Anthonyrnbsn

This does pretty much describe a normal shift now to the "T". Been doing this over 18 years now and it's not getting easier. We definitively all need to stick together and have each other's back more than ever. People who post negative comments such as the previous one from Jane are more than likely the same type of Nurses who demand those ridiculous drawn out reports that make you late after the type of shift you described and will cut you down for not "memorizing " the chart because you were too busy out there actually caring for your patient. THEN when you get report from her, she will know nothing and rush you and need to "her home" for some reason. It will get easier but the change is difficult. Hang in there.

It depends on your studying style. Do you need super quiet or is public studying ok? I used to hang out in like borders or barnes and noble. Used to eat drink coffee and use all their books for free. Need a break? Just walk around stretch your legs people watch etc then back to the books. A couple weeks of this and the nclex will be a breeze

We definitely do not have an hcg before toradol policy. Thank God because that would delay discharge even more especially in fast track where we want to treat and street ASAP

That does sound like a ridiculous situation but definitely NOT the norm. Yes nurses get stressed and yes they will argue with each other because they are human. However the way they spoke to you is inappropriate for both nurses and human beings in general. There are A LOT of annoying,dramatic,manipulative and drug seeking patients and usually I fan keep my cool. But even in the worst situation I wouldn't speak to a patient like they spoke to you. Worst come to worse I would just walk away and or have one of my co workers speak to them. In response to some other comments I don't think you will be a "wash out nurse". Sometimes people who are jaded or been in nursing too long become insensitive and forgot that the core of being a nurse is kindness caring and compassion not just robotically and militantly doing your job according to policy and procedure and forgetting others have feelings. I work in the ER where it can completely suck sometimes but my cow workers are awesome and we work as a team from physicians down to housekeeping. So in short follow your passion and use your kindness to do what you were meant to do which is help not berate.

There's so many,but the most recent was during hurricane Irene,on long island. The person came in because they had decreased "taste" for the past 3 weeks and decided 10 pm during a hurricane was the time to come. WTH. Seriously. And OF COURSE they wanted a turkey sandwich before they left. Why do some people exist?

I totally feel for you. I work in a level 2 ER, and I can totally see this happening. We do about 40-50k patient a year and I have had up to 10 patients during a shift including critical ICU patients. Typically however we have No less then 4 patients and a average of 5-6 at a time. and I CANNOT STAND when your getting your a** kicked and you try to get rid of a patient to a floor who has not taken anyone ll shift and you get the old lines "my charge nurse is on the phone call back" "the nurse is on lunch call back" (lunch? I wish I could EVER say, Im on lunch come back later), "we are having a floor meeting, call back", "its been so busy here, can you call back in a hour" (sure I will just tell the ambulances to stop coming because I already have 10 patients) or the myriad of other infinite floor excuses. The floors need to realize that we are ground zero in the Hospital, and can have unlimited amount of patients that we cant turn away and its not our fault. Please stop getting mad at us that these patients exist and need to come to your floor. I think the Icing on the cake though (and this will be my last rant) is now in my hospital we have admission nurses,admission secretaries and a throughput coordinator. SO, when the patient comes to the floor, the admission is done for the floor nurses and ALL the orders are frequently picked up by the secretary for the charge nurse, so all the floor nurse needs to do is vital and assess the patient. Usually not even daily meds because if we dont do every daily med before the patient comes up the floor will cry that is all :)

This is definetly a tough call. Just reading it I would say definetly press charges. But if somehow it was accidental or he was super tearful and or remorseful I would cut him a break in lieu of his diagnosis. If however He didnt care or was a jerk about it I would press charges regardless. As you may or may not know it is a Felony to assualt a nurse on Duty http://blog.timesunion.com/healthcare/law-makes-it-a-felony-to-assault-a-nurse/685/ Just having that diagnosis doesnt make him untouchable or a good person. You wouldnt condone a known criminal or murderer just because he happened to be terminally Ill

The attitudes of experienced nurses are so random. It depends on the individual, the unit, and unfortunately a good deal of the times the new nurses age and looks. I have worked in a variety of units and definetly experienced the "eating of the young", but not just from Nurses I used to be mortal enemies with the unit secretary and this Nursing assistant that was there for a long time who dodnt like how I made the beds, and the secretary hated me because of my handwriting. Currently I am in the ER and the staff here are a different breed, for the most part young (40's and under) and we are very accomadating to new staff. I myself go out of my way to make new staff feel wanted and comfortable. I think the whole "eating the young thing" should be a thing of the past. Nursing is very different now and there is no place for that or taking abuse from doctors which doesnt really happen anymore because they get in trouble. I think being male I generally get along with most staff. I have seen women hate other new women just because they are young or attractive which is irritating, but does happen. So in short you can experience this from not just nurses but any disipline who feels they are more experienced than you and it is unfair and annoying but probably happens in all lines of work. You just need to be lucky enough to work with a group of good people. good luck

What are banners typical hourly rates for travel/stipend? Also do you have any idea what family insurance may be with them? D you get there regular benefits that you would get if younger their staff if you travel with them? Thank you

Hello, I know this has been asked in one way or another 5,000 times but I havent found any current threads about this topic :) I am planning on selling my House in NY and moving to AZ permenantly, as I have a lot of family in the Phoenix/fountain hills area. I have been doing tons of research and spoke to at least 10 travel agencies that way I can scope the area until I find where I want to work as staff. most of the agencies are offering around 30-35 and 1000-1100 or so for living stipend. So the average Net,take home is around 1100-1400 a week. This is great but the cheapest I have found family insurance through any company is 700 a month. So plan B would just be to apply to a hospital as staff so I dont get killed for the insurance payment. Can anyone give me a ballpark as to what a staff Nurse with 13 yrs experience in either ER or tele/pcu would be an hour? Of course no hospitals advertise their payscale (except VA) Thanks so much!

I have been a Nurse for 13 years and have worked in multiple units,Med surg,tele,vents,float,managment. The last 4 years I have neen working in the ER. It can seem a bit overwhelming at first and I doubt anyone is ever completely comfortable because anything can happen and you see the patients first(assuming they survived ems). on the whole I enjoy working here much better then anywhere else in my career. Its fast passed, my coworkers are a certain "bree" and are fun to work with. You are much closer with drs then when you are on the floor. You are on first name bais and they are your friends as well as co worker. I have learned more here then I learned all along and can get an IV in alost anyone. If you can get in a hospital thats willing to train you for 6 months to a year then go for it. Any other questions dont hesitate to ask.

Is that Scottsdale Shea?

Wow 3-4 patients is great. This is a med surge floor? I wouldn't know what to do with myself with that ratio.....guess I could actually take care of patients. Today was a good day. I only 6 patients in the ER. Yesterday was much worse 8 patients including a 35 year old non traumatic aortic dissection out of the blue. I will definitely take major paycut I az. I'm at 42.88 hour base pay right now and still struggling on long island.

Hello. Where is this awesome hospital with 3:1 nurse/ pt ratio? I work in the ER and we typically have 6-9 on any given day. When I worked in med surg we would have an average of 8. I want to relocate to az and will probably do travel nursing and need to find a better place to work. It's rough on LI