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

I work nights in ICU and all our patients are supposed to get bathed at night. When we have a tech they're supposed to do it but we only have one tech that will actually get them done. The other techs we have to find in the breakroom and request a bath get done. But a lot of nights we don't have a tech and then we have to do it ourselves. And it always gets done unless it's just too crazy but even then they get the essentials washed. Honestly the RNs do most everything ourselves here. Our techs hate getting floated to the floors because then they have to do a ton of work.

Man, this is so ridiculous that everyone is experiencing this kind of treatment. I was treated horribly when trying to find a job but I thought that was because I was a new grad. Most of the hospitals I applied to never called me, left several messages with all kinds of nurse managers and was never ever contacted. I ended up taking the job at the only hospital that ever called me back and even then they waited about 3 weeks to call me to tell me I got the job and when they called they acted like they were doing me a huge favor (which I guess they were, but still). I just can't believe how unappreciated and rude people are to us nurses.

My first experience in clinicals was freaked me out a little, we walked in and they told me to go give a bed bath and i was like what?? Just get someone naked and wash them? But it was no problem and it totally makes me laugh now to think about how nervous I was at first. Just remember your patients are normal people who feel like crap so just be sweet and smile a lot :) You'll do fine!

Alabama has a temporary license so you can start working before you have taken your NCLEX or gotten your license. Georgia definitely doesn't because that's where I am and I had to have my license in hand to start work.

The best advice I give people for interviews is to remember that the person interviewing you is just a normal human being too. It's easy to get thinking that they're super special and intimidating but just remember they get nervous too and understand what you're going through. Treat the interview like a conversation you would have with anyone you're meeting for the first time. You'll do great!

I came into work tonight planning on a nice night in my icu and instead got floated to a med surg unit and got assigned to be a sitter. I'm dying of boredom

Hate Accuchecks too, especially when my patients are on the "sugar machine". I work in the ICU and we have a special computer program that requires accuchecks every hour. We input the number and it tells us what to titrate our insulin drip to. So annoying!

I am a new grad working in ICU. It's hard as hell and you have to have the right personality to manage it. I can handle it most days and while I'm at work I make it work, but I don't always realize how much it's affecting me until I get home after a shift and just start crying. I like the fact that it's difficult, I have to use my brain and I feel really smart when I figure stuff out and really make a difference. But when you mess up....you really mess up. When I first started I was baffled that anyone could handle 2 ICU patients. But now I don't have much of a problem with it. Of course there are always bad days. Anyways my advice is try to get transferred within your hospital and work towards it gradually. Use your current situation to continue learning skills and get good with the basics because ICU will require you to learn a whole new set of tools.

All you have to do is keep your infusion running, connect your med to the port closest to the patient and push a little at a time. The solution will flush continuously and you won't give them the med all at once. Blood won't back up if you don't stop the infusion. No biggie! But typical of preceptors to tell you "their way" not the "right way". Good of you to ask advice though, if it seems wrong, it probably is.

Well personally that research job sounds mighty cushy and I am SO jealous that you have that offer. Coming from a new grad who went straight to the hospital and into the ICU I'm definitely wanting an easier job now. However, I know that the experience I'm getting is valuable and necessary. I would absolutely recommend working in the trauma unit before you take a research job. You will definitely lose nursing skills (but to be honest you really won't have many to lose coming out of school) if you don't start in a clinical setting. Unless you plan on only doing research forever you need to get some experience as a nurse.