Longie

I had a psych pt during a rotation in school whose skin was BLUE without doubt. You could pick it out from quite a distance away. It would seem to wax and wane in intensity from day to day. The nurses told me it was a reaction to Thorazine--my drug guide lists 'pigment changes' as a potential side effect. The nurses also said that this was permanent and pt had for several years now.

:yeahthat: Doesn't matter what you're wearing or where you are....makeup, hairdo, etc. CONFIDENCE=SEXY, always has, always will. If you don't think you have anything to be confident about, start making a list of everything people are always telling you that you do so well......whether it's repositioning a patient, starting IVs, cooking, telling jokes, spitting watermelon seeds farther than anyone else......and then OWN IT!!!! Own all of those things when you are exhausted and dealing with the 6th PIA doc/family member/pt at work two hours into a 12-hour shift, own it at home in your sweats. Your talents, abilities and contributions to this world are what make you YOU, and when you realize that and 'own' it, you will feel sexy and your 'sexy' will show, no, pure radiate, without a crack of cleavage, a tail of thong showing or pancake makeup heavy enough to make IHOP scared. Oh, and listen to Helen Reddy's song 'I am Woman'

I too worked as a MT in an office and then in the hospital that paid to send me to nursing school. I actually took a pay cut initially as an RN due to being paid 'incentive' pay (additonal money per line for typing over a certain amount per shift), but am catching up due to pay raises. Everything the previous posters have mentioned regarding accents, noises, etc. is definitely true and believe it or not being a nurse does not necessarily make you proficient in ALL medical terminology:bugeyes:--there's a lot of it out there. Voice recognition software is big at our hospital, both 'back-end' and 'front-end'. Learning to work with that was a challenge at first but really increased my pay once I got the hang of it. Good luck to you!

1. For what it's worth, in my hospital and those surrounding me, it would not be a problem at all to switch over to a med-surg position--we're hurting for nurses. Your OR experience would probably serve you best and help you transition easiest on a pre/postop surgical floor where you would be handling all the common med-surg comorbidities that these surgical patients have while allowing you to continue to utilize your surgical knowledge to an extent with these same patients. 2. Yes, I've heard a few nurses say that "....aren't real nurses" garbage. Notice I didn't say OR nurses, because I've heard it applied to just about every type of nurse, school, occupational health, home health, and yes, more than once, med-surg. :smiley_abDon't know what's up with the bashing business--jealousy, frustration with current work situation--whatever, it's ridiculous. I couldn't walk into the OR and do what you do! The fact is we are ALL REAL nurses no matter what area we're in. It is hard enough to keep up with all the new advances within a specific speciality these days and no one is capable of knowing everything about every area of nursing. 3. So in a nutshell Shannon, whether you choose to venture into the wild wooly world of med-surg or continue to rock the OR...............do your thing, chicken wing and do it proudly!!!!!!!!!

So many great posts on here--also don't forget all the members of your interdisciplinary team--respiratory/cardiopulmonary, PT/OT/ST, dietary, unit secretary, even housekeeping! All of these people are folks who can help your days/nights go smoother and most of them have something that you can learn from them--yes, even housekeeping, I've had one who stopped while going down the hall and kept one of my patients from climbing over the side of the bed;) I've transferred to another area recently and a lot of these same people rotate through there and believe me, it has made an impression (favorable) on my new coworkers (and my supervisor as far as I can tell) who don't know me from Adam that they all smile, laugh and communicate well with me and I've caught one or two telling a few coworkers that I am a "great addition" to their area. Don't ever take an attitude that you are superior--'cause you're not!!!! We're all in this together and it takes all of us to make it work in this crazy place

As Kolt has been rather innudated with our requests:saint:, may I suggest further readers visit the above suggestions by Indy and pupnurse? I am currently experimenting with the PocketMod and have found there are upgrades out there (although without customizable text pages though still free) and also like pupnurse's flowsheet which can be adjusted for the individual user. When I transferred from Med-Surg within the last six months I knew my old 'brain' would not serve me any longer but have been at a loss as to what to use instead--I have pretty much been using the back of my report worksheet and collecting scraps of paper, writing on the back of my MAR, etc. throughout the day--leading to chaos at times when charting on the 'official' flowsheet:confused:. We have a clipboard/chart for each patient so like a previous poster, the last thing I need is another separate 'device' to keep up with. Good luck all!

:yeahthat:Especially renal/dialysis patients who are noncompliant with their routine outpatient dialysis/meds/diet--they come in, get dialysis in the hospital, scream at the staff because they aren't being given all the no-no foods they've been consuming on the outside, blood pressure/blood sugar takes nosedive B/C MD Rxs increased/new meds thinking admission meds weren't working when in fact they simply weren't taken--stay a month or so, get things halfway under control enough to be discharged and guess who rolls back in several weeks to months later:angryfire

:twocents:ok patty, a couple of thoughts here: 1. you asked your manager for advice who advised you and you took the appropriate actions based on same advice. 'nuf said. 2. as to the nurse who gave you the hard time and wouldn't let it go:deadhorse, might have been a couple of things going on: a. she's having a bad day/week/month/personal life is shot....and you're at the receiving end, lucky you b. she's burnt out and you're at the receiving end, lucky you c. she's mean-spirited and doesn't like to see new nurses trying to succeed, and would rather spend all her time complaining about the lack of teamwork rather than trying to be a part of the team, lucky you :sasq: if you can ascertain her attitude is due to situation a, a little compassion goes a loong way. if it's b, i've found sometimes (but not always) trying to approach these nurses and ask for their 'thoughts' on certain nursing issues/policies/procedures during a relatively (haha) quiet time helps each of you to see each other in a different light and communicate hopefully better during stressful times at work. if the situation is c, though....i work with someone who initially was on the opposite 12 hour shift of mine and boy did i dread giving report when she worked the next shift--i would usually walk out of the report room feeling like i needed to be typed and crossed because i had been ripped a new one that badly. it didn't matter what i did on my shift, didn't matter how crazy it had been, even didn't matter if i had an excellent shift and not a thing left undone--she found fault and reamed me out in front of everyone in the room--unit secretaries, aids, students--didn't matter. she found fault until i stood up to her one day and defended myself. i now work with her on the same shift and she still has more than a few moments of making comments around me/to me, but i stand up to her and i have come to realize that i am not alone in how she treats people--it's pretty much across the board. stand up for yourself when you know you are right--know your policy/procedures and people can argue all they want, patty! :icon_hug:

:twocents:In my ASN program we weren't allowed to hang IV meds until our last semester and then we had a lab that taught us how to program the pumps, primary/secondary lines, etc., but interestingly enough, these were already set up with the bags already spiked in the lab setting and priming lines/spiking were never discussed and I never thought about it until I was actually at the bedside with an RN one day ready to hang a piggyback. She asked me if I knew how to do it and I told her yes, hung the minibag up, pulled off the cap and watched as the whole bag of abx promptly poured onto the floor:confused:. Nurse just sighed and said "I'll call pharmacy and get another bag." It was THEN I understood that some bags could be spiked upside down and some couldn't:imbar. Have never made that mistake again:lol2:

I needed a laugh after a long day:lghmky:

Here's the mantra my preceptor beat into MY head: I am one nurse I can do for one patient At one time When everything was (and still does) come at me at once, repeating this in my head helps me to focus and prioritize:wink2:and take a deep breath and plunge back into the meelee:chuckle

Sunny, I'm coming up on 2 years as a new nurse and I just turned 45 in Feb. There are days when I wish I'd come to nursing earlier, but I also know the life experience I've had has made me the nurse I am today and was part of what motivated me through nursing school. I agree that other members of the healthcare team may assume that you are a 'seasoned' nurse, which can both work for and against you, depending on the circumstances, but eventually once they get to know you, knowing that you have (and use)sound nursing judgment will be what really matters. I know docs and other interdisciplinary team members that hold certain nurses in high regard and it has nothing to do with their age:wink2:. I too have been told I look younger than my age, but not in my 20s!!! :bow:At any rate, I am not shy about telling my age to anyone who asks--I am proud of every year I have lived and I have yet to feel discriminated against by anyone as an "older" 'new' nurse. I choose not to look at the amount of time I have left to work but instead at how much opportunity I have ahead of me--my BSN and MSN are down the road, even if I am 65 or older when I get there:bugeyes:!

Let me tell ya, I'm coming up on 2 years of Med Surg working three 12s a week sometimes four and most days it's still Stress City. Feeling behind all day long, meds late, worried I've missed something, family members wanting waited on, questions answered, staff out sick or going to meetings and you have to help cover for them, it never ends. I'm on a small unit, charge takes patients too and each nurse is responsible for signing off her own orders, doing her admissions, discharges, etc. It's really frustrating when you come in and 3 out of 5 pts are being discharged, med reconcilation on computers here is long and complicated and docs don't want to comply, and the CA is calling with admits before the rooms are cleaned, meanwhile you've got your other 2 pts and docs writing orders right and left on them, families wanting answers/waited on, fingersticks to do... What keeps me going is the experience and education I am receiving along the way and most of my coworkers are supportive. I wanted Med Surg all through nursing school and don't regret my decision one bit, and actually feel I've become stronger over time (my manager and peers have said so too) since I've graduated...it's just hard to see the forest for the trees some days. Keep plugging away. :wink2:

:twocents:I'm a third generation nurse, but I don't think it's hereditary necessarily. My grandmother was a nurse, I think by choice, but her daughter, my, mom, was forced into it by my grandmother (my mom wanted to be a Rockette of all things). In my 30s while my mom was still nursing I became a medical assistant and now in my 40s and mom is retired am an RN, but I never intended to be a nurse--my grandmother is probably rolling over in her grave--while she was alive my goal was to be a writer/work in language arts. NO interest in nursing when I was young, I referred to syringes as "shot thingys," etc.