Brekka ADN, RN

I had a funny, frustrating call at work today that was too good not to share. I changed the names, but the rest of it is factual. I'm still debating whether or not it was a prank, or someone was really truly having difficulty. This is between myse...

I work in a rehab/LTC facility, and the rights of employees is far outweighed by the rights of patients and families. We're told to refer to patients as guests, as if we're striving to achieve a 5 star resort rating. Anything they want, whether it's ...

Truthfully, when I was a nursing student, I believed that the black humor I heard from the nurses was simply a burnt out nurse who needed to find a new career. I swore I'd never be like that, I insisted that since I genuinely cared about my patients,...

Patient: "I need another percocet, I threw up the one you gave me." Me: "When did that happen? Can I see?" Patient: *shows me a kleenex with some clear saliva inside.* Me: "I can give you some Tylenol." Patient: "No, that's ok, I'll wait for the next...

I see that you've gone ahead and made the assumption that nurses who complain about legitimate concerns have done so without any evidence or conclusion. I'm not denying that some nurses complain and don't take action, but I do get irked when people a...

They do, at least once a year when State comes. Twice if corporate visits.

For me it comes down to 3 big issues: Staffing, workload, and management. The sad thing is, even with mediocre pay, if these three areas improved, the retention of nurses would rise. Not enough staffing leads to increased workload, which weakens nurs...

I have a special ringtone for calls from work (Exorcist theme fit well) and I just don't answer it if I don't want it. For my first year, I volunteered and worked so much overtime, I burnt out and pretty much just refuse everything now. Don't feel g...

Definitely one of the most stressful times working as a nurse. Always puts me back into the mindset of being in nursing school where I second guess a bunch and get intimidated. By far the worst survey we've had was when state came for their survey a...

Hello, welcome to AN! You've worked at a nursing home for 8 years, was it as a nurse or CNA? 8 years is a long time, what made you want to leave? I had worked at an Alzheimer's unit as a CNA long ago for several years, and decided I wanted to become ...

I'm assuming you're referring to working in a health care role as a nursing student, and not Starbucks on the weekends. I did not personaly work while in school, but remembering back to my first year of practice, I can spot some negatives and positiv...

This is not about the health care professional, it's about the patient. I could afford to lose about 20 lbs, but at the same time I'm well aware of the risks and how to reduce them, I just don't. The same can be said for most other overweight health ...

I completely know the feeling. I went into nursing because I love helping people, and I genuinely care about them. That's all we heard in nursing school - how wonderful nurses are respected, and how much they're there for their patients. Unfortunatel...

I am doing some research regarding benign stroke symptoms in the elderly, and thought it may not be a bad idea to stop here to see if anyone else has experienced this. I am still a new nurse, a few months away from my second year, and I work rehab an...

At my facility we're not allowed to buy gifts for residents unless we buy for all of them, and I can't afford to buy 200 people gifts... Luckily my facility does give gifts to the residents here so I just have to bring a cheerful attitude. I do buy l...

That's really a hard one, and it's primarily up to you. I'm a relatively new nurse (17 months) who has worked the same position since graduation, so I can't really speak from experience, but I can offer my own thoughts on the problem you're faced wit...

Here's a few of my favorites! What baffles me is.... ....how some doctors will refuse the requests or suggestions of some nurses, but will write the orders for the exact same thing when asked by a different nurse. ...when you have the competent and...

Sorry to hear your co-workers are like that. That's the one aspect of nursing that scares me the most, the co-worker issues. You can only do what you can. Believe me, trying harder to do better than you're able to do only burns you out faster. It sou...

Wow, you actually get a policy for that? I work LTC/Rehab and I get constant interruptions during med passes by family, residents and staff. The only unofficial policy we have at my workplace is go ask the nurse. I have a personal policy that I will ...

I work at a rehab/LTC center where I have 26 patients to care for on a 6am-2pm shift. 10 of my patients are long term care, and the other 16 are rehab. It's definitely not easy, nor is it really possible to pass all the medications to everyone within...

I've cathed a few women with interesting anatomy. One actually had her urethra up about 1/2 inch from the clitoris. While it was interesting to see, it had to have been the easiest cath I've done. At least after I stopped thinking, "that can't be it,...

I work at a rehab hospital where I have between 20-26 patients.

I work a busy hall in a LTC/Rehab center, where I am responsible for 25-30 patients a day. One day was particularly busy with all sorts of things going on. Myself and my CNAs were running our butts off trying to keep up, and to make matters worse two...

I was fortunate enough to find a job a month after I graduated, but went through several application processes. In the end I quit two minimally stressful jobs, accumulated thousands of dollars in debt, and ended up with a job that only paid $4 more a...

Well this post will be half advice seeking and half venting, I suppose I need both. I was a fortunate new grad, and started my first job as a LTC/Rehab nurse the end of August, less than a month after passing my NCLEX-RN. It was an environment in nur...