ak2190

Xanax or Ativan? *Whisper that into a nurse's ear.

Honestly, if I had known of allnurses when I was in nursing school, I'd probably have dug out old threads/posts by some ahem *crusty* members and molded them into an "interview".

I think about the paycheck, and the fact that I'm glad to be employed as a useful member of society and that I'll be able to pay the bills and help out my elderly parents with their bills this month. And that it probably won't be so bad once I get there and I can do anything for 12 hours.

10 minutes (and it would be less without traffic lights), I live a couple streets away from the hospital I work in. In the past, I've driven over an hour each way to get to work. I have to say, this non-commute has done wonders for my quality of life on the days I work.

I also started my current job on day shift and then went to nights. I like night shift and declined to go back to days when asked. I go to work, do my assessments and the major med pass of the night and things usually quiet down a bit and I can focus on things/interventions/patients that really need my attention. There are less people/visitors to get in your way. My night shift coworkers are more tight knit and supportive than when I worked day shift. I actually get to "know" my patients and their histories and needs a bit more since I'm not running around just trying to finish tasks like my dayshift coworkers are normally doing(though there are still nights like that). Although we do have to be more self-sufficient and independent, I'd rather do that than deal with having doctors, therapists, and management underfoot all day long.

It seems like you're upset that your nurse was busy and didn't spend extra time with you giving you individualized/immersive treatment to the degree you'd like. Unfortunately for all of us, that's a reality in today's healthcare environment. I don't care if my patient is a nurse, physician, or CEO. My time is split among my patients according to acuity and prioritization. For example, last night my priority was a patient circling the drain requiring multiple transfusions, not the guy who wanted me to sit next to his bedside and go over his entire medical history with me when he's a relatively stable walkie talkie who is no longer having melena and H&H is stable. Would I like to spend 30 minutes going over his habits and practices to identify exactly how and where it all started and how to fix his myriad of issues? Sure. But looks like 403's pressure is 61/30 and now I gotta run. We don't have the staffing to focus on the extras, the stuff above and beyond keeping people alive, unharmed, and relatively comfortable.

I generally like to leave my pen inside my cubby when I empty my pockets before leaving each shift. Lately, I've come back 3 times and found my pens gone. Someone must think I'm leaving them an offering every morning. :/

Wanted to come back and post an update even though I haven't logged on in a while (thanks for your supportive comments everyone!): so, er things aren't any better at work but I'm handling it by not thinking about work at all when I am home and filling my time with hobbies. I've had nursing jobs previously that were pretty bad, but this unit's culture/management is really dragging me down. I am trying to stick it out for now, but I'm starting to get the itch to look for another job. The only thing holding me back is I've previously floated to different units in several hospitals and I'd say many of the units are just as bad as this one. For now I will grit my teeth and bear it, it's decent pay and close to home.

Please come back to this thread again in a year or two and update us. Please.

This is my first vent on allnurses, I just had an awful shift where I only got to sit for about 30 minutes out of 14 hours, didn't get to pee, and my feet feel like death and my mind is numb from all the crazy. So here goes: I am fed up. I'm fed up with meetings telling staff that we need to triple document hourly rounding in many redundant ways. That we need to chart 90 new things every single shift. Oh and make sure you do it by 4 hours into your shift! Even though ALL of your patients are contact isolation, half are total cares with diarrhea and/or vomiting and pain medication every 2-3 hours, some with all 3. One is coming back from OR, and here's another admission with a critically low K. Oh and we can't get a sitter for your sundowner who jumps out of bed every 2 seconds and screams loud enough to keep all the other patients awake - all night. And oops we only have one tech for the whole floor so don't expect much help. And just for fun we're going to split up your assignment so that you have to walk the length of the entire floor of the hospital building. Oh, and let's also play chasing the docs at home at 0300 for critical lab results as they play hot potato, not wanting to make a decision. Sprinkle on some crazy rhythm changes on a previously stable patient on top, who - wait for it - has apparently gone the entire admission of 5 days without receiving his regular beta-blocker and no one has noticed. It is so disheartening to run around nonstop trying your best to be superhuman and keep your patients safe, wearing your body down every night and ignoring the pain in your feet and the sheer exhaustion, and still being unable to meet the expectations espoused by management. And to feel like your job is constantly under threat because no matter how hard you try, at every meeting it's hammered in that you're not good enough when you have no support and inadequate resources to meet unrealistic expectations. And no one cares. We keep losing staff and have had plenty of people fired recently. Now we're expected to come in on our days off to do extra activities, unless we want our annual reviews to be negatively impacted. Acuity is being increased on the unit, while ratios remain the same.

What? This never happened in my nursing program. Whatever clinical skills we needed to practice we did so on actual patients, with their consent.

-____-

We flush JP (and other) drains on my unit, most recent example being a JP draining a pancreatic abscess. Orders were to flush with 10 cc NS q8 hours. We simple unhook the bulb, wipe the line and flush with a sterile syringe.

10 minutes. :) It was a big factor in why I took this job.

In my humble opinion, the alphabet soup is ridiculous. At the most, it should be Highest degree and license after your name (e.g. Princess Peach DNP, RN). The only person who knows about or cares for your certs are you and your employer and they will verify by checking your documents.

Yes, everyday. If it is ordered and they are able to handle the dose, I give it. I'm not going to cure them during their 3 day stay in the hospital and frankly, it's not my job to fix their addiction issues. Not to mention, I am not qualified to determine what is "real" pain and what is not.

Why would anyone give one gender a priority in any profession? That would be illegal. And yes, I have several male family members who are in nursing school.

I watch my family members like a hawk when they're inpatient. I make sure to be polite to everyone, but I let them know if something is a concern and make sure it gets addressed. SPEAK UP! Be an advocate for your dad.

I don't understand why it is an expectation that African American professionals must modify their hair texture in order to create a hair style that fits caucasian standards of beauty in order to appear professional. For the record, I have always considered braids to be just as professional as relaxed hair. In this day and age, how can anyone pretend it's okay to force everyone else to conform to an outdated standard that is steeped in racism and ignorance?

In my facility, they cannot push meds, hang blood, or tpn, or do initial assessments.

In nursing school I used to roll my eyes at all my classmates who wanted to do OB, it seemed so cliche to me. I wanted ICU - the adrenaline, the drama! Been there, tried it. I don't hate it, but I've lost my enthusiasm for it. My rose-colored glasses are off and now although I still think it's interesting, I'd give anything to be an OB nurse. I want to go in for once and see people who are happy to be there. Where 100% of your patients are not having the absolutely worst time of their lives. Too bad it's almost impossible to break into L&D. I'm doing Oncology (ironic) for a while, seeing if I can work my way across specialties to there somehow.

I have direct experience with job searching at NOVA hospitals. They will not call you with an ADN nowadays. Unless you have an extraordinary resume with tons of connections or something. Their minimum is now BSN with MSN preferred! When I tried applying to jobs with my ADN a couple years ago, I got 1 call from a hospital, because they were desperate at the time. When I got my BSN, I had my pick of 3 offers all from great hospitals in the area. I'm not saying it's all because of the BSN, you have to have a good resume, references, and interview well, but it made that much difference for me.

Thanks everyone, your replies were very helpful. It sounds like an interesting job and I'm glad I know what it is now. :)

I have been on a job hunt for a month or so now. I made the mistake of accepting the first offer I received because I wasn't expecting anything better to come along. Well, now I have received a much more attractive offer from a hospital closer to me and with more opportunities in the company and more compensation. How can I navigate this situation without burning any bridges?

I did. I took it almost a year after I graduated and didn't study for it.. I was going through some issues in my personal life at the time. I passed after ~90 questions. I've always been very good at testing, so do not recommend it to anyone else.