infermierequebecoise

I think its unfair that you imply we think she did something wrong. But unfortunately, in the real world, what it comes down to is that its her word against the teachers. I had to deal with the same thing, and even with witnesses, they still took her word against mine. She SHOULD definitely go to student advocates or wtv is available at her school, but all weve tried to say is that at the end of the day, she has to do what the teacher wants because the teacher decides if she passes or fails...

Been there, done that... I had a teacher who was known for picking one student per clinical group and making their lives hell, then failing them. I learned pretty soon that I was the 'chosen one'... She did the whole belittling me in front of patients thing, and when I politely asked her in an empty room if she could say things like that in private, not in front of patients, since it affected my therapeutic relationship with them, she only got worst. I went to the student advocate, the nursing program advocate, I spoke to her in her office to ask specifically what I needed to do/improve to pass. She told me there was nothing I could do, that although I had an 80% average on all exams, she was going to fail me in clinical. Luckily, like you, I had medical issues I had seen a doctor for. My school has an option to take a medical incomplete for a course, drop it, and take it again next semester, and they couldnt give us the same clinical teacher twice. So my two suggestions are these. 1-Just like you would do with a difficult patient who just has a big 'Im going to have you written up' tattooed on their face, DOCUMENT. Document everything she says that you believe is not right, her exact words, tone of voice, location, witnesses, time, etc.. That way, if she fails you, you can possibly go to the Dean of the program and claim psychological harassment issues, which MIGHT get the failure stricken from you file. 2-SEE THAT DOCTOR!! If you have the option to take the medical incomplete for the course, you need to have been seeing a doctor. That way, if all else fails and she really wont help you help yourself, Id take the incomplete. 'You can't fire me cuz I quit!!' Obviously what helped me is that I had always had good grades, in previous semesters, all other classes, and even my exams for that rotation. If you want to be given some credit, you need to work your butt off and get good grades, that way they cant just say you're looking for a reason to explain your failure without accepting responsibility for it.

Oh my dear god...This is something that just gets to me...I realize we are VERY lucky here in Quebec, but have only been aware of it since I started dating an American. I am an agency nurse at the moment, and the DAY we find out we are pregnant, we can get a doctors note, and if we cant get reassigned to light-duty, then we go on leave that is paid by the government until 36 weeks gestation (70% of your regular salary). If you are a regular employee you are reassigned to light duty, no at-risk patients (nothing contagious, no influenza, C.Diff, etc..)If you have any health issues, you are stopped, again, paid by the government. After 36 weeks, you get on maternity leave, which is up to 50 weeks total after delivery. I never thought this WASNT standard!! This just seems like totally inhumane treatment of pregnant staff, to be honest!

So I saw a post regarding getting pregnancy during nursing school or after getting hired...I was wondering if I could get some input regarding the RN to Masters programs. I already planned on going back to school on a part-time basis after I had the 2 years necessary work experience. How difficult would it be to start my RN to Masters program with a young child

I dont think the problem is that nurses wear thongs...heck, you could wear butt-less leather chaps under your scrubs for all I care! The problem is when you wear hot-pink whale thongs that ride up over your scrubs pants, or show THROUGH the pants...that is not professional at all...

I heard this one from colleagues...On our department we have three isolation rooms down a hallway kinda out of site of the nurses station. Apparently one night right after diaper changes the patient in the first room started screaming bloody murder that the patient in the third room was dead, and why havent we done something about it? Well the nurses aides had just changed the mans diaper, and the screaming patient was known for dementia. She just insisted she had seen the man walk by her room. When they finally decided to listen to her and go check on him, they found he really had died...

Honestly, what worries me is that you are more scared of losing this job opportunity than finding out you have a health problem? If you ARE sick enough to not get the job, then you might not be physically able to work anyways...And as someone else said, I dont see how getting a CBC is invasive...I really think you're making a big deal out of nothing. If invasion of privacy is something that freaks you out, living in Big Brother USA might not be the best thing for you :S

Oh my dear God! I dont know about better employment rights, but that might be just because Im from Quebec...Pay is much lower, taxes are higher, and mandatory overtime is pretty much standard for most hospitals. I would suggest finding another hospital in your area if you're not satisfied, not moving here where you most likely will not like the work conditions...

Wow, reading this post makes me kinda scared to move to the States...Where I work, we frequently have to remind patients that the 'H' in front of the building does NOT mean hotel...Ive also had the A&O patient in her 40s asking for bedpan when she was fully able to go to the bathroom. She threatened to wet the bed if we didnt give it to her, then got insulted when we suggested a diaper if she really 'couldnt hold it in', said she didnt belong in a LTC center yet so didnt need a diaper. Just blows my mind sometimes, and I dont even HAVE to cater to them! My job is to take care of their health and promote autonomy, not waitressing or scratching your back lol... ''I hate it when the younger pt population thinks that nurses are waitresses. I see this trend more and more often and it is concerning. When I come home and vent to my husband about it, he just tells me that since we are getting older, we notice the generation gap more easily and reminds me that OUR parents shook their heads and said, "Kids today...sheesh!"'' I just wanted to say that having worked mother-baby and med-surg(where most of the patients are elderly), most of the 'do everything for me' patients are older patients, not the younger ones. Most of the younger ones are embarassed and feel bad for bothering you, where older patients feel you owe it to them...just my two cents...

Im gonna agree with New nurse syndrome When we are nursing student, with 2-3 patients at a time, we can and DO spend all the time we can giving all the care we should. I went through school thinking I would always treat every patient like she was my grandmother(who had cancer, suffered unbearable pain, and refused to let us see her). I still do treat patients like that, but in the sense that I give my patients as much care as I CAN! Nursing reality now is that we cant spend an hour at bedside holding someones hand just because there are 8 other patients under my charge who need the same darn thing, plus all the medical care. What I hope doesnt change for me, is the change from caring-realistic nurse to burnt-out nurse who doesnt care anymore and just wants to get to the end of her shift. I dont want to get lazy and neglect patients, and I see SOOO many older nurses end up like that because they have just gotten so tired.

I dont know if we got different vaccines here in Canada, probably did...But I saw several bad reactions to the shot during the big vaccination panic. I had one GB patient, the doctors straight out said it was because of the shot. I had colleagues falling asleep at the wheel of their cars, one who developed pretty bad cellulitis at the injection site, and several who STILL got H1N1 after getting the shot and having flu symptoms for a week post vaccine. I absolutely refuse to get vaccinated for the flu. I understand that H1N1 is a particularly bad strain, and spoke to people who said it was the most painful thing they experienced. However, I have a very good immune system, and the only times I got really sick at the pneumo level were when I HAD to get vaccinated for nursing school. I have enough common sense, as do most people who are moderately intelligent, to understand basic hygiene issues, and to protect others when I DO get sick. I dont feel I put my patients at particular risk because I did not get vaccinated, and was clearly not affected myself, since I only got one very small cold during flu season...Either way, we all know now that it was all blown out of proportion, since H1N1 did nowhere near as much damage as was mediacized (sp?), nowhere near as many deaths as occur yearly from the regular ol' influenza. But its all a personal choice. I work with an agency, and at several hospitals, and I dont think any of them forced employees to get the shot. In fact, having the shot reduced your chances of getting paid sick leave if you DID get H1N1 here, something about proving your antibodies were from the actual flu and not the shot...didnt understand the explanation I got but either way, kinda screwy if you ask me:P

Wow, I really thought american nurses had it better than us in Canada for working conditions...We get an hour and a half total per 8 hour shift, 45min of it is paid(if not taken cuz were too busy, then its paid in OT), and certain departments or hospitals will even take 2 hours. Obviously we know we wont always take the break, just cuz on any floor things go wrong..like already mentioned, seems we often have patients who stayed stable all day just to crash once night shift comes on...Or all hell breaks loose with the sundowners screaming and hallucinating and just basically making you want to curl up in the fetal position under your desk and cry...God, gotta have a messed up sense of humor and just be special in general to willingly work nights

When I first started nursing, I did mostly LTC, and we had this one relatively young guy who was a quad, but was still fully A&O. We just start 0h00-8h00 shift, and the emergency bell goes off in his room. We all freak out, thinking hes choking or something...All run to his room, only to have him tell us that he's thirsty and wants water. We ask him why he felt the need to ring the emergency call...'Im REALLY thirsty' UGH!!!

I had this funny experience when I was in my pediatric clinical rotations in nursing school. We had to do two days at the YMCA to see the developmental differences between healthy kids and sick kids. Well we were assigned the four year olds, and OMG, what an awesome age. Our first day there, first hour, we go to the gymnasium, and some of the kids start playing tag. One of them slips on the floor, knocks her head on a toy, and just passes out...Me and my partner are terrified, the little girl quickly comes to, but we call her parents anyways to bring her to her MD for a checkup. As she leaves, I tell her to be careful, and no more wipe-outs from now on! So the next day, when she comes back, we go to the gym again, and as we're getting ready to leave, she comes up to me, yanks on my hand, and very proudly says 'See, no more wipe-outs!' On our second day with this bunch, we had to get in the pool. Me and my partner were in the changing room helping the girls get into their bathing suits, when this other little cutie comes up to me, gets me to lean over, and very loudly whispers 'I think your friend is too big for her bathingsuit, her mommy should get her a new one'. OMG!! Now, this was true, she was a bit chunky, and the bathingsuit was kinda too small. But the look on her face when she heard this girl say so...just...priceless.. As we are about to leave, the first little girl who wiped-out comes up to me for a hug, and says 'Ill see you tomorrow!' I explain to her that we only had two days with them, and they would get new ppl the next week. She looks at me and very seriously says 'Oh, you'll be back!' So I laugh, think nothing of it, and leave. Well our last week of pediatric clinical, since I had already completed everything for the rotation, my teacher asked if I wanted to return to the YMCA, and I gladly accepted. Keep in mind about 6 weeks have gone by..As I walk into the room, this same little girl walks up to me and with the biggest smile says 'I told you you'd be back!' I thought Id pee myself, really...Those were just amazing kids, cracked me up!

You meet them the same way you would if you worked day, but that depends on when you sleep. Ive been working nights for 3 years, and sleep during the day when most ppl are at work anyways. So I can socialize during the evening before I leave for work.