Student2Registered

I applied to the SF program. They told me that I should hear something in the next 4-6 weeks but that would be when the semester starts. I am so frustrated. Like you, I feel like I need to plan my life for this. I hope this is a little more "catered to the working adult" once the program starts...

One thing that may be compromised with rude/nasty/troublemaking patients and even family members is continuity of care. Our hospital spreads these assigments out so if I cared for this rude/nasty/troublemaking patient yesterday, I will not be assigned to this patient today. So although I give my best care to everyone I am caring for, I will not be this person's nurse tomorrow so continuity of care is lacking in this case. It is sad because if only these people knew that we are all on the same team, trying to get this person well. We actually give excellent care but we do have 5 patients to care for and cannot be in 5 places at once. I have literally had a patient complain that I didn't bring her ice water although I was running a code on the other side of the curtain. Ugh, what can I say?

I would fill out an incident report. They are usually used as "learning/teaching" tools and identify system problems. After all a pt was almost harmed by this system breakdown.

Congrats on such a HUGE accomplishment.

Heimlich maneuver, sorry if I spelled it wrong...

the pain meds were in place and infusing as "originally" ordered. I never DC'd them b/c it didn't make any sense to DC pain meds literally "immediately" post op. I just left them as is and kept paging the doc for clarification. Literally in a 12 hour shift I charted at least 5 communication attempts.

So I was working a night shift last night and my post-op arrived at around 2100. When I accepted the new orders, the order for the nerve block and PCA were DC'd but that doesn't make any sense because those things are in place for post op pain. I paged the "service pager" which is a generic # that gets you in touch with the on call MD for that service. Didn't hear back right away. Then I found another patient on the verge of a Rapid Response and got the primary RN in to manage the situation and I began helping in that situation like any team player would :) So a couple hours have gone by and I page the service pager again, no response. I talk to the Charge Nurse about it and she mentions calling the next in line for that service but then says something about them not being in house in the middle of the night and maybe its not worth calling a chief resident at 3AM. So at 5AM when the primary MDs come in, I page the service pager and get a response. MD states it was clearly a mistake for those orders to be DC'd and she'd be reinstating those orders. Okay, job done (I thought), I see new orders pop up on the screen but I'm busy passing 0600 meds, blood draws etc... So as I'm giving report to the Day Shift RN she points out that there is no active order for the PCA. The MD had only reinstated the nerve block order but she clearly told me on the phone both would be reinstated. When I explained this to the Day Shift RN she seemed pretty upset that the PCA order wasn't active and went into the "In the future you should really call the Chief Resident for that order." Now I know that its important to have the orders correct. I just feel that night shift differs from Day Shift in the availability of MDs and prioritizing calls. I feel I used judgement in knowing those orders being DC'd were a mistake. On a scale of 1-10, how bad is this mistake? Thanks :)

I can possibly go back to the old house, it hasnt been rented.

So I went to nursing school with the idea of becoming an employed nurse to support my family better while doing something I love. I got a job right away at well known, respected hospital. Lust like most would do I packed up the family 60 miles away to be close to the job. I love my job, my facility, my unit and coworkers. I've been working for 1.5 years now. I'm unhappy on my days off. I'm lonely. I miss my family and friends. I miss the house we lived in. Just about every day I have an energy in my core that wants to move home n commute. The commute woud be 60 miles about an hour and a half. I'd do it three days a week. I can decided if giving up a house that is "alright" and in an area that I haven't met any friends (its been 1.5 years) but has a twenty minute communte to work. Any input would be appreciated.

Hi! I switch back and forth between days and nights. At first that sounded like a ridiculous idea but now I see why it might be a good idea. I benefit from experience on both shifts (which are quite different in a few ways) and I benefit from the perspective of both sides. Sick people don't sleep (for the most part). They are still in pain, nauseated, they still pee and poop. People do code or need rapid responses at night and guess what - there are a lot less resources at night! I'm sorry that there is this attitude between shifts because patient care is HARD no matter what time of day. And I think both shifts should be able to pass something reasonable on to the next shift without feeling nervous or guilty about it because of the next shift's response. Just want you to know some of us out here know night shift nurses bust their tails too!!!

I start PCAs and replace PCAs on every shift for more than one patient every shift. Every new syringe I set up starts at 30.3 or 30.2 or even 30.5. We document the starting volume and each subsequent "pump check" should match with pt's use against VTBI minus the starting volume. I've never had an issue with this. I use Alaris too by the way and our syringes are 30ml syringes.

I'm wondering how other 12 hour nurses manage the exhaustion on your first day off after two or three 12 hour shifts? I can't seem to function much for most of the day. Is it just me?

Geee I always wondered why the second P

which is exactly why I ask...a patient's family member actually posted this on their blog and it spread through our unit like wildfire! We cannot figure out what it means. Kinda makes me feel like we should have some kind of protection maybe NIPPA insteady of HIPPA...LOL

Interested in hearing what your interpretations of this are... "His current nurse has the gentle nurturing instincts of a Clydesdale. "