cpillow

Hi there! Whatever you decide, try to get in there at Breckenridge Hospital where you will see PLENTY of trauma and a great mix of CCU/ICU/SICU patients! If you sit yourself in one of the community hospitals you won't get the experience you need, IMHO....

So, interesting little tidbit. I bought a body bugg monitor several months ago. This cute little device measures your calorie expenditure based on skin temperature and movement. It's accuracy is supposed to be pretty good. On a lazy day off when I'm closely monitoring the couch, I expend about 1200 calories a day. On a normal day off, where I'm moving around and going to the gym, etc, I burn between 1600 and 1800 calories a day. On any given day at work - and bear in mind that I'm an ICU nurse, we don't move around nearly as much as the floor nurses - I burn 2300 calories a day without any extra effort or a trip to the gym. This was extremely consistant, to the point that I didn't need my body bugg after a month because I knew exactly what it was going to say at the end of a day. So, yeppers, your shift counts as a workout!

Tee hee! PAPER PAPER PAPER and the nineteen unnecessary levels of management is where our hospital wastes it's money! Every morning that I am greeted by four or five different levels of management, I have to shake my head!!! HA! Hey, maybe if I'm there long enough, I'll be added to the twentieth layer! HA! :chuckle

THIS is the kind of post that I love to see! So many people get into nursing for the money, and end up very sorry for their choice. I am so happy to find people that go into nursing because it's their passion! Don't be afraid, go for it! Get the RN, it's hard work, but it will open so many doors for you - and from my perspective, I spend plenty of time with my patients and their families! LVN's I find, do much of the same work with much less pay - this creates resentment. So, just go for that RN degree, you won't regret it! For all the blood, sweat and tears that I have put into my career, I don't regret a minute of it. I know I'm doing God's work, I know I am needed, and I know I am touching people during the worst moment of their life. How priceless is that? There are no words that can describe the fulfillment you get from this career. No, it's not easy. But is it worth it? YES, YES, YES!!!!

Recieving 2's is not unusual when you are so new to nursing. All that means is that you have room to grow. I wouldn't take this too personally. Just carry on and learn as much as you can. Complaining is not recieved well from nurse externs, so grin and bear it. You can talk to the preceptor to get a better idea of what she expects, but I wouldn't switch. IMHO...

Oh my, you should definitely wait! It would definitely prejudice me, whether you were convicted or not, to hear that you had been accused of a felony. Sorry.

Mountain out of a molehill.

Okay, I have my freaky story. Several years ago, I worked as a manager in a nursing home. We had resident paired up as room mates in rooms. There was this one little old lady who was absolutely EVIL. She offered poop balls to surveyers as chocolates, she hit and scratched the staff routinely and she complained about her care constantly. This lady was just as bad as they come. Her roommate, on the otherhand was just as sweet as sweet could be. Well one morning her roommate started screaming hysterically, "Not me, not me! It's not MY time, you don't want ME!!! NO, NO, NO!!!!" We went into her room to find out what was going on, only to find the mean little old lady dying in the bed beside her. When we asked the mean little old lady's roommate what happened, why she was screaming, she said she saw demons taking the crazy mean little old lady away, and they tried to take her. Fast forward one month later... The sweet little old lady roommate died just as peacefully as could be. CRAZY!

Take this interview with a grain of salt. I would say that probably they found a RN with more experience. Don't sweat it, just apply for a psyche position in another facility! One further thing, I recall letters of reference being particularly helpful for me when I was a new grad.

Chicuilina, I am normally a very supportive, "you can do it" kind of nurse. I've been hanging out in this profession for 10 years now, and I can say that what you are describing definitely is typical nursing care on a med surg floor. Frankly, it's normal for the specialty areas as well. Not all people are cut out for nursing. It is not all daisies and roses. There is constant contact with malodorous body fluids, a great deal of pressure and stress, and often very little appreciation. The time pressure is maddening at times. If you don't find bed baths appealing (honestly, I find a simple bed bath is often the best thing I have to offer a patient), and body fluids get to you, it's likely that you are just not cut out for this career and you should consider moving on. You maybe better suited in radiology, or as a respiratory therapist where there is plenty of patient contact without the large quantity of gooey body fluids and back pain. Sorry for the depressing feedback here, but if you're going into nursing you need to know the reality is not pretty.

So, it sounds like you are definitely being fired. There is no reason to let that happen, just resign and find another job. It's fairly easy to find new nursing jobs in 90% of the country. That's really unfortunate. It sounds like you just rubbed the surveyer wrong. Aside from falling behind on the med pass, I didn't hear anything detrimental here. Just move on. It's not worth the pain. One thing I've learned in nursing, is that there are enough specialties that if you don't fit into one area well, there is another area on the wings that will suit you perfectly. Nursing home nursing, those med passes are ridiculous! Trying to get meds out on time to twenty five or more patients within a two hour time frame without making mistakes IS difficult. Don't sweat it, don't internalize their negativity, just go somewhere else! Good luck to you! :icon_hug:

In nursing A&P are at the core of everything. I would be very uncomfortable as a nurse if I didn't have this basic understanding of how the body worked. Personally, I would retake the Physiology class without hesitation!

My friend, you are not supposed to feel comfortable as a critical care nurse. There should always be a level of discomfort, always a slight lingering fear that something could go wrong, and always something that you don't know. Yes, you won't feel as uneasy as you do now forever, but comfort... I worry about the nurses that get "comfortable". Those are the ones who think they know it all, and don't. Who miss things at the patient's expense, and who fail to consult with their peers when they should. My true hope for you is that you never feel "comfortable", that you're always on your toes and ready for the "other shoe to drop". Be challenged, be passionate, be on your toes, and don't lose the edge that got you into the ICU to begin with. :heartbeat

Agree with all of the advice above. I started out in nursing in LTC, because I simply wasn't ready for acute care. Moved into acute care at my own pace, did a little home health on the side. 10 years later, I am a happy and very well rounded critical care nurse. IMHO, do what feels right and move through your career at your own pace. You'll be happier in your career if you cater to your own skills and abilities. In the end, your patients will benefit. :-)

I had a twenty year old patient a year ago that went to or for a routine something or other and unexpectedly developed severe lactic acidosis. Took away the propofol and *poof* miraculous recovery from the acidosis.