rn-n- 2005

At my hospital we also get a 2% bonus of our annual base salary. I'm trying to study for the CEN. I just completed and passed my TNCC and will get a 2% bonus for that also. :yeah: Every little bit helps!! rn -n- 2005

I read the same article also. I personally like AND better thatn DNR because it conveys a more positive message. I talked to some of my fellow RN's and we all liked it better and I'm trying to find out how to go about getting it more in the language of our hospital system. :nuke: I also think it sounds better for the families. Instead of them thinking that we are NOT going to help their loved one, we are going to help them but also allow life to run to the inevitable end for all of us. I hope the way I wrote that makes sense. I'm not great at expressing myself verbally. rn-n-2005

ERnewbieRN, I feel the same way as you about the shifts. I work straight nights ,7p-7a, and do 3 nights a week but other shifts looks better and better all the time. I sleep best now during the day even on my days off!! I feel part of my anxiety is due to the fact that I've been nights for 3 years straight. I sometimes think that maybe 8 hours during the day might be heaven!! 5 days a week seems like too many days though!

Thanks to all for the support and advice! I find that the anxiety is all before work. Once I'm there, even the most high stress pts, situations, etc, do not make me particularly anxious. I will admit to having a rough month. It seemed that for every shift I worked I had severely ill people all come into my zone at the same time. Like a 90 year with a subdural bleed and then a pt with a variable HR of 140's-200. Our ratios are good and I work at a good place. Management supports their nurses and the Dr's are good to work with for the most part so it's just me getting anxious about all the bad things that could go wrong!! The thing is I really love the ER and all the craziness that sometimes goes with it!! I'm going to stick with it longer and see how things go. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one that feels this way. I worked last night and after posting this the night was good. I went out to triage and it was a nice change of pace.

I have been a RN for 4 years now and feel fairly comptetent to handle situations at work. I have been working in the ED for 1 1/2 years. I like most of the people that I work with but I cannot shake the panicky feelings that I get before I go to work. I even dream about situations that might arise at work. I don't have an anxiety disorder about anything else. I also find my self looking through the classifieds for another job that's less stress. I was wondering if anyone else these feelings or just me? I am not asking for medical advice. I am thought of at work as someone who is very on top of things and motivated. I am motivated by anxiety!! Thanks for listening. Rn-n-2005

We have a know it all where I work in the ER. She is a good nurse technically speaking but will not help anyone out (not a team player) and is very critical of others lack of experience and know how. She seems to behave in a superior manner but I truly thinks that she is one that pulls others down so she can try to boost her own self worth. She is a good example to me of how NOT to behave towards others. We have another know it all who is a newer grad and is absolute terrifying because she THINKS that she knows way more than she actually does. She does not have the sense sometimes to be concerned over certain situations. *Sigh* Everybody has them and I try to steer clear of them.

Run!!!! I will reiterate what everybody else said much better - this would be a job suited for someone with vast experience or a NP.

I agree with all the above posters. We have a Dr who has stated on more than one occasion that triage is "one of the most important jobs in the ER." The triage nurse must have good sound nursing judgement and lots of experience. We have 2 people at triage from 11 am -11pm. That seems to help, also. New grads should not be out there. All of your scenarios, I totally agreed with you ; kids are so scary because they crash so quickly and the elderly man with the sudden onset of belly pain, hypertensive, AAA is what you r/o first!!!! Management needs to be aware in writing because this is a terrible accident waiting to happen.

Hypoglycemia and Hyperglycemia. :wink2:

Hi all. Hope I receive some responses!! A bit about me. I have been a RN for 3 1/2 years. I started as an Oncolgy nurse on a busy floor in a big hospital and learned a lot! I did that for 2 1/2 years. I changed specialties and have been an ED nurse for almost a year. I have also learned a lot in the past year. I have ACLS and PALS. I am interested in getting out of the hospital altogether and recently saw postings for Advice Nurse at one of the KP webistes. I have been thinking about it and was wondering if I have enough experience to do it and not be out of my depth. Thanks for reading this. Ann

We have a staff meeting every month that's supposed to be mandatory but not everyone goes. I'm speaking about the committees. Our department wants everyone to be on at least 1 committee. It's part of our yearly evaluation. These committees have meetings monthly, semi monthly, etc. It can add up. I chose to be on 1 committee.....

As everyone else has said, Yes it's normal! I knew nothing when I graduated!! I was sooo anxious!! If I knew then how little I really knew I would have been more scared. I still get nervous sometimes with certain things people come into the ED with. I was talking to an ER nurse who had worked ER and ICU for 24 years and she still gets anxious sometimes!! That piece of info made me feel better. We all want to give good care and some anxiety is good. I just have learned how to handle it now. Good luck!! Ann One of my preceptors told me that it was a good idea to start a journal. I started writing about all the tasks and situations that made me nervous. I look back on my journal now and see how far I've come!!

Hey everyone. I just wanted to vent about all the meetings that go on in my department. I work in a hospital in the ED. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of self governance, i.e. self scheduling, Quality Improvement, etc. but sometimes I just want to do my 36 hours and be done with it!!! I work nights and that makes it a little more difficult for me to get to the meetingsand stay awake!! Tomorrow I work 7p-7a and have a meeting from 9a-11a. We have 1 nurse who went into overtime because she was on 5 committees!!! She was told to cut back because we were over budget. Anyway, thanks for lertting me vent! Ann

After getting used to the 12 hour shifts I would be hard pressed to work 8's. I work 7p-7a and if we went back to 8 hour shifts I wouldn't work 5 8 hour nights (11p-7a) or evenings (3p-11p). I work in the ED and most of us work 12's but some do work 8 hours so there is some flexibilty with hours. We also have the odd shift times of 11a-11p, 3p-3a and some work 5p-5a. Just my two:twocents:. Ann

I cannot believe that the nurse would get disciplined for that!!! People fall. Especially the elderly who populate the hospitals. I used to work on an Oncology floor. We did BMT's, chemotherapy and many patients came in needing symptom control. Some of these people came to us confused with brain mets, etc. Some became confused. Anyway, we could not restrain and no bed alarms and we really tried as hard as possible to round as much as possible but I had 6 patients during nightshift and it was a very busy floor, i.e, hanging chemo, blood products, multiple antibiotics, etc. Sometimes we got sitters but they were few and far between. I had many people pull out their PICC lines and deaccess their Mediports from confusion and they would fall. :uhoh21: Anyway, I'm not sure how that is going to work. I don't know a floor nurse who hasn't had a patient fall during their shift. We cannot be everywhere. Maybe some of the people who make up the Joint Commission should take a patient assignment for a shift and see what they think after that!!