LC0929

Hi ! Yes. I was diagnosed at 14, am currently 57. I've been an RN since 2006. I can tell you that stress is the main problem, whether good or bad. It's obviously tough to eliminate all of the stress in your life, but if you can reduce it, it will be helpful. Honestly, as are most nurses, I'm a horrible patient. Taking upwards of 24 pills daily, not to mention injections and infusions, stressed me out more than just living without it. I am NOT suggesting you do that, just sharing my experience. I had a bowel resection at 30, which killed my career as a FF/EMT. The next logical step for me was nursing. It can absolutely be done and you can get yourself into remission, but it takes work. I had to basically eliminate any people, places or things that brought negativity into my life. Then, the hardest part, was focusing on, caring for and putting myself first. As a nurse, people expect you to help them, not the opposite. It was a challenge and took a while but every time I said "no", it got easier. I have had several hospitalizations over the years but have managed to get myself to a place where I only have a flare a couple times a year. The hardest piece is that it's a disease that can't be seen, so sometimes people, employers specifically, don't get it. Make sure you document everything and get Drs notes if you miss work. Most importantly, as I said, take care of YOU. You can do this!! Lori

As a practicing RN in NH, who has dealt with false positives, and has gone before the BON, and won, I would get a home test and take it. I would also get to my PCP and (unfortunately) get a prescription for a medication you can take PRN that will address your PTSD. Make sure that you get a written statement from your Doc explaining the issue. I know you can have a medical card in NH, but I also know that having a card can prevent your eligibility for certain things, ie.a permit to carry, etc. I would give the BON a call, anonymously, and ask what their position is. This way you have it from the source. I know that you can be considered "impaired", if you take certain meds while working, even with a script. Cover your *ss at all costs. And as far as the job, there are a ton in NH right now, so you'll have an interview for every resume you throw out there, that you are qualified for. Hang in there. You'll do great!

No one can ever make you feel worse than you can make yourself feel....you got this !! ?????????

I’ll miss the patients ...yes, really...especially the really messed up patients....the drunks, the addicts, the psych patients..the overweight patients that are bed bound.....the patients that everyone tries to avoid...because when you help them...they appreciate it....❤️

I’m just here for the comments...LOL...and while I’m waiting for the snow to melt and the mud to dry up, here in the White Mountains of NH...then I’ll be changing my handlebars on my scoot so I can ride with this ruined shoulder of mine.....and don’t worry guys...IDC if anyone sees this....I’m retired....??.#RETIREMENTROCKS #BIKERFOREVER ?

I spend most of my “social” time with a select few, who are either colleagues, regardless of “title” (ie:nurses, aids, RT’s,etc), but medically connected somehow. I would definitely be up for meeting a select few from here, if only for the fact that I would feel comfortable having inappropriate conversations while having beverages and eating appetizers!! ??

I appreciate the feedback, but I’m not sure that you read and understood what I wrote. Registered Nurses, unless something has changed in the past 6 months, cannot “diagnose” patients. I also have worked in Critical Care, CICU, ER, Telemetry, etc, for 17 years and I’ve have never heard or seen anything written that states, “The patient was diagnosed by M. Blank, RN and treated as follows”. We are certainly expected to respond accordingly to Codes, Trauma, etc, and administer medications, including titrations, but we do not diagnose and prescribe medications. Any hospital that I’ve worked at, even as a travel RN, has always had either standing orders or protocols, which are written by either and APRN or MD. It’s our job to assess the patient properly and quickly and inform the physician, but we don’t make a diagnosis for the physician. We can make suggestions, obviously, as we are the front line, and if we are good at assessing and have built a rapport with a physician, they may give an order for something that requires our discretion and critical thinking, but we don’t “diagnose”. Maybe this will clear up any confusion.

...can anyone tell me where exactly “IO” fits into this *** show ???? ....asking for a friend....??

You know the answer to this question, the problem is that you’ve worked with nurses who like to be “cowboys” and make decisions that aren’t in their scope of practice. Even though we, as nurses, sometimes know or even know BETTER what to do in a certain situation, we are not licensed to diagnose. We can relay current status, status updates, as well as our thoughts/suggestions/assessment of the patient to the DOC, but we cannot diagnose. In some cases, as I did, you build up trust and a rapport with the CICU docs. You may have conversations about things that are allowable, or they may give you parameters because they trust your assessment skills, etc, but we still don’t diagnose. The patient may have converted right in front of you, but until a doc reads the strip themselves and diagnoses that, it, in essence,hasn’t happened. Nurse Jane may be foolish enough to take it upon herself to manage that patient without notifying the doc, but do not follow her lead. If you do and it goes in the toilet, I guarantee that giving an answer of “but Nurse Jane does it” is gonna be a problem and as far as support from Nurse Jane, there won’t be any. The only thing you’ll see is her taillights leaving the hospital. Cover your ***.

When I was in school, one of the students drew up Robitussin, apparently planning to give it IV. Luckily we had amazing instructors...”almost” only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, right??? I believe a large bag of oranges is in order...?

OMG!! Does this break my heart!! ? First of all, your instructor is a disgrace, not only as a nurse, but as a human being! I would definitely make sure someone knows about it, if not for your own satisfaction, then at least for the next batch of “victims” she’ll be laying her nastiness upon! Second....you are 22...you have all the time in the world!! Think back to when (if) your first love relationship failed. I can remember feeling like I was gonna die! My Mother told me that there would be many other boys in my lifetime, that I was definitely going to live and would look back someday and laugh about it. At the time, I thought she was full of ***, but in the end she was obviously right. This is kinda the same thing. You had an idea, you tried it and you didn’t like it. It’s that simple. There’s no need to try to analyze it any further. You didn’t fail, you simply didn’t like it. Now you grab your ***, stand up straight, hold your head high and pursue something else. There’s no shame in that. Like the others said, it’s better than being miserable your entire life just to prove to yourself or someone else that you can fit inside the box of “conformity” that society has built, regardless of how much money you’ve spent. I am 55 and I can tell you that I didn’t go to college, the first time, until I was 28. The main reason I did, was because I was freshly divorced, with an infant to feed. I got my first two Associates degrees in Fire Science and Fire Protection, with the intention of being a Firefighter. Then I got really sick(Crohn’s) and THAT went in the toilet. Fast forward 10 years. I’m freshly divorced, with an infant, AGAIN and need a stable career. Like you, I love science, Microbiology specifically, so I decided to become a nurse. I loved it, but in the past 15 years things have drastically changed, not necessarily for the better either. My girls are grown now and I am in a position to do anything I want. I drive an old Jeep, have an old Harley, no credit cards, no payments. I live minimally because I don’t want to HAVE to work at any job that I don’t want to. I’m actually in the process of starting a little bakery/pub/mini-farm. I live in NH, by the way, and have decided that I’m bowing out of the “rat race”. My plan is to be living in a tiny house, on my own mini-farm, completely “of the grid”, within the next 2 years. Maybe at 55 years old I shouldn’t even consider this venture, but I refuse to let age play a major role in any part of my life, except my AARP discount, LOL ? YOU can do anything you want. Find out what your true passion is, at least for right now because it’s always evolving, and make it happen. I feel like COVID has been both a blessing and a curse. The current state of the world has forced us all to slow down and regroup. I’m grateful for that piece of this mess. And for the record, unless you’ve set certain expectations for yourself, there are no rules that say you have to have a stable career, a spouse and 2.2 kids by the time you’re 30. Those days are long gone. DO YOU! Stay strong! Stay safe! Everything will work out exactly as it should. ?

Hi Moon, I apologize! In my head I was comparing a situation like CICU to Hospice or End of Life care. Patients who are on multiple drips, dressings, etc., not to mention a heavier patient assignment in general. I didn’t mean to imply anything negative. ?

I’m right behind you, DAVEY-DO !! Second rotator cuff surgery is in the toilet, after I went for a follow up MRI and found out (only after several anchors were ripped out of my arm because the newly installed hardware, is incompatible with MRI) that my bicep, as well as my supraspinatus and infraspinatus, are all torn...again...so no compressions for THIS chick....seriously limits my nursing options, considering that 90% of positions require you to have BLS at minimum. I applied in September, just waiting for my answer! Congratulations to YOU !! ?

I’ve worked nights my entire nursing career and what I can tell you is this....you should absolutely not feel bad about passing things on to the next shift. There is a reason for 24 hour care. In most hospitals, LTC, or anywhere really, with maybe the exception of Hospice, there are NEVER enough hours in a shift to get everything done, PERIOD! Any nurse that gives you *** about it, is just plain ridiculous or many times, lazy. I have NEVER had a “quiet” shift on nights....EVER... I could never understand how staff were caught sleeping, because I never sat down long enough to fall asleep. I also never expected to arrive at work and have everything done for me, so I could make myself a four course meal or play solitaire for 12 hours. I used to have similar issues with on coming nurses. They would sigh, and click their tongues during report and I could have cared less. There isn’t a job on the planet that doesn’t require you to work, if there were, it’d be called “vacation”. You can’t do it all.

What I find extremely disheartening is the fact that the “instructor” or “staff preceptor” is COMPLETELY RESPONSIBLE for this. What’s even worse is that if this student has the potential of being a good nurse, they are being completely robbed of an acceptable education. I’d transfer out of that program as fast as possible.

I cannot LOVE this enough!! I raise my glass to all of the “non-stereotypical” nurses out there, kicking *** and taking names on a daily basis....we’ll always be more than happy to take the “raised eyebrows” and be gladly looked at with astonishment when we save a life....without skipping a beat...GIT R DONE...??

If you’re interested in an eventual permanent position, you may want to check out the VA. It’s a Federal gig with all the perks, not to mention that you’d definitely be appreciated. Just a thought ?

Don’t hold your hand on your *** waiting, LOL...everyone always shows up after the crisis is over...”nothing to see here, move along...” ??

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!! THANK YOU FOR THE HONESTY DAVEY!! I was starting to believe that even after 15 years, being fondly known locally as, “you know, that ER nurse...the one with the crazy hair and tattoos....she swears a lot too....”, that there may actually be some of us who “can handle the truth”. I’ve always believed that a hard truth is better than a soft lie. We are nurses...we are not vestal virgins...thanks for keeping it real.

And the bottom line is that I’ll always be a nurse, as evidenced by the fact that EVERYONE has to tell me about their poop !! ???

I’m not really. I’m 55, broke and broken. Had a second rotator cuff surgery that has failed. Have Crohn’s, that was in remission until COVID appeared, but I’ll figure it out. I’ve had a hard and fast lesson of learning to live within my means over the past 2 years. It’s completely doable. At this point, I’d rather be poor and happy than rich and miserable. I’m in the process of building a pottery wheel and look forward to just taking care of and “doing” ME. Peace is priceless. ?

I understand your point and in no way am I suggesting that anyone lie. As far as “cherry picking”, I’ve worked in many facilities where “cherry picking” is the go to for recruitment. It’s also been that way with non-union facilities. You ask about the patient/RN ratio, etc and the information isn’t true, or it was “cherry picked”, or was spoon fed to me with a smile, but was a complete *** show upon my arrival for assignment. Most of the time you have to take the good with the bad, obviously, but at some point, at least for me, I had to decide how much longer I wanted to be a whipping post. You’ll need to decide that for yourself. ❤️

Honestly, the fact that nursing has changed SO much in just the past 15 years is completely disheartening.... I can honestly say that I’m a kick *** nurse, not because I’m full of myself, but because I worked my *** off educate myself as well as receive the respect that I have earned. I’m really sad because all I wanted to do was help people get better, just like many other nurses. At this point, I’m just gonna retire. I just want peace in my life. ?

It depends on what position you’re interested in. Fortunately for me, when I started traveling, I had worked on every unit with the exception of L&D.. ER and CCIU, ICU and I believe, OR, are the highest paid positions.

THIS ⬆️ ! Exactly!! Most jobs that I’ve left, I’ve stayed per diem, because IF it didn’t work out and I had to go back to my previous job, I still had my seniority.