ToughLover

I started in the icu as a new nurse and even though I precepted for 3 months in an icu it was completely different being on my own. I felt retarded and cried all the time when I got home but after about 6 months I finally felt like a competent badass nurse. So just know it's normal to be completely lost at first. Just ask a ton of questions and triple check yourself on everything. And don't give up because eventually you'll totally get it and probably really enjoy it. Good luck!

I'm so sorry you had to experience that but it's a good thing to check off your list. Now you know how you'll handle an emergency and will be more prepared. My first code\death was extremely traumatic but after experiencing it every other situation has been so much easier to handle. But that first one still haunts me.

Columbus, ga .... Hiring new grads and desperately need them as well as experienced RNs! Many ICU positions open currently, hiring new grads straight into icu as well

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Just laying low and keeping the fun and joking to a minimum. I think part of the problem was that I got too close with my co workers and therefore felt comfortable being myself at work. I have my super professional awesome nurse pants back on and am getting down to business. :)

Haha that's exactly what I said... I'm definitely not sleeping with him. That's the problem and why I'm ****** that I'm being accused of doing just that. And by the way, when I say "boss" I mean clinical coordinator/charge nurse. Not manager.

That's what I thought but apparently that's not true because if anything my level if patient care has improved because I was enjoying being at work!

The accuser went to management herself but they won't tell us who it was. We have someone we suspect even though she has no reason to hurt any of us except the fact that she doesn't like my boss. And I want to go straight to management to clear it up but I've been told not to until they approach me because none of us are supposed to know about it

So this week my boss got called into HR and was attacked with questions about myself and several other of my coworkers having possible illicit relationships based on rumors they'd been hearing. Myself and the people involved are shocked and offended and I personally am having a hard time understanding why one of my coworkers who I liked and trusted is throwing me under the bus for apparently no good reason. The allegations are that myself and another girl are hooking up with our boss and fighting over him (she and I are great friends and also great friends with our boss in a totally non-sexual way), another girl who is married is hooking up with a male coworker (also not true), and that another of our coworkers is having sex in closets with someone from lab (also not true). I believe the problem is that since all of us involved in the rumors are very close friends people take our joking and flirtation as something way more serious than it is. However I am very hurt by all of this because not only does it affect my reputation but also hurts my working relationships because I no longer know who I can trust. In addition, I now am not going to be able to spend time with my friends outside of work because it will only add fire to the rumors. Just wanted to throw this out there and see if anyone has encountered a similar situation since hospitals are so gossipy.

I met my boyfriend in nursing school and are still together working in the same unit at the same hospital. Love being with someone who gets me and what I deal with on a regular basis. A lot of my coworkers date each other too

Haha love this post, I actually had a patient the other night that wanted his fan on him during the night because he was hot. His wife REFUSED to allow it, repeatedly saying "you know you can't sleep with that fan on, you'll get pneumonia!" ...The patient is trached and on a vent...pretty sure the fan has NOTHING to do with his medical condition!!!

The people I work with make my job fun. We all have the most ridiculous sick sense of humor and mostly spend all night talking about crazy stuff and telling jokes. Or my patients will be crazy (i work ICU) and it will be entertaining (but also really annoying) listening to them make bird noises and other sounds all night. The other night my patient kept complaining that he "had to get out of there" but couldn't walk so I put him in a wheelchair with a monitor and we took a stroll around the hospital. You have to find little things that can make your day better. And it will get better once you're more comfortable.

I'm loving the stories, thanks for posting everyone! The feeling I got from my "suitors" (be it that they were all young men) was that they were just impressed that I was a young cute intelligent person with a very important job. And of course there's that HORRIBLY wrong assumption created by the media that nurses are sexy. Seriously? There's not many jobs in the world that I find less sexy. And the whole shrug it off/take it serious line was crossed for me when that dude tried to take a picture of me. I yelled at him and told him to put it away immediately.

I've had some funny experiences getting hit on by patient's families/friends in the past few months and wanted to share and hear your stories too! The most recent one that spawned this thread was last night, I had about a 2 minute conversation with a cowoker's patient's friend and this morning I had a friend request from him on Facebook. Hadn't told him my name or anything but somehow he found me with is totally creeperish. Another one happened a few months ago where my patient's son slept in her room overnight (which isn't allowed but they insisted so I let him stay to help suction her) and every time I came in the room all night long he'd wake up and try to talk to me about one thing or the other and was asking all these questions about if I was dating someone and eventually asked me if he could take me out to breakfast. I said no because...that's wierd. The other one was in my first few weeks of working here and my patient's son immediately latched on to me as soon as I came on shift and was saying all this crazy stuff to his dad like "this is the girl i'm gonna marry" and "look how beautiful she is, she's the one!". He even made me turn around by asking a question and tried to take a picture of me. Mind you, this was all after I'd already made it clear that I was not interested or available. It made for an extremely uncomfortable night. Anyways, I just wanted to share...post up some of your awkward stories!

To be honest if you're a new grad understand that no one really expects you to know anything. Most people are understanding about what it's like to start your first job out of school. And also be aware of the fact that all your learning really begins with your first job. Just go into it as a sponge, soak up every little thing you can learn. Watch your coworkers, ask them if you can help them do things so they can teach you how to do it better, etc. It will be hard at first but don't get too discouraged. Every day you will learn things and it will get easier. Good luck!

A trick that everyone in my school used to find out our results early: Go on the NCLEX website and try to register again. If it lets you, you probably failed but if it says you can't register now for some reason or another it means you passed. Sounds dumb but it holds true with everyone I know. And you are able to pay like $10 and get the results early...like 3 days after the test? I can't remember exactly