nursecat64

I started a new position in med/surg after having been away from hospital nursing for a few years,working in home health. I will be working nights at the hospital, but orientation starts with a month of day shifts. I had never done compurerized charting. The nurses orienting me are young, brought up in the computer age, unlike me. The nurses are not friendly, condescending, and have no mercy. I have never been treated so badly, in all my years of nursing, as I am right now. I had no lunch break today, and was so exhausted by the end of the day, I could hardly think, and my "mentor" said "that's the way it is, get used to it,". Learning the computer system, the hospital routines, the layout, etc. while taking a full patient load seems a bit much. Is it?? Other, older nurses, who have been oriented by the young, "computer generation" nurses, report similar experiences. There is a definite generation gap at this hospital. These young nurses are super confident. One of them even made me change my assessment findings to what SHE thought! When I tried to explain I didn't feel comfortable with that, she called me "defensive" I trust my assessment skills, I've been a nurse for 13+ years! Yet she made me feel like I didn't have a clue. Is this the norm nowadays? I've always heard that "nurses eat their young" Do the young now eat their old?

If you go to the Board of Nursing website they actually have a policy you can get a copy of, that states what you can/cannot say or post on social networking sites like facebook. I would be careful, it (the policy) says you can be held accountable, even years later, for things posted online. Even on sites like this one where you don't use your name. I also would not "like" anything r/t nursing on facebook or any of the others. Don't put your place of employment either. "liking" links everything back to you. For example, if you "like" ALLNURSES, your employer looking on facebook can trace you back to here and find your posts. Many HR depts. search for whatever info online about employees/potential employees that they can find. It WILL be held against you. If you put something online, even if you mark it "private", it is public. Even e-mail.

I have 4 kids: 24, 20, 16, 7 I liked that I only had one baby at a time, and all the kids have a special bond with each other. They all adore the "baby". (Although when I told the oldest I was pregnant, her first words were "MOM!! How COULD you?? This is SO embarrassing! What will my friends say?") But now, the younger ones look to the oldest for advice. Especially the 16 yr old. I had the three oldest, was working in med/surg, doing very well, training in ER, had big plans and goals for the nursing career. Then I had another baby - (my 7 yr old), changed jobs, worked in a local clinic because the hours gave me more family time. I thought "I can go back to hospital nursing anytime" WRONG!! Now, here I am, 5 years since I did hospital nursing..first of all, it was difficult to find a hospital willing to hire me. I found one. But it is very hard, EVERYTHING has changed. Nursing is always changing, if you don't keep up, your lost. I think it would have been a much wiser choice to finish having babies, get them in school, THEN go to nursing school. OR go to nursing school, work for 10 years or so, then have babies. But you have to have time to establish one or the other, or the family AND the career will suffer. Since you have already started your family, make the family your first priority. Those kids need you like you don't even realize. BTW, The oldest student in our nursing class was 63!! Most of us were 30 something and the youngest was 21, she was the "odd man out". In a community college the population is generally more mature. You are still in your 20's, you still have 40 or more years before you retire. Nothing wrong with starting nursing 5, 10, or even 15 years from now. You know that song "cat's in the cradle with a silver spoon...see you later...can I have the car keys.." Anyway it's about a parent not having enough time for the child, then when the the parent has the time and wants to spend it with the son..the kid has grown, moved on. It's a very moving song. One more thing..I've never heard of a person at the end of life saying 'I wish I would have spent more time working" The biggest regret is not cherishing the moments when the kids are little. best of luck to you

Yes... We live in a different age. 10 years ago, your business was your business. Not anymore. I am going through something similar although it's a different condition. I am being denied employment because I take meds. I have worked for many years without issue. Employers do have to make accomadation for "disabilities" but that does not include letting you work "under the influence" of what they consider mind altering medications, legally prescribed or not - in direct patient care. They might make you see an occupational health specialist. I'm sorry you told your boss about the medications. You should have said, and should say, (in my opinion) if it happens again - "I just didn't get enough rest to feel I can give patient care safely today." Or ask if you can go in a bit later when rested. In the nurses with disabilities section there is a thread written by someone with ADHD who is being investigated after a patient complaint now because of her ADHD.. You might want to get a release from your doctor saying that you ok to work as a nurse. I think each case is different, but employers are more concerned with liability. If you were to lose your position, It may be very difficult to find a new one, what with drug testing and all. I had a drug screen, they put down "negative" after verifying my scripts but still recommended a "fit for duty" test. The FFD test was done at the same facility that did the drug screen, so no way to hide anything. It seems very unfair to me, when a nurse has a history of good nursing - that it is this way now. It's best to say as little as possible, in my opinion. "Anything you say CAN and WILL be held against you" I Don't mean to be negative, but... Please feel free to send me a PM CAT:nurse:

Thank you for the help.:) That website "kids health" is great!! What is the title to the book by American Girl? Do you know a place online to order it? We have no book stores in our area. Does anyone know of any other good books for school age girls on how the body works in general?

Do they teach the 5 rights of medication administration in your school?

Tinkerbell, I couldn't sleep. I knew you would see the words "poorly" and not being American and be defensive after I had posted. So came back to clarify. I was not trying to be critical. I was trying to find out if you were in a different sort of program than we have here. It sounded like your program of study is different. Different teaching methods. Perhaps you don't draw up the meds yourself but are given a tray of already filled meds to pass? I shouldn't have said worded "poorly" I should have said inconsistent. (yellow med ,mouth stuff, nystatin) I thought maybe you spoke French or Spanish or Chinese or...and learned English later, and were trying to find different words to articulate what you meant,.. I was trying to DEFEND you! If I upset you more, I'm very sorry. But a nurse needs to grow a thick skin. We get yelled at, by doctors, by patients, sometimes bosses, whether we deserve it or not. As my instructor always told us "put on your emotional rain coat, and let it slide off" The comments here on AN are not to attack you as a PERSON, but to help you look at what happened objectively, from a nursing perspective.

:eek:Picture them in their underwear:eek:

:idea:I believe the problem here is that the OP may not be enrolled in an American/Canadian nursing school. She may speak English as a second language.That could be is why it is worded so poorly. I believe she is sincere and is trying to find different words to get her point across. Am I correct Tinkerbell

In my school, before we gave ANY med, we had to research it, and after we got it out (with supervision) we had to explain to the instructor what it was for and recite the 5 rights. We NEVER gave meds until the RN or instructor had verified that we knew what we were doing. Especially important in peds. Patient safety is first, I would question a students ability to be a nurse who worries about herself first and her patient second. I also can't imagine saying to a parent "I didn't even know what it is":eek::eek:

The best advice I ever got as a new grad was to do at least 2 years of acute care before specializing in any one area. This will build and cement your skills. If you go into LTC directly from school you may have a very difficult time getting into hospital nursing later if you decide to change. The problem with LTC (or clinic) is that you rarely use some skills (such as IV's) and if "you don't use it you lose it" You need to first build on all the skills you learned but never had a chance to really practice. (I'm not knocking LTC, I've done both acute and LT)

Too bad you didn't ask for advice before you filled out the application. I think the past is just that-THE PAST. Now you have to tell them what/where/why. (This is just my opinion I don't have personal experience in matters of the board) But having worked as a supervisor to nurses on probation, I know you will probably start out having to be monitored and will be restricted in your access to meds at work, your employer will have to know, and it may be harder to get a job with a probationary license. I am sorry to say you marked yourself before even "committing a crime." We live in an information age, and it is my belief that the more information one keeps private, the better. "anything you say can and will be held against you" I wish you well.

How could ADHD prevent someone from following hospital procedures:confused::confused:

nurse without "disabilities" make mistakes too. i don't know of any nurse who hasn't had an incident at one time or another. patients complain. it isn't right that one complaint from a pt. family member leads to such an inquisition. i could see if there was a series of incidents, but one??

I am going through a similar situation except mine is a pre-employment "fit for duty" It's very scary. Yesterday, I went to the occ. med. clinic for the test. I was expecting to do memory tests, have a physical assessment and such. Basically they did NOTHING! I had my vitals takken, went into a room, the "doctor" came in, opened my chart, and started questioning me on my ADD and medication that I take for it. I started to explain about difficulty staying on any one task etc.. He replied "so you have difficulty focusing hmmm.." and scribbled something in the chart. Then he started lecturing, saying medical people should take NO meds when they practice. He said "If you work at starbucks and make a mistake, the client just has the wrong latte, but a NURSE, well, the mistakes can be much more serious.'(true, but if someone has been on a med a long time, the body and mind adjust) He didn't seem to care that I have been on the med for 7 years without a problem. The only physical "tests" he did was have me close my eyes and touch my nose, hold my arms out and tap my fingers together, and check my knee reflexes. I still don't know if I passed. My advice to you: When you go to the test be very careful what you reveal about medications and medical history. (I don't know how your employer knew about your ADHD, if they hadn't known, you would have just had a QA and that would be that.) Have your regular doctor right you a note to bring with you that says you are physically and mentally fit to practice nursing if you can. Bring whatever you can to show you are a a fit and able nurse with no negative history. I say to bring it in writing, because I got flustered at my appt. and everything I was going to say went right out the window. Good luck, post back and let us know what happens. You can also send me a PM if you have questions that I might be able to help you with.