freckles23

I have been an RN for 4 years and 1 class away from finishing my BSN. I currently work on a tele unit and enjoy it and it is also connected to a stepdown unit. I am trying to figure out what to do after my BSN. Im not sure I see myself as an NP because I dont know what area I want to go or if I even want to leave bedside nursing. Does anyones facility offer nurses to shadow other nurses in different departments? I may be interested in more in depth cardiac but im not sure because I dont know what other positions entail such as CVICU or cath lab, how would I know I like it if I dont see what is done on a daily basis?

Is anyone currently taking or had previously taken Nurs 4465? I am in the class now trying to fill out the windshield survey. I have no clue if I am doing it correctly. Anyone have the file I can look at to see how they completed this assignment? I am writing info down but not sure if it is what the professor is looking for. This class is very overwhelming already!

The other day there was a patient that coded (not mine) and cpr was given for an hour. Patient didnt make it. People were jumping in doing compressions and my one coworker told me to jump in because I have support all around me so what harm can I do? I was scared and intimidated. What if I look stupid and do the compressions wrong? I just observed what was going on and felt so useless. How did you react during your first code? I dont want to run away in times of need but I just couldnt find it in me to do it, especially with ribs cracking and all, it just freaked me out. Any advice or stories of your first time?

I used to work on med surg/tele floor where we have the monitors at the nurses station and had techs to read the strips for us and we would take only cardizem drips. We also would take cardiac cath patients post op. Through this I had a liking to cardiac nursing. I switched jobs and now currently work on a telemetry floor. We take nitro, cardizem, milrinone drips, cardiac cath patients, and prep patients for CABGs. My unit is a tele unit connected to a stepdown unit so we share the nurses station with stepdown. I am trying to figure out what I want to do once I finish my Bachelors (2 more classes to go!). Do I attempt to work stepdown and get my CCRN? (I wonder if you get paid more with that certification). I might want to do CVICU but need more info on what it entails. What is the difference between CVICU and CCU? What direction did you go once you realized cardiac nursing is the route you want to go?

It is that time of the season for all of the colds/flus! I worked overnight and everyone was coughing so I wore a mask. We had a patient that we found out after him coming to our unit that he had the flu so we had to put him on droplet and contact precautions and move his room mate. This patient had no manners. Before we moved my patient the flu guy walked over to my patient's side of the room apologizing that we had to move him and my patient just stared at him and looked away. He was not happy. Especially since that guy was hacking up a lung. So we moved my patient and the flu guy had his room door wide open. I got so tired of hearing him cough that we finally closed his door. Was that wrong to do? Also we were in the middle of giving shift report outside of his room and he opened his door and stood right outside the doorway where we were all giving report and we told him to go back in his room and hes like I am in my room and he pointed to the floor where the line was on the tile. Was it wrong to handle the situation like this? If you are hacking up a lung, the door should be closed so it doesnt spread out into the hallways. I felt bad but he had no consideration for infecting any of us and that really rubbed me the wrong way. So in the future how can i handle this situation better for future cold/flu/isolation patients? Do you personally wear a mask during flu season regardless if you got the flu shot? Just curious.

So I am very nervous and just want to vent. I have been an RN for the last 2 1/2 years and have worked at a community hospital on a med-surg tele floor. I have had up to 9 patients every shift so I feel I was always in crisis mode while working. I have finally left this job because it was unsafe, protocols and policies were not really followed, and there was no room for growth there. I was very unhappy and stressed out all the time and every task not completed fell back on the nurse.. anywhere from transporting patients, dietary, lab work, nurse aides.. it was too much. I got a job offer at a level I hospital and one of the best in the state and I start tomorrow. I am so nervous because I feel like I am not smart enough and that I dont know how much I was retaining at my previous job or not doing tasks the correct way due to needing to take short cuts because it was a chaotic mess. I will be working a medical telemetry floor. Im just scared that I wont be smart or know anything when they test me for my competencies tomorrow and that they will be like where the heck did she get her work experience from? Maybe im getting in my head a little too much and everything will be fine but starting from scratch again is nerve wrecking and I just want to fulfill the needs of the candidate they want for the job position. Any kind words or encouragement would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Its just weird that I tasted it in all the masks. I was trying to bypass it like I didnt taste it like i was doing something wrong but I could still taste the sweetener. I worked at a hospital previously and always used the small N95, but I cant say I dont taste it in my mouth when I do. She told me I might need a PAPR mask which i guess is the large helmer one.

So I went for my pre-employment physical and I failed the fit test. I tried on 4 different masks and still tasted the liquid sprayed in the mask. Will this be an issue for my orientation? The lady told me it happens to some people and I should be fine I just might not be able to go into airborne isolation rooms. Anyone with the same issues?

Hi everyone, so I graduated with my RN in 2014, worked at a subacute rehab for about 8 months, then worked at a small community hospital for the past 2 1/2 years. The facility I work at has been miserable, the patient to staff ratios 1:9 on med-surg/tele. Everyone is overworked, overwhelmed and nurses are dropping like flies lately. Management does not care even though they tell us to address our concerns. We are a very small community hospital 300 or so beds. So there is not that many staff members to begin with. Who wants to work for a hospital where you get absolutely no recognition for busting your butt and being told to do better when you are doing your absolute best? Day shift tends to get all the recognition but nights never get a thing. There is also no room for advancement and the education department has been terrible in training new and current staff members. Everything falls on the nurses.. making sure phlebotomists come to draw blood, calling dietary for trays, doing accuchecks and finding stretcher or wheelchairs in order to set our patients up for tests. There was no accountability in the other roles in this hospital. So I finally had enough and started applying at other facilities. I got the job I have wanted at a great facility. It is a level 1 facility with so much room for advancement, encouragment and financial assistance in continuing education and every role/position is expected to work to the max of their scope of practice with no excuses. The people that work there seem so happy and supportive which is what I need because there was no support at my other place. I have a few coworkers that work there now and love it. Plus it is a pay jump as well. I want to love what I do but I have hit a brick wall at my facility and actually went into a depression imagining being stuck there for longer. The only reason I stayed as long as I did was because I took tuition reimbursement with them so that was holding me back but I finally said whatever and that I would pay whatever money back that I owe in order to be happy. I start next month on a telemetry unit which is what I am interested in. I will have max of 6-7 patients. Any encouraging words on starting over at a different facility and not knowing anyone? I am so happy to be leaving my current facility, but I will miss my routine and the people that I work with. This gives me the opportunity to start fresh and finally use my nursing skills and learn instead of always being task oriented and in survival mode at my other job. Please anyone with some advice on starting at a new facility would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for listening to the rant!

I actually got it! They called me a few hours later saying they wanted to offer the position to me!

Well they said they have to interview another person next week and they need to fill two spots so not sure if they are waiting to see other candidates

I just went for an interview for a rn position at a hospital and im not sure how it went. I had it with 3 nurse managers and they basically just asked me why I want to come to their facility and then explained what the unit was, orientation details, and about my experience as rn. The interview was about 25 minutes. Not sure how long they typically are in order to judge whether it went well or not. I was expecting to get grilled with scenario type questions but it was more of them telling me about the job and what it entails. Im not sure how the vibe was. In the beginning it was good but I felt as they were feeding me information I might have been blank even though I was nodding my head and asking questions as they mentioned things. They showed me around unit and that id hear something next week. I will be sending a thank you card tomorrow since its the weekend and they wont get anything til monday anyway. She also asked if id be interested in shadowing a nurse for a few hours to get a feel for the unit.. not sure if I am obligated to do so. I am interested in shadowing but my schedule is packed with school and work that it might be difficult to do that. So not sure if I should and if it would impact me getting the job or not. Any ideas? Thanks.

Hi there everyone, I am currently taking a nurse management class with UTA online. My next assignment is I need to seek out a nurse leader. This person can be an educator, case manager, nurse manager, nurse practitioner. This person needs to be 2 levels higher than me... so needs a masters degree. It is basically asking about the person's everyday roles and responsibilities and how they use their skills in their practice to be a leader. There are many changes going on with my facility and I currently do not have a nurse manager or anyone I know that I can turn to for this assignment. My professor said it was fine if I found someone online to help with the assignment. I am supposed to be shadowing this person in a leadership role but if unable to, I can just interview them through phone or email which she said is fine. If anyone would be interested that would be great. The assignment is due in 2 weeks but I just need someones crednetial information, phone number, and email for starters. The sooner the better. Thanks so much.

Hi there everyone, I am currently taking a nurse management class with UTA online. My next assignment is I need to seek out a nurse leader. This person can be an educator, case manager, nurse manager, nurse practitioner. This person needs to be 2 levels higher than me... so needs a masters degree. It is basically asking about the person's everyday roles and responsibilities and how they use their skills in their practice to be a leader. There are many changes going on with my facility and I currently do not have a nurse manager or anyone I know that I can turn to for this assignment. My professor said it was fine if I found someone online to help with the assignment. I am supposed to be shadowing this person in a leadership role but if unable to, I can just interview them through phone or email which she said is fine. If anyone would be interested that would be great. The assignment is due in 2 weeks but I just need someones crednetial information, phone number, and email for starters. The sooner the better. Thanks so much.