Inspired_2b

I haven't been on this forum for quite some time now. I am so happy to see this thread and know that there are this many Muslims in the nursing profession! :) I have been practicing nursing since '04 (need to change my display name as I'm no longer a newbie), and it's been going well. I am a hijabi too and I've never had an issue with wearing a hijab and working in nursing. I live in a city that has a large Muslim population, so I did not face any difficulties wearing hijab even during clinicals. I wear scrubs with a long sleeve shirt underneath and hijab. Sometimes people ask me how I wear the surgical masks when doing procedures that require a mask or working in isolation room, and I say it's simple... I put the mask on and the strings tie around my bun, lol.

We had a patient who use his phone to call the nsg station for a nurse. ..."Yes, this is Mr. so and so in room 13, I need a nurse to help me get out of bed"

Yes, just last night, I found my patient's roommate unresponsive. He was ambulatory - going back and forth to the BR because he had diarrhea. His nurse did initial rounds on home and went to pour her meds. When I went to see my patient in the next bed, he stopped me and asked if I could put on a diaper for him because he wanted to get some sleep as he was too tired from rushing to the bathroom every few mins. I put the diaper on for him, plugged in his IV pump and turned his light off. About half an hr later, I came back to the room carrying meds for my patient and as I was passing his bed, I just happened to glance at him. He was lying in bed unconcious and so very pale! I didn't even remember where I put my meds. I started yelling his name. No pulse. No breathing. I pulled the callbell out of wall. I started compressions because I had covered for his nurse during break the night before I didn't recall him being a DNR. Sure enough, he was a full code. We called the code. They couldn't resuscitate him. ... it was a very unexpected loss.

I feel you. I never seem to have time for bathroom breaks. Everytime I want to go empty my bladder, there's something I have to finish. I end up using the bathroom around 4 or 5 PM when I started my 12 hr shift at 7 am. :uhoh21:

Lol. We were just saying our Medicine floor felt like a psych unit last night. We had a confused, AKA pt. His bed was wheeled to the front, near the nsg station. All 4 siderails are up, and he is trying to get out, lifting himself up on his one good leg. All he he was asking for were shoes and he's asking everyone that walks by his bed.... "what kinda shoes you got, rubber or leather?" ... "I need shoes, how can I get out of here without shoes!" One of the nurses told him to sit back in his bed "you can't walk with one leg" He replies, "what, you think you can do better?" He was hilarious. I had few good laughs last night. Another fall prone pt with dementia is roaming the halls looking for something, he's only speaking Italian so of course we have no clue what he's looking for. He is getting into other rooms, removing mattresses from empty beds. His roommate (also a bit confused) is following him around with his walker, keeping an eye on him. You know, he's got his homeboy's back.

300+ lbs bedridden pt w/ leg cellulitis needs the bedpan. Can't have BM in bedpan so wants the commode - it takes 3 or more nrs to put her on, it's N shift and only 4 Rns on, 2 on break, only 2 covering 26pts. 1 is busy! Dr had ordered pt on commode Q bms NOT bedpan . Oh wee... Over 50 words and only covered 1pt.

We had a blind, often confused patient who screamed out for the nurse every minute. The visitors were startled by the screams at first, but eventually they got accostumed to it. The patient would continually call out "nurse, nurse, nurse" and when you went to check on her to ask what is wrong, she would reply "oh nothing, I just felt like saying nurse." One night one of the young nurses got tired of hearing this. She went to her room and told her start saying another nurse's name (not knowing the pt would actually remember the name). As soon as the nurse stepped out, the patient started calling out that name over and over again. The nurse rushed back in, "oh no no, don't say that, please go back to saying NURSE!" .... :chuckle And it was back to the same old mantra "nurse, nurse, nurse." One night she stopped saying nurse and started saying "mercy" but it soon switched to "nursie!" And there was no stopping her.

I'm getting good at this. Few months back I'd have been shuddering reading these replies. But now, here I am ... drinking my coffee and actually cracking a smile at most of these replies. Yeah! I've come a long way baby :chuckle

I just finished reading that book. It was a great read. I have also read Tending lives; nurses on the medical front by Echo Heron while I was a student nurse. I've been trying to get more of her books ever since.

:chuckle .... I was coming down the hall, when I heard a family member of one of our pts calling for a nurse. Mr. X, in the next bed who was put in the geri-chair with a restraint applied was attempting to get out. We found him with one of his legs dangling out from side of the chair, and him pushing off the little table (the restraint) with all his might. He said he needed to go to the bathroom "badly"....we quickly undid the restraint and stood him up. Man, was he in a rush! We had hardly had time to unlock the brakes of the chair ...so as to give him room to move...when he grabbed his nearby walker and started moving fast towards the bathroom. He banged the walker against the bed, the chair and the wall before he found a leeway...meanwhile, one of us is fumbling with the brakes on the chair while the other one is holding up the straps of his hospital pants (which are falling off his thinning waste). We make it to the bathroom in a rush and with some difficulty. When he enters, he looks around suspiciously, touches the sink, and looks at his reflection in the mirror. I'm standing behind him, making sure he doesn't fall. Well, Mr. X... didn't you want to use the bathroom? I ask. He looks down at the toilet seat and says, "well, I suppose since I am in here, I might as well sit down!" OMG - I couldn't hold myself ...I had to step out as I was suddenly hit with a wave of hysterics. :rotfl:

I did the 12 hr shift when I was a pre-grad student and since I got hired on the same floor - I've only been working 12 hr shifts. So I guess I have nothing else to compare it to. I'm used to those long hrs now, but I don't know how I'll like working during the summer. I'll be missing a whole day of sunshine ... :stone

I've only got a donut and a muffin out of the hundred earl grey teas I drank.

Can you pls direct me to that thread. TY in advance.

OTL - Out to lunch, usually use this for our pleasantly confused pts.

I don't remember. I must've been doing some research for school.:stone

I either carry it around my neck, or leave it inside my med cart (stays safe). I tried finding a creative way to label it mine, so I finally thought to use the Hosp. ID bracelet - wrote my name on it & awkwardly tied it around my stethescope...this way, if I lose it, they'll know who it belongs to. Of course I've managed to lose it few times, but it always finds its way back to me.

OMG - I felt like you were describing there Leisa. I'm a new grad nurse also (hence the nick) working on General Medicine floor. Our patient load is the same as yours, 5-6 with no aide. My on unit orientation was to be 4 weeks (+2w in class) but I still feel as though that wasn't enough. I've been working almost 3 months now but I haven't gotten many shifts in the last month - I'm still on a casual basis. How is it gonna get easier if I'm not coming into work every week? There are days I don't even get time to eat lunch. I'll notice feeling light-headed and remember I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. It's a torture, I tell you. Most days I come out thinking what the hell did I get myself into? I'm so drained of energy by the time I come home (after a 12hr shift), I dread the thought of climbing the stairs. I crash on the couch, aching all over till I get the strength to conquer those steps. I have to really give it to my fellow colleagues though, they've been all so helpful. I don't feel intimidated to ask a question, no matter how trivial it may seem at times. They're probably sick of me by now, but as long as they don't show it, I'll keep bugging them. :) Anyways, thanks for posting this topic. I am glad to have found it and read the encouragements of the members. Glad to know I'm not alone in feeling this way. Thank you all!

Where I work, we get a 30 min break in the morning and 1 hour lunch break (unpaid of course) for 12hr shift. Being a new grad nurse, I hardly get to go on my 30 min break, and I've even missed couple of my lunch breaks. It feels like it always gets busy just when I'm about to get some sustenance Hopefully, I'll get the hang of it all real soon.