Nurse8988

OK great! Hopefully things go well!

Interview was okay. Anyone hear anything back yet?

Hi there! First off, I want to commend you for pursuing your dreams and for the major achievement of becoming a nurse! I'd like to say that it is totally normal to have an off night. It is a reminder that you are human. I can identify with feeling uncomfortable socially and being shy. Also I've been in situations in report where I feel judged and uncomfortable as a result. Lastly, I've also had a rough night. The key is identifying your weaknesses and formulating a plan on improving them. As far as feeling shy, I'm not the expert in this to say that you will no longer feel shy but can say that once you develop a rapport with the staff and continue in your nursing practice, you will feel more comfortable with who you work with, feel comfortable with your practice, and you may not feel as stunned by the shyness as time goes on. As far as report goes, I recommend you have a system as to how you give report. For me, I make sure I get a good report, have all concerns addressed on report(don't be shy to kindly ask for clarification of things that don't make sense in report), and add on to report sheet as I go during the shift of occurrences that way when report comes I have a basis of report from what I received from previous shift and already have things added on as I went throughout shift so I feel confident during report that I won't miss anything. Either way, formulate a system and stick to it. IF you do miss things in report, remember this is all new to you. So be easy on yourself. Make sure you are working on improving but also don't be so hard on yourself. Each day is a new day so breathe and remember that the new day is another opportunity for you to grow and NAIL it! Confidence plays a big part in everything. I know you may not feel confident right now, but in my experience I find that the brain is a funny thing in that it believes whatever feedback you tell it. I say that to say that in this case speak kindly of yourself and eradicate negative self talk; that goes for internal and external. Each time you do it, catch yourself and replace it with something kind. Over time you will stop speaking negatively of yourself. Also tell yourself internally that you are a good nurse, that you have studied hard and can do this. Again, your brain believes what you tell it. It all has to do with brain circuitry and rewiring of it. SO, when you are giving report or even getting it and the nurse may be giving you the evil judgy report look, speak kind to yourself, remind yourself that you can do this, hold your head up, and shoulders back and conduct yourself as a professional. Or if you're in any other situation that you don't feel confident in you have to still carry yourself confidently so that you believe it and that others will believe in you(patients, families, and coworkers). HOWEVER, although you are to carry yourself confidently, NEVER do any nursing actions that you are UNSURE OF. ALWAYS consult with a resource(whether it be human resource or the policy, lexicomp etc) before doing something you are unsure of. You can hurt a patient otherwise. Better to be behind on meds, charting, etc than do things that you are unsure of. It will protect patients and your license that you have worked very hard for. I also recommend being humble and receptive. Watch other nurses who you feel have a good handle of the floor(may even be nurses who started with you and that's okay) and maybe even ask them for pointers or just observe for things that they are doing that you can incorporate. You can learn things from EVERYONE be it the patients, their families, CNAS, etc. Be receptive and humble. As far as the younger nurses who come off as more confident, that's okay. I've noticed that the younger ones have experienced less in life and are therefore less intimidated by social situations and other things. Similar to how for example younger kids may be so quick to do things like cart wheels and can make friends easily in the playground but adults are more self aware and are more cautious in doing those things. So same concept here and that's ok. However, as being older than them you most likely bring other things to the table that they have yet to master. The beauty in this is that okay, the younger ones may be more confident but that's great. Good for them! You can learn from that. They key is to be the best that you can be. If you identify your weakness and formulate a plan to improve, day by day you will be better and in months to a year you will be you 2.0. As time goes by you may still have very busy nights but will be able to handle it(as you will know where everything is, what the policies are etc) and will look back and say "Look how far I've come!". I'm so rooting for you and wish you all the best. Feel free to PM me if you have any other issues that you are having difficulty working through. We've all been there although there will be people who pretend they haven't(so don't let them intimidate you..which is a topic for another post lol).

You can also say I'm sorry that your busy but this does need to be done. Any way that you can help me? (In my experience that has helped when faced with NAs or others who meet me with resistance)

Hi there! I recommend pulling her aside in a nice way and letting her know how you feel that you can't do certain tasks which is why you need her to help. If she gives you an unfavorable response and it happens again I would inform your superior with the intention of rectifying the situation as it is inappropriate and bad for patient care for her to turn down a task that only she can do. That way, you gave her a fair attempt at fixing the situation without the superior. If you make an enemy out of it, I recommend you always handling yourself with grace and professionalism and know that in your heart you meant to harm despite how others may perceive you. I know these situations can be difficult to handle. I wish you the best with it.

Hi there! I think a great novice ICU nurse is one who is detail oriented(triple checks everything especially when administering medications), receptive to learning, puts patient safety first, and one who cares for the patients and self. Everything else such as critical thinking, procedures, line placement, can be learned, but it's hard to teach work ethic, kindness, diligence, etc. ICU nursing is challenging but doable and rewarding. All the best.

Hi there! I would recommend applying to MS or step down ICU positions if you are unable to land an ICU job. I know some facilities that allow a nurse to transfer in house from med surg after 9 months of being on med surg. Anyhow, I did subacute nursing for a year prior to ICU and the transition was challenging for me but certainly doable. I went into ICU nursing because I feel that I would learn a great deal and the challenge of caring for the sickest of the sick enticed me. Tips for success in ICU would be... 1) Be safe. Triple check everything when administering meds 2) Pay attention to detail. 3) Review/study ICU concepts on time off. Doesn't have to be every day but enough to familiarize yourself to ICU(this time varies from person to person). Some people don't study at home but I recommend it to increase your ability to pick up on ICU concepts. 4) Work hard and don't give up. If anyone can be an excellent ICU nurse, why can't you. Reflect on things you feel that you need work on, address them, and keep pushing. You may have days that you feel like are so draining and difficult but when you leave and come back to work remember that it is a new day and that you are a great nurse. All the best!

Hi there. First off, congratulations on obtaining your BSN and working as an RN! This is a major accomplishment and you should be proud of yourself. Second, I want to say nursing as you know can be difficult. Often times nursing school does not teach a nurse all that he/she needs to know. Per your post, I gather that there are areas that you identify weakness in and it is a great thing that you have the skill of self reflection. Please know that some people take longer than others to get a good handle on being a nurse but from what you are saying I think it's normal to feel like you need improvement during your first two years. I encourage you to hang in there and sink your teeth into your job. Make a list of all of the things that you feel you need work on and address them. Study at home if you need to. Learn your policies. When giving medications make sure you TRIPLE check everything everytime. It's better that your drugs are late than giving the wrong drug unless the drug is time sensitive(i.e. heparin gtt, etc). Nursing is challenging but just like any challenge, if you come up with a game plan and stick to it long enough, you will succeed! YOU CAN DO THIS. All the best with this. If you decide not to stay at the bedside, you can go into case management, retail nursing(selling medical products), and legal nursing. I'm sure there are other things you can do with your BSN as well.

I think there are many places that are like this and some places that aren't. I think it all depends on ratios/staffing. This MAY be(I stress "may") less common in ICU or other specialties so I recommend looking into other specialties where turnaround isn't is as high or the amount of patients one cares for at a time is low. I think this issue stems from unsafe ratios/staffing. If ratios improve, patient care improves, staff satisfaction improves, and everyone is happy! So unfortunate that this occurs in many places but hoping for a positive change with respect to ratios/staffing.

You're welcome! All the best with everything.

I think working as a CNA will give you a good understanding of whether or not nursing is for you because you will be seeing it first hand and involved in the field. As far as switching specialties, education is provided to you via the job generally. My job sent me to class training to learn theory and skills of my specialty. It can be time consuming to switch specialties because certain specialties are unique and require new learning but is often worth it. I like that in nursing if one looses a desire to stay in a specialty, one can switch specialties.

Also you might simply need time to get used to the floor. There are some things that take a while to perfect. Seeking a mentor if there is someone there that you think is an exemplary nurse may help as well. You can do this!

I think that the workload in ltc and rehab can be overwhelming. It is great to learn time management. I recommend reflecting on how you can best manage your time and to create a plan to do so. However, there may be instances in which the workload is unreasonable to do safely. You have to be the one to make that call to see if something is reasonable or not and what you will and won’t deal with. I’ve been in that situation and worked my tail off and realized that there was so much work and so little staff that even with skipping meal times I still couldn’t get out on time given the workload. I was charge for subacute floor and was responsible for admissions, discharges, charting, wound care, emergencies, reviewing labs, talking to all 12 physical therapists that often had patient concerns, addressing said concerns, dealing with families, responding to routine patient complaints like pain, sob etc, sending patients to hospital, answering phones, sending pts on appts, dealing with drs who want you in the room when seeing patients at times, list goes on.I kept documentation of things I had to do in a shift , and discussed with my NM how I can get out in time. She thankfully worked my position before me and understood the challenges that the floor presented and paid me the OT for staying late because there was no other solution other than hiring another nurse for the floor which wasn’t going to happen at the time. After a while I wanted to change settings irregardless to learn a new specialty but even if I didn’t want to learn something new I would have left because I was getting burnt out and it wasn’t worth it to me. So there are a variety of factors you have to consider being a self review to see what you can do better, assessment of workload to see if it’s realistic to complete in your shift’s time, and what you are willing to deal with. I hope that helped some. Wishing you the best!

It’s good to be self aware, to be able to know the areas that you can improve on, and to work on said areas. However, it sounds like the issue at hand is the nurse manager. Unfortunately in life, my experience has revealed that there are people for one reason or another that try to bring others down. It’s important to remind yourself of your good qualities and to be confident in yourself as much as you can. I know it can be hard to be confident when bruised from emotional distress which is why I encourage you to surround yourself with positivity and to be kind to yourself as it can be critical to healing yourself. It sounds to me that you are a great nurse so keep being just that! I’m sorry that you are experiencing what you are experiencing and wishing you a better work environment. All the best!

Only you know to the fullest extent the trauma you’ve experienced and if it’s worth it with respect to your mental health to continue trying to make clinical nursing work for you. If you are interested in trying clinical nursing again, I recommend maybe exploring what makes you uneasy. Is it coworkers, bullying, is it the noise, is it interacting with people, it can even be that you may not feel confident in some of skills that your job demands. You are human. You are allowed to not be the best at something. Some things take a while to perfect. So come to terms with what it is, face it, and work on it if you see fit. Maybe seeking a mentor may be beneficial. Key here is being aware of what the issue is, who you are as a person, what space you are currently in in your life, and if attempting clinical nursing again is worth it for you. If it’s not, that’s a okay! Perhaps you can consider non bedside roles such as case management, telehealth, litigation, etc. All in all be kind to yourself. All the best to you!

I forgot to share that I use blackout curtains. I initially didnt use them but sleep WAY better with them. Highly recommended!

I think you have to figure out what works best for you. For me it is important to nap before work my first shift of the week. I try to wake up early so that I am able to nap in the afternoon. I also try to work my shifts in a row to stay on night schedule. After working night shifts for the week in order to flip to day shift I’ll sleep for maybe 4 to 5 hours and stay up until my regular bedtime(around 10pm). I’ll usually be really tired by then and able to sleep. Food wise, I’ll eat a big dinner before work, bring a meal for during work and eat something light before I sleep at home. I have one skin regimen so that’s easy for me. Sometimes its hard to nap before first shift but it usually makes for great sleep after my first shift. Even if you cant sleep before a shift make sure you just lay and relax. Very important in my experience.

I say it all depends on what you are passionate about and also what works for you overall. Consider factors such as work hours, benefits, flexibility, or whatever else matters to you in general. Determine if you can see yourself working long term in either profession. Also consider the downsides to each job. For me the downsides to nursing include sometimes not being respected by patients and colleagues and exhausting shifts. Pros include being able to truly help others, flexibility in certain jobs( i can self shedule myself 3 12 hr shifts. Looking at the year in days without using pto I work less than half a year), working in a specialty that you love, ability to change specialties, finding environments where you are respected by patients and colleagues. Overall I am super happy about becoming a nurse because although I have experienced stressful times on the job, given my personality type, I’ve grown stronger and have become a more understanding and well rounded person and nurse from experiencing those times. I’ve found a work environment that works for me and above all am enthused to be in a position to serve others. Wishing the best for you. Hope you make the decision best for you.

There are few things that I do to deal. One of which is something that my unit does as a whole is rotating the toxic patient so that one nurse doesn’t have to have the responsibility of caring for the patient continuously. Sometimes one may deal with not only toxic patients but a toxic work environment in general where in both instances boundary setting is important. Also, having enough down time off shift is essential as well to recovering and restoration.

I say come up with a system to give report. The more you follow it the easier it will get. For example what works for me is following my report sheet which starts with name, age, code status, admit date, allergies, reason there, backstory, history, events on shift, then a pertinent head to toe going in head to toe order so that it has a systematic approach ie neuro(head), diet(mouth), airway rhythm o2(chest), bm continence urine output, then finish off with iv, gtts, skin, fs, and drains. The more you follow whatever method of report that works for you the easier it will be as time goes on. Try avoiding giving info thats not necessary. Example: giving detailed info on normal bowel sounds on a patient thats admitted for say resp problems. Stating last bm is sufficient if gi assessment is normal is an example of something to exclude in report. Also give yourself time to figure it all out and find what works for you. Be gentle and kind to yourself!

I think you should pull the person aside and let her know that you would love to have a great working relationship, that you mean well with what you are about to say but that you noticed she touches you and that you prefer not to be touched. Boundaries have to be set or else the behavior will most likely continue. I know addressing issues as such is not an easy thing to do but sometimes necessary. All the best with the situation.

your the best! You are extremely helpful..God Bless you! But I am not sure how to send a personal message I am new to this =/// ..I see where your going with the point system. I am attending NCC now. I only have the pre requisites required for entry. I am now working on A&P II which I WILL BE GETTING AN A In! :) I am taking lifespan and micro in the fall! :)

Would you happen to know how that point system works? I've heard different things about that. Thank-you for replying to my posts by the way. I really appreciate it!

no..I am a suffolk county resident

CORRECTION...If I get an A in A&P II then I would be applying to the nursing program with a 3.87 (doesn't make that big of a difference) :)