katiemule

"To thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night, the day, thou canst not then be false to any man". WM Shakespeare. I agree completely with this. Nursing is emotionally and physically draining and in order to give our patients our best, we need to first take care of ourselves. First you MUST address the sleep issue. I have alternated working nights and days (12 hour shifts). I prefer nights for the work side of things, but its hard to have a social life. I agree with all the above posts - some very good advice. Another thought. Nursing isn't for everyone. I've walked away from it several times only to come back to it because that's where I'm supposed to be. Since you mentioned church, I will share a few things I've learned. First, church is any body of believers and I've had some awesome church experiences at patients' bedsides with them and their families. If you are missing the social side of church, see if there are any organizations for things you are interested in in your area. I rely heavily on the internet at the moment as I am doing travel nursing. The internet and my sheltie dog, Mac lol! Get out the Word. I have to remind myself that God can't speak to me if I don't read His Word. I have taken so many leaps of faith in my life, that when I'm not doing that it feels strange. Life, ultimately, is an adventure of learning who we are and who God is and how all that fits together. It takes our whole lifetime. Jesus frequently said to His followers, "Fear not". Fear is what our adversary uses against us. It keeps us from exploring who we are and who He is. It keeps us from making our journey of faith - of learning what faith is and how to become faithful. God bless you.

I have been an oncology nurse for 10 years - although the last year has been as a travel nurse and as such I have worked on med/surg units as well. Here is my input from my 10 years working in various hospitals, various states, and various nursing units: First, oncology tends to become the dumping ground in all hospitals. Not sure why, but they all do it, apparently. I suspect that oncology is not the money maker for the hospital that other types of units are and so they get pushed to take a larger variety of patients. I would hope that the bigger, nationally recognized oncology hospitals are an exception, but I worked in one of the top 10 in the nation and we were the dumping ground as well. Here is the most honest information I can give you about the rest: I have walked away from nursing 3 times now for all the reasons you have listed and a few more. I came back to it because I realized that SOMEONE has to take care of the patients. So thats what I focus on. I take care of my patients. I make sure I chart the important stuff. Hourly rounding sheets? We have them too. I don't do them. They are insulting. I take care of my patients - I can't stress that enough. I love them and they can feel it and it makes all the difference in my nursing experience. The longer you are a nurse, the more of a comfort level you will have about not doing everything "by the book". Medicine is an art - not just a science. You learn to trust your gut. Do I do a head to toe assessment on every one of my patients every time I work? I would be lying if I said yes. Sometimes its not possible. BUT, I do spend enough time in my patients rooms to assess them and do the head to toe on the ones who need it. If I have followed a nurse I trust - I often take their word on some things. If I don't like how something looks, I assess further. You will get a feel for all of this. But if you walk in your patient's room with a genuine smile and a friendly attitude - it will go a long way. And if something just doesn't feel right - believe it. Grab a more experienced nurse, if necessary. Nursing is not something we do all alone - we need each other, sometimes just another opinion. Cancer patients are scared. They have an illness that feels out of control because it is out of their control. Their only hope, as they see it - is the medicine offered by the hospital. So they try to control what they can. Let them. Offer control to them when its appropriate. Even the small stuff - do you want your door open or closed? Lights on or off? IV or pill pain medicine? As you speak to them, don't be afraid to touch them - even hold their hands. It makes a huge difference. It probably isn't coming across in this post, but I have a huge sense of humor and when appropriate - I use it. Laughing makes ppl feel better. Once I wore a nurse cap from the cabbage patch kids place all day. When I went in my patients rooms, the first thing I would say was: "I want you to know that you have a real nurse today, cause I'm wearing this hat to prove it". They loved it. Okay, if someone codes, take off the hat - but u get it! Don't be afraid to refuse a larger patient load than you are confident in caring for. 5 is usually my limit, although if not acute, I'll take 6 - with a CNA working. If no CNA, then I don't take that many. You are within your rights to do this. Some hospital personnel (read the bosses) can try to bully their staff into taking more patients. In TX, where I currently live, there is whats called Safe Harbor, which protects nurses from having to act contrary to what, in our best nursing judgement, is in our patients and our own best interest. Sometimes it just takes the first nurse to say "no, I'm not comfortable with that", and others will say so too. And, at the end of the day, if I'm working somewhere and I am prevented from taking care of my patients in a competent and caring way because of unrealistic demands, then I have no problem looking for another job. I don't say this lightly, but I have done it more than once. Nursing - taking care of people when they are at their most vulnerable- is too important and too precious to be treated as a commodity and patients as "numbers". These are our brothers and sisters who are trusting us with their lives and they deserve our best. And we deserve a work place that allows us to give the best we have. I hope you can find your way through this, it isn't easy, but it's important.

As a 10 year "veteran" nurse I can only nod in agreement with everything that has been said by others. I have walked off several nursing jobs by turning in my badge at the end of a shift and just going home. I have vowed to leave nursing more than once. So for me the question also becomes - why stay in nursing? The patients. That's the only reason I keep coming back. If we, who truly do care what happens to our brothers and sisters when they are sick, hurting, healing or dying, leave - then who is left? The bean counters who make up hospital management won't do it. Lazy coworkers won't do it - they aren't doing it now. Family members aren't going to do it - that's usually why they get mad at us in the first place - cause they are scared to death they might have to actually turn a hand or get up off the sofa to do what they expect us to do at the drop of a hat WHEN they want it, HOW they want it. Having said that, I must also say that some of the most intensely intimate and God filled moments in my life have been spent in the company of my patients and their family members. I remind myself that I am to have a servant's heart and that makes it less taxing to deal with demands. But actually, the family and patient demands are a cake walk compared to the expectations of those who employ nurses. I expect myself to be prepared, efficient, caring, educated, informed and hardworking. I have no problem with my employer expecting the same. I do have a problem with being used as the scapegoat for failed technologies, corporate penny pinching at the bedside, and healthcare dogma that is used to keep lots of high paying jobs afloat for people who never even see or touch a patient (JACHO - cough, cough - among others . . .), patients being seen as "customers" and "giving them the pickle" - I'm going to throw up if I watch that video one more time. Don't get me wrong - I totally agree with good customer service. But if we begin to see ourselves as car hops at the local fast food restaurant, then we lose everything our nursing predecessors worked so hard to achieve - nursing as a profession and not just a job. Would I recommend nursing as a career? Only if one fells it as a calling. It is entirely too intense and difficult to pursue as a job.

absolutely you are right in flushing your ports or other lines. It is laziness not to do so and invites all sorts of problems like the lines clotting off or two incompatible meds mixing in the line. I've been an oncology nurse for 7 years and so use a lot of lines and ports and flushing is protocol. Good for you!:anpom: