ChristineO

I'm printing it right now so I can take it to work with me in the morning. How funny!

I still say the only reason they have made scrub tops out of some of that gawdy fabric is because people wouldnt buy it if it were actually made into clothes to fit the people it was directed at(kids under 7). So why do nurses? If your patient needs cheering up,, try a smile and a friendly hello and actually help them when they need it. JMO I'm glad there are other nurses that feel this way too! My husband and I are both nurses and we have discussed this topic. I get so frustrated when I'm shopping for scrubs and see tops that are made of material that looks suited for a tablecloth, a curtain, or a bedsheet. I do love wearing colors, don't get me wrong..I just don't like wearing Strawberry Shortcake!!

Angie- couldn't agree with you more - I just started reading these posts and got so irritated with the post you responded to. Thanks! I felt my blood pressure going back down after I read your post!:) You couldn't have said it better.

I guess in the world you live in people don't judge by appearances....

since we are just talking about pet peeves and not all the other things that we need to work on..how about our image to the public...nurses that walk around with cartoon characters on their scrubs....we are professionals, you don't see doctors or lawyers or other professionals dressing in cartoon garb...the only place I think it's acceptable is on a peds unit or at a children's hospital....how can you expect patients and their families to take you seriously when you are wearing Spongebob Squarepants or Winnie the Pooh all over your shirt...

Thanks for the warm wishes! I do love LandD...and it sounds like you do too! I would LOVE to work with someone with your experience!!! That would make life so much easier! Your new nurses are so lucky to have you! Do you plan on going to days anytime in the future or does the night shift just work out better for you?

I had my job interview yesterday with Gambro and it sounds like something I would really like! I would be working in acute dialysis and I'm looking forward to the challenge! Actually, the pay is better than the hospital...the benefits are better...and the opputunity for advancement is better. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes well and my plans fall into place. I plan on doing a lot of studying..there's so much to learn! It will be a huge challenge and I'm looking forward to it!

I know you are right about dialysis not being a piece of cake...but it would be a day job and right now I just don't know how much longer I can subject my body to night shift...I don't think L and D is a piece of cake either....we have our slow times but we have times when it's busting loose and our birth center is so huge and spread out it makes it difficult to monitor patients. Nothing makes me angrier then when I'm assigned two laboring patients and I go out to the main nursing station and none of the monitors are up because all of the post-partum nurses are charting on the computers. That's kind of improved now because of my fits when I see it happen. To be safe, you have to find another labor nurse (good luck sometimes) and ask her to please watch your strips while you go to the supply room to set up a table or do whatever. Most of the time we don't get a break to even go eat because we can't leave our patients (nothing new to most LandD nurses, I know) - but not eating for 12 hours isn't fun...I've lost 10 pounds...but that's a plus for me...:) But it still makes me mad when I see all the other specialities go get dinner and laugh and joke at one of the nurse's stations while the labor nurses are running our behinds off! Then when we do get a break and noone is in labor...we get couplets. As soon as a labor patient comes in....we give report on our couplets and it's back to labor. I'm just blowing off some steam... What I do love is my patients. I know that this is the most important day of their life and I want it to be the very best and safest experience possible....

Thanks to you for replying to my message. There is more to the story..but I tried to make it as concise as I could to give the general picture. I agree that there are a lot worse places to work and that's what makes this decision so hard. I don't want to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire. I just have to decide what is right for me. I really want the perspective of other nurses. I realize that nursing is hard work, no matter where you go...But, we do have to stand up for ourselves and the nursing shortage just gives us a lot more options. My husband, who is also a nurse (CVICU) loves his job and is in grad school on his way to becoming a nurse practitioner and alway tells me that we as nurses have to keep in mind that we get paid and treated based on what we feel our own selfworth is....

hi! I need some advice/opinions. I am a labor and delivery nurse (at our FBC we are told to refer to ourselves as "specialist"...we do post-partum when there are no laboring patients, and also work in the nursery. We just opened our new unit about 2 years ago and combined the three areas. It hasn't been easy and most of our most experienced nurses have left. To give you an example of our high turnover...none of the nurses that I oriented with are still working there...ok..one is left. We are staffed with mostly new nurses, right out of nursing school....don't get me wrong...I like new nurses. But, I've been a labor nurse for two years...and they consider me to be one of the "experienced" nurses...scary. I do have cardiac background but I absolutely love labor and delivery. I'm at the point now where I do feel comfortable and that allows me to enjoy my job even more. Here is my problem...our management is horrible. We were all forced to do 12-hour shifts (or quit) and we do 6 a pay period (6 12's in two weeks). This happened last month. On one of our days off we have to be on call for a 12 hour shift. I work nights....so it's wearing me down. I asked to be moved to day shift and the director told me that she needed me to train the new nurses coming to our shift and wouldn't let me go. Instead, I found out yesterday, that she is keeping one of the new grads on days until one of our nursery specialists feels comfortable enought to labor patients. Mind you this nursery specialist is the best baby nurse on the planet, HATES laboring patients...so I can imagine it's going to take a while. I'm 37, have a 10 -year-old, and it's not easy switching days/nights all the time...i've worked night shift for five years now...(2 years at this unit) and I don't know how much longer I'm willing to sacrifice my health. There are no other hospitals in our area with L and D job openings..live in a small southern city. I have an interview to work for a dialysis company (Gambro) Thursday.....I don't want to leave a job I love...but I'm just plain sick of being treated like absolute crap by this managemnt team. Does anyone out there have any advice for me. Travel nursing is not an option at this time in my life...Christine

Hi! I'm a Labor and Delivery nurse and love my job...but work 12-hour NIGHT shift. It's just wearing me down. I got a call for a job interview on Thursday with Gambro for acute dialysis nurse...I have absolutely no experience in this field (have worked med-surg, cardiac and 8 months CCU/ICU.) Can you please tell me more about this specialty...I love people and I want a rewarding nursing career. The person that called me told me I'd be going to the hospital and taking care of renal patients in that setting, not a clinic....I've read here that you either love it or hate it....they say the same about my current specialty. What makes people hate it...what makes people love it? Thanks for your help in making this important decision. C.O.