sprintin08

thanks so much for the advice everyone

i have one year left of school for my RN and absolutely love it. however, i am not cut out for all the drama at work. i work at a nursing home and it is 100% my passion. i love the elderly population more than anything and have never once dreaded going to work in terms of taking care of the residents. the part i dread is working with one specific other aide who i swear has it out for me! she writes nasty notes directed at me in a notebook that we are supposed to keep to discuss what is going on with residents and what she writes is complete lies about stuff i didnt do that there is proof i did do. this, i can handle... all the nurses seem to love me, have told me countless times how happy they are when i am working because they know the job will get done. the nurses know that i did whatever the girl claims i didnt and nobody really believes her. however, a resident recently told me that this girl has told him not to press his call light when i am working because i wont answer it anyway. i could not believe she would do something like this! then, this morning i was getting ready to leave at 7am after i worked the night shift. this specific aide was working on the floor after me and i was supposed to give her report. she comes in at 7, she was on her phone yelling at whoever she was talking to, clocks in, and then leaves the room. i wait 30 minutes for her to come back, and she didnt. so i write on a piece of paper the report i was going to give her, then go find her in the parking lot where she was sitting in her car and i give her the paper (now, i probably did not have the nicest look on my face, but i was irritated that she was on her phone when she was supposed to be working and i needed to leave) and then i head back inside to get my purse. so then i am getting ready to walk out the door and she comes storming in and begins to tell me how i am mean, have a bad attitude, and am a terrible worker IN FRONT OF THE RESIDENTS that were sitting on a couch near us. and these residents that were sitting there are NOT ones that are confused and going to forget this. now i know there are a lot worse things that could happen than this, but i was livid! i dont know who she thinks she is that she can talk to me like that in front of the residents i told her i wasnt going to argue with her and walked out the door. i was so mad that i actually got completely lost driving home, not paying attention to where i was going. i am just really hurt, i honestly try to be nice to everyone and i dont know what she has against me that would cause her to do this to me. i can deal with her talking about me to the other workers, but it really makes me so upset that now she is saying stuff to/in front of the residents. i am just not cut out for this and i dont want to bring it up to my boss because i think it would cause her to hate me even more, and i am not a confrontational person but i dont even know what to do anymore i am so sick of dealing with her drama when i am there to do something i love.

I work at a nursing home and last night there was a resident who was convinced the building was on fire and needed to get out. I was trying to calm him down, telling him there was no fire. Then the nurse came in and was telling him she was calling the fire department and he needed to stay in his room for now. This surprised me a little bit, and I thought about how I am in my third year of nursing school, and I never learned how to deal with situations like this. Do you tell them they are confused?? or go along with it?? I almost feel like if they are so sure of something, its almost offensive to them to say they are wrong, but I don't really know what the best way to handle it is!

ok thanks everyone! and I will make sure its HIPAA from now on, thanks :)

Hi, I am a nursing student. Is it against hippa to tell people what type of procedures I did or what type of surgeries I saw at clinical if I am not saying any information about the patient? Someone told me it was, but I don't see why saying "i started an IV today" or "I saw a surgery for a hernia" would a problem. Thank you!

I am just finishing my second summer working as an aide in a nursing home. I'll be starting my third year of nursing school in the fall to be an RN. I am trying to decide what I should do for a job next summer, as it will be my last summer before I graduate, and I'm not sure what my best option would be in terms of what would look best to get a job after I graduate. Should I stay at the nursing home I've been working at (absolutely LOVE it there, and they will take me back) or should I try to get a job as an aide at a hospital??? I think I want to be a hospice nurse (or definitely working with the elderly population), and I was doing some research and saw most places require you work med-surg for atleast 1 year. So, I'm not sure if I should attempt to get experience at a hospital outside my clinicals, as that may look better than a nursing home to get a future RN job???? Any thoughts would be appreciated :)

patient: help me, help me, will somebody help me! me: what do you need? patient i need you! me: why's that patient: because you're my sweetheart... and i love you **big smile on her face** patient: nurse, get me out of this bed RIGHT NOW me: why do you need to get out? patient: because there is a giant bowling ball falling from my ceiling and it's headed straight for my face

I am still a student, but reading through everyone's posts have caused some questions to pop up in my mind. I don't think I would want to add a patient as a friend on facebook, but I am curious as to why it is wrong for "patients to be friends" ...what exactly does this mean? I work at a nursing home as a summer job, and I have really tried to make an effort to talk to the residents, as many of them have few visitors and seem very lonely, which really saddens me. Is it wrong for me to talk about my family, life, etc to these residents? I make sure to never complain about my life or anything, and keep everything positive. Talking with the residents is probably one of my favorite parts of my job, and this was the same case in the clinicals I have had so far. I was wondering where the line should be drawn on discussing life, etc w/ patients???

i was wondering if anyone had any recommendations of good practice books for the NCLEX. i wanted to get to practice over the summer. if anyone has any suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated!! thanks :)

I have finally started my first clinicals at the hospital in nursing school :) The first couple weeks, I have felt a little bit like I have been in the way and the nurses have been stressed out/possibly annoyed with me and the other students being there. My instructor is not doing much instructing, sooo we have not been doing all that much work. I was wondering what nursing students can do that is the most helpful to nurses... like stay out of the way and help if we're asked, offer to help with stuff, just jump in?!?! ...Do they want us to ask them questions, or are they too busy, etc. This is my first round of clinicals so I really only know the basic stuff, so its not like I can do everything, and the rest of my group seems to kind of want to just sit around, but I really want to learn and be a help to the staff, I just am not sure what's the best way to approach everything!

which of the following meds can NOT be given through a nasogastric or feeding tube? lasix 40mg cartia XT cardizem 30mg amoxicillin 500mg dilantin 200mg ...i cant find it anywhere in my drug book this is the first time i am learning about feeding tubes and stuff, so i am not really sure what the answer is or if it has to do w/ whether the pills can be crushed or not!! any help would be greatly appreciated:)

nursing school is stressful, the hardest thing ever, but the best thing ever as well. for me, something that really helps me is staying motivated and reminded as to why i want to be a nurse in the first place, so i have nursing quotes and pictures of my little sister (shes the reason i want to be a nurse) taped to my desk and they definitely give me the motivation i need to study through all hours of the night. dont expect to pass everything w/ flying colors/get all A's because it wont happen. set realistic goals for yourself and be thankful you are entering an amazing and life changing profession :)

i just finished my first round of clinicals and i would say i regret being so tense and nervous!! i wasnt passing meds or doing anything serious, so its not like i was going to hurt my patient taking her vital signs that i had practiced hundreds of times! i need to gain more confidence in my abilities!! thatll only come w/ time though :)

i have yet to cry in nursing school, but i did cry in my summer job as an aide. a 96 year old lady at the nursing home i worked at was crying to me about how she just wanted to die. i held her hand and gave her a hug and she then told me she wanted to give me all her money when she dies. i teared up and when i left her room, a few tears were rolling down my face. i felt so bad for the poor lady

thank you very much everyone!! i will definitely ask everything i am not sure about!