smileedee

Been in healthcare for 21 years. You are not alone. I actually have habit to prevent loss of my belongings! LOL! I developed the habit of a mega-pocket unload onto the nearest safe surface like the jumbo toilet paper holder if the top is flat, prior to sitting (or hovering!). Also, keeping the most important things in your pants pockets (like cell phones or keys) and VERY CAREFULLY lower your pants a bit away from the toilet prior to sitting and pull up A STEP AWAY from the toilet, your cherished belongings may stay safe from the gaping mouth of the Toilet Monster.

What a wonderful post! I can tell by your question you are eager to get started and you are going to be an asset to the nursing profession. My best advice to you is not just to prepare your mind, but to prepare your body and your spirit as well. You will transform totally as a person over the years, and you will want to care for yourself the same way you are taught to take care of your patients, as a WHOLE, not just one part. I started out as a CNA in a nursing home at age 21, in 1988. I am now 43. I have worked Med/Surg, Ortho, Inpt Psych, Drug Rehab, Youth Corrections, OB, Hospice prn sitting with the dying, nurse management, financial services, physical rehab, private duty peds, Med Psych. I had up to 4 jobs at a time - 1 full time, 1 part time, and 2 prns, just to take care of my family. My career has been rich and varied. Pretty much any subject that is discussed in a hospital setting I understand and have participated in. But my son's friends didn't know what his mom looked like until he was in middle school. I have 2 herniated disks, 5 bulging disks, spondylolysis, and spondylolisthesis, and chronic Epstein Barr. I have stayed in miserable jobs long past times I should have left because I didn't take time to go back to school, so I didn't qualify to move up on the career ladder in spite of my experience. I have been physically taxed and emotionally depleted on more than one occasion. But my resume is awesome. That's worth a lot to employers, but my body is shot out and there are certain jobs I will never do again because I didn't take care of me early on. I am upbeat and cheerful, but my family knows I am tired and achy a lot of the time. And I still work full time, and will have to for a long time to come. Don't forget your life, your health, your family, your happiness. Take care of YOU. Take care of your BACK. Get to the gym and get to training those abs! Enjoy the things around you in your every day. You will eventually finish nursing school. You will get that experience and be able to take care of patients. The part I want to make sure you know is that when it is all over you are still you, not only a nurse. Don't forget! One more thing, once you are a nurse, NEVER EVER try to be a nurse to your family when they are very ill. If you put yourself in that position and make a decision and it is wrong, you have the guilt of responsibility with you the rest of your life. I see other nurses, and doctors, too, do it all the time. They walk in and try to take over the care of their loved ones. So how will they feel if something goes wrong? HORRIBLE! Let the providers get paid for what they get paid to do, and you sit back and be wife, daughter, sister, or mom. It is so much easier that way. Naturally if someone is doing something stupid, it is ok to step in, but other than that, just try to relax. Good luck and congratuations on your decision to be a nurse! WELCOME! :redpinkhe

Website.

Jeezus H. Christ, when the time changes again you will get it back.

"We need nurses at the bedside!" BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! Sure, on a phone kissing everyone's ass while the patient's choke to death in front of you because you are appeasing Great Aunt Mable for the 13th time today. Give me a break! What is next?

So, what type of facility do you work in? 250 bed hospital What unit? Financial Services Do you work part-time or full time? Full-time What type of shifts do you work? M-F 7:30 to 4

The new grad who documented in her initial note the patient had a history of a "cabbage". I just didn't know what to think. Not to mention the very old, experienced male nurse who documented "Patient crapped all night". I kid you not.

If its true we are here to help others, what are the others here for?

About 15 years ago I had a patient on a medical floor who was restless and confused. He was in a geri reclining chair for the night and continually took his legs off of the leg rest I had them propped up on in the reclining position and put them down so his feet could touch the floor and he could scoot around and holler. To solve this problem I put a pillow or two in the hole, propped his legs up and he finally dozed off. I was so proud of myself for finally getting this guy to go to sleep. His shin got skinned a little from all the activity so I had to document what he was up to and why his leg looked the way it did. In my note I wrote about what he had been doing and concluded, "Legs removed and placed on pillows". His doctor asked me the next morning when we started performing amputations on the floor. I never, ever lived it down.