JustJen

An alternate site? Maybe rather than a traditional hospital, a hospice or maybe a dialysis center?

Seems insane to give a full head to toe during report....what you might do is make yourself a form that lists head to toe info and make one for each patient. Your could give one per patient to the oncoming nurse. You could still give report but your sheet would have anything that you may not have said. Just a thought....

Maybe you have never been charge AND had a group of patients. I have, and let me tell you....IT ISNT EASY! I cant imagine a group that big PLUS admissions.....Yikes for you and Double Yikes for the Charge Nurse!

I would not feel comfortable leaving Morphine in a bag to infuse....whats the the difference between that and leaving a syringe of morphine sitting around. The medication is out under your name, you better make sure it goes into the right body. Just my opinion!

In my opinion....go thee to the ICU. They usually have the best programs for new grads and you will have fewer, sicker patients. Depending on your preceptor, that will set you up to see in real life, all the patho-phys you have been studying. On regular floors, you usually end up with too many patients to really focus on any one of them for any length of time.

Thanks for all the suggestions....keep them coming!

Hi Everyone- I am planning on going on a Medical mission trip to the Caribbean and wondered....for those of you who have done mission trips, what are the most important things to pack? The obvious is bug spray and hand sanitizer, but what else do you consider "essential"? The organization I am traveleing with will be responsible for medical supplies, I am thinking of strictly personal items. Thanks

The 2 managers that I have the most respect for have one thing in common....they are not afraid to do the job they "manage". One I could call at 2 am to say they were holding patients in the ED and she would put scrubs on and come in to work as staff til more nurses could come in. Not being above working is a huge part of effective management, just my opinion...

I have called the local P.D. ....they have a "Hanibel Lecter" type mask that keeps the spit away from everyone except the spitter.... it has been effective. I WISH I could have a stun-gun. It would be very useful! Good luck!

As a right handed person, I find that if there are no contraindications, standing on the patients right side while inserting into the left nare is my most sucessful "side". I can use the right nare, but for whatever reason, the left is always an easier insertion for me (and my patient)

I would love to hear from anyone with experiences with this program (good or bad) as I am considering applying to their RN-BSN program. Anyone?

All I can tell you is that it takes a couple of months to fully get used to nights. Try to rest when you can, it will get better! Melatonin is great to help you sleep well....good luck!

This is a good one! 1) Incontinant people would have a "self cleaning" button. 2) Family members would have a mute button. 3) People wouldn't be so eager for have something wrong with them. It makes me crazy how many people are disappointed that we didnt diagnose them with something terrible.

CAll HR!!! Iwas once not called back after a drug test....wanna know why? My signature on my application (really neatly written) didn;'t match my signature at the drug testing lab (tired, long day of interview). If I hadn't called, talked to HR , and agreed to do ANYTHING including retest , I doubt I would have landed the job. They have so many applicants, why call the "problem:" applicants. Call. Jen

My only advice, Try everyone at least once....you will get better the more sticks you attempt. Be brave, go in with 1 needle, say "I AM going to draw some blood, and DO IT!!! Hang in there!

I understand you loss. My Mom was at my graduation, only because we found out that she was going to die of cancer and had to move closer so we could take care of her. I don't know what what your plans are after your ceremony....if you are having people over for cake or whatever, maybe you could have a flower arrangement with a candle it is "to represent the light that she was in your life". Losing my Mom has been terrible. A couple years later and I am still shattered by it. I know that someday I will see her again, my faith tells me that I will be with her again in heaven. Thats how I keep it together.

When I worked the floor, after I got report and I knew what part of the hall I had I would: Get one of the large basins (I re-used one with my name on it) and go to the supply room. I would put all the things I knew I would need for the night. Supplies for dressing changes, tubing for expired IV tubing, flushes, caps, etc. Add to my bin anything that I "had a hunch" that I might need. Go to my part of the hall and get to work. My bin stayed on my computer cart in the hall and never went in to the patients room. At the end of my shift I would return things that I didn't need to the supply room. I dont know if this will help you, but it worked for me!

I worked an Oncology floor and was very happy helping my dear patients and their families deal with end of life issues....until I had to witness my own Mother's death as a result of lung cancer. After that, I found that I needed to switch floors because I was re-living mom's death night and night with my patients. Maybe you need to look at another area of nursing while you are still grieving your loved one. P.S. As another person said, their is no rule against crying. I have cried with many of my families and patients. You develop close connections with many of them. Hugs, Jen

Please help, For whatever reason, I have a mental block when it comes to EKG interpretation. Is there a book that you can recommend that will help me memorize all the components of abnormal strips? I can pick out the normal ones, but blocks and junctionals are just not happening unless I cheat and look at my trusty cheat sheets. I just really want to understand what the rhythm is telling me.....

Before I finished school this COULD HAVE happened to me. I was hired in a position that sounds a lot like yours. The single most reason that it didn't happen to me was the RN that I shadowed would not allow it to happen. I am not saying that I didn't help with vitals and ADL's occasionally. I did, and often. I will say that my RN many times would say "Why don't you assess patient XYZ and let me know what you think about such-and-such, I am going to help and get vitals for the floor. Our CNA is sick tonight so we are working short." This experience taught me two things. #1: I got better at assessing such-and-such, but #2 and perhaps the most important lesson, was my RN taught me how to be a member of the team. I am a preceptor now, and one of the things I stress the most with my new orienees is TEAMWORK. We all need to help each other out. Thats the key to sucess on the floor. My RN would not let me be taken from things that I would learn from so I could answer call bells all night. Now, if we were all caught up, and bells started to ring, we would all do our part to get things done. I think to a lot of people, once your name has RN after it, you don't have to do the typical "CNA duties" but I am here to say that I do as much bathing, and toileting, and vitals now as I did as an aide. Maybe not every night, and shoot, lots of times the majority of the patients are not mine, I just happened to hear their call bell and tried to help. Talk to your manager and ask to be assigned to an RN who will watch out for learning opportunities for you.

Ask for help! It may sound simplistic....but ask. I am a RN on a busy Med-Surg Unit. I don't mind asking for help when I need it. There is a trick to it, though. You have to be the person that is willing to help others when they are behind. It is the only way we make it on night shift. Hang in there....

Just a thought..... One of our local hospitals "sponsered" our event. They take it out of their recruitment budget, I guess. Its brilliant if you ask me! Maybe you could find a hospital that would consider the same. If not, perhaps they would provide the flowers, or a Nursing Agency might be willing. The "payback" to the hospital is that they were named as a sponser on the program. I work for that hospital now,so I guess it worked! They recruited me!

I am a very sympathetic person, BUT..... What, besides money could that patient have taken from the sitters purse? I have seen lots of damage done with simple things like nail files, tweezers, etc. The fact that the sitter would take anything into a room troubles me. What if she had something that could be used as a weapon in that purse? Staff members could be put into a fairly harmful situation. I think sitters should not carry anything into the patients room other than maybe a book. Just my 2 cents.

I worked on an Oncology floor right after school. I enjoyed it, learned a ton, and found it very rewarding. I became very close to many of my patients and their families. Often they would be admitted and readmitted, so you did build a relationship with them. It was inspiring to watch those who beat ca. It was rewarding to help those who didnt defeat ca. Many times, you were nurse to an entire family as they learned to deal with the illness. ICU is a different world and I was not ready to "go there" right after school. I am entertaining the thought of it now, but I think you need to develop your nursing "gut" before you go to the units. You will probably have many others tell you that new grads can go straight to the units. THis is just my 2 cents.

I love Med-Surg. As a new nurse, I have learned so much there. The drawback in Med-Surg is that your patient to nurse ratio is usually the pits.