ladybug5982RN

I've been a nurse for a very long time. At first and even now if I change jobs it feels over whelming. To learn anything new is at first a little overwhelming. Especially if you take into account all that we as nurses are expected to be responsible for. Don't beat yourself up. It is a hard job and we do all want to do a great job. But with that being said we do have a huge amount of external factors pushing on us that have nothing to do with the task of being a nurse. Sometimes those are what make people hate nursing. Just try to think of nursing as your safe haven. An alternate universe that you are the ruler of. You are responsible for your 5 patient's and whatever goes on with their family situation you decide if it affects your patient positively==keep, negatively==nip it in the butt. Remember this is your universe and you are in control. those are YOUR babies, at least for that shift. Protect them at all cost. Be in love with nursing and caring for those patient's, don't sweat the small stuff. Stuff you cannot control, just let it go. If you need to take a minute in the bathroom to yourself, walk away. I'm sure so many older nurses have been in your shoes and felt over whelmed and still at times feel overwhelmed. We come in not knowing what to expect and you never know when someone is going to code and die on you. Our job is very serious and very stressful. I take it very serious. After work leave it at the door. You are now leaving your alternate universe and returning to your regular life of just a plain old mom, dad, sister, brother,etc. Relax. have a class of wine, take a bubble bath. Reward yourself often. You are worth it. I have had many wonderful years of nursing. I have been attacked by several patient's working in a very high acuity ICu setting. It's ok, they did not know what they were doing because they were sick. you have to tell yourself that you are their saving grace when they are at their lowest, sickest, weakest point in life. what happens in the hospital stays in the hospital. Make it something you love. If it's not what you love find something else. If you want to stay in nursing but not at bedside you have many option. Nursing is a very diverse field with so much room for growth and advancement. You can be whatever you want. Life is too short to be unhappy. sit down and decide what you want, what will ultimately make YOU happy and go for it. If it's nursing, stay if not find what makes your heart happy. I know nursing is my calling and I love it. It challenges me and I have grown as a person so much. give it some time. You may feel the same way. It's hard for all of us at first. So is anything. Good luck in whatever you decide.

we do wedge and cardiac calcs every 4hrs when we do our full assessments,we use saline.we use saline on all of our pressure monitoring systems.our hospital only uses heparin solutions on picc lines.

you do know this is not lip moisturizer,it is oral moisturizer.:rotfl: we thought the same thing until a rep from the company came and demoed the product line we are currently using.i hate this stuff.it makes a nasty film in the patients mouth. i use vaseline on their lips,it works better.but i use the packet with the swabs for oral care.it has a tropical fruit flavor to it i am told.we do oral care q2hrs with swabs,we brush at 0800 and 2000.our vap is very low compared to national average,we also keep head of beds up greater than 30 degrees,this also helps with the secretions.

i work night shift,7pm to 7am,the majority of the time we do not have a tech:crying2: ,day shift usually has 2-3 techs plus a fulltime secretary.you would think they could do all of the bathes but they don't.usually i get two patients who neither have had a bath. sometimes we get a tech on 7pm till 11 but he also works full time at another job during the day and is frankly worthless.we do all of our baths,accu checks,turning,watching our monitors,stocking,trash and everything else. lately out patients have gotten alot bigger and some nights i have even had three very unstable patients due to short staff.that lift team sounds great! i wish we had something like that??

i am an icu nurse and i started out as a new grad in the icu,but i had worked in the hospital setting for 13 years doing various other jobs before getting my rn. i think it depends on the person. another girl from my class came to work in the icu the same time i did and she had never worked in a hospital but rather had a previous business degree. she has had a difficult time.i was also recommended to go to icu by two of my professors from nursing school. i was nervous but i have done very well.i was told by my mentor that she prefers nurses right out of school because they have not picked up alot of bad habits yet and she can teach them the right way to do things. i love icu and would not work anywhere else. i work about 5 days a week,12-13 hr shifts because we are so short staffed and i love it!!:nurse:good luck on what ever you decide.

i am an icu nurse and i started out as a new grad in the icu,but i had worked in the hospital setting for 13 years doing various other jobs before getting my rn. i think it depends on the person. another girl from my class came to work in the icu the same time i did and she had never worked in a hospital but rather had a previous business degree. she has had a difficult time.i was also recommended to go to icu by two of my professors from nursing school. i was nervous but i have done very well.i was told by my mentor that she prefers nurses right out of school because they have not picked up alot of bad habits yet and she can teach them the right way to do things. i love icu and would not work anywhere else. i work about 5 days a week,12-13 hr shifts because we are so short staffed and i love it!!:nurse:good luck on what ever you decide.

at the hospital i work we are not allowed to take blanket orders.we have a pharmacy transfer sheet that the md must check what meds he wants to stop or cont and he/she must write out all orders that they wish to continue,we have called before and got telephone orders but there must be some kind of written out orders.with our open heart patient we have preprinted post cabg orders.as far as taking verbal orders with the md in front of you our hospital frown upon this,the md's must not be aware of it however because they tell us things all the time with the chart in hand and when they walk away and i check the chart they have not written a word they just said.this makes me very upset :angryfire .on our telephone orders we have to document that we have done a read back and verified with writing r/v after all of these orders.this is per jacho.you need to ask other people at your hospital,i bet they are the same.call the md and get orders and let them know that cont orders is not good enough per hospital policy.if it continues to be a problem i would let my manager know that this md continues to do this.

I am about to graduate from Floyd College in Rome, GA. This is an excellent ADN program. Since Floyd is part of the University System of GA it is very inexpensive and is geered more for non-traditional students. I have to drive an hr and half to school but it is well worth it. I have received an excellent education. They have one of the highest pass rates in the state of GA for the NCLEX. I have been told that they are harder than most but that is what makes the graduates stand out above the rest. They offer bridge programs for paramedics and LPN's as well as bridge from ADN to BSN through Kennesaw and West GA colleges. GOOD LUCK to all future RN's who will be graduating this May and June. I am very excited and I know you are too!! Much Love, Melissa

Hello, I am a nursing student at Floyd College in Rome, GA. It is an ADN program but they are rated as one of the best in the state of GA. They have the second highest pass rate of the NCLEX also and the only reason they are not #1 is because the other school had less students and they all passed. I will graduate in May and I am very happy!!:balloons: They also have a bridge program with Kennesaw and West GA for the BSN program.