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I'm not sure if I'm just not explaining myself clearly or if you're just picking a fight. But it's a mighty tall soapbox to stand on saying you're smarter than the doctors you work with. Or maybe I've just been lucky to work with very capable doctors the majority of the time.

That's not at all what I was trying to say. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to clarify my intention since I wouldn't want it to be misinterpreted. I said within reason we should double check. But we shouldn't think that we are supposed to know as much or more than the physician. Many new nurses I know stress themselves out because they feel inadequately prepared for the job. You will never know all there is to know in nursing. At some point you have to learn to trust your team you're working with. Yes, I've advocated for a patient that needed testing and the dr said she didn't. Yes I continued to pursue it until the test was done and my suspicions confirmed. Yes doctors are not always correct. But second guessing every order on every patient is not possible and you will burn out that way. Double check your meds, do your rights of med admin, always verify your patient before a procedure with 2 patient identifiers, etc. but don't walk around thinking the physician is going to order some procedure that will kill your patient. Don't carry that paranoia around. It will suffocate you. Most nurses I know left the field because of concern over liability.

Ok old timers... What's your advice for how to survive or even learn to enjoy nursing? I've been a nurse for coming up on 3 years and I recently told someone "Don't put the weight of of being the doctor on your shoulders" because I think that's one of the heaviest burdens we carry as taught in school. That somehow magically we must be smarter than the doctors and double check everything they order and and be sure it is all appropriate when we did not go to medical school or pharmacy school. Yes within reason we need to research and double check but overall we are nurses and should not feel/take on the responsibilities of being the physician. I think that's one way to survive nursing. What other lessons have you learned along the way?

I'm looking for some career advice. I have been working as a nurse for 2 years. My first and second jobs I stayed at for 6 months each. My third job I've been at for a year. They have all been vastly different experiences/settings. I haven't "enjoyed" any of them. I've felt pushed beyond my limits physically, emotionally, and mentally due to patient to nurse ratios and high needs high acuity patients and their requirements. I've felt abused by the system being unable to take lunch breaks on 13-14 hour shifts and not being able to sit down. I'm starting to think it isn't "just this job" but nursing in general because I've been in 3 different settings now with the same experience. I went into nursing to help people and instead I worry every day about hurting someone by accident because of overlooking something or not being available to check on my patients or teach them effectively. I think I give up. Is it time for me to move on?

How long have you been a nurse? What do you like? What do you dislike? Maybe you could find happiness in a different area?

I could be wrong but part of the problem may be a lot of us go into nursing because we're big ol' bleeding hearts. Very sensitive people in general. The previous poster said "no one will chew on you if you are tough". I think that's true. But I think most sensitive people are not tough innately. So nurses who stick it out grow thick skin over time. The new nurses don't have it yet. So some of the "eating their young" is perception. I also think a lot of older nurses hate nursing and wish they could do something else so they are unhappy watching someone else walk into a land mine willingly.

I would think it could be done. It may be easier to get into a pediatric ER first and transition from there so at least you have more Peds experience to sell on your résumé. But just give it a shot. All they can say is no!

Why cut the tourniquet? I've seen nurses do this but I don't see why it helps. I tried it once but it just made my tourniquet fragile and it snapped in two when pulled taught.

Agreed. I moved around for reasons other than not liking my jobs. I had valid reasons for both moves but I think if I could've stayed at my first job I would be a lot better off right now as far as knowledge base and confidence level. I know I'll stay on my current floor for a long time because I have the need to be an "expert" and I want my résumé to be in good order. I also hope I'll grow to love my floor and not want to leave it. There are things about it that I like and I really do believe in time that list will grow.

I'm in a similar position. I want to LOVE nursing. Right now I dread most shifts. I'm depressed going in and when I leave. Part of that is because of being disrespected by the other nurses and doctors and part of that is because I am new to nursing and new to my floor and I hate being the one getting help instead of being an expert. I'm thinking some of this will change as I gain experience. Like you, I've tried multiple jobs in a short frame of time. I've found things I like about nursing this way but have found many more I dislike, leaving me to wonder if I am "cut out" to be a nurse after all. I like: Helping people/ making a difference Learning about health and medicine Making good money Working a non mon-fri schedule Putting in IVs (weird right), doing EKGs I dislike: Being rushed so I can't provide the best care Liability Pushed beyond my limits physically, mentally, and emotionally Being disrespected by drs and nurses Not feeling capable to do new tasks I've never done before and not feeling like I have the right resources to help me when those things come up High stress I'm working on my masters because I believe in educating myself as much as possible but sometimes I wonder if I should drop that and walk away from nursing altogether! Right now I'm really struggling with do I try another floor after this? Or do I get out. I'm leaning towards trying a different hospital and different type of nursing. One more hurrah before throwing in the towel. I worked too hard for this degree, I'm making progress in my masters, and I feel good to be able to call myself "a nurse". Like you, I'm committed to staying on my new floor to try and gain some confidence, knowledge, build my résumé, and see if I can't learn to love it. God knows I want to. If I don't love it or at least like it somewhat after a year or two I think I'm going to try mother-baby or just something else totally new. I have also considered hospice care- I really think I'd like that. So maybe there are a few more things out there for me to try. Maybe there are for you, too. It's this being new business that is hard. I think you and I have done ourselves no favors moving around so much. GL to you!

Is it not better to ignore it and let it roll off your back? I'm genuinely curious.

I'm new to Peds ER too. Almost at my 3 mos mark. Take PALS... ASAP if you don't have it already. Then take ENPC. Take home the protocols sheet and memorize it. Take home a handout on splinting. Take home an orders sheet and look up all the meds bc they are the ones given frequently. Kids come in with resp issues and lacs a lot. Learn those things well. GL!

Well I live in Ga where it isn't cost effective to have many snow plows/ salt trucks. And b/c of our weather we typically have "ice storms" rather than "snow storms". Ice is very hazardous to drive on and most of the roads do not get salted so people get stuck wherever they are for as long as it takes to melt. It's usually a day but can be up to 3. I remember once it was a week. At my hospital nurses aren't required to stay but are encouraged to. They are payed for sleep time. They sleep in the patient rooms on gurneys (I'm ER). Work time is regular pay plus 25%. The cafeteria closes as it is non essential personnel so there is no food unless you brought it or can get an ambulance with chains on its tires to deliver it. We always get the jokes about a little snow shutting down the state and how northerners drive in it all the time but before anyone says anything I'll say this, I have a friend from Canada who moved down here and used to make so much fun. She said she could drive in anything and didn't see what the issue was. So we had an ice storm and she drove to work. Well she didn't make it. She slid off the road and rolled several times. She ended up being ok (albeit banged up) but she never makes fun of Georgians anymore for staying home in bad weather lol. She now says "people from the North like me don't get it bc our roads are salted and plowed and we all have four wheel drive but down here it's freaking hazardous". So we have to plan in advance for these situations even if they are minor compared to the blizzards of Minnesota!

Never mind- Misunderstood

Some of the classes were the same because the college wouldn't grant me the credits stating it was different even though the course catalog descriptions were nearly identical. Some were obviously different and higher level.

Maybe in regards to spelling and grammar... But I gained better writing/communication skills at my university than I did at my community college. But age/desire may have been a factor as well.I do think professionalism tends to rise with educational level though, don't you? If you put out 3 ads for an administrative assistant and you specified no degree in one, HS grad in one, and BS degree in one, which ad would bring you the more professional candidates most likely?

My hospital system is the second largest in the state. It pays .10 cents an hour more to BSN prepared nurses than to ADNs. However, it will not currently hire ADN's without an agreement they will return for their BSN's. As far as opportunity costs, I did my pre-reqs with a friend. I went to a BSN school and she went to an ADN school (after not being accepted to the. BSN). We started our programs at the same time. She finished in May and I finished in July of the same year. She was hired to start middle of sept and me first of October. So for us the difference in employment ended up being two weeks. For me the decision to go for the BSN was twofold. One, I wanted a Bachelors degree for career purposes. If I decided nursing wasn't for me I knew I would need a BS to do something different. I already had an AS in education and way back when that was all that was required to teach pre-k. That had changed and now to do most anything a BS is required. Even in nursing to do anything beyond bedside a BS is now required most of the time. Two, I knew I planned to pursue Nurse Practitioner school. It was my main goal from day 1. So I'd need a BS anyway. I don't think there is much of a difference -clinically- in ADN programs vs BSN based on the fact we all take the nclex. And my friend who went to an ADN school had the same clinicals I did with the exception of community. My additional courses beyond that were non clinical- ethics, research, and leadership. I'm not sure about clinical hours required though. I don't know how we compared that way, other than I know my school required more practicum hours than any other in the state, so it's possible I had more clinical hours at graduation. However, I felt like the quality of her hours were better. She got experience with trachs and NG tubes but I didn't. Maybe it was just a fluke. Non-clinically we wrote many more papers which were much longer and the APA was much more stringent. We were pushed very hard academically and my friend always said she was happy she didn't have to do what we did, she said her papers were hard enough! I also had more classes each semester which made my program more rigorous, which can be argued to be good or bad. Research however was an important class because of the direction medicine is headed with EBP. I think ADNs should be required to take that class. I actually think BSN should be the entry level just as it is for other professions because I believe it would increase the level of professionalism and intelligent staff, as is usually the case when the entry level requirement is raised. I have met nurses who charted things like "breast ogmentition" I'm not joking. And I think research should be a requirement for all nurses. And lastly, many community colleges are simply not up to the standard of a university. I can say that as I am a graduate of both. The English classes I took at my community college did not prepare me for writing on a real college level when I became a university student. The sciences I took were a joke compared to my university science classes. So that's my opinion for all that it's worth. I hope it makes sense! I typed from my phone and was interrupted constantly by my daughter!

Recently: vomiting and abdominal pain........... X 30 min.....

I had a guy when I worked obs who had stuck a tube into his urethra and sprayed WD-40 down Into it. He also self pierced his nipples during the same session. There were other oddities but those are the parts I remember.

My preceptor took a lot of time the last two shifts to explain things etc. we weren't slammed and had time to go over things. She's learning how to precept and it is kind of like learning to dance with a new partner. It is an exchange, both people have to move together or it won't work. She's very flexible and open and I think we're working out what we need from each other.

This actually happened to me: I had pelvic pain and had an u/s done. I was told mistakenly I had large ovarian cysts. Pain progressed and I went to ER 3 days later with c/o ovarian cysts. Was told I would get more meds and go home but I refused. Ended up with a Ct scan which shocked the heck out of everyone as I had a hole in my intestines. Not overweight, mid thirties female. Dx was perforated diverticulitis. Kicker was CT also showed two tumors on my ovary but no one told me until my follow up with GI one year later when another diverticulitis attack occurred. Needless to say had immediate oopherectomy. Luckily turned out benign.

Any tips on managing pre shift anxiety? I'm already nervous as all get out and it's only Thursday night... My next shift is Saturday afternoon. I know it will only get worse between now and then. I'm new to the ER and a pretty new RN at that. I know I have good assessment skills and I care about my patients so those are my good qualities. I guess my main fears are related to physical tasks like putting in NG tubes, foleys, and even IVs. My small amt of med surge experience did not include these tasks as it was a 23 hr observation floor. I try and tell myself plenty of nurses have gone before and now are proficient. But I hate being bad at something or making mistakes. How do I move out of this mindset so that I can be productive?

Thanks all. I learned my lesson on that one. I'm just not sure if I need closer monitoring or if winging it will be more useful for me In the end. I may pick up some shifts with another preceptor just to see how that goes and get some extra insight.

My preceptor basically sees other patients and I track her down when I need her. I've liked it that way but maybe I'm not giving good discharge advice or maybe I'm not doing things right (I wouldn't know bc I'm new). No she doesn't pop in my rooms. She gives me full independence. Yes I can ask her things if I need to I just have to find her first. The issue came up when I almost followed an incorrect verbal order from a dr. Apparently we aren't supposed to take verbal orders except in a code.