AweSmiles

I agree with Aurora77. The most appreciative and respectful patients have been those with a chronic disease or those who are terminally ill. I always say it doesn't seem to make sense to me. And the patients with the least amount of medical need end up being the most picky, demanding, and least appreciative. It always baffles me.

A tiny pink spot on the coccyx, then I would recommend placing a protective dressing to the area to keep it from breaking down more. Barrier cream would have been good before the skin actually began to breakdown. At my facility, we use a dressing called Mepilex. It is a heart shaped dressing with soft cushion-like material in the middle to alleviate pressure to the coccyx when the patient is sleeping, sitting, etc. and there is about a half inch of adhesive around it to help it stay in place. They are good for up to 4-5 days as long as they stay dry, completely intact, clean, and it's not bunched up or rolled up on the patient. If you look up Mepilex online you might be able to see a description of it. It's very handy. And if you don't have this particular dressing at your facility, then maybe you could get creative with other supplies. Good luck and I think you asked a wonderful question. :-)

Don't feel ashamed or put yourself down for feeling the way you do. It's ok. Your job is a beautiful one and the fact that you've done hospice for 6 years is beautiful. The reason you are taking your work home with you is because you "care". Which is the essence and foundation of being a nurse. Which is probably why you went into hospice in the first place. Just think, of you didn't care, it wouldn't bother you, and you wouldn't think twice about things. I think you need to go into a different area of nursing. And I know it might be hard to be as stressed as you are right now and have to start looking for another job. So, possibly seek professional help from a psychiatrist and psychologist if you aren't already. They can be tremendous help when you need it most. And if you need someone to talk to, keep coming to the forums on here or you can PM me. Good luck with everything.

luellamae, If you're still concerned about short cuts you've made in the past, what that tells me is that you "care". Which is the core of nursing and the backbone of a great nurse. If you knowingly made short cuts and weren't bothered by them later on, that would be worrisome because then that would show that you don't care, therefore you wouldn't re-think your actions, and would most likely continue taking short cuts. I know everyone tells nurses to leave their work at work and don't bring it home with you, but I've always thought that a good nurse, the one who "cares" will always bring home something to ponder on. So, no worries, you are just being a true nurse. We all make mistakes. In fact, it's sad to say but most nurses will tell you that they'll never do this or that ever again because a mistake the made years ago. Like I said, if you care, you've acknowledged that you made these short cuts, you're a good nurse and probably will never take those short routes again. Keep caring my friend because that's why we became nurses in the first place. :-) ;-)

Definitely contact Infectious Disease (ID) at your facility and explain the situation to them and ask them what they recommend then contact Occupational Health at your facility right away. This should be a documented incident just in case. I have experience with this. Whether the risk is high or low your facility's Occupational Injury Clinic should be made aware and have documentation of when and how the incident occurred. And the reason I recommend contact the infectious disease department is because they specialize in disease and it's transmission. Let me know if you need any further advice. You can message me if you would like.

I work a very large world-renown hospital and my shift is "7am- 7:30pm". We do not get paid that extra half hour. Supposedly, it's supposed to represent our lunch time that magically hardly ever appears some days. And get this, our unit is so busy and understaffed, even nurses who have been there for years get out sometimes 2 hours later than they should. And it's at no fault of ours. It's usually because our charge nurses make us take post-op patients from PACU or icu pts who aren't ready for the floor yet at around 6-7pm they call to give report and by the time the patient gets here its 7:30pm (the time I should be getting off work right?) and I still have to get the patient settled and document their arrival and assessment. And get this, we don't even have a clock-in/clock-out method where I work. There's a piece of paper that hangs on our conference room door that we initial and sign the time we arrived to make sure we go there on time. Theres nothing that we sign or do to prove when we actually leave! I think it's horrible and should be illegal. I asked someone why some units use their badges to swipe-in and swipe-out and we don't and the response I received was "because, then there would be an actual record showing how many of us are staying past our shift yet not paid the over time. As of right now, if we fought for the matter, it would be just our word we'd go by". Does anyone else work at a place that does this? This signing-in thing but no signing-out?

In my opinion, I think you were just trying to continue the conversation by stating how your jobs are difficult but in different ways. There's nothing wrong with what you said. And if she did take it the wrong way, she didn't have to put you down by saying 'that's not nursing.' that was just mean and unprofessional.

On my unit, it's us nurses running around pouring drinks for people and getting them snacks all the time. And that's on top of everything we as nurses have to do. The CNAs are pretty good about getting the vitals in on time but they don't tend to take that extra step and go over and beyond. I don't know... I think it's just my unit because I worked other places where the techs were more than willing to help out.

On my unit at a very large hospital we see a variety, such as: Lap/ open choleys Post-op whipples Post-op liver resections Post-op colon resections with colostomies/ileostomies Post-op DIEP flaps Mastectomies Total gastrectomies Abscess & bile drain placements GJ tube placements Incisional & ventral hernia repairs

Liz.LVN, If I went back to my 3rd month as a nurse on my unit, I think I would be writing the same sentences as you. When you are just in your 3rd month as a new nurse on a unit, there are so many things happening and so many things your are learning that they do not teach you in nursing school. Such has the policies and protocols specific to your facility, when to page the on-call physician, on top of learning new skills, handing out meds, learning their documentation system... The list goes on. I felt like a ditz as well. Even though I knew I was very intelligent. I ended up not talking to my preceptor because I realized that the way I was being treated was just her personality and talking to her would not make things easier but rather make an uncomfortable work environment. My suggestion is to hang in there. Once you are off orientation, it might seem a little scary at first but also a relief because you will no longer be followed by someone which in my opinion is when we all tend to make the most errors. If you need to talk some more about this, you can always PM message me. I remember spending a lot of time writing in a journal when I got home while on orientation and I frequently wrote things like "I feel so stupid." or "they probably think I'm so dumb." Just know, you're not alone. Hang in there. ?

Hi WhistlingNurse, I work at a reputable hospital that is also having problems with staffing. Well, I know my unit is having a problem and our sister unit is as well but at far as other units go, I haven't heard of staffing being as bad. Which makes it even more concerning because than that means that if our facility can adequately staff the rest of the hospital than it is possible for staffing to be corrected on my unit. I mean, it's to the point that patient safety and quality of care are being impacted. My unit as a group and many individual nurses have gone to our nurse manager, gone to the director of our department, and have been apart of safety meetings to express our concerns. What has been done? Nothing besides more paperwork to fill out leaving less time with our patients. Administration seems to just come by and nod their heads as they listen to us. It almost feels as if they just want us to feel like we're being heard and to be quite for a little while longer. It's actually sad because I am a new nurse and I've developed this resentment towards administration in my facility for their lack of consideration of their employees. It almost makes me lack trust. I feel like this situation is hopeless. I mean, if they want evidence to prove that our staffing does not match our increasingly high acuity patients than we can give it to them. We can show them more med errors that are occurring, more readmissions occurring, a decrease in our patient satisfaction surveys. Its actually sad because I feel bad for the patients and my fellow coworkers. It's pretty bad when even patients blurt out the words "you guys do not seem adequately staffed to handle such heavy patients." Well, we've tried to get someone from administration on our side with no success and what feels like no voice. And my unit also has a problem with bullying. I don't get it either. It feels like middle school all over again. And this is supposed to be a professional environment? I never thought adults behaved like this. And again, nothing has been done. Nurses on my unit make up stories about other nurses ( like not just a little lie, they literally make up entire stories), they talk about the nicest nurses and the ones that try so hard, and they even go to our nurse manager with these lies and basically gossip to her. I can't believe I am even writing all this because I can't believe this has become the place where I spend most of my time. I just wanted to let you hear about my unit so that you could know that you're not alone. And I hope that someday soon our voices are heard by administration and things can be fixed. Hang in there.

Hi there, if this helps you at all... I too am sailing the same boat as you. I haven't been at my job for 2 years yet but I am astounded at how much my work has affected me in ways I never thought possible. I mean, I rotate shifts a lot so those fake days that are considered my'days' off are really just my days for recuperation after working 3 PMs and need to turn around and work 3 AMs. Wow! I didn't know our bodies were cable of transforming our days and nights like that and still be able to care for our patients safely. I feel like its a never ending cycle. And the days I have off I think about the upcoming shifts I have to work. Work would be easier as well if we had adequate (safer) staffing, had more genuine teamwork, and more support from management to support these issues we are suffering over. I feel bad that you're only at your 6 month mark and are feeling this way. Just keep you head up and start quietly looking for positions elsewhere or do share days on a specific unit. Whatever it is... Just know that you're not alone. Not at all. I feel your pain too.