Brotherbob

If I had not been a nurse might have worked at sea, or news photography.

No, I am treated with respect. When I was a new nurse without experience it happened sometimes.

Spending time on this site is one of the ways I practice my english. The vast majority of movies and tv shows are in english too and I regulary meet people that only speak english . Otherwise reading books and magazines really widens the vocabulary. I still make many mistakes, but I understand others and I can get my point across. I am loosing my german fast and that is sad. Most germans speak english better than I speak german and I do not have time to read much in the german language anymore. Once in a while I meet a non english speaking german patient, and I am really struggling to communicate. My advice is to, if possible, spend time with people that speaks the language, otherwise read books and magazines or watch movies (without subtitles) that are really interesting to you. My experience is that to become fluent I have to have som basic knowledge of the language and then live in that environment and be forced to use the language for at least 3-4 month. To stay fluent I have to use it a few times every month, either read or speak. Slang can be difficult to understand, but normally the ones using slang can make an effort to talk better if they see that you don´t get it.

And I totally agree with you. I am happy to make friends, wherever I can.

Is it not possible to have fun and be professional? I have worked in places where nurses went to work only for the money, and now I avoid those places. Labor camps. People that like what they do tend to have fun together, the shifts fly by and I the patients get good care by a happy nurse. Nothing wrong with wanting to work in a place where the staff are social.:)

Brilliant!!!:)

We used to give Buprenex sublingual.

As others have said, it comes with territory. We have snow covered roads for almost six month a year, and midwinter the snow can be up to 6 ft deep. We are expected to get to work in all conditions, but everybody is understanding if those with long commutes are late now and then. We have a excellent organization that plows the roads, highways "never" get shut down. I am understanding that someone not used to iwinter conditions are worried about driving. My advice is to drive careful, and use steel studded tyres, everybody uses them in the winter. 4WD, ABS breaking and antispin helps, but quality studded tires are the most important.

Without knowledge of history we´re dangerous, doomed to repeat past mistakes.

We often hang by gravity and yes I pinch, otherwise the med is backing up in the tubing and filling up the chamber (or whatever that is called) where you see the drops and you can´t see how fast the fluid is running.

It would be to cross a line, but we sometimes do. I would give it anonymously.

Early 06.45-16.00 Late 12.00-21.15 Long 09.00-21.00 Night 21.00-07.15, 16.00-24.00 Sweden

It is also a cultural difference. We use first names always, in school, in hospital, everywhere, and it has been that way as long as I can remember. To the extent that if I adressed a teacher, MD or a pat. as Mr/Mrs X after we been introduced it would sound weird. I am all for showing respect, but have to find other ways to do it.

If I did not watch my mouth and this happened to me I´d call it even. Hitting someone is not acceptable but I would not report it. I would however have a talk with the person. Communication is a much better way to solve the problem. I have worked at sea and can´t imagine myself telling the officer somebody punched my back when I was rude!!! Unless the punch sent me flying over a table or something.

Punches in the back hurts, and so do sarcasm. Maybe call it even??

The problem is when a JW child needs blood or a blood product in order to survive. The doc has the right to order blood against the parents will but the situations can be really complicated and heartbreaking. How do you tackle this?

A coworker assisted a doc suturing a small wound. She fainted and her head landed face down right in the wound. Surprised patient. So far I have not threw up, and not passed out either, but I don´t like when travellers from Africa bring their intestine creatures in plastic bags, that´s nasty.

I love to able to bring some kind of stability and order to the chaos of a shocked traumatized patient. To stabilize, take care of ABC. I love the constant change and the contrast between the slow shifts and the intense ones when everything happens the same time. I also love the teamwork involved. I love not to have a diagnosis, to figure out what is the problem with the pat. I don´t like the waiting room drama over minor issues.:)

I think that a to strict work environment where an exellent nurse do not get a second chance can be unproductive. The nurses become nervous and more mistakes are made. We are dealing with death and life every single day. There is a lot of responsibility. I need to know my coworkers and bosses support me, then I can provide the best care. Of course there are occasions where a nurse should be fired on the spot, but based on given information I do not think firing this nurse would do anyone good.

This nurse would probably never make that mistake again. That is one good reason to keep her. We need to take care of each other.

Let the one who has never made a mistake throw the first stone.

Yes, I would do it again. Sure it is stressful and management can be crap. But what I always have wanted with my life is to make a difference, to help. As a nurse I do that every day and it gives me a lot in return. I have worked in different areas but I love ER because of the adrenaline and teamwork.

The first year is not easy for anyone. To do your best is all that you can do. Keep going. The key to success is to take these bad experiences and learn from them, like you did. The other key is to be able to move on. Think of all the good things you have done, when you made a difference.

I love my job

B-12 I always give i.m. If someone would order an injection deep sub q I would consider how much body fat the p/t has and then choose appropriate needle. I´m sure a lot of i.m. injections go deep subQ on the fat patients.