multi10

Is SF General Hospital unionized?

In LTC, there is always the wound care, which can take 20 minutes to a half-hour, per patient, per nurse. Wound-care nurses are so important. They know everything about pain relief, etc. ("Give pt. pain relief 20 minutes prior to dressing change.") I love wound care nurses, and patients and families love them too. We depend on them. Our facility had only one for the entire house. Sometimes, the wound-care nurse had to call out. And, in some LTCs, wound-care nurses don't work weekends. They are Mon-Fri Days. It would make sense for LTC/skilled facilities to have a plan to have wound-care nurses on-call or available through agencies.

This makes me sad. A Registered Nurse in USA is making $23.00/hr In 2013? In an LTC/skilled facility with trachs, IVs and feeding tubes? Something is wrong. We all know that the work-load in LTC/skilled is difficult. What's the nurse-patient ratio?

I always considered myself a dog person. Then I took a private duty case, working nights. There were 2 cats in the house and I liked those cats very much. They were smart, curious, and affectionate. They were fun to watch. After that, I rescued a kitten, and he lived with my 2 dogs in harmony. Once I got him, he was strictly an indoor cat. I also fell in love with a cockatiel while caring for a terminally ill woman (again, private duty night shift) for several months.

Focus on an area that you find interesting. For me, it was pulmonary. I was fascinated by ABGs. We drew them ourselves, sometimes by stick. Every day was exciting because I learned so much. This was a teaching university hospital so the interns were learning as well. And the respiratory therapists were fantastic. I also came to love cardiac, renal, hepatic, etc., and the interplay among all systems. I think that if you look at the wonder of ICU, and your role in that world, you'll fall in love with it. But it does take awhile and it's different for each person. Rome wasn't built in a day. (Forgive the cliche.) Use the resources available to you such as your own personal healthcare provider as well as your preceptor, etc. in the workplace. Hug your hubby and kids and pets (if you have them). Have happy hours at your house on Friday nights and invite your friends and talk, and laugh your head off. Go to church if you find comfort there. Also, try to treat yourself well. That's probably the most important thing.

OP, Why do you believe it is appropriate to denigrate another profession? "...there are too many lawyers in the world." People love to complain about lawyers...until they need one.

Newldrn, The answer is "Yes." I have overcome the whispers, et al, and had a positive outcome. You are finally in the specialty you always wanted. That's a goal you set for yourself and you are there. Don't let others run you off.

Zaggar, You've been a nurse for 8 years and you still love it. That's fantastic! You should be proud. It's not easy, and 12 hour shifts are so long, especially when you get that 11th hour admission. It is especially cruel when the oncoming nurse is critical (either verbally or, more typically, non-verbally). After all, you still have to get yourself home while ruminating on that person's nastiness and snarkiness. You said that these one or two nurses also treat the other nurses the same bad way. That means that it isn't you personally. It sounds like you're doing a really good job. Over the years I've been friends with accountants, attorneys, engineers, nurses, musicians, teachers, wedding planners, etc. It doesn't matter: In every setting, without fail, there is "The Person": Just plain mean, competitive, burned out, not pleasant to work with.

OP, you will be amazed at how things like bodily functions won't bother you so much as you encounter them more and more. Things that you may find revolting and/or disgusting today just won't bother you, say, a year from now. They are not free-flowing out in space; they come from human beings that you care for, and all are critical in assessing your patient. Bodily fluids: It's all data. It allows you to give better care and recognition to each individual. We are resilient while learning new things and get de-sensitized after awhile to smells, etc. The thing that always scared me was germs because I got strep infection after suctioning a trached patient who coughed in my face. I became sick but it was my fault because I didn't wear a mask during the suctioning. (The hospital was out that day.) I got a shot and took oral antibiotics for a week and was fine. Just protect yourself while in the clinical setting. There are lots of nasty bugs that you don't want and you don't want to take home.

Get everything in writing. The thing about sites is that usually the people who are unhappy post. The vast majority of nurses, the happy ones, just do their job and enjoy seeing new places. They typically don't post because they are too busy. There are legitimate grievances among travel nurses with certain agencies, but, do your homework: Ask for references among nurses working there and call them.

Nursing is fantastic. There is nothing like it. I was fortunate enough to be a pulmonary ICU nurse at a major university hospital, just when the AIDS crisis was arriving in our unit. Some of the nurses refused to care for patients with AIDS. I was happy to do so, and know that I provided comfort. I received many letters from partners and family members of my patients, thanking me. You (we) never know when we'll be the next pioneers in providing care for our patients. But we get joy from caring.

VANurse2010, I'm sorry to learn that you are working among a toxic nasty group of people in the ICU. Are you able to care for your patients? Are you learning every day/are you excited to learn? Not all of your colleagues are toxic and nasty. Do you have at least one person at work you can talk to? If you can answer "yes", then you can, and will, become a great ICU nurse. It's like bootcamp and you just transferred there. Things will get better.

ixchel I just got back from Hawaii and was able to read this. Such slander: To insinuate such evil to me. How dare you accuse a nurse (me, BSN) of kicking a patient when down? But, even worse, you threw words around that made no sense. Where is the fellowship? I don't really see anything about what I said that was kicking the OP when she was down. On the contrary, I was offering good advice.

There is a song by Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders called "Stop Your Sobbing." My favorite line in the song is "...makes me want to take you in my arms and tell you to stop all your sobbing." I wish I had the talent to have written that song.

Some people just don't like a hint of tough love. I have no dog in this hunt. Do not throw me under the bus. I am not kicking the can down the road. At the end of the day, here is my message: I love nurses. I am one. I heart All Nurses dot com because it provides a forum for us to communicate. I will not back off from my post about weight gain. It leads to diabetes, etc,. (We, as nurses, know the perils.) Here's the thing: We care for our patients each and every day. Shouldn't we care that much, or more, for ourselves, our own bodies? I say we should. I believe we can. We must. I have tremendous compassion for overweight and/or obese people. I would like to teach them a way to get healthy. So here goes: Walk as much as you can. Be as physically active as you can be. Look up your calorie requirements on a website and stick to them.

Sadala, I love your post I've examined the reasons nursing school is stressful. I attended nursing school and it is stressful. But it isn't "unduly" stressful. I am a happy BSN graduate of University of Maryland. I married and did the whole thing: Marriage, dual careers (I drove my husband to the MARC station each morning before work, he was a CPA for AMTRAK), family, dogs, cats. When I was in college, everyone talked about the "Freshman 15" and I almost gained that. (I think I gained seven (7) pounds but it felt like fifteen.) My point is that we, collectively, need to pay attention to our own bodies. No one else can do it for us. We have to take control of our own health each and every day.

I am ignorant about OP's situation. I can only respond to the information provided. My comment was based on the original post. I couldn't imagine gaining 40 pounds in one year, and I wanted to know how that happened. I was curious and also concerned for her. We all know the toll that excessive weight gain, especially in a short period of time, exerts on our bodies and minds. OP enlightened me in a subsequent post, explaining the reason for the 40 pound weight gain in one year. She was pregnant and had a baby. I love that!

I didn't know the 40 pound weight gain in a year was because she (OP) was pregnant. She didn't mention that she just blamed her weight gain on nursing.

You initially blamed your weight gain on being a nurse. But you were pregnant and gave birth to a child. That explains the 40 pound weight gain. I'm happy for you.

My advice: Go to the ICU. It's a whole new world where you, as a nurse, get to know and manage your 2 patients and all of their systems (cardiac, pulmonary, renal, etc.). You will save lives in a first-person way. The doctors will respect you and count on you, as you'll respect and count on them. Respiratory, Lab, all are devoted and coordinated to save your patients. Your fellow nurses will do anything to help you. That's the culture.

Forty (40) pounds you gained in one (1) year? That's almost a pound a week. How can you carry all that extra weight? How did this happen? I can only surmise that you changed your eating habits drastically. Your hips and knees and joints are going to hurt because of those forty pounds.

Don1984, I love Suart Smalley in the mirror with his daily affirmations. Brilliant. There are so many literary references to looking in the mirror and giving a pep-talk to your reflection. "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" Song: "I Believe In You." And there was a self-improvement book by Napoleon Hill where one of the exercises was to talk to yourself in the mirror each day.

"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well." I was on a book-reading tear last summer and this became my mantra, but, I don't know where I read it. Also, my mom always said, "Carry on as if you knew what you were doing."

I can't help it. I'm in love with San Francisco. For nurses, it's just the best. The prestigious medical centers and hospitals where we all learn so much. Golden Gate Park to walk through. Napa and Sonoma for wine tasting. Tahoe for skiing.

The hospital CEOs are not certain about what Obama-care will bring so they are ensuring that they accumulate their acorns and get their money out before the changes are put into place. Wall Street doesn't like uncertainty. Neither does any entrenched culture. Everybody in the entire US healthcare industry is just waiting now to see what happens. In the meantime, it won't be easy for the nurses.