WhereIsMyCallBell

Others are right. There should NOT be a problem. If I were you (which I am not) I would wait until after your drug screen to take a dose again. You really just never know. I say better to be safe than sorry. It's crying shame, but sometimes in Nursing when it comes to your "personal stuff", it is better to e safe than s0rry. Just my opinion as a Nurse with a disability. Best of luck~

The primary nurse very well may have had a plan in place to stabilize this pt. with MD VO's. Wouldn't hurt to ask the other nurse at a later date what their rationale was for not calling a RR. Again soooo many things to take into consideration. Might learn from it =)

We all have our own nursing styles for sure. Did you have all the info the primary nurse had? Vitals stable? Primary dx? secondary to? DNR? full code??? So many factors. Some nurses go into calm mode and have good judgement and instinct. Others are alarmists. Lots to consider without ALL the facts.

You were upset and posting from your phone. Good gosh all. Give your fellow nurse a break here. She is looking for guidance and advice not an english lesson, or to be made to feel even worse. Julz, it never ever hurts to CYA! Use your good judgement, but remember to always think it through 1st. Good luck!

LOL @ the cartoon. When my body and mind say no... I have learned not to listen to my heart. Because I WANT to help them out.. I really do! But not at my mental and physical health's expense.

CP my heart goes out to you and your family. My sincere sorrow for your loss is felt deeply although I do not know you personally. Your grief is palpable. You are so right.. It is NOT good bye ~

My feeling is this (and I have worked LTC as an RN almost 7 yrs). Your job can not turn you into anything. We all cope and deal with interpersonal, environmental and situational stress in different ways. Seems nursing somehow brings out either the best, or the worst in those of us who have chosen this path. CHOSE being the key word. Just as we have chosen this profession. We also make daily, hourly decisions and choices regarding how we deal with and react to our co-workers, mgmt, patients, families, MD's etc. I go into work each day making a very conscious choice to be pleasant, respectful and positive. Nothing, or no one can MAKE me be anything other than what I chose to be. Sure, circumstances arise that can challenge my outlook/attitude on any number of things. But allowing myself to become negative and nasty is completely counterproductive. The patient's pick up on the negativity, be sure of that. Think about it. Sometimes you, the professional nurse (and staff) might be the only human interaction our patient's have on a consistent basis. Especially those poor older folks who don't have loving families that come to visit. WE are all they have. It is SO NOT FAIR to the very prople who count on us to have to be exposed to our negativity. Plenty of nurses are hateful and negative with one another and then put on the phoney sweet smile for the matter of minutes they spend with a patient. Well maybe if the nurse wasn't so caught up in her/his own negative (bs). They just might spend an extra minute or two to be genuinely interested and concerned for the patient. Not just slap on a smile and get in and out of their room asap. Although compassion is not "cost effective", and even though we nurses are only human who can so easily let low staffing ratios, sub par mgmt, certain co-workers who may rub us the wrong way and so on... get under our skin so much so that it effects our professionalism, not to mention our productivity and what we project outwardly to others. Subconsciously those NURSES who DON'T strive everyday to make the right CHOICE to make the best out of resources (however limeted), to truly try and give our co-workers and our patients the benefit of the doubt, to make lemonade when lemons are being thrown at us from all directions. After so long it becomes increasing difficult to remain positive and it seems the stressors of just being a nurse in this day and age does effect some nurses who choose not to make a concerted, conscious effort EVERYDAY to stay positive, remain calm and not to start, or buy into the backstabbing and gossip that is running rampent in this profession. I don't know about others. I can only speak for myself. But in the grand scheme of things; I have found being pleasant and positive certainly makes my day better as well as those around me. I would rather go find another profession if I were really so unhappy and hateful in my position as a nurse whether RN, or LPN. My day, my attitude and what I project to others are a direct reflection of my desire and true essence of the nurse that I am. The nurse that I AM makes choices to remain consistently positive. When challenging situations are presented to me during my daily routine. I stop, take a deep breath. Remember the oath I took 7 years ago, which in turn inspires me to dig deep if I must and take a negative, then somehow, someway extract the positive and use it constructively if at all possible. If not, then learn valuable lessons from it in order to react to similar circumstances differently when they arise in the future. Bottom line is... and as I have stated all along. NOTHING and NO ONE can MAKE me be hateful and unhappy as much as it is how I decide to deal with and process things. Heck no! It is not always the easiest path at the time. In the long run though. It helps me keep my sanity and lets the patients who are entrusted to my care know that I am interested, invested and easy to approach with any concerns they may have. For most of these patient's, this is the roughest thing they have had to deal with in their lifves. I owe it to myself, to my patient's and to my employer to make good choices. I chose positive, compassionate care and am darn proud of it!!!

Um. hmm.. My choice is a pepsi product! Sunkist Orange Soda, oh yeah!! That's what gets me through my day. It's the only orange soda with caffeine in it. Okay, so I am a little different (nothing new) =)

Don't trust 'em. But, that's just me... =)

You will be just fine. You're only human, feeling human emotions such as doubt. There are alot of opportunities in nursing where you don't have to watch surgical procedures! Take a deep breath and just get through this part of clinicals, one clinical day at a time, putting one foot in front of the other.

I would have to say when I graduated in 2006. Our class was a bit mislead to believe there was this huge nursing shortage and we'd have no problem landing jobs of our choosing because they prepared us so well. Yes, it is a good school with an excellent reputation for turning out good, solid nurses upon graduation. The reality is, in this economy (at leat in my rural area) there has not been any nursing shortage that I have encountered. If there is any kind of shortage, it's because nurses are expected to do the work of 2 people. They are getting burnt out and leaving the profession. Again, it goes back to the economy and the almighty dollar. That's what it's about anymore. Not good, ethical nursing care. I went into nursing with my whole heart and it is slowly breaking.

Ah this topic brings back fond memories from nursing clinicals a little over 7 years ago. OMG I had the Yes Sarge" nursing instructor my 2nd semester. Tough as nails she was. She made me so darn nervous I would screw up at bedside while she was observing me. (got 1 unsafe from her) that's beside the point. LOL But when it came time to do our BIG nursing care plan with all of our dx's and plans, implementations etc. etc. I blew her mind because i had a natural knack for it she said. She gave me high praise! Even had some of the other students that didn't do so well look at mine to "see how it's done." After that my confidence was way up and she no longer made me nervous. Turned out to be an ok semester. To this day I know to trust my nursing judgement, critical thinking along with my gut feeling about patients and circumstances. NANDA and, those tedious care plans will serve you well, trust me.

Document, document, document! Follow up to see if the med was effective. ONLYthe pt. can tell you that. If the patient tells you and other nurses no, not effective. Then this may be something to have the MD address when he does rounds with the RN, or charge nurse when a pattern is established. If pt. tells you the med. is working then leave well enough alone and give poor pt. her med. when asked for within reasonable time limit. Okies, I have said enough now. lol = x

Do a full focused assessment ie. are they a cardiac pt,. COPD'r, post CABG, etc... Obtain manual vitals, none of that wrist cuff, temporal temperature stuff, get a rectal temp for heavan's sakes! Question LPN,s and CNA's about changes in LOC and condition... What can I do as an RN to stablize this pt? Call MD. Orders, or send out? I have been in LTC 7 yrs now. There is also an intuitive type thing I have developed. I take all of that into consideration. If DNR call POA. Full code emergency. Give CPR if necessary and have someone call 911 stat. If they are a DNR and family doesn't want them sent out. Make the patient as comfortable as possible within my scope of practice. Follow MD orders if given to facilitate comfort and notify family. YES some of us LTC nurses have a brain and training too! But that's me, I can not speak for all LTC nurses.

Personally I am much more burnt out and fatigued at the end of an 8hr, 5 day week than working 3 12's in a row. That 3rd 12 hr day can be a bit** sometimes if you've had a crazy, busy stretch. But the time off it affords me is very worth it. I also agree with the saving on wear and tear on my vehicle (and ga$) these days. 12 hr shifts rock as far as I am concerned. Plus 8 hr days can often turn into 9 or 10 hours if you have had alot of admits, incidents, deaths etc. Like you said LOTS of variables to consider.