SarahRN2013

Days on that type of unit can brutal constantly transferring or discharging to make room for admits from the cath lab means it never ends! Have you considered finishing out your year on nights? WAY easier. At most, one late cath lab patient who needs...

THIS.

On average, my job is quite enjoyable with reasonable patient:staff ratios, fair distribution of acuity in assignments, etc. I like my job and might even say that I love my job. Most shifts, a few unexpected/unplanned things pop up and need to be add...

Thank you for the suggestions, Ruby Vee. I already do post-shift processing in a variety of forms. I am hoping to figure out some things that might help during the shift too. Some people just seem so chill no matter how much crap is being dumped on t...

I have many co-workers hired as ASN-RNs who are now completing their BSN's as part of their new hire contract (75% paid by our employer!) for a magnet-certified hospital. Actually, even nurses who have been at our facility for a long time were given ...

I think the NA to patient ratio is just as important as the RN to patient ratio, as well as what type of support staff is available. I recently left a second job (med-surg/med-surge tele float pool) where the NAs routinely had 12 or more patients eac...

I was a biochemist before I went to an accelerated second degree program for nursing at 38. I didn't enjoy being a biochemist for two main reasons: (1) turns out I love science but I don't love endlessly repeating variations on the same experiment wi...

Agreed. Recently some of our physicians have started ordering SCDs for patients currently experiencing a DVT -- and they actually mean for the nurses to apply them (whereas some physicians order them (out of habit, I suppose) and do not want them app...

Agreed! My first job we usually had 1 NA for 13 patients, no night respiratory therapists, no ECG techs, no phlebotomists and no onsite providers at night (other than an EC doc for codes). At my second job, the we have all the support staff (includin...

I also think that nursing school prepares you more for the tasks as my clinical instructors never let us have more than 3 patients (except my capstone preceptorship, which for me was in an ICU so I still only had 2-3 patients). Even so, my GN orienta...

Do you have any contacts from your ADN program who might be willing to make introductions (or at least give you a manager's name)? Or maybe from your BSN program? I was initially hired part-time at one hospital. A few months in, I was ready to get ...

From the research that I have done so far, this doesn't seem to be a problem only at for-profit/private schools. Even many established, seemingly well-respected public university programs are having their NP students find preceptors. Also (not in dir...

I don't have any different tips than the ones already offered. Just wanted to reassure you that other people have initially struggled but then thrived once they found the right combination of sleep products (sleep mask, fan, white noise machine, etc....

One other tip that I didn't notice anyone else suggesting: If you have computerized charting, find out if your system supports "smart phrases." What these phrases are called varies by EHR system, but they're short-cuts to writing your "standard" prog...

I think I have similar learning opportunities on nights as on days - with more time at night for looking up something that I want to know more about, often the same shift rather than doing it at home later (e.g. what's this condition noted in my pati...

I also worked on a very similar ortho/med-surg floor (almost entirely ortho) in my first year as a nurse, so I think I can relate to your experience. (You didn't even mention all of the q2h and q4h neurovascular checks and physical labor that all tho...

In my first job as a nurse, I worked on a progressive care unit where I almost always had 5 patients and the aids usually had 13 patients and often had 18 patients. I've also worked on a similar unit at a different facility where nurses usually have ...

I agree with ToastedPeanut, particularly about a little notebook. I found it helpful to jot down information in my notebook then I transferred it to a word document every 1-2 weeks. The word document was organized alphabetically by keyword so that I ...

If you have similar benefits in any career where your employer reports ALL of your earnings, you will see a similar chunk taken out of your paycheck, regardless of whether you're a nurse, call center employee or any other position. It has nothing to ...

Even with 2 years of experience, there are many skills at which I am not truly proficient and make me nervous if I have a patient requiring that skill. On my current unit (a cardiac progressive care unit), many of the nurses are nervous to manage PCA...

While it would nice if every nurse *loved* nursing, I don't think it's necessary to *love* nursing to be a good nurse. (And with the patient-as-customer focus on HCAPS scores and seemingly endless charting rather than providing patient care, I've hea...

If you do take ACLS, keep in mind that you are generally expected to teach yourself all of the material for the course prior to attending. The 'education' part on day 1 (of a 2 day course) for the first time that someone is certifying is very rushed,...

I agree with the previous comments about confronting the rudeness, but it sounds like the OP may also be a little overwhelmed with the nursing too. If that's the case, I just want to tell the OP that just because you are struggling with your first jo...

I loved both my anatomy and physiology classes. They were time consuming but keeping my eye on the end goal (as Ashley recommended) was helpful to keep me going. I hope it helps when the fast paced part of my program starts this fall :)

A friend recommended PERRLA software. I haven't used it yet, but she loves it. APA PERRLA software helps students properly format papers in APA style and create citations and references - PERRLA.com