Deetermined

I'm looking to get into private duty nursing myself. Did you apply with an agency? I've been looking on the internet and nothing other than peds private duty is coming up and I'm not interested in that at ALL! lol Thanks for your help. Now to answer your question: my friend did private duty nursing. Her patient was on a vent, had a peg tube. So she mainly provide trach care, gave meds, assessed, made sure he was turned and she also had a cna that came in to help as well. At first she was overwhelmed but then she got into a routine and said it was very easy so I guess it depends on what your patient's diagnoses are and what type of equipment is needed to support that patient. Hope this gives you a better idea. Good luck

You go girl! I know the feeling. I'm a new nurse and had to take my NCLEX Twice! Sacrifice does pay off! Good luck

good advice, and no one has said anything that you said except for I can do it:o thank you

inshallamiami- i'll thought about doing that but bc i'm in the er i've been a little skeptical about doing that. It possible to do it inside a room but my hospital uses hall spots too and there is alot of traffic from other hospital personnel but i'll try it in the rooms. I also want to thank everyone for taking interest in my post and commenting..It has made me feel alot better about my situation

raincitynurse. thanks so much for links mividalocarn- we'll just keep trying..look at sugarcoma story. sugarcoma-oh wow, everything said on here has made me feel a trillion times better but it seems as if your IV story is so similar to mine. I'll keep poking, i'm sure I'll get it. and youre so right about the orders. I do see the urgency in them but sometimes I get stuck on other patients and just get so wrapped up in what I'm doing that I try to finish it bc again i'm slow and I get fixiated on getting done what i'm working on bc It's probaly already late anyway! I think I'll set my watch to check my charts every 15 minutes no matter what I'm doing..unless it has something to do with airway, breathing or circulation. I got too bc I dont want my preceptor to feel like she talking to a brick wall! tHANKS AGAIN

Ruby, thank you so much for dissecting my post and giving me such good advice, encouragement and thank you for analyzing my preceptor for me from another preceptor's point of view. As far as asking the same questions over and over,yesterday I started writing down the stuff that i had questions/answers about so that I wont forget and so that I dont have to ask her over and over again because that's annoying and I know it! I have started feeling the pressure that she's transitioning me and letting the leash out so I can work more indepently and I know in the end, it will be very beneficial to me. I've listened to everyone's advice and Im so happy I can come to this website and talk to people that understand where I'm coming from so thanks again for your time and expert advice. P.S. I'm going to keep at those IV's...and you are so right about being nervous and having anxiety. Today I was shaking and trying to get my hand to stop and when I didnt get it the IV, I felt so bad when I had to tell my preceptor that I couldnt get it bc at this point I'm sounding like a broken record . And you are so right about the only way to get rid of that anxiety is by continued practice so I must continue on and I will

Don't forget about the IV's guys

Gotcha louis!

StudyinginCT, Your suggestions are great and I will do that..In fact, I'm gonna write somethings down tonight while they are fresh on my mind and try to set up a time and talk with her tomorrow. I think she will be receptive to it so I'll give that a try and I'll definitely read the link you suggested. It may help me put somethings into perspective

@ijhappy- thank you for your words of encouragement. I do need to get out of that nursing school mode. The other day I was so nervous to start the patient on more than two liters of O2 even though the patient had her portable tank with her and she was on 4l O2 at home. Now it makes perfectly good common sense to give the pt what they are on at home but all that kept playing over in my head from nursing school was "you can start patient on 2l but anything over that, you need an order" because you can hurt a patient with O2 and essentially, it's a drug and I'm not a doctor so I can't give drugs without written, verbal or protocol orders....so when I asked her about the 2l, she looked at me crazy..I was like omg! Of course the answer was to give them what they use at home. But I dont want to just start assuming things because thats how you get burned. These are the type of simple questions I ask. But I didnt want to just turn it to 4l and then they say, "did you start the patient on 2l first, did you get an order to turn it to 4l?" But I understand what you're saying. It's tough to get out of that student mode and step it up to professional nurse road but I'll get there.. My friend always tells me that Rome was not built in a day

thank you grandmasgirl. I got my license in March 31,2011. I started working May 16th and started on the floor about a week later. I will definitely try your suggestions about the IV's. Also, she has already suggested help for me with the IV's she said that the next time we work together she will let everyone know I need extra practice so that I can stick all of there patients. So she tries to be helpful but lately I do feel her being a little condescending. I guess i'll just try to ignore it. Oh, I forgot to mention she's expecting and she's 5mo so that could have alot to do with it so I try to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Oh my goodness. This was the only job that I wanted. I dont have thoughts of leaving. Maybe I should ask her if I'm where she thinks I should be because everyday when I leave she says, "Good Job Today"...I'm like really, good job? Because I thought I did terrible. I wonder if she"s trying not to kill my confidence or if I really did a good job or if she really cares bc she does get paid extra for having me tag along. Sometimes, I have anxiety while laying down for the night. Im always wondering if I made any mistakes, does she know, is she gonna tell me about them or let me continue on inadequately and hang myself. I have heard so much bad stuff about nurses just dismissing you, "eating their young" and at that point it doesnt matter how good of a worker you are or how much you want to learn and I dont want that to happen to me...I know everyone is not going to like me and I'm okay with that but I dont want any drama...and I dont want to have any ill feelings between my preceptor and I because she has something i need I know I'm all over the place but I'm still a little worked up from today but thanks for the response..

good Evening, I need some tips on starting Iv's. I have been praticing In a level 1 trauma hospital (ER) for all of about 3 weeks. I am having so much trouble with them. Sometimes, it just so hard to feel the vein. I dont know if my hands are not sensitive to them or what. At first i would get a few and then miss a few but lately, I've been missing all the time and it's really starting to make me feel inadequate so i wanted to know if you guys can tell me something I don't know already. I would greatly appreciated and I sure my patients would too! Okay, now let the venting began...I am so slow and I think my preceptor is trying to make me pick up the speed. For example, she hounds me about acknowledging orders (in a nice way) right away. But sometimes, I get stuck working up a patient and trying to make sure I'm doing the right thing, taking my time because I dont want to lose my license you guys. I'm paranoid about that, as we all are because we've worked so hard for that piece of paper. Okay back to the story, I wonder why she doesnt just acknowledge them for me if she sees i'm busy...I mean she is over me! Today, she ask "Have you seen your orders on 216?" I said no because I've been with this patient trying to get the labs drawn and sent off but i will look at them as soon as I finish this. She said, "Okay, we'll they've been on there since 6:30pm (it was about 7:15) and I get off at 7:30pm. I honestly did not want to leave all that work for the next person to do so I thought I was prioritizing but I guess not. Also, I do ask simple questions but it only because I want to make sure i'm doing something right before I do it. So I may ask her about tasks related to protocol or doing something on the computer and lately I've notice a somewhat condenscending tone to her answers(it's minimal but I'm picking up on it). I really dont want to form a negative opinion about her because I need her help. I am trying to keep and open mind and put my best foot forward each day I work with her. She's been nursing for 2 years so I would think she understands where I'm coming from but maybe she thinks I'm leaning on her too much, I don't know. Its just a little frustating somedays. And sometimes I feel like she doesnt have my back bc if she saw those orders today at 6:30pm she should have just acknowledged them. Heck, I was trying to do stuff for 3 patients and it was my first time having that load. Anybody that has precepted, please respond. I so badly want to be a competent nurse and i want to crawl before i walk because I dont want to hurt a patient bc I was moving to fast. But I dont want to be a burden and a liability either nor do I want somebody looking at me like im freaking stupid and I'm trying to learn...Okay, thanks for your ears..Please give me tips on the IV starts.

sorry to hear that brightside...people are so rude at times and think that they can say anything to anybody with no regards....if you're unhappy then leave but not until you find another Job...don't let them bully you..It's a shame that grown people still bully others in the workplace like they're in first grade....You will find somewhere else that is more accepting and appreciates you..just hang in there until then...After you fill out the application online, make time to go to the facility and show your face(more than once) this is how you can get out of there faster!Dont wait for them to call you, call them! I feel for you and I hope you find something soon..

I have to say that I am in the same boat as you. I just started in the ER in a busy, inner city hospital! I've learn that I will either sink or swim and its gonna be up to me...No one is holding my hand..I'm in a disorganized residency program and I am just trying to hold on! I feel so dumb...some of the terms they use..I'm like wth is that? I've been out of school a year and I just hate that I dont feel competent..Having to look up everything, think back to what I learned in school...I'm wondering why i have student loans if i wasnt gonna know anything when i got out of school? But I also realize that what we learned vs. what you experience with nursing is on two separate ends of the spectrum. I tell myself that I am new and still learning and Rome wasnt built in a day..That's keeps me from feeling like a total retard! Anyway, I said all that to say this: I know how you feel..You're not alone...Say a prayer every morning, a confidence builder, encourage yourself, prepare yourself and just DO You...you're gonna make it, just give it your all and it will definitely pay off..Good Luck! We got this