prudence09

Well, mine's a Beatles song and the year I graduated nursing school.

If you used a electronic dinamap I would be very careful in believing the results. If you took it manually I wouldn't worry to much. When in question do it manually always. Most doctors prefer a manual reading then a electronic reading.

Most the the time where I work if it is a completely different unit like ICU you are there to help not take patients. You may help pass meds and things like that. Where I work our nurses from the floor I work on are the only nurses that really get pulled anywhere else and we also have no protest form you either do it or be fired. It's your choice. I would just learn that particular floors routine if you get pulled it may take 2 or 3 times but you'll get the hang of it.

Welcome to the world of nursing!

When this years new grads are hired.

So last night I got a text from one of the nurses that I worked with the night before that one of my patients surgery was not scheduled. I have never in the year that I have been working have had to schedule a surgery. The secretary faxes the orders the areas they need to go to be scheduled. Well the secretary wrote that she faxed the order so I noted it. Well apparently it was never scheduled and I was written up by another nurse. The first time to my knowledge. I noted it because what the secretaries do is fax it to the supps. so it can be scheduled and she wrote faxed. My manager will kill me and I'm freaking out because I'm afraid I will lose my job. So any advice on how to explain what happened when I'm called into the office and asked what was I thinking?

I work med peds and our ratio is 7 to 1 with no CNAs. I mean no help at all. I have had seven patients many times and yes it's hard but you will learn time management skills. Just give it some time. Best advice I ever got was start meds early.

I go into work tonight get into my mailbox and find a nasty letter from one of my patients wrote and my boss copied it and put it there along with to good letters I got from 2 other patients. I just feel like we get told all the bad things most the time and never the good. It really ****** me off. The patient it came from is a known seeker and the thing is I think my boss believes the patients over her nurses and we never get backed up by her. I know she has a job to do and she wants me to improve but the crap the patient said is positively not true. I am dedicated to my job and take care of my patients to the best of my ability. The real reason i'm ticked is because she will never let me defend myself. I think my boss actually likes the way nasty comments make us feel. I know as nurses we cannot please everyone but when you try you get told you are a crappy nurse and should not be able to care for anyone. I just get so sick of all the bad and never get any of the good and when you do it's very little.

I found the best thing for me was buying a vest that had 2 pockets on it. I carry everything in those pockets. Alcohol pads, lancets for accuchecks, tape, pens, etc. When I started working I wondered why everyone else wore a vest. Now I know why. More pockets.

I have to agree with what student2registered posted we do get blamed for alot. My manager actually told me that we she started nursing was a profession that people respected but now no one respect nurses or anyone for that matter. She was right. Sometimes I do love my job but other days I hate it. Like last night we only had 2 nurses and 14 patients. 7 for me and 7 for her but I can't really complain because I agreed to it when I got hired. Last night was hell and was one day when I hated it. We have no aids no help at all.

What about the patient who comes in for chest pain even though the patient admits to snorting alot of cocaine. Wonder why you have chest pain now? The patients I honestly can't stand and do think are stupid are the frequent fliers who are always so sick but they can drive themselves to the hospital and ask for all the pain meds they want.

Go through NSO. They have great rates for new grads. When you do get covered just make sure that you don't tell anybody not even coworkers that you have it though.

I actually had a conversation about this topic with one of the seasoned nurses I work with. She was involved in a case many years ago. She has given me many help full tips. Like never write ERROR always write VOID and then initial the mistake. She said a lawyer told her that error always raises a huge red flag for them because looks ten times worse than void. She also told me never to chart in future tense. Ex: Will continue to monitor patient. Lawyers actually take this literally and think that means you will have an eye on the patient at all times. If you are supposed to be monitoring the patient and something happens then you will be held liable. She also said that she was also told that the rule of you don't document means you didn't do it is not neccesarily true because you can't document every single thing. We all know it's impossible. You should document the most important details. When you called the doctor, what interventions took place, etc.

I drive about an hour both ways to where I work. It's not worth it but it was the only place hiring new grads.

I feel the same exact way. I have been working for 3 months and it has got better. The best advice I got from one of my fellow nurses was start early. That crap they feed you in school about you can only give meds 30 mins before or after the scheduled time is totally bogus. That rule doesn't work in the real world of nursing. I realized that the hard way by always being behind. Now I realized that if I get my assessments done, my vitals done because we don't have any aids and my patient lode can be up to 7, then start my meds earlier than the scheduled time I have been able to keep kind of caught up. Meds seemed to always be what I get behind on. I chart after I give meds then start to verify my MARS because I work nights. My time management skills aren't great but are getting better. When I first started I cried a lot and still do but it does get better.

I have to agree with the nurse you spoke to. I really don't remember much. Every now and then something will pop into my head. I went to my doctor the other day and he asked if I was still in school and I told him I graduated and was an RN now and I'm working and that school doesn't teach you crap. He just busted out laughing because he knows it's true. Now that I'm working the facts they teach in school are right but it's presented as if we will be nurses in the ideal world. We are not nurses in the ideal world. It's just that schools can't teach the real world.

I was just wondering if anybody had gotten out of their contract before the money was given to them. I am thinking about going to HR and telling them I want out of mine. I want out for many different reasons and regret ever signing it. I know if I work for a year or so I might be able to find another job where they can buy me out but it just seems easier to just go ahead and get out while I can. Any advice?

So I've been working on the same floor for about 3 and a half months. I am out of orientation. Some days are better than others. There is just one problem. The person that trained me. She is always pointing all the mistakes I make and there not huge ones. She had taught me a lot but she can never say that I have done a good job. I think a lot has to do with the fact that we have different personalities. She basically told me the other night that I'm abnoxious and that I need to watch how I talk to her. I'm just the kind of person that says what I mean and am assertive. She thinks I act superior. I just don't know. I'm still a very new nurse and I still have to ask a lot of questions and I think that gets on her nerves. Like the other night I had a patient that was in a serious situation and I was calling the doctor every hour because my patient needed to be taken care of and it needed to be done. My patient ended up having to be transferred and I talked to the family. she proceeds to go behind me to talk to the family after I have and basically tells them the same thing. This makes me look like I'm a complete idiot to the family. I have a lot to learn but every time I go to work I feel like I walk on egg shells around her and I can't be myself. She's supposed to go to another shift after October and honestly I can't wait. I just really need to get this off my chest. Does any body have any advice how to handle this situation?

I work nights and I love it except for what I explained in a previous post. I worked days for three weeks and it was hard and I was just learning the ropes of the floor. It was just so caotic. The only thing about working nights is that there is no doctors around and that means you usually have to call them at home. Some of them don't like that to much but it's their job. It's so much more laid back at nights and you do have more time. You just need to make the right decision for you and your family.

I've been working for about a month. I just passed my boards and got my first 3 patients 2 days later. I wasn't on my own but my preceptor isn't that great. She actually sat there and read a book for most of the night. I got so far behind and all she could say was you should already have that done or you should do this first. I just wanted to scream. What really got be behind was that at the beginning of our shift she actually made me do one of her discharges after I told her I had done many of them in the past month and was comfortable with them. Doing her work actually put me an hour and half behind. I get that we have to work as a team but doing someone else's work is not team work. haven't even been on the job that long but am beginning to think I'm going to be a crappy nurse. I only had 3 patients how in the world am I going to handle 7? I know it's just the first month but I'm already discouraged. I just keep telling myself it just takes time but what if I never catch on.

Well guys and gals I took the NCLEX-RN today. I went in nervous and came out even more nervous. It shut off at 75 and I just don't know what to think. I feel like I didn't know any of the answers. The questions were just so sporadic. I just kept thinking what is going to kill the patient fastest. The next 48 hours are going to be the most agonizing 48 hours I will probably ever experience. I had a couple of meds, infection control, priority, SATA, and 1 calculation. I really think I failed. I just don't see the possibility of me passing. I just don't feel good about it at all.

1.Med-Peds 2.TN 3. A classmate of mine helped me get the job. She gave me the number to the manager of the floor and I just called and got hired that day. I've worked for the past 3 weeks and take boards Mon. Honestly if it wasn't for my classmate I probably still wouldn't have a job. It's the only hospital that was hiring new grads. It's slim pickins where I live.

So glad you decided to become a nurse. Let me start by saying that I am not a L&D nurse but also want to be one. I have my 2 year degree in nursing but haven't taken boards yet. I am working on Med-Peds floor and am very happy to be working on that floor. I don't know much of the deference between a 2 year degree and a 4 year degree. I am working with someone who just graduated with a 4 year degree and from our discussion we basically have the same training and will be getting the dame pay. Now, about being a L&d nurse. From all of my searching the positions are really hard to come by because these departments have a very low turn over rate which means they rarely leave their jobs. You can always find ways to get yourself in the door like I have by working peds. I can work on this floor get a couple of years of experience and then move on to what I really want to do. I have been told by many of the experienced nurses that I have made the right choice because by doing what I have done I will be able to work about any floor. It's really all about experience but that's not to say new grads can't get hired on L&D floors. I hope this was of some help.

I have been doing orientation all week. I will be working on the Med-Peds floor and it just hit me yesterday that I am going to be a pediatric nurse. All day yesterday during orientation and the educational nurse keep saying and my pediatric and I was thinking to myself "What not me." I knew when I got hired that I would be working on the Peds floor and didn't and still don't have a problem with it but you know how it is when something just hits you all of a sudden. I laughed all day yesterday about it and told my manager today and she just laughed and laughed at me. I know I can do it but it was just one of those moments.

Yesterday I received a letter from my state board telling me I didn't sign my 2x2 picture correctly. I am so upset. I had been wondering why it was taking so long for me to get my ATT number to schedule mt test. What made it worse is that I it's the weekend and can't get in touch with my Dean of Nursing or state board. I actually called my dean at home and left a message because I knew she wouldn't mind and haven't heard back. I start work tomorrow and it's all day so I don't know when I'll be able to get my dean to sign the new picture. Also don't know how far this will put be back from taking my test. I tell you what if this was going to happen to anybody it was going to happen to me.