loveoutloud

I forgot my major annoyance of the week (and a question I initially intended to ask in this thread): would it be rude to say "please wait until I'm done report before asking questions- I will probably get there" in response to constant interruptions? I cannot stand when people interrupt report with CONSTANT questions that 1) I will get to if you give me a chance 2) are stupid and irrelevant

I have become increasingly frustrated during bedside report at change of shift. Ignorant nurses wanting to know ridiculous details or why I didn't do certain things. I'm not telling the Dr. To switch my patient from their current anti-depressant to citalopram because YOU think it's Indictated. There is a reason why PSYCH decided on the particular medication and we need to give it a fair chance. I'm not advocating for an increase dose in flomax because it was started yesterday.....these things take time. I did however ask for an order for a temporary foley until the medication takes effect so the poor patient doesn't need to be straight cath'd q shift (and put it in of course). I'm sorry I didn't change the OD drsg either, my patient in another room passed away and I was comforting her husband. Nursing is a 24 hour job, not everything needs to be done between 7-3. All my patients are clean, comfortable, turned, and all the orders/tasks for my shift have been completed when I pass my patient off to you. I did not read social works last note, but I also didn't take a lunch break or pee. That's because I was helping a more junior nurse with a difficult IV stick and showering my patients because that has not been done for a week and I know you will be too busy texting to bother with it yourself. You were the last straw- the reason why I accepted a position on another unit. We often work understaffed with high acuity patients that also require complete care. It's not safe. I cannot provide the quality care I would want my loved ones to receive and therefor feel like a crappy, inadequate nurse. I truly hope the staffing and other rough areas on the unit improve for you- surely working there is taking a toll on everybody. the above vent is NOT the main reason why I left, but was the catalyst for being fed up with years of an unsafe environment and apathetic manager. The finger-pointing and witch-hunting when people make an error needs to stop. Mistakes don't need to be advertised during a staff meeting for everybody to know. I'm getting out before I become the subject of the aforementioned witch hunts. thanks for reading my vent. Now I must put my game face back on and get back to work.

I said alert and orienTATED and was agreeing with it..... part of my reply got cut out. I dislike when people use orientated rather than oriented.

Oops that's was supposed to be a response to the comment listing "alert and orientated" as a pet peeve. One of mine is when people say "exact same". It's redundant to use "exact".

This.

In my area, palliative is the same as hospice. Patients in this area will not be receiving treatment for their medical condition, but rather their care is focused on providing comfort and psychosocial support to them and their family. You may be giving a lot of pain meds, anti-emetics, etc. You will get a lot of wound care experience in palliative as well, many get pressure ulcers even with frequent repositioning. As the previous poster said, sub-acute patients are past the "acute" phase of their illness. In the instance if a stroke, they may require further rehab and work with ADL's. Other times, they are not "sick" enough to require acute care but still require monitoring or maybe IV antibiotics. I work in acute care and we send our stable walking and talking patients there.

There is an instructor, but it is a 6:1 ration so the will inevitably be asking me questions. In terms of assessments etc I want to complete everything to ensure changes are detected promptly.

Hi! I am a new grad (June 2014) and have been working in acute medicine for 4.5 months. There will be two groups of students with us 2 separate days each week. I feel like I have learned and grown as a nurse so much in my short career but I am feeling a bit anxious about having students with my patients because they will be looking at me as the "nurse" and I want to be able to answer questions in a way they understand but am unsure if I will be able to do this yet. Any tips for helping out students? Do you still vital your patients, do complete assessments etc. when students are also looking after the patient or do you check what they have recorded? I am am especially nervous about the students at this school because they get in based on a waiting list...... Not GPA. I had students from this school in one of my classes (they could take certain electives at my school that were not offered at their school) and the majority of them seemed like complete duds (one was not able to use the correct form of "there" or "too" buts that's another rant for another time). I'm also 21 so all the students will be older than me. replies and advice will be much appreciated!

Wow, I could have written this post myself. I think others are more excited/happy for me than I am for myself. I am not looking forward to my job which I start very soon and I am avoiding studying for my RN exam like the plague. I have a personal issue I think is preventing me from me from being excited so hopefully it will resolve soon. I think the feeling stupid part is normal, and what nurse friends have told me is that it's good- it means you care and are SAFE. Good luck as you begin your career. Any luck on a job yet? ps I lie about being excited too, lol.

thank you for your responces!

no, we can burn those white scrubs:)

I am officially done classes (yay!) and have four exams to go for my classroom based part of school. In January, I will begin my 12 week practicum on a surgical floor. How many pairs of scrubs do you own and how may do you recommend purchasing to start with? I will be working 12 hour shifts, usually 3 days in a row with two days off. Would 5 be a good number?

So this may sound wierd but I think it is true. Althroughout highschool and my first year of university, I had perfect skin. However, when nursing school started, this all changed. It seems like I get acne whenever I am at the hospital. I don't think it is correlated with stress because during community rotations, my skin seems to clear up fine (even though community has just as much work, sometimes even more becuase it is alot of "busy" work). After my wonderful community semester of clean skin, I had I 1 month break from school where I just worked full time. Then, as soon as clinical started up again BAM- pimples. Has anybody else experianced this? What did you do to clear it up? I am very good with drinking lots of water, eating healthy and keeping my skin clean. During the worst flare up, I was on a oral med and it did nothing. Retin A cream and gel have also not been beneficial in clearing up breakouts when they occur. Never did I think that I would have acne at 21:( I graduate in january, and since my acne seems to be related to hospital I have little hope of having clear skin:*

In a few weeks, my request form is due for where I do my final preceptorship. So far in nursing school, I have loved everything (but L&D). I am interested in surgery, OR, peds, community health and LTC! I would really like to work in community health as I am really passionate about illness prevention. I can request this for my practicum, however, it is very difficult to get a job in this area where I live, especially when you are newly graduated. I think that at this point, I should seek a placement that will assist me in gaining employment out of school as well as a solid background in nursing. For that reason, I am learning towards surgery. Do you think that general surgery would be more beneficial than a specialty ward (like cardiac, neuro, ortho or trauma?) What is your advice about final preceptorship placements? Thanks so much for your help:)

I am planning on quitting my home care job, as it is too much with my nursing school courseload right now, as well as I am tired of the way the company treats employees. I am a casual employee, and as such have met my supervisor only one time- to fill out the paper work when I was first hired. All communication with her is done via email/phone/leaving messages (very hard to get ahold of her). Since I only work weekends, i don't deal with her about work- usually it is the after hours people i contact. Would it be inappropriate to send my 2 weeks notice via email? It really is NOT possible to do it in person as she only has mon-fri hours when I am at school.

hakuna matata :) and Smile though your heart is aching Smile even though it's breaking. When there are clouds in the sky you'll get by. If you smile through your fear and sorrow Smile and maybe tomorrow You'll see the sun come shining through For you. Light up your face with gladness, Hide every trace of sadness. Although a tear may be ever so near That's the time you must keep on trying Smile, what's the use of crying. You'll find that life is still worthwhile- If you just smile

Several of my classmates and I are becoming increasingly frusturated with our educational program. Our skills course is worth 2 credits. There are multiple reading to do each week and objectives to help focus us. There are skills videos that show how to complete the skills but these are sub par at best. I feel like skills needs to have a lecture component to help us understand everything rather have to teach it all to ourselves. I also believe these need to be demo'd to us in person so we can have a better view/ can have all of our questions answered. The lab portion of our class is supposed to be 1 hour 50 minuets, but after the 2 instructors (for a class of 20) explain what to do at the bedsides/ anser any questions there is only about 75 minutes left to complete 5-10 scenarios. It is very difficult to get their attention during lab as there are so many students with questions, so we cannot get the whole skill to watched to ensure we are doing it properly. In addition, anxiety levels are sky rocketing with upcoming skill demos (we get one random IV med thing and one skill like complex dressingh change, chest tube drain set up, trach suctioning etc) and if we make one mistake we fail. how are your skills classes set up? What do you think makes it conducive/ not conducive to learning?

Here's the thing-- I don't really want another job. I am only working so it can look good on my resume when I am looking for a nursing job. I am just worried that it would look bad to quit. I have been with the company since september now, but since it#s only a casual job, I have only worked 12-15 shifts in total. (usually every other weekend, some evenings and now that it is the break i have been getting some day shifts. Where I live CNA jobs are VERY VERY difficult to obtain, and I am not willing to stay here until i get one.

I am a nursing student and I work as a CNA in home care on a casual basis. I do like the job for the most part, but the way I am treated as a casual employee is making me want to quit the job. I get paid for what I work, not for the shift duration. For example, yesterday my shift lasted 9 hours 30 minutes, but I was paid 6 hours 20 minutes. My "off time" is spent driving from house to house (not paid for this) as it takes longer with each client than i am allotted (the people have very particular ways of doing things, and give me specific instructions that takes longer than the 20 minutes or so it should). For every shift, I am paid at least 2-3 hours less than the time I spend being on duty, and since it is usually only 10-15 minutes between clients, I have no time to do anything but drive to the next house. I do not get gas money between clients, only for half of my way there and back. If they call me and I do not accept the shift, the supervisor gets mad (the one I refused today i was about to email her to change my availability but she called with the shift before i got around to it). Some people and their families are very rude and am angry if I am even 5 minutes late, which I do realize comes with the job. Others are very rude if I don't do things the way they want (which is hard to learn their routines when I only see them once). The other main issue with the job is the region I work in is a 45 minute drive from my house, which can be over an hour is slippery winter mornings. Also, may shifts are early in the morning befire roads are cleared. I do not think a job is worth risking my life in dangerous road contitions. I have no desire to work in home health after I graduate, but i am afraid it would look bad if I were to quit this job, and think it may also help me get a job in the future. Would it look bad if I quit this job after only working 4 months?

sorry that it is so long and for the typos-- after a while the screen flashes to the top after typing each character.

I am a nursing student and I work as a CNA in home care on a casual basis. I do like the job for the most part, but the way I am treated as a casual employee is making me want to quit the job. I get paid for what I work, not for the shift duration. For example, yesterday my shift lasted 9 hours 30 minutes, but I was paid 6 hours 20 minutes. My "off time" is spent driving from house to house (not paid for this) as it takes longer with each client than i am allotted (the people have very particular ways of doing things, and give me specific instructions that takes longer than the 20 minutes or so it should). For every shift, I am paid at least 2-3 hours less than the time I spend being on duty, and since it is usually only 10-15 minutes between clients, I have no time to do anything but drive to the next house. I do not get gas money between clients, only for half of my way there and back. If they call me and I do not accept the shift, the supervisor gets mad (the one I refused today i was about to email her to change my availability but she called with the shift before i got around to it). Some people and their families are very rude and am angry if I am even 5 minutes late, which I do realize comes with the job. Others are very rude if I don't do things the way they want (which is hard to learn their routines when I only see them once). The other main issue with the job is the region I work in is a 45 minute drive from my house, which can be over an hour is slippery winter mornings. Also, may shifts are early in the morning befire roads are cleared. I do not think a job is worth risking my life in dangerous road contitions. I have no desire to work in home health after I graduate, but i am afraid it would look bad if I were to quit this job, and think it may also help me get a job in the future. Would it look bad if I quit this job after only working 4 months?

makes sense, thanks!!!

N/T keeps popping up in my pts chart. such as "n/t to upper legs, n/t to left hand" etc.

I have completed my third day of clinicals in a surgical unit. Some things I believe could have gone smoother (forgot to to my 5 rights a third time, forgot what one my meds side effects was, applied too much positive pressure after flushing picc, and too slow in removing air bubbles, and in general feeling like I have about 100 left feet). I also feel like I need to really improve in my organization, multi-tasking, etc and feel like a complete nursing failure. Anyways, I asked my instructor how I was doing and she said I was fine and that I seemed to understand principles/techniques. In nursing I am very hard on myself as i am terrified of doing harm to a patient. What things do nursing students do that scare you about their ability to be a nurse? Can you tell when they are blanking out due to nerves vs incompetence? xoxo

Differentiating between the two is on my skills checklist for tomorrow but I can't find any information about them. I have looked in my skills and fundamentals texts with no luck. I looked online and all i can find is that it is centralized intravenous additives. Help please!! xoxo