tarotale

I agree with JMCP. Be aware, I made mistake of choosing ms over icu as a GN just to learn the "stepping stone" and jesus how hard it was to get out of it and get ER position. Go to the ER if u want ER.

nights. why? no admin=better life. for some reason, the night crew always have been really awesome people... and quite peculiar too. but really, unless you work at fancy suburbs, there's going to be plethora of patients even at night because people don't have insurance so they come to ER for clinic stuff like cough, abd pain, etc.

there's loads of topics on this on the forum, i suggest using search engine, but if you're like me and just want simple answers, this is what I found and did: I got NSO, $108/yr is a price of joke, so yeah I say get it.

people say nursing has good foundation and job security for one with family, but I say do something else, there are other jobs that can provide as much if not better with less education and stress/bs. my buddy took few weeks course and got a job in oil/radiology related field starting $20/hr, it's little less than what I make but still consider less education, better raises in that field, and you know, there's no such thing as "petroleum satisfaction" survey. there are many jobs, you just have to look and ask around. good luck.

Haha no one is starting controversy. I'm not talking about trauma situation, I'm talking about your everyday sob, cp, abd pain, etc etc. I get what you are saying. But so what if pt wheezes or has rales? Does you knowing this or charting it really have an outcome or any effect? I'm not talking about stridors or intubation, just regular situations. Ya I can tell the doc the pt is wheezing but he probably already knows that and ordered bd. Please do tell, what does it change? That I know what the lung sounds like? So what, are you going to prescribe antibiotics?

I carried my stethoscope when I first started my job on the floor. I was being the "good new nurse" and did head-toe assx, check for PERRLA on a regardless of patient's neurostatus, checked for 4 points pulses, auscultated for breath sounds, APETM, etc etc, then I stopped using stethoscope completely for quite long time. Especially at the ER, I feel that stethoscope was almost of no use. When I was on ER transition, I listened to breath sounds but soon recognized that it was almost waste of time mainly because almost everyone gets chest xray. But I started carrying stethoscope again recently and this is why. I feel that when I actually listen to the patients' lungs and breath sounds, it seems that patients trust me more, they like it more than me just coming in, hooking them up to monitor and asking mundane questions. That is actually the biggest reason I use my stethoscope now. In terms of outcomes, of course it serves no use because doc will order xray and know if there's effusion, atelectasis, or pneumo, but one, I like to be able to depend on skills instead of imaging tools to know what's going on, and two, patients react positively to that. I see that this is why docs put stethoscopes on patients "just as act" even though I know for sure he/she's not listening, but somehow that probably assures the patient. Anyways, that's been my experience with stethoscopes. Do you carry yours and use them, do you think it actually matters? I don't but I use them for above reasons. What do you do?

No its literal. I don't walk in and tell them hi I'm your nurse, by the way I hate my employer and this hospital, but if they ask, I tell them honestly. However the fact that I hate my employer doesn't affect the effort of my job, because I like my charge and my ER docs. I have seen enough to know that most employers don't care about their nurses.

When patients ask me "do you like nursing?" or "do you like what you do?" my exact word is "No". They ask me why and I tell them that I don't mind the work but health care is full of crooks and that I work for crooks so I hate what I do. I have no problem talking smack about my employer, they are out for themselves in the end and their profit, their money, their bonuses.

I loled pretty hard at esme and houtx. Texas.

We get nothing... Well 7 interns for better staffing I guess. I got half a dollar raise... Half a flipping dollar. No wonder why everyone moves q 2yrs, and that's what I'm doing as well. And also why I'm going for NP.

Thanks everyone for your inputs so far. In fact, I decided to continue doing nights shift but NEVER EVER do 4 nights a week ever again. I have been doing lots of 4/wk lately and those weeks literally kill me, but I can withstand 3/wk. I wouldn't sign up for all weekends either because of weekend diffs since I am going to enjoy my weekends as well. I think balance is utmost importance when doing night shift. I need to enjoy my life enough to withstand work.

guess what happens when $ and greed is introduced to integrity of healthcare? thanks nixon (or was it nixon? anyways...)

Great at doing tasks and helping out at critical situations like code blue or stroke. Not so good at other "undesirable nursing tasks" like cleaning pt, transporting cuz they are PARAMEDICS. I kind of get feel them though, they been doing "field doctors" on the field intubating and running codes, and come into hospital, and they are limited greatly. Well we get paid hell lot more so if they don't want to work hard, whatever.

Hey all, merry soon coming holidays, hope you are working hard for present monies :) I have been working as night nurse since my graduation yr and half ago and I must say life hasn't been all that great. I have been hating my job, apathetic at work and patients, always tired, barely have a social life, insomnia has worsened with night shift, irritated/angry at my situation, stressed, under pressure, no energy to workout, and so on. I really want to improve my situation, and I was wondering if switching to day shift ever provided somewhat of an improvement for anyone. I will have better sleeping schedule, regular human lifestyle, more energy, less tired, hopefully less angry, better social life, much better staffing, and so on. Of course there are downsides, and the biggest one would be not getting extra $4/hr night diffs, but if my life can significantly improve and give me a chance for happier life, decrease in money is only an expandable luxury. So for those who made the switch from nights to day shift, have you noticed any big change for the better? Thanks!

At our system flat pool/resource gets paid twice the department rn base pay. Ya twice.