ziggysgal,RN

Oh goodness that is indeed a crazy ratio. I’m sorry. Hang in there. Time will make it easier.

Just an idea but I think that OP is saying 10 patients over the course of a shift, not all at once. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but this isn't that bad for a bigger ER... less than 1 per hour average. To the OP, it just takes time. I (and many other nurses) have been in your shoes... as your manager said, work on recognizing when your patient is going "bad" and take it day by day. It's normal to feel overwhelmed in the midst of chaos. Maybe keep a notebook handy and jot down things you want to read up on during down time or off hours. (s/s for example) And you can always answer questions with "I don't know but I'll go find out and return with that information." Hang in there... and welcome to the roller coaster ride. :)

I am interested in what this means. Care to share more information? It sounds quite interesting?

My experience is actually as an LVN working in the ED, but in most cases it might as well have been as a tech so I can see how this might be perceived. Thank you for the positive feedback. Also, awesome story about your grandfather!

Perhaps I said it wrong... I believe informed is just the first step to better. No amount of education *alone* will make me better.. I believe I (or any nurse) have to take the knowledge and apply it practically and gain experience also to be better. I love learning but I often encounter the why bother reaction from my colleagues and I wonder if maybe I'm going about this wrong...

STD's are 0100 emergencies.

I've been working in the ED for most of my nursing career (a short 8 years), but only as an RN for 1 year. I've always been enthusiastic about opportunities to attend education sessions (i.e. SA AirLife sessions, various local conferences, etc.) because I have a desire to be the best I can be at this career. I know that no amount of continuing education sessions will make me a better nurse... just (hopefully) a more informed nurse. I've noticed, however, that many of my colleagues are not at all interested in this sort of thing. I work in a rural hospital and there's a lot we don't encounter... so I'm starting to wonder if I'm just getting carried away with this stuff. I would like to hear from other ED nurses on attending conferences and education sessions. Thoughts? Opinions? Perspectives? (Resources?) Thanks in advance.

No asthma here but I have a sensitivity to strong fragrances. This 'trend' has hit my small town hospital in the past few months and it bothers me that so far no one seems to mind. We are discouraged from wearing scented lotion or perfumes, but it's apparently ok for people to walk around in a cloud of oil fumes. Not all of them are complimentary either. One day a coworker snuck up on me and ambushed me with 'stress relief' oil on my wrist. I spent the day nauseated and suffering a migraine. No matter how many times I washed with soap and water and smeared alcohol sanitizer, the smell stayed with me all day. I was thoroughly annoyed but kept my complaints to myself. Luckily this did not repeat once I claimed an allergy (easy way out) but I still had to deal with the smell all around me on multiple coworkers up until I switched departments. Fortunately my primary team now is one other person who doesn't use the stuff. It's offensive. If I were a patient , I would complain because of the effects it has on me. I'm surprised that there's not more rules about the individual use of it in the healthcare setting.

If being a superhero sidekick was a paying job, I wouldn't have to moonlight as an ER nurse. Now quit being difficult and change into the gown.

That's exactly how I wound up getting offered a job for after graduation in the 5th month of my 12 month program. It isn't easy and it sure does take it's toll if you're not diligent with self-care and studies... but it's probably THE easiest way to secure a job for after graduation. Plus, you get to know the facility and the staff and that helps with the 'new nurse' feelings.

I actually had the same thought, since there's another nursing school in a neighboring town 15 minutes away, so I asked in my response if she had gone back... she clarified that she had not and was going to enjoy being a medication aide for a while. I just don't understand it... be proud of who and what you are.. don't claim something you haven't earned. I'm an LVN, too.. I'd never claim any position other than that. I am a nurse, but I am not an RN...

Agreed, and I apologize if it sounded like I was picking on teens... Laziness comes in all ages and job descriptions... was merely trying to illustrate that from what I've seen, the pool in general is teens and people who are looking for 'easy money' in this type of work... Sometimes, teens can be molded more easily than their more mature counterparts and become very valuable team players... On the other side of the coin, a more mature adult might be more likely to stick it out long-term or do what 'needs to be done' regardless of situation...

unfortunately, this is a common thread... i have noticed (in my corner of the world) that part of the problem lies in the pool of applicants to fill these positions. a lot of high school students are offered cna classes in high school over here, so there's a lot of teenagers/young adults... annnnnd... a lot of people who just don't understand it's not 'easy money'. ltc facilities around here pay pretty competitively for cnas.. so it is good money, but definitely not easy work. new comes in and meshes with old, habits are passed along... patient care suffers. it's a never-ending battle because old habits are hard to break, even for the strongest charge nurse. (difficult, not impossible) one important thing to remember is ... the best of the worst isn't saying much, but it's always better than nothing. i hope you find a successful way of motivating your aides. keep your eye out for new aides coming in to your facility and try to catch them before it gets too bad. push to get action from the existing staff... and when you come home (late and frustrated) know that every push is a form of patient advocacy and your efforts alone, whether successful or not, is in the best interests of the patients. and, of course, laziness is not limited to cnas/pcas... it exists in lvns, rns, etc. best you can do is do your job and keep pushing those around you to do theirs. i hope it improves for you.

For what it's worth, I simply posted a congrats with an innocently phrased question about whether she was going back to nursing school... I had no intention of shaming her or calling her out on it... no point. I came to vent here because it really isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things, just annoying as heck. She can post what she wants on her facebook, doesn't change her scope of practice at work. and to clarify, a med-aide is essentially a pill passer. Usually employed by LTC facilities to assist the nurses with med pass on so many patients. (In Texas)They are not qualified to give injections, and there are some medications they can't even give in pill form. The course is something like 9-12 weeks and you must already be a CNA as a qualification. Most of the few I've encountered in my life don't even truly grasp the concept of assessing cardiac status before giving BP/cardiac medications... rather, they just get VS from the sheet that the CNAs fill out and pass pills.

Ok, warning... this is something that I've seen several times on this site. Forgive me if this is technically beating a dead horse, but now that I've been through NS and taken the NCLEX... it really bugged me and I just don't understand it. An acquaintance from school posted this on FB... Passed my med aide test!!! Now I'm a nurse.... So excited!!! This person failed out in semester 1 because of cheating. I'm sorry, but no... you are not a nurse. You are a med aide. ** I have nothing against med aides. They have a role to play in patient care, too. They are not a nurse, though. Why do people do this? It makes me both sad and annoyed at the same time. If just anyone can call themselves a nurse, why is nursing school so difficult? Why is the NCLEX so difficult? Why is keeping our skills and knowledge up to date constantly (along with the many other things to keep a license) so complex? Please don't be to hard on me for bringing this up... like I said, just needed to vent a little.