jleski

Soul, You have gotten a lot of GREAT advice. . .do go and apply it. Your sensitive nature probably irritates the crap out of your preceptor, and I agree with BETSRN, she shouldn't be in the position of preceptor with her attitude. It's hard enough being a new grad., going through orientation, changing your whole thought life, patterns, etc., without the hinderance of a fellow nurse who obviously doesn't need to be a nurse. I feel for you. I have very low self-confidence myself, but that doesn't mean I'm not a good nurse, it only means that I've been a prisoner of my past (which I work on daily to change). You wouldn't have made it through nursing school, or the NCLEX if you weren't capable. You wouldn't even have the other nurses you work with, talking to you and supporting you if you didn't have something going for you. I just bet that you are the type of person that reaches out and gives your clients a hug at night, or one who doesn't forget that one of your clients likes "real" cream with her coffee and you go and get it yourself? Or when working in OB, I bet you feel that awe, every time a baby is in your arms? Don't tell me you're not meant to be a nurse. I'm not guessing that you do these things and more. True nurses do great things from their hearts, just as rude nurses do things from theirs. You're not going to change that other nurse, however, your nurse manager or whoever is above you all, can do something to help her attitude a bit. She/he can also do something to help you through a very difficult transition, without the pain in the _ _ _ you have had to deal with. You go girl!

how do i set up a nursing program that only two nurses are responsible for, that includes all of the above, plus being responsible for the clients at the other houses (that i have never yet been to), and the two day hab. sites? i am overwhelmed to say the least and my partner, who is nearly at the retirement age is ready to throw in the towel because of all the lifting, cooking, cleaning, md appts., meds, etc. i don't know how to help myself, let alone her.

For you that have been in DD awhile, I could sure use some advice. In the community where I live, nursing is a "new' thing for the DD pop. There are two of us, just hired in Nov. of 04. We serve 6 residential sites, and 2 day hab. sites. I can't even tell you right now how many persons we serve. My frustrations are: (1) I was hired on as a nurse to oversee meds, admin. meds (when frontline staff are unable to "access" for some reason), set and attend appointments, etc., etc. (2) I also work primarily at one of the residents because in order to hire us nurses, they had to do without frontline staff (3) I was recently informed that I am also the Lead Trainer for the one resident site (again because of the budget that didn't include nurses). Because nursing wasn't in place, there are no nursing care plans for our clients, no equipment (even thermometers!), and the little bit of filing that was there, is a mess. I haven't even had a chance to get to know all of the clients since I'm pretty much stuck at one house, haven't read but maybe 4 charts, am unable to go through meds, charting of meds, medication error forms, nothing. How in the world do I go about setting up a nursing dept. let alone be a nurse/frontline staff/lead trainer? Let me just say that I don't mind being frontline staff, as I love the hands-on with our clients. I wouldn't even mind being a lead trainer, but I'm starting to believe that they really don't need a nurse.

:) WOW! The website you suggested is just full of info. Thank you for the recommendation. When will the website you're developing be ready? I've ordered the two books you suggested. They will for sure come in handy. I have to admit, the "hands-on" practice is what I really enjoy the most with my clients. The paperwork part (a very big part of nursing) is so time consuming. There is a big push right now, at the place I work, to develop protocols/SOP's, as there have been none inplace. Do you know of a website that might already have some of these posted for nursing practice? I'm thinking that there has to be. Thanks again, Jleski

Thank you! Had not heard of EP and will look into it. I've seen Nursing 2004 and it does look like a good journal. I appreciate the suggestions and take them very seriously, as I often do not feel confident in what I do yet. Every bit of help I receive is like a jewel. Jleski

thank you for the suggestions. i will try and find some books. your example of the client you worked with with autism was very helpful. i have two clients in the home i work in that have autism. i was very concerned about a recent christmas party we attended with our clients. as it turned out, my concerns were very valid (although i'm not sure the support in maybe doing something different next year will be there). the one older gentleman became very aggressive and had behaviors that were very difficult to handle. at one point it took several people to redirect him and you could tell he was very disturbed/angry. i would have loved to have seen something done that was more appropriate for him. i guess that will be where i come in. hopefully i can do enough education for the staff that we can come up with something more appropriate for him next christmas. jleski

thank you claver!

Hello everyone! This website is so wonderful and I'm excited to be included. I've read so many of the postings that I finally decided to register and post. Here is a bit about me. . .I am a new graduate (May 04), worked on a Med. Surg floor for 5 months and was about to go crazy. Everyone said I was doing great but that isn't how I was feeling. I wanted to spend more time with my clients and I felt more like a nurse tech. than anything. I never felt safe, was physically sick before each report time, and even though I worked with GREAT staff I didn't feel as if I contributed much. (I know, I know, I am and was, way too hard on myself). I was given the opportunity to change jobs when offered one with DD. It sounded like the right fit and so far (knock-on-wood), it has been. I have a lot to learn yet, and even though I've had a bit of time on Med. Surg., there are still things I haven't had "hands on" experience with (example, changing G-tubes!). Other than that, I'm not sure what more you all would be interested in knowing, so I'll keep it short. Looking forward to the help, support, and postings:)