Riley3

I would love to do 12's...currently working 8 hour days/5 days a week. My employer did offer them to me but I turned them down once I looked at the schedule. They made sure I never had more then 2 days off in a row and threw in a silly 6 hour shift. On my weekend on I would do 12 on Thursday 6 hours on Friday and 12 hours sat and sunday. All the other 12 hour shift workers get 3 days off in a row. I travel 48 miles one way to work, but unless they modifiy the 12 hour shedule a bit I will happily walk out of there at 3pm and have the whole evening for my kids.

Dont tech in the Ed I work in...There is 1 tech per team. Each team has 12 bays and 9 hallway slots...I feel very bad for out techs and do try to help them out as much as possible, but the nurse patient ratio is not great either. It is not unheard of for a nurse to have a 9:1 ratio

I called in Monday and Tuesday this week..for fever, chills, headache, cough, and on/off GI symptoms. I am pretty sick. Sunday night when I called in for monday, no problem. When I called in Monday for Tuesday..I got the "Are you kidding me", "sigh", "geeze"..end with me apologizing..and them saying "uh ok its fine" then me saying I dont call out and do you think I want to use all my vacation time up being sick..then them saying "go to bed feel better" Of course today I dragged my butt in there and all I hear all day is what am i doing there I look horrible and do I want to go home..Sometimes you really can't win.. Always amazes me that nursing is so brutal to each other when we are ill, but compassionate to the patients. I think we have forgotten that we need to take care of each other as well as ourselves. I do recognize that it is at times hard to find a replacement, but the reality is even though we are nurses we still do get sick.

I worked with an NP who got her degree from Stony Brook in Ny.

I've been in the ER for 1 1/2 years. The only time I have ever gotten a meal break is when I was on orientation. My preceptor at the time would tell me "go to lunch now because when you are off orientation you will never get a break" Well she was right, I havent had a meal break since. I do have to say I work with an IA who will grab me something when she goes to cafateria, but I never get to sit down and it. It is more like take a bite..patient care...take a bite...patient care..

I did an online recert one year which was acceptable for my then place of employment but when I took a job at a hospital they made me redo it. They would only accept certifications from I think the American Heart Asscociation.

When working in the hospital setting I have never called out for snow, but when I was working in a monday through friday infusion clinic I have had my manager call me and tell me not to come in. If I couldnt make it the patients coming in for treatments could not make it either. Most of the time I would tell her thanks but I will try if I ran into problems I would call her. I have been on our major highway and hear on the radio that the road is closed..umm no it isn't I am driving on it..:) I do have to say that it is at times frustrating when I who lives 50 miles from work makes it there and others who live much closer do not. Also the first big snow/ice storm I called and told the charge nurse I would be about 10-15 mintues late but would be there. When I walked in the charge nurse said "oh here she is the slacker" Although I am suppose to think of this comment as a joke I kinda wondered if this was his passive-aggressive way of saying get here on time. So no I havent called in while working in the hospital setting but do admit to being a few minutes late in really bad whether. Being late was not because I didn't leave an 45 minutes or so earlier then I usually do. Also our hosital does not offer any accomodations for us that can't get home. Also if I was going to go in before the storm starts since I work day shift that would mean I would have to go in the night before and foot the bill for a hotel room. That is not a reasonable option for me. If they want me there the night before, they could give me some incentives to do so.

My manager is the queen of passive-aggressive behavior...She would say such nice things to you and then throw in a dig in the middle of it all..when I would question her about it she would say"oh just kidding". Hmm yeah I dont think so. I actually have gotten bold enough to do it back to her and say oh just kidding. She has actually stopped doing it so much to me anymore..

I had a Tummy Tuck in a freestanding surgical center Right before going to OR..."Oh RSI kit..I know what that is we use those all the time in the ER..I am an ER......." Woke up..Nurse..do you have any pain? Me..OMG..Pain..what the hell did I do to myself! Now my friend that was with me said (even though i dont remember it)..that all the way down to the OR I was explaining that I was a ER nurse and we have RSI kits that we use when we intubate our patients so I knew exactely what they were doing to me...blah blah..I guess I was quite the talker..

I have horrible plantar facititis of one foot only. The pain has been unbearable for 6 months now. May I ask you what type of arch supports you got? The full length or just heal support? I am desperate to try anyting at this point. Thank you

You dont like inexperienced nurses? Did you walk into the level 1 trauma ER born knowing all there is about a trauma patient. I work in a very busy ED and have only worked there for 1 year, but have been a nurse for 15 years. We are not considered a truama hospital. But we see only about 30 patients less a day then the trauma hospital down the road. I really would like to transfer to the ED there. I guess I am inexperienced also and would just get in the way. To the OP..go for it. Listen to the experienced nurses, learn from them, dont take things personal, find a good mentor, and soon you will be teaching others. Like I said above I have been in the ED only a year and I am already teaching the news ones the ropes.

I work in the ED. Many times one of the NP's will walk in while I am helping a patient get undressed and they will say come get me when you are done so I can assess them. I also have had them stand there while I am struggling to get a patient who can not help me undressed and start interviewing them without helping me out. Many times they will also come out of the room and say that I need to get help and reposition the patient. Well if they would go in with me I would have the help instead of trying to find a tech or another nurse to do the same job. I truly dont know what the Np's Pa's or Md's where I work are thinking.

Oh I am happy to have a job trust me. I just wanted to see what others were experiencing at there hospitals. Like I said this is our second year in a row without raises, this year they just also added the insurance and retirement cutbacks. The other hospitals in the area are still giving raises I dont know if there are other areas they are cutting back on. The idea that upper managment was figured into the budget to get there pay increase this year does burn my butt a little though.

We were just told that we would not be getting a merit raise again this year. This is 2 years in a row for our hospital. The frustrating thing is all the other surrounding hospitals are giving there employees raises and found other ways of cutting costs during this time. One hospital (I interviewed at) said they were still giving raises but lets say you were do in January your raise didn't come into effect unitl March. So bascially you had to wait 3 months for the raise to become active. They are also not contributing to health flex dollars so now we have to pay for our health insurance. There was also something about our retirement, but to be honest I couldnt hear anymore at that point. Also when the question was asked if the upper management was getting bonus's or raises the response was "yes because that was budgeted in last year". So that means they didn't think about us worker bees when they did the budget. Our hospital is by no means small as we are one of the two largest in the area. Is anyone else experiencing the same issues where they work? I know and I am thankful to have a job, but it seems odd that all other places are giving raises and finding other cleaver ways of cutting back. I am starting to wonder about the committment of this hospital to its employees.

If nursing is your dream..I say go for it. You have only one life to live and you dont want to live it with regrets. We can't predict the future nor can we change it. The only thing we can change is what we are doing now. If going to school in January is going to make you happy and help reach your dream of becoming a nurse then I think you can't go wrong with that. It sounds like you have a supportive family. 15k is alot of money, but really not when you are looking at it in terms of education. I know the economy is difficult right now but not going to school because of it just doesn't seem right to me. It would be like me telling my son who will be going to college next year he can't go because he will have to take out some loans to do it. Yes I will help him as much as I can but the reality is there is going to be loans. Should I tell him to postpone his education because the future economy is not known. Absolutely not. Start saving every penny you can now and if you can land a part time or per diem job now great, if not keep looking while in school. Things always have a way of working themselves out and if you have a spot for January for nursing school keep it and dont look back. I wish you the best!

This thread has caused quite a bit of different opinions. I think in someways what makes this thread so hostile is that a baby is involved. Honestly I work in and ER and have never said anything offensive about any child I have taken care of, in front of them or even at the desk. Lets just change this and make the patient one of my detox patients who has thrown things, threaten to stab me with one of his dirty needles and has used a couple of 4 letter words in my or another co-workers direction..hmm have I have said F** knock it off A** to him to his face..umm nope..Have I went back to the desk and use some of my own 4 letter words to another co-worker regarding the situation...umm yep. Now does this detox patient deserve any less compassion then lets say the child down the hall or the MI waiting for a bed? Not really in all reality substance abuse is a disease as well as an MI or a sick baby. Have I ever vented at the desk about one of my patients or family members. I have to admit to being guilty about that. Have I ever done it in regards to a baby..no I haven't, it just seems taboo to me. I also might add that I have never in 16 years of nursing have ever had a patient complaint about my treatment of them. I have vented at the desk and walked into the room as warm as can be and treat them like they are my most important and only patient. I personally am a at the desk vent type of nurse. The problem with this thread is...where the heck is the OP to explain a little more indepth about the situation..Was the resident in ear shot of the family..Was the resident even in the room with the child? The OP posted a thread that was obviously going to get quite a bit of response and some differences of opinions. We dont know all the facts. I am not saying one person is right or wrong in there opinions. We are all different in the way we express ourselves and to me what matters is what is brought to the bedside. With that being said I think that if any medical professional uses language of behavior that makes you uncomfortable I would not hesistate to state that fact right there and then.

Lastly, the cold sprays help desensitize the skin as well. I was skeptical as to how effective it was until seeing it used in a Pediatric ER. Works great and there is no waiting. I worked Oncology for 10 years and we stopped using the cold sprays for ports. There was a study that was done that showed the cold sprays could errode the skin overlying the port. They even sent a picture of what it looked like when it happened. After that we didn't use anymore sprays, but gave a script for emla cream.

Did the resident say this in the room with the baby?

When I first read the title of this thread I was thinking about the drama Queens/Kings..meaning other nurses. Ya know the ones where every patient they are taking care of is an emergency and they have the worst patients of the ED...The ones that go from 0-10 then ask questions

I think I would call first thing in the morning, speak to the person that called you today and explain what you and the other managers talked about regarding your schedule. I would not come off as I was complaining just letting her know why you expected that you were off this weekend. It very well could be that the person who completed the changes did not know that you have already spoke with both managers as well as the charge nurse regarding your schedule. If you have to work it is a bummer, but something I have learned in the 15 years I have been a nurse is..complaining about something to others and not talking directly to ther person really does no good. You will end up working a shift/schedule because you never gave the person the opportunity to help. With the being said, this is the life of a nurse in a hospital setting. I would work the shifts if I had to after I at least talked to them. This is not going to be the first time it is going to happen and will not be the last. Of course, I do believe that boundaries need to be set at some point. My work would have me working 24/7 if I allowed it. One nurse I worked with on saturday worked 7-3 went home and was back at 11pm-11am..crazy! The goal of the schedulers is to fix the holes and once you are there for a bit longer you will see that they will take any and all time they can from you if you allow it. This situation does not apply but I certainly would have a conversation since the person responsible for it was out, just to make sure this person was aware. Good luck to you. I know going out on your own the first time after orientation is scary, but I am sure there are a ton of other good resources that will be there for you

I worked with a nurse that use to say "luv knocks" for lovenox....How the heck she got that is beyond me!

Of course you should call out. With that being said I understand why you are worried. Last year I started in the ER after working oncology for many many years. Well my immune system was not use to sick patients. I ended up with the flu and was out for 7 days. I also went and got a doctors not. Well no one said anything to me except they hoped I was feeling better, but let me tell you that it was put on my evaluation that i was out that amount of time. It was so irritating since my manager even said I remember how sick you were and that when you came back you still looked horrible. My comment was well why did it end up on my evaluation even with a doctors note. She said oh dont worry about it I just had to mention it, but I know you were really ill:angryfire Take care of yourself and feel better. You wont get fired and most people will understand. If they dont just know that you oncology patients will appreciate you for not coming to work that sick.

I am very glad we dont work together...I have a blast at work. I work in an ED as well as an oncology infusion room. I take excellent care of my patients and I am the nurse most people love to work with. I can be serious in emergency situations. Can be quiet and compassionate when appropriate. I also can raise alot of hell and laugh through out and entire shift. I went into nursing to do just what I do....take great care of my patients, enjoy my co-workers and hopefully them enjoy me as well. Nursing is stressful enough without not being able to laugh it up when we can. just my opinion