse and an experienced one, and have NEVER been treated that way. I have had some hard core, hard nosed staff interview me for different postions that I was interested in, but with the rounded shoulders that I have developed over the years I knew how to handle them when it came my turn to ask questions. I professionally turned the tables on them and they had no answers for the questions that I asked them...in fact they started to mumble and stutter through their answers. You said that you didn't want to be mean or hurtful, but the way you answered her post shows how unprofessional you actually are. You could have said the same things without the attitude!! There are many ways to get the message across and your way is why we have the reputation of "eating our young." Grow up, learn how to talk to people without the attitude and give constructive feedback that will actually help them grow! If I was interviewed by you with your attitude I would seriously wonder why I spent all that money to come into this professional if I had to deal with arrogance like yours every day I worked. Your obvious lack of support for the new nurse(s) tells me that you have that "I'm better than you, and you will never be the nurse I am." I have been in this profession for 37yrs and I'm a better nurse than you are just from your attitude that you showed in your post. Makes me wonder what type of nurse you really are, and how do you orient new staff. That manager was extremely unprofessional and all three of them demonstrated why JCAHO had to put in work place violence protocols.

Having sat in on 3 different interviews over the past 25yrs, I can honestly say that I have never had a manager walk out of the interview. Ken H you said you didn't want to be mean or hurtful, all I can say is you have a funny way of showing it. Yes things could have been handled differently throughout the interview process, however, for the manager to walk out...that is inexcusable, unprofessional, and shows exactly what she thought about the person she was interviewing and what she thought about her staff. If the manager had walked out of any of the interviews that I had, I would have excused myself and said "I'm sorry, is there a problem? With the manager is leaving and the interview isn't over yet, maybe we should reschedule for a more convenient time when she doesn't feel rushed ." I probably would have also walked out and counted my blessings that I didn't get the job there or had to work with people who thought they were better than me. I teach my nursing students that when they have someone that is treating them in such an unprofessional way that they probably didn't have a very good preceptor &/or forgot what it was like to be new to the profession. The example these three nurses exhibited to you is the very reason we have the reputation of "eating our young." When asked about my patient satisfaction scores I would have said "No, I don't know the most recent score results but the last ones posted showed..." As for having an IV team where you work, I would love to have one where I work, but would have followed up that statement with "even with the IV team where I work, that is a skill that I would greatly appreciate learning and becoming proficient in." Please don't let the ignorant unprofessional attitudes that you experienced with that job interview jade your perception of the profession or prevent you from continuing to interview and find the job that is the perfect fit for you.

I look at it this way...if I can pick out the key words/concepts in the readings then I can figure out what the material is saying. I've tried reading every word and found that my books had soooooo much highlighted that there was maybe dozen words on the page NOT highlighted. I don't encourage skimming because you might miss out on the major concepts or key words. I also found if I make index cards with key words/concepts on front and all pertinent info on the back of the card, it helps me to study and do better on exams. Good luck. Keep your chin up. Most of all...keep positive attitude about passing this semester, and take one day at a time. I've also learned that wanting to know it all right now, doesn't work and makes me totally crazy. I want to learn what I need to know right now and know that the rest will come as I start working as a nurse. I also know that everyday I go to work/school I learn something new...I never stop learning and that makes me a better person.

Everyone remember to only read what is in the question, I know it's hard. But we all tend to read into the questions then pick the wrong answer. I also look for key words: all, except, but, etc then look at my answers to find the right one.

ctine05, Talk to the instructors let me know what the issue is with test taking and see if you can take the test away from the others. A little trick I learned: after 30-60 minutes of studying 1 topic (nursing), stop walk around, get something to drink, then...this is really important....study SOMETHING ELSE not related to nursing. After about an hour get up walk around, etc then go back to nursing. Concentrating all of my energy on nursing made me crazy and I wasn't absorbing anything.:hug: NO I don't think you are wasting your time. Like I told momtofore keep a positive attitude, and if this is what you really want, you will make it.

momtofore, are they really really DEDICATED AND SMART or are they just good at pretending they are? It sounds like you are doing everything you should, keep a positive attitude about school and you will make it. Nursing school is hard and there is soooo much to learn. If this is really your passion in life you will make it as a nurse and will be a very good one. Keep up the good work.

RN notes will also help you throughout the program and as you start working as a nurse. :)

try critical thinking you will need it throughout the program, if you take it now you will be one step ahead of the others.

Are these near misses with meds? Where I work we need to fill out incident report...before everyone jumps on me, let me explain. When we fill out an incident report on the computer we pick from a list as to possible causes for near miss. Many times it is a very simple fix that management doesn't realize there is a problem. If it is pt safety concerns document them, talk to the nurse, if nothing changes then go to your manager. You need to document what you did, who you spoke to, when, what outcome is, etc. I know that when I started to document everything that a nurse was doing (who was a department head) and went to HR to voice my concerns, because I had written everything down in a notebook, it was extremely hard for mgt to dispute the facts.

NJ and still work full time night shift in ICU/CCU; Teach nursing students, CPR, ACLS, PALS, basic dysrrhythmia, and help with critical care course. I wouldn't change a thing other than starting to teach nursing students earlier in my career. I have been doing this for almost 35 yrs and started as an aide (while in LPN school:lol2: ) then continued on with my education at that time I was in my early 20's. I enjoy teaching students of all ages, because everyone brings some life experience to the table. The older students just have a little more experience than the younger ones, but the younger ones have a different perspective on life and many times can "think outside of the box" a little easier that us older ones. I always learn something from my students. 15-20yrs can be a lifetime in bedside nursing, and over my 35 yrs of nursing I have seen more young nurses leave than older nurses.