akemi

Hey All! I work full time at a 24 chair chronic hemodialysis unit. We also rotate and do acutes. I work five 8-hour shifts a week. I am primarily an evening nurse. I work 1400-2230. I love love love my job. I enjoy working the evening shift because I am not a morning person. My problem is, working the evening shift takes time away from my family. I have a very supportive husband who works normal daytime hours. We have a 2 year old and an 8 month old. The hubby takes care of dinner and bedtime stuff with the kids. He also brings them to visit me at clinic midshift so I can breastfeed baby. But I am missing at bedtime, one of the most needed times of the day. Can anyone share how working evenings/nights worked out with your family life? Thanks for reading.

I think if you really want to do renal nursing you will be just fine! I got 2 years med/surg experience before going in to Dialysis. M/S experience helped a lot, but I think it is possible to do well as a new grad. I am about 10 months in to dialysis nursing and still feel like a real newbie there. Although the job seems routine at times, it does require lots of quick thinking and critical decisions to be made. And boy the techs are pros! Respect them and they will respect you. I sometimes to go my techs for help before asking another RN (especially for access help). I love HT's and PCT's!

Hey Banana I use "Crocs" They're the new craze the the hospital where I work. Docs, nurses and aides have em. They come in different colors. I've seen them sold at small boutiques. I got mine as a gift, so not sure if any major department stores carry them. They are sooooo comfortable, even after three twelves in a row. Kinda feels like walking on air. oh, and they don't stink!!!

Starcandy, do NOT beat yourself up. I was in the same situation as you once. I think I was three weeks into orientation on night shift, staffing was very bad that week, and I was given my own patient assignment without a preceptor. It was a rough night and I made an error involving insulin. I totally beat myself up about it. But nurses are not perfect, we make mistakes too. I think you did the right thing by following up with everything, contacting individuals you should've contacted, and knowing the blood sugar shows you monitored the patient a bit closer after realizing the error. You also followed through with an incident report, which I've seen many many nurses "forget" to do. I'm sure you learned a lesson from what happened, I sure did!

Hey, thanks for the quick reply. I was told by the RNs that I will not administer meds during the procedure and I will not circulate because the docs have their own nurses who circulate during procedures. Those nurses are ACLS certified. Unfortunately I am not ACLS certified but I will be next month. The RNs told me that most patients recover for about 30-45 minutes, max 1 hour.

Hey GI nurses! I'm a new grad RN who has been working med/surg for about 7 months now. Last year after graduation I looked into working at a local GI center but they did not have any openings. An RN who was working there told me to get some experience and she'll be sure to call me when there's an opening. Well, I got a call two days ago announcing the opening of a part-time RN position at their center. I was so excited. I do 12 hour shifts at my med/surg job, so a part-time position at the GI center would be perfect for me. So I went forward and turned in my resume and I met a couple RNs there. The RNs were very supportive and had nice things to say about their center and they both showed interest in me possibly joining their team. However, when I spoke to the HR lady she told me I am a new nurse and she'd be a bit uncomfortable hiring someone so new with just a few months experience. She said she'll talk to the rest of their team and they're planning to make their decision next week. As an RN at their center I will not assist in the procedures. I will admit the patient, start IVs, and do some pre-op education stuff. Then monitor them post-op and send them home. I am truly interested in becoming a GI RN. My question is, is it possible for me to be successful in this nursing specialty with just a few months experience? I am hoping to hear from them and I want to be able to live up to the expectations they have for me. Any comments or input would be greatly appreciated!

Hey LearningRN I can totally relate to you! I just made 25, and I am just 7 months into med-surg nursing and I have had my share of bad days in the past few months. I can't even count how many times I cried because of work. But I know I've bad more good days than bad days. I love looking back at the past few months and thinking about the patients and families whose lives I really made a difference in. When I think about the bad days I tell myself "that was a really crappy day, we can't go through life without crappy days!" and I think about what I learned from it. You sound like you have the same kind of personality and demeanor as I do. I sometimes come off as a push-over and a doormat. I don't like to (actually I can't be) be mean. I find that cna's at the hospital I work at often take advantage of me. For example, if my vitals aren't done I'll go and do it rather than ask them to get it done. I've been told by my RN co-workers that I need to toughen up, I can't be so nice. I think with experience and more exposure we'll build that tough skin, yet we'll continue to provide good, safe, compassionate care to our patients....because that is what nursing is about. Good luck to you and please keep us posted. Oh, about sleep......I have a bad problem with sleep too, especially the night before I work. I go tachy and my mind races while I try to fall asleep. Sound familiar to you? Anyway, I'm not sure if this is a great idea, but the pharmacist at my hospital said it should be no harm. I do three twelves a week, so there are three nights a week I have a problem sleeping. I find that taking two benadryls about half-an-hour before bedtime helps me. Other than the nights before work, I have no problem sleeping.

I'm a new-grad med-surg nurse. I've been working an a med-surg floor for about 6 months now. It is very challenging! At first I was kind of reluctant to accept this position because I really wanted OB. But I now realize that med-surg is where I will learn so much, especially being a new-grad. I'm hoping that the hands-on skills and critical thinking skills I learn on med-surg will help me become an excellent OB nurse (when I get there).

Hey guys, Thanks so much for the replies and support! I have since passed the NCLEX with flying colors (but I thought differently while walking out of the testing center!). I recently applied at a local hospital for a new grad position in OB. Cross your fingers for me!! Aloha

Hello! I'm new here. I recently graduated from nursing school and will be taking my NCLEX-RN in ten days. Pending my passing, I am very interested in OB. How did you OB nurses get into OB? I'm wondering how many of you went straight in, and how many of you worked in other areas before working in OB. I'm willing to take a job in any nursing area but my pick would be OB. Very interested in any info you can share.