badmamajama

In your state does the BON have an anonymous line you can call and get practice advice? I've had to call mine a few times and one was for the same question. If you can, call and explain exactly what your role is and what the role of the supervising LPN is to see if it is within their scope. If they are practicing out of their scope that's on them and your facility, but I would hate for it to come back to bite you if something happens and you have to say you followed the direction of your supervisor and that person is an LPN. I've also seen an LPN telling everyone she is an RN when she hadn't taken her NCLEX yet and therefore wasn't licensed as such yet. She was the one I went to to ask questions when I wasn't sure about something. I didn't know she wasn't an RN until after I left that h*llhole. Scary...

It's a big trend these days to send a thank-you note to your interviewer for their time. It may be a little cheesy but if you have their email and can send one under the guise of "oh please exhalted ED Manager thank you for your precious time" you can slip in a little "can you please tell me something so I can stop biting my nails?" It sucks to wait and wonder. I interviewed for a job I wasn't qualified for but I was referred for back in December. I emailed and waited a couple of weeks then saw two nurses I used to work with post on Facebook that they were the new nurses at BigBritches ED. That's how I found out I didn't get it! =) No worries, they had years of experience, I had six months. I love the job I got so no hard feelings. Good luck to you!!! T

I can't imagine how scary that is! That would be worse than being a new grad getting shoved to the floor! At least if you were straight out of school you would have had recent clinical experience! I think the PP who said you should ask for orientation and training first was right. You won't get it, I'm sure. The LTC I worked at gave new grads three days orientation if they begged and everyone else got only one or two. At least ask and DOCUMENT that you did! Document everything, and if you have access email your DON so you have everything in writing. If they give you the ax and then try to say you resigned by refusing an assignment then that's a load of crap. Apply for unemployment and talk to the EEOC. I wonder what your state BON would think of this? Hmmm...

Rest and relaxation! Funny I saw the headline and though t it was sarcasm! Glad you cleared it up! I figure not a lot of us remember what r&r is even if we do know what it stands for!

I hate to hear that this has caused you so much anxiety. I think you have good reason to be concerned and I applaud your efforts to look into policies and safety guidelines. I don't have to beat a dead horse by saying you may be overly concerned, of which you have said you are aware. I honestly don't blame you or think you are going to be a bad nurse. I agree with the Guide who said this may a manifestation of some underlying issue. You are still a student, so you have a million reasons right there to be a nervous wreck. We've all been there, we should all understand. I remember every having it drilled into my head that any mistake can kill a patient, or cost you your license, or at the very least get you fired. Every day I had to remind myself that if others can do it, so could I. But I digress... Think long and hard about all the things that may be causing you anxiety. I don't just mean school stuff, the other parts of life, too. Who can you talk to that you can trust not to be judgemental? Talk to them about exactly what you shared with us, and get some positive affirmation from them. By the way, AN should be a safe place for us to confide our fears. I'm sorry you feel you were attacked and told you are self-absorbed. I didn't find you to be self-absorbed, just overwhelmed by a fear. Channel that concern you have for safety into positive outlets. Maybe you have a good future in an Infection Control department! Since you brought up hormones and the pill, maybe that wasn't such a bad idea. Hormones can do crazy things to your brain, especially when you are stressed out and vulnerable. Talk to your doctor about this. Talk to someone who doesn't want to just hand you a script for Cymbalta to make it all go away! Good luck to you! I think you will make a great nurse! Btw how much longer do you have? :hug:

Can I move to where you are and work with you? I would love love love to be around such a positive, uplifting spirit! What you just described is exactly the kind of nurse I always strive to be. It is such a challenge, though, for many of the same reasons everyone else talked about. We should clone you. T

I look at this way, I am there by my own choice and getting paid to be there. They probably are not. I try to see it as if they are sick, in pain, and probably feeling like crapola with their dignity compromised in those lovely hospital gowns. I just remember that I get to go home at 7(:30ish) and they get to sleep in a hospital bed that night. I know I'm not as nice as I can be when I feel like crap, look like crap, or I'm wearing a gown that displays my gluteus very maximus. Then there are the other kind of patients. We all know the drug-seeker types that munch Doritos and complain of back pain and gripe to the charge nurse that you didn't bring them a blanket fast enough. They not only come in on their own, they come in often enough to notice your new haircut. When these types get all miffed and nasty I imagine them in a clown suit. Well, it doesn't do any good to imagine them in their underwear when everyone is in their underwear, right? Trust me, you imagine this person in a blue wig with a red nose and it takes the punch out of anything they say. It also helps manage to keep a smile! Really, I do follow the kill 'em with kindness philosophy. You would be surprised at how much you can turn someone's mood around. This grumpy guy might not be so grumpy with a little extra kindness. Who knows what he is thinking, and part of it may be an assumption that you don't care. Show him what a fantastic bedside manner you have, even as frustrating as is it. Don't beat yourself up if you have a hard time being Ms. Congeniality all the time. You are human, too. Step out, breathe, and regroup before going into the next patient room if you can. T

There are a lot of great suggestions here. Take them and use them. What your instructor said about "getting the book and reading it" is a load of crap! What it sounds like they want you to do isn't something you can learn from a book so don't beat yourself up if you studied that chapter and still aren't comfy chatting! This is something that does take practice, takes a lot of getting out there and being with people. The PP that suggested the retirement home is right. Maybe if you can volunteer some in a home (in your copious spare time, haha) you can have opportunities to engage people without the stress of clinical work on you. You don't even have to say much to get some of them on a roll. This might help you think of things to say. They will be grateful for your company. Remember that if it helps to lessen any anxiety of saying the wrong thing. Ask simple questions, like where they are from, about their families. Ask something open-ended and they will talk willingly. I bet if you told some of them you have a difficult time making small talk they will give you some great advice as well! If you can tell your instructors you are taking steps to improve they may be more willing to work with you. You sound like an intelligent well-prepared person and you can use that to your advantage here. Write out an action plan. Make a step-by-step plan on how you are trying to resolve the issue. If you do get to do volunteer time, list it. Also list that you are reading those d*** chapters on communication for crying out loud. That should butter up that smarmy instructor. Make this as official of a document as you can, with a "To" and "From" and "Subject" fields. Request time during office hours and present it like a proposal. Dress up for this meeting and be as professional as possible. Put on a thick layer of chapstick if a little butt-kissing is involved. Small talk does help a nurse. It does indeed help gain the trust and confidence of not only the patients, but your coworkers. That being said it sounds like you have plenty to offer that not everyone does. It sounds like you put together a well-organized informative presentation. You have skills. You know the material. You will save lives. Don't give up because you could give a d*** about everyone's thoughts on the weather! Keep us updated! T

Guttercat, you never fail to make me chuckle!!!!! Great thread!!! Keep the stories coming! These are great!!! T

Before nursing school I was an ED tech for two years. At that time I was often put up front to be the Triage tech. I was the first person you saw when you got passed the metal detectors. My job was to get the chief complaint, demographics, put on the armband of the patient, and if necessary let the triage nurse know if there was someone that needed to be seen in a hurry, for example chest pain, active bleeding, GSW to the head (true story), etc. I heard everything, was called every name in the book, and yes saw wait times that were pretty outrageous. I once had a 2yr old boy brought in by his parents who had an obvious fracture; and by obvious I mean severe deformity. (kids don't normally have two elbows.) This poor kid waited for two hours to be seen. The frustrated triage nurse could only say "as long as he has a pulse and is breathing he is fine." What I knew yet couldn't tell these (understandably)infuriated parents was that we had two active codes going on in the back, and countless patients who needed ICU level care for their strokes, respiratory illnesses, etc. All this they couldn't see. In the lobby where they waited they saw people muching Doritos and leisurely watching Montel on the TV's. Another time I had a 40-something man check in c/o abd pain a little while before I got off shift. The next day when I came in, fourteen hours after he checked in, he was still there. He was not just complaining anymore, he was on the floor in the fetal position. When I saw him I decided to check on him because it had been so long and he began vomiting lovely coffee-ground emesis. That was his ticket to the front of the line, otherwise he would have been there for a while longer. Again, the back was unusually chaotic at that time. Like Larry said, if you have only been to the ED as a patient then it may be hard to understand why the waits are insane. You can't imagine what is going on in the back just by looking at the lobby. If it seems like a crowded bus terminal in the front you can bet it's a cage fight in the back. Oh and the guy that just walked in who looks seemingly okay may have just told me he has fantasies about killing his whole family and wants help. Or he could have told me he is having chest pains and actually is is having an MI right there in the lobby. You never know what is going to come in that door. What p***es me off to no end are the people that come in, say they've had a stomach ache for three hours, start chowing on vending machine food while they wait, despite me instructing them not to eat, then after waiting for three hours they call 911 from their cell phone in the lobby, making EMS have to come evaluate them. True story. In my county EMS is authorized to advise patients transport is not indicated in some cases and advise them to find another ride to seek treatment. Abdominal pain is one of the exceptions. All abd pn must be transported so we actually had EMS have to evaluate this girl, put her in the ambulance, and drive around the parking lot to the ambulance bay where they marched her through the back and down the hall to the triage desk where they were instructed to take her by the charge nurse. I was the one with the privelidge of telling her she had to be triaged again and the whole process started over since she signed out AMA before. This was technically a new visit. What kept the smile off my face when I told her was the knowledge that she would never pay for any of this. T

everyday, i don't go to work without it. (hr, lab draws, charting), i need the digital set to 24hr because i need every brain cell to do my job and doing the math to switch from 12hr to 24hr would put me over the edge. i do not show up to my shift without: name badge my cheap 24hr digital timex watch -cheap enough that if it got involved in a code brown, i could trash it without a second thought. my littmann at least 4 inkpens- i lose one or two a shift. shears iphone with my drug guide on it also bring a: lightpen, kelly clamp, but if i left them at home, i could do without, lift one from someone else. when i show up, i fill my pockets with alcohol pads, saline flushes, 4x4s, 1 10cc syringe (i was in a code when no one had a syringe to inflate the cuff after intubation luckily i had one in my pocket)and post it notes. everything here plus a retractable black sharpie for initialling/dating iv's, dressings, foleys, etc. i could not function without a sharpie!!!!!

Cheap and trashable is right! If you pay more than $12 at Target than you are spending too much. I gave up on classic face watches with second hands ages ago. I stick to digital watches with numbers that light up so I can take vitals in dimmer light and not squint to follow the second hand. Like the pp's said, if you get something icky in it you will never get it out and you'll walk around with vomit (or worse) in an expensive watch. I would have to take mine off a lot to move patients or do gross tasks so I recently wised up and got one of the digitals that are made to be attached to a zipper-pull and hang it from the lanyard with my ID badge. That has been a lifesaver!!! I don't get why some people want to wear their pretty gold watches in a place where they will be giving bed baths and changing adult diapers? YUCK!!! T

:yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah: YES, YES, AND YES!!!!!! T

"all right. that's it. i went to my young patient's bed, held her hand, and said, "this pain you're going through is crap. i know you want to be home with your children. sometimes, you just need to cry it all out. do it. i'm here." she cried her eyes out for a few minutes, and i had a few tears run down my face too." you can be my nurse anytime!!! "one time i started an iv on a pt with many dx, including schizophrenia. she laughed till tears came throughout the whole iv start. i thought she was laughing at the tv, but...no!!! she looked at me, when i was done and said," how did you start that iv standing on your head?". lol i was sitting in a chair at her bedside starting her iv...not standing on my head.. hee hee" wow, how did you respond to that? i :redbeathe this thread! t

I'm glad to hear you had fun!!! I bet you had to stop yourself from just picking the little ones all up and snuggling them! I'm also glad you have experience as a mom of a NICU baby. Wait, let me rephrase that, I'm not glad you had the experience, but I'm glad, SINCE you had the experience you can bring that to your clinical rotation. You will have an empathy for the babies and the parents not all the other students will have. Hopefully you won't need to draw on your own history but it's there if you need it. I'm hoping your children are all well now??? :redbeathe T