hardworkpaysoff

Another consideration is that most patient charting is visible to patients these days and that phrasing may not be perceived the greatest. My hospital recently implemented emergency/abbreviated charting essentially telling us during these critical pandemic times there are only certain charting categories/assessments that are necessary (which is a hospital-wide policy that should cover us).

If said patients need more than q4 vitals they should usually be on a continuous monitor with automatic scheduled bp readings that doesn’t require waking patient up for something so trivial. Possibly upgrade these patients if it’s that serious (doesn’t sound like it is).

When I say subjective I mean some sickness you can’t see. I’ve worked through miscarriages, dizziness, limping, syncope, and countless other illnesses where I had to be a silent sufferer. I’ve had coworkers who’ve almost been in a diabetic coma or severely hypoglycemic and still working. Truth be told I’ve gotten halfway through a shift and regretted not calling off, not just because of how I felt, but because my patients didn’t deserve a nurse at 25% (I give my patients my all). I won’t even get started psychological illnesses but I digress. If we clock in and make a mistake or don’t take care of our patients/charting they don’t take into account the fact that you weren’t feeling well. It’s “oh well you should’ve called off”. It becomes a safety issue in some cases. I do realize this article is about chronic offenders (we all know them), but my point was there will be some real sick people sprinkled in there that don’t deserve the shame. I have to go on a deep search to find the call off number and when I do locate it I feel so horrible and anxious about calling. Sick days are built in for a reason. Just thought it was interesting in this profession where they preach about infection control and wellness that we as nurses get punished for taking action due to nurse culture which is influenced greatly by the nurse shortage. But I do respect your opinion; that’s just my input as a silent suffering nurse who rarely calls out that frequently ends up with unused PPL time that doesn’t all rollover.

I love that most other careers/professions expect employees to get sick, but nurses and healthcare professionals treat call-offs like some shameful taboo event. People get sick and believe it or not people can get sick around the holidays. It’s subjective just like what’s been drilled “pain is what the patient says it is”. We know there are call off offenders, but for all we know someone could be having diabetic complications, a cold (the seasons are changing), or possibly Covid. I personally barely call out (my floor usually doesn’t have a lot of call outs) & I have been to work while sick out of fear of leaving staff hanging or thinking I’m superwoman. Yea this job builds our immune system but you can’t assume what the next person is going through. Let them take their due time and take that up with staffing. Hospitals need to block beds (but that’s a loss of money) or invest in the staffing shortage (education, retention, job satisfaction).

Well more “personal” days should be allowed. During onboarding/recruitment they love to tell you how much time you get off, sick days, etc but this career tends to guilt you for actually using this time. I personally don’t use a lot of sick days but now I’m in a position that I have hours that don’t roll over. My advice is take the days you need. There’s been too many days I’ve came in not feeling well and regretted it.

I think the responsible thing to do is stay in the full time position and build your foundation. This is coming from someone who works part time & per diem and trying to avoid full time with all my might (after doing years of full time). The grass is not always greener. Don’t want to sound harsh but your career is just getting started so whatever you feel as if you’re missing out on you can get there but it sounds like the route you want to take will lead to feeling overwhelmed, underprepared on a travel contract in the midst of a pandemic. You’d be working at least 3-5 x/week, conflicting holiday requirements, meetings and likely a horrible work life balance. You have an amazing opportunity before you and you likely won’t fully learn per diem. I say stay at this job and when you go to grad school go per diem.

I worked with no issues up to 36/37 weeks on a step down floor (actually felt like it helped to stay active & probably could’ve squeezed in more shifts) but everyone is different. This was pre-Covid and dayshift. Now I’m nights and a few years older during a uptick of Covid and hoping to get through this and keep a positive attitude. 1.) It helps to know you are not alone. Look around and you will realize you are not the first or the last to be pregnant. You are building life. It’s a beautiful thing. 2.) As much as they need their staffing right now, managers are used to this! It’s OK. 3.) Look out for others & they will look out for you 4.) Know your limitations. (use whatever equipment/resources you need) 5.) As soon as you feel comfortable, let your charge or manager aware for the purposes of isolation risks when doing the assignment 6.) Listen to your body. Call off if need be but your patient’s still deserve good care so go in prepared to work and feed yourself positive thoughts. 7.) Speaking of feeding. Feed yourself. Bring extra snacks, nausea remedies, fruit, things to sniff, etc. Wish you the best. Congrats! I would advise to stay if you can instead of trying to learn a new unit but do what’s best for you and take care of yourself.

Honestly I started in Cali (staff and travel) and now work on East coast and it’s not that vastly different besides the ratio. They all try to squeeze the most out of you, but I can say I make the most out of it and feel I have more resources (on the East) to supplement the deficits and lack of ratios that I had in Cali. As we move more and more into the customer service lane and an increasing nursing shortage I think more nurses are feeling at their wits end on both costs.

Assess, assess, and assess. Look at the big picture. There are situations where we neglect then they can stroke out. Over treat and they can end up dizzy on the floor like our unit experienced last week. Some things takes normal body regulation, time, reassessment. Some nurses are straight by the book but I’m very intuitive and take into account their norms, trends, situation, activity, medical history, even emotional state. Nurses can get sort of focused and forget the human body complexity. I treat if needed or if there are parameters. When in doubt reassess, do manual, and communicate. Follow policy. I don’t know enough about the patient. It could be permissive hypertension. It could be situational stress if you just woke them up. BP is a snapshot in time. Would you treat a heart rate of 130s if the patient is up ambulatory for the first time? No. You would sit them down, give them time then reassess. But if their baseline is normally 60-80s then all of the sudden they’re sustaining in 130s while sitting I would definitely intervene.

Stick to your guns and respectfully decline this position. No matter what they throw at you it will likely not result in enough incentives to keep you there and since it’s salary you might not see much of an increase. If you do decide to take it then try to negotiate a bonus. If not you they’ll have to hire, train and give it to someone else.

I’ve had this same issue for years. No matter what I do my eyes end up red. I thought it was makeup/mascara but it primarily happens only the days I work & even if I don’t wear it I still have the redness issue. Im convinced my allergies flare up in relation to the gloves and gowns. My eye doc told me to avoid the typical visine/clear eyes but I will try the Lumify that the above poster suggested. Im also going to see the allergist/ possibly take otc non-drowsy allergy meds.

What setting is your current position and do any of the positions align with your goals? I wouldn’t per se take the case manager position just because of the title. It will not necessarily translate to other case manager positions and if your husband isn’t in nursing he may not know this but future employers looking at your resume may. Both seem interesting but do they offer support?

I would take the med-surg position for right now. You could also make a temporary sacrifice and volunteer to work more weekends or nights and hopefully you’d hit less traffic. You mention needing to find childcare at 5:30am but could you drop your child off with family that morning or have she/he get picked up by family? Move closer possibly? Go part time after the orientation?

Please stick it out. Give it some time. It’s only been a few months. ^Doesn’t sound like ICU is a good fit at this time either. Look at potential openings throughout the hospital to transfer to in about 6 months-year. That’ll give you something to look forward to but keep in mind that the grass isn’t always greener. It might take time to find a good fit. Nursing possibilities are endless. You deserve to be happy in whatever you do but part of your burden is adjusting to a new role. It will take time. Best of luck!

I second this advice ^. Please thank the manager for the opportunity and be candid. Keep the door open because L&D is a small world. Not sure how many hospitals or L&D positions are in your area but she may be have openings in 2020 or know another manager who does. Some L&Ds do like new grads who they can mold but your best bet is to take a position that will work for your family while keeping your eyes on the prize. Although not ideal could you keep a casual/per diem position after orientation? Explore options with the manager.