humiliated

I am against self mutilation in the sense that a person should not be harming herself/himself, however, mutilating oneself does not necessary mean someone is not able to perform their job. We all have battles we face in life, some mental others physical and do not believe you should be fired for hurting yourself. If you are hurting yourself you should get help, or do what you need to do to be stable (other than hurting yourself) and continue working. Sometimes abandoning everything you have can be devasting and worse on the mentally ill pt as opposed to trying to manage your illness while living a normal life. Face the problem at work and make sure you are stable and able to talk about the issue. Because in reality, this will be the true test of wether or not you are in fact ok to work. Good luck with your job.

I have been working as a ER nurse for 6 months and am already enrolled in a NP program part-time. Most programs have beginning core classes like research, theory, issues, etc. so you really don't need to have a lot of experience as a nurse to do these. When I begin taking the classes more catered specifically to NPs I would have been working as an RN for a year. I think gaining experience as a nurse is important. I work full time at a level I ER and feel like you learn a lot and you are forced to learn it fast. I've taken care of patients ranging from dehydration to really sick patients with 5 gtts going. I personally think the ER is a awesome place to learn if you are planning on becoming an NP. When I am an NP I know that it will be easier for me to treat my patients because I'm had the opportunity to initiate a lot of treatments, conduct histories and assessments based on what the pt presents with, learn prioritization, patient teaching, deal with every type of patient, and have the opportunity to see the entire work up of a patient. I love the autonomy we get in the ER and think it's helpful if you want to be a NP. I feel like when I'm an NP I will have a better idea of what needs to be orderd and I need to rule out as far as dx because I've seen so many different things so many times. So I don't think it matters if you wait 5 years or 6 months to go to grad school, it just matters how hard you are willing to work to be the best NP you can be. Depending on your experiences as a nurse, you might need to do more work than another student. But, in no way do I think an RN with 10 years is going to be a better NP than someone with less experience. Because both have to learn the new role of being an NP. Some people say you shouldn't go immediately back to grad school, I say if you think you can handle it go for it. Let me warn you that it can be stressful at times, trying to work full-time and be in grad school. Because they step things up a level and are more demanding than undergrad. Only you know best what you should be doing with your life. So do what works best for you and ignore what everyone else says. Good luck with your goals!!

I started out brand new in the ER 6 months ago and felt similar to how you feel now. I have made is six months and feel very confident on some nights and then feel like an idiot on others. As time goes by I have way more confident ego boosting nights as opposed to bad nights. But, I must say if it weren't for those humbilng moments I wouldn't be learning and becoming a better nurse. There is some saying, I apoligize for butchering it, but you will get the gest of it, "To ask a stupid question makes you a fool for that one moment, but to never ask the question makes you a fool for life". Oh and my facility is a level 1 trauma center so we see a lot of difficult cases. I'm so happy I started here though, because I honestly can say I feel like I can handle anything. Maybe you should invest in a palm pilot. I have one and if something slips my brain, I have a backup right there. Another pointer, if your facility has protocols then get a list of all the sheets. It really helped me learn what I was suppose to be doing for each patient. I've gone from being somewhat hesistant in decision making to acting like an ER nurse and taking action. It's good you are at a tough hospital too, because getting some of the sickest patients. In our ER we are often acting like the ICU because we are short on beds in the ICU, so I have gained experience with the sickest patients to the regular patients that are merely seeking the ER as there primary care providers. And most importantly if you don't know something, don't be unsafe, look it up first or find a more experienced nurse that you trust their knowledge and skill level. As a new grad everyone expects you to ask questions. And don't let the stress get to you. I've learned to turn the stress into adrenaline and be excited and feel challenged about a difficult patient rather than think oh no what am I gonna do. You'll see in time you will look back and think I've come a long way although you'll still continue to learn new things everyday.

I can't believe we have come to a time when women are so freaking shallow that they are so busy trying to please theire husbands. To maintain one's body? Having a c-section so a woman's lady parts has a smaller opening to please a man or to prevent a uterus from prolapsing later in life (sorry for the graphic image). If that's how these women feel, how about not having children. Child birth is not necessarily pretty, the purpose is to have offspring. This concept sickens me.

I am so sorry you had to deal with that BS DutchgirlRN. I am a new nurse, and I had a similar problem. I work in the ER and it gets busy down there as expected. I once asked the tech if he could please go do a EKG on another nurse's pt. He said to me, "You know you guys are gonna have to start doing this kind of stuff too." I was so pisted off, although I didn't make a scene in front of everyone. I waited until he was cleaning one of the rooms, and we were alone and I asked him if he had a problem with helping out. He just said he was really busy taking pts upstairs and that he thought we should help out. I told him that the pt wasn't my pt and I was too busy with my own pts and that that nurse needed his help. I also told him that it is the ER and I understand that he is busy, however we are all busy and overworked down here. Then I said if I ask him to do something it is his job to do it. And I usually do whatever I can myself however it is his job to help the nurses out. I also told him that if I came across as rude in anyway that it was unintentional, however I do not like to be undermined and fight in front of people. So I would appreciate his compliance and to confront me if he has any problems in private. He apoligized and told me I wasn't being rude (and I knew I wasn't I mainly just said this to mend the situation and let him know I am approachable) and then told me to let him know if I needed anything else. Point blank though, this guy is so freaking lazy, he is one of those that will sit his whole shift at the computer surfing the web and kissing the docs butts. Personally I don't care that he was pist cause he had to do work, and if he is busy his conversation was just downright innappropriate. DUTCHGIRLRN, YOU GOTTA STICK UP FOR YOURSELF, CAUSE IF YOU DON'T THEN RUDE PEOPLE OUT THERE WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU AND BULLY YOU AROUND. We as nurses are worked to death and I'm sure the CNAs/techs are too, but remember they are there to help and you should not be scared to ask for help from your fellow nurses or techs.

This is a copy of the letter I sent to the Kansas State Board of Nursing regarding my info being listed on the website. I will update everyone when I get a reply from the BON. I'm writing in regards to a website I came across as a result of surfing a nursing forum by the name of allnurses.com. On allnurses.com I was informed that there are a few websites such as this one http://www.choicetrust.com/servlet/com.kx.cs.servlets.CsServlet?usertype=c that allows anyone to view information about any nurse. When I searched the site for my name, the only info I got on myself was my county and city of of residence plus my zip code. I also did a search on disciplinary action and my name showed up there as well on this site. Although this is the only information I was able to obtain, according to the site if you are willing to pay a fee you can get more info. My concerns are, why was my name even listed under disciplinary action because I have nothing on my record and I would prefer if the site didn't imply that I did and also what other information can a consumer find out about me. I was wanting to know if this site is legal and if you knew what info someone can access about me. With identity theft and the fact I would like to keep my life private can you tell me what I can do to get my name off of this list. Any information regarding the site and others like this would be greatly appreciated. When I decided to become I nurse I had no intentions on my life being invaded nor increases my chances of identity theft or some psycho being able to find me. Thanks in advance for the information.

I saw my name on the site as well. I think I will be contacting my state board of nursing to see if this site is legal and see if they are able to obtain what info the site discloses about you.

Farkinott, Must you be so graphic!? I really don't care about what your chest hair looks like or if your woman finds it attractive. Or if you work with a lesbian as though you must say that when describing a woman's hairy legs at work, or what her mate thinks about her legs. As far as the conversation of the subject, must every subject be so serious or can the people on this board relax with a silly topic like chest hair?

What do you think about nurses who become nurses just for the sake of becoming a nurse practitioner? Do you think one must enjoy being an RN in order to make a good nurse practitioner or do you think the sooner you become a nurse practitioner the better off you'll be. I'm just curious how others feel about the subject.

Personally I don't like the sight of chest hair and somewhat find it unprofessional to have it hanging out of scrubs. Women aren't allowed to show their chest so neither should men. Kinda like at the gym. However though I would not penalize someone for not wearing a shirt under their scrubs because in the medical profession, we get busy and the last thing on our mind is what we are wearing. So my personal vote is for no, but my fair vote is yes, let them do what they want.

I'm not sure where you work but, in our ER the nurses and those that bring the patients in (paramedics and EMTs) are very different. I would say that the prehospital care is very important, however many times I have had to go back and correct mistakes some paramedics/EMT's have made. For example I had someone bring in a COPD pt. on 4L of O2 because the pt. O2 sats were 90% on RA. I asked the EMT why did they put the pt on 4L as opposed to 2L. They said they were having problems breathing. I asked did you try putting the pt. on 2L to see what his sats were. And they were like, no the pt was having problems breathing. I'm sure it was just this EMT but, I was thinking hello, it's a COPD pt. I understand if they are having difficulty breathing but, they need to be on the lowest O2 as possible, duh, cause they are just going to be retaining CO2. And as it turned out, the pt sats were 100% on 2L NC, so this in my mind improves the pt's outcome. I would say, like nurses and doctors, there are some good EMT/Paramedics and some bad ones. I believe some EMTS/Paramedics have skills that nurses on a med surg floor don't have. However, I would say anything that a EMT/Paramedic can do an RN can do. The only difference is that the EMT is out on there own, if there were RN's who worked with them, then the RN's would be in charge. Likewise, in the ER the doctors are in charge because they have more education than the nurses. In our ER in an emergency setting we nurses do what we need to do if a doctor is not around, ranging from thoracostomy to EJ's to whatever. We as nurses are trained to do what we need to do in an emergency situation, it's just that whoever is the most skilled does the task. Also like someone said in another post, sometimes it's like the ICU is the ER because I have had to take care of very sick pts on vents who may be in the ER for my entire shift. Often at our hospital we are short on beds, so pt's can end up in the ER for days. It's nice to get the experience an ICU nurse, however sometimes it's tough to take care of the very sick because there is so much going on the the ER (people being shot right outside our doors, the detoxing drunks, knifes being pulled on staff, the vented patients, traumas, codes, MIs, DKA, pregnant women bleeding clots the size of a baseball cause they are having a miscarriage, etc). It's so unpredictable, that you never know what you might get. But, we are trained to handle anything. That's why I love the ER, it's an awesome place to learn. You name it, these are all some of the things that have dealt with in the ER and I have ONLY worked there for 3 months. Okay, I'm done going on my spill. Before I leave, I just want to say that I respect everyone's contribution to the pt.'s care because not one person can do it all (thank goodness we aren't expected to). However I do ask that everyone that is assigned a job be proficient in their job so someone doesn't have to go back to fix your mistake and to work as a team. And just because it's not your job to know something it's helpful if you still do, cause you never know if you might be the most proficient person around and be expected to save a life or do something that you normally don't do. And sometimes comparing different jobs just seems to make one profession look better than the other. And that's not what the healthcare field is about. I hope that everyone chooses their job because it's what they want to do so they can do their best rather than be envious or look down on others with different titles.

I'm kinda in your position too. I have worked as a RN for only 3 months in the ER and will be starting school next month to become a nurse practitioner. I have had some people praise me and others that looked down on me because I wish to purse graduate school so soon. When I began nursing school I knew my final goal was to become a nurse practitioner and not a RN, so for me I feel like the sooner I can begin working towards that goal the better. I figured I would start out part-time taking the beginning classes that don't require as much experience in nursing and by the time I am ready to take the more advanced classes I would have worked as a nurse for a year so I will be ready. I feel like people might push you either way, so you should really decide what you feel is best for your needs and goals. Good luck with your endeavors and go for what you want!

Is putting an arm in a sling the doctor has casted a doctor or nursing intevention? IN other words, do you need a MD's order to put someone's hurt arm in a sling in order to prevent them from running into people and things with that arm? Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the advice, I'll try that next time. Hopefully there won't be a next time. I have applied my nursing knowledge to treat myself.

Today I went complete my physical for pre-employment at a hospital I going to be working at. Since I was going to be working in the ER they recommended I get a Rubello titer drawn. First the phlebotomist barely wiped my arm down with an alcohol wipe, I then asked her if I could wipe it myself so I could make sure the site was clean. This should have been a warning sign for her lack of knowledge! Then she stuck me with a butterfly and just left the thing hanging there. I asked her to please keep her hand on it... I was to late and through my vessel she went causing a hematoma. I was so ticked. I can't believe what she did, I could have drawn the blood myself, at least I would have known it would have been done right! I don't have a problem with trained professionals doing blood draws, however, I do have a problem when people don't know what they are doing and take sticks lightly. She didn't even offer me any ice or anything to help to decrease the damage or anything. I was so ticked. I didn't know how to respond. So I just left and went home and put some ice on the area. I am so upset and I know if it were on a patient, I would not have allowed it to happen so I'm not sure why I let her mess up my arm. Any ideas on how to approach the phelbotomist when you know they are doing things wrong without offending them in order to protect myself? :angryfire