ClariceS

ROFL!! I printed this for others to read (thank you, laugh) and someone said,"have they been following us around?" Thank you for the smiles!

Let's see - my grandmother and one aunt were medicine certified CNA's, my mom was an RN, and another aunt was an RN/Nurse Manager. But they weren't my biggest influences on my decision. I had surgery when I was 15. Quite nervous, and the nurse noticed. She held my hand and listened to me chatter away as I often did when nervous. HUGE impression on me that she took the time to do that. I had a student RN post surg and she also spent the time talking to me and telling me her experience in nursing. Second influence was a teacher I had in highschool (small school - same teacher all of highschool). She had us thinking about what we wanted to do in life. I hadn't made a decision about it but since I had to write a paper, I chose nursing. Then as I wrote the paper and time passed, I thought more and more about it and decided I liked that idea.

We don't even get comp time here. Travelers have really helped out here because so much of the short shifts were nights. Try do some of those and then attend that mandatory leaders meeting the next day. But they are a HUGE budget eater and then you have to answer for being over your budget. (interestingly, if I take the agency out of the equation, we would be only 5-6000/mo short because they raised the wages and sign on bonuses but didn't add that to our budgets) I am leaving after just less than 2 years and am so looking forward to doing patient care again. I would have loved management if we had enough nurses to cover the shifts. I work for a place who's administration actually supports nurses. My nurses have great patient ratios (5 on days, 6 on nights. I went in when they were taking on more than 8 a piece on nights.) I enjoyed the leadership and coaching and mentoring it involved. I didn't even mind the harder parts of the job such as correction or firing as long as I could get rest.

I was very blessed! I was recruited at a job fair and naive as I was at the time, took the job and moved down to Texas from Alberta. I got a job at a fabulous hospital (where I still am 9 yrs later). Their nurse recruitment office took care of all the paperwork regarding licensure and immigration. Their rates were lower/hr but I was guaranteed full time and benefits. They paid a moving allowance and tuition reimbursement but no sign-on bonus (they offer that now). It is nurse supportive and I have had great opportunities for advancement (am a nurse manager now). *BUT* - as I stated at first, I was blessed! I could have easily walked into another area hospital that routinely has 10-12 patients/nurse. I get about 1 nurse every 2 months from that facility asking to work my floor alone. They offer a fabulous sign on bonus which grabs new nurses who don't know any better. (Always ask youself what they will ask of you if their bonus seems a little to good to be true.) I totally agree you should check out the facility first. If possible try talk to some of the nurses working there, not just to the recruiter. Someone who recently started working for me arrived about a half hour before her interview and before introducing herself to me, she went up to a couple of the nurses, told them she was a nurse and asked them what they thought about this hospital. That way she already had an idea of how she felt about things before she talked to me. (Thankfully she talked to some happy nurses!!!) She told me later what she had done and that they had been the ones to convince her, not me. There are some great opportunities if you are willing to get out and look for them! Great luck!!!

I left bedside nursing 2 years ago and can hardly wait to get back to the bedside. To be responsible for only 6-8 people (instead of 68) and to go home after my shift without a beeper and only work my scheduled shifts and have some weekends completely off and not have to beg and plead for someone to cover me if I do want a weekend off and not have to fire people and not have to do reviews on those who are skating by and not having to worry about getting the whole floor ready for JCAHO and not having to have administration after me for stuff my nurses have been told to do a million times and still don't do and not having to be mom to all of them most of the time and not having everyone come and complain and not having to do all the service recovery issues and not having to have all the answers all the time..... I think I'm a little burnt out by what I'm doing now:rolleyes:

I'm also seeing it with brand new (inexperienced) nurses. I don't see nurses wanting a particular facility because they've heard it is a good place to work. It's all about who will give them the bigger sign-on bonus or the $0.50/hr more. Then, the minute their contract is over or another place will give them more - gonzo. If you're only in it for the almighty dollar, then you are not going to support your co-workers. Sorry - venting. Just tried to recruit among some students.

I am so glad you have gotten the responses you have here. Most of these people really seem to understand. I do hope you ask for help with the sadness and anxiety. I too would cry myself to sleep but refused to think that I could suffer from depression. That depression was bad enough that my physical health failed and I started having fainting spells and ended up with severe pneumonia. Due to that, I get bronchitis almost every winter since. Then around age 24 I got myself into a bad situation because of my fear of being lonely. When I got out of that (thankfully not a marriage) I really hit bottom with depression. Thankfully my parents and pastor recognized the symptoms and got me into outpatient therapy. I never was on medication (still stubborn I guess) but the almost daily therapy sessions did start me on the right track again. Thank God for such a great hospital to work for as they dealt with my call-ins those first couple of weeks. I ended up going to therapy for almost 8 months before I really felt like I wouldn't slip back down. During my early 20's I dated a little but mostly losers or emotionally harmful to me. After the therapy I decided that I would probably always be single and I decided to make my own happiness. I started travelling, took a couple classes, lost weight and exercised. I did join a singles group and made a couple of friends. I worked hard and got promoted at work. I gained pride and self respect. Then, totally surprising to me, I met my husband just before I turned 30. We got married 2 years after we met. First marriage for both of us. We've been happily married now for 5 months. (Now you know how old I am!!!!) Please take care of yourself. Try to humor those that tell you "you'll find that person when you least expect it", or "there's someone for everyone". (I was ready to deck the next person that told me that!!!!!! ) And good luck at school!!!

I agree that it is unprofessional for nurses to sleep on the job. Here it is a terminable offense - a lot because people abused the system. No, there is no pay for the half hour lunch but if people won't manage their time properly and be back on time, they are marked late which if it happens more than once, they will be officially counselled for it. I've not seen that happen for 1 or 2 minutes but when it is 10 -15 minutes every time... Plus, here people only work 8 - 12 hr shifts so there should be no reason to have to sleep at work. Of course, we are not completely heartless and I have seen short naps allowed when extenuating circumstances have arisen. Also, no offense to whomever made the remark about having to wake the residents, but here they still work the 36+ hour shifts and if they do get a chance to nap at night, we try to be mindful of that.

Kona, You go after it! I think 3 years experience is a good amount and time to do charge. No kidding, you will feel like a newbie a bit but I think you will also surprise yourself by all that you already handle and know how to do. Make yourself one of those timelines that we all hated to do in school. It will actually be a good reminder of the new responsibilities you have. As you gain experience in this new role, you will develop a rhythm that keeps things on track. Remember, don't take the b****ing personally. Remind yourself that you are doing the job to the best of your ability and are doing your best to be fair to everyone. Mustang, It's not easy in this market to find other nurses to hire. We've had relief charge positions in our hospital open for over 6 months.

We had 2 residents who worked in the gastrointestinal clinic. One was Dr. Badejo and the other was Dr. Ojo. We called them the "G.I. Jo's".

That's why I clarified 'at my hospital'. Sure gets confusing:eek: Sorry, frap, we are just trying to be helpful. I have seen it for advance as tolerated too. Be sure to check the context and call for clarification if this doesn't help.

At my hospital, it means Activity As Tolerated. Mental blocks allowed!

At the hospital I trained, they announced overhead "one-one-one" followed by the floor number. Where I work now, they do not announce overhead but use a code pager system. It is very rapid. The code pagers have a different tone (and is much louder) than other pagers so it is not easy to ignore. When we have a code, we dial a specific number and tell the operator "Code Blue, Room ***". She accesses one button, keys the room number and everyone carrying a code pager gets paged at the same time. Time from our call to people arriving is usually 30 seconds or so.

Now I just need to know how I can work 24/7 seeing as that seems to be what is expected of me. Just had another charge nurse quit. Will soon have to be making baby nurses charge or I will have to be out there 24/7. Am going on 4 12 hr shifts already and it's only Wednesday. AND I have to move out of the old apt sometime before friday with people who only work 9 - 5!!!

Thank you for your replies. I am a little less despairing than I was a couple days ago although things haven't gotten any better. I was just told by one of my main charge nurses that she was going to another unit for further development. I appreciate her honesty. She even told me that she struggled with the decision because she likes my management style. It's an everyday struggle.