loveLA824901

I work for the government as a RN...we get 5 weeks of annual leave/year and 2.5 weeks of sick leave/year. We get 8 hours of AL and 4 hours of SL a pay period. And if you have a fair nurse manager you get to take leave as long as the unit is covered. Congrats and good luck in your career!

We have clinics in our hospital; so he came in through the clinic. No radiologic procedures were performed prior to admission; at least none were told to me in report. Thanks for the encouraging words : )

Thanks. Hearing these comments makes this easier.

She felt bad enough for what she did. Those discussions should've taken place in an office, not out in the open.

The docs came in and assumed since the change in status occured after the sack lunch, he aspirated. Also, SPO2 dropped from 99% on room air to low 70s with 4L on NC. We then placed him on NRB.

If a doc gives a verbal order I make sure I let him know it won't be done until 'its in' (unless something urgent/stat).

This is a case that has happened and I wanted some feedback: (I'm gonna try my best to shorten it) I work on a med-surg/telemetry floor. I get an admission with admitting diagnosis of AIDS/weakness. 53yo male who's been off HAART therapy for 2+ years; very cachexic appearance, very weak, but able to voice needs. Received him AAOx3; chest congestion heard w/o stethoscope (coorifice rhonchi--NP cough). Patient was on an admission diet (which means regular diet until further notice). He requested a sack lunch per diet orders. 15 minutes later portable CXR into see patient (ordered xray), I noticed he was very diaphoretic and tachypneic. We nasally suctioned him in atempt to try and relieve some of the congestion. Blood sugar of 170s. BP elevated c diastolic >110. Make a LONG story short we did everything on our unit to prevent this patient from coding (which he didn't)...he became unresponsive (c pulse) on our unit ICU team came in and intubated then we transferred him to ICU. That night he coded twice in ICU; family came in next morning and made him DNR. He died later that day. My thing is I'm a new nurse (almost a year), but I made sure I did everything 'right'. I had my charge nurse in there c me. We had the crash cart in the room just in case he lost his pulse. The team docs were notified immediately when I first noticed he was diaphoretic/tachypneic. But I feel bad that he died. Knowing that I was the one that gave him that sandwich that he supposedly aspirated on. Of course, if I knew there was any chance of him aspirating I wouldn't have left him alone with that sandwich. Also, my charge nurse stayed over with me to make sure that EVERYTHING we did was documented correctly. Just looking for feedback on this. Thanks in advance!

1. Underpaid + Overwork. At my facility we are definitely overworked. But we are paid well with excellent benefits so I guess that balances out. 2. Really really really stressful career. I think it gets stressful. I've found in my few years that you have to cover you a$$ A LOT! 3. People don't give you respect (coworker + patients) This is not an issue at my facility. 4. Screw up schedules (ruined your social life) I love my schedule; I work primarily days (0730-1600), but sometimes I switch and work evenings (1530-MN) 5. There are many more but it seems like my thread is getting long... I have a few questions for Nurses. 1. DO you like/hate your job? why? I love my job, the thing I love about it the most are my patients. I work at the VA and our patients are truly the best. 2. DO you recommend nursing career for students? why? I would recommend nursing, yes. Nursing is the only career where you can literally do anything with one degree. The realm of nursing is so vast. 3. DO you regret going into nursing career?? Absolutely not. 4. Is it true that there are variety of nursing jobs in one hospital?? for example if you hate your area/floor you can pick a different one in the same hospital and have totally different experience?? This is very true. Don't give up. Once you're done, you'll be so happy that you did it. Good luck.

I actually applied for this school and got in for Spring 2010. I have two colleagues who attend, and they're very satisfied. They both still work full-time, and are bogged down with the work. Hope this helps some.