Old and New

I have just been suspended for several days because a patient of mine became combative and my med nurse, the tech and I had to hold him down. He now has significant bruising, but is otherwise ok. I charted the incident at the time, and passed it on ...

I'm in a behavioral unit, and this kind of behavior is exactly why the patient is here. He has no medical issues. If another nurse hadn't called to give me the heads up, I wouldn't have even known until HR called and said a complaint had been filed...

I posted the "combative dementia pt" thread, so I feel your pain. It's almost impossible to stay out of trouble because, as someone mentioned, they're cranking out new nurses at a furious pace (so you can be replaced cheaper) and it seems that new r...

This morning, after a long 12 hour shift in the geropsych unit, I was giving report to the next shift. Our patients are in the unit for about 2 weeks, so the day shift knows their behaviors from the day before. For the umpteenth time, as I began gi...

Well, actually, no. I listen to what's going on now, ask some pertinent questions, take my notes and then thank them. That's why they irritate me so much.

I work 12 hour night shifts and I also live in a place that has no night life so I switch back during my days off. What I do is sleep about 6 hours on my first day off, then get up and spend the evening with family/friends. Then I go to bed at the ...

I understand that situation completely. Someone said slow down a little, show that it's not working very well, and I agree with that, although not only for that reason. The bottom line is still doing the job right, and since your "product" is peopl...

I work night shift exclusively, but I started on days. It took almost 4 months to get used to nights, and I flip back whenever I have time off. It's hard to stay up all night when I'm not working and my whole family is sleeping. The good points ha...

I love my FB. I just make sure I don't post anything I don't want everybody to know. Who on earth would think it's private?

I graduated RN school this past December at age 55. My first job was on a busy ortho floor, 12 hour shifts. Physically I had no problem, but the orientation was not long or thorough enough for me to feel able to take on a 7 patient load safely afte...

I enrolled in the BSN program; so far I've got the AASN. I'm taking a year off before I go back for the BSN because I'm on my first job and getting the hang of the real world aspects of nursing first.

The Jonesboro nursing program operates on several campuses. I studied at the Mountain Home campus, but we were connected via video network to Beebe and West Memphis, also. Clinicals are done at the nearest hospital. The program itself is coordinate...

Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home AR has continuous job openings. Baxter Regional Medical Center Our local college cranks out about 40 new grads a year, but the turnover is high. I worked there for about 2 months, and quit because I d...

I work at a long term care facility, and I do not wear gloves as often as I did working at a hospital because I know the residents and know what infections and sores they currently have. In the hospital, every day was a new day, and assessing a new ...

In my opinion, the change that needs to happen is NOT to pay the obscene health care premiums for people who can't afford them but to hold insurance companies to their end of the bargain. Anybody else who makes you a promise, takes your money, and t...

I just quit my first nursing job today. I was hired on the orthopedic floor on a temporary license, passed my NCLEX on the first try and really want to be a good nurse. The problem? I was given a preceptor who worked with me for four days and t...

I don't think we can afford NOT to have it. The people I know who have insurance have huge deductibles and 80/20 coverage (and that 20 can kill you). Also it's really sad to see how the uninsured are treated by healthcare workers.

Thanks for the feedback...I'm getting the impression that six weeks is pretty standard orientation...for me, under these circumstances, it just wasn't enough. I have no healthcare background and I'm 56 years old...I think both work against me. I wa...

I'm trying to think when I could fit sex in at my workplace...would it be while I'm running to get another foley for the dementia pt who just pulled his out again? Or maybe in the hallway while I'm grabbing my 30 minute lunch? Or do I just make eye...

I spend quite a bit of time on Facebook, because it's helped me stay in touch with people in the various places I've lived. On the other hand, I would never "friend" a patient, and I've "un-friended" most of my coworkers. I like to keep work and ho...

I am 56 and just received my RN license. The first few 12 hour shifts made me realize that nursing is physically demanding, but just doing the job has helped me lose weight and get back into shape. As far as setbacks go, I had to repeat college alg...

A woman's profession?? I give thanks daily for the male nurses we DO have, especially when one of our patients goes deadweight. And the male nurses I know are every bit as compassionate and caring as the females. To say that nursing is a woman's p...

If you're only in nursing because of the money, you suddenly realize that nursing school is a lot of work. There are prerequisites, lots of science and math, and endless details, then clinicals and about 5 hours of studying for every hour in class. ...

I graduated from ASU-Jonesboro, Mountain Home campus, and it was a great program. Our NCLEX pass rate is very high and now that I'm working, I feel that my schooling prepared me well for what was to come.

I just finished nursing school (RN) in December. The hardest thing about nursing school is just that you stay very busy, and there is a lot of paperwork to familiarize yourself with. Learning about how the body works, and how to perform the various...