Bubbly26

I work in a small 8 bed ICU and we usually take charge with a patient assignment. I was charge the other day with two intubated patients and titrating drips. It all depends on the unit you work on.

I would say job 2

I wish!

Having no staff is one of the main reasons why I hate nursing

I'm a black RN and proudly rock my fro. The best advice I can give is be yourself. If someone declines you a job based on the way you wear your natural hair then you probably wouldn't want to work at that place anyway. Best of luck finding a job

Hi all, I am currently an oncology nurse who has just accepted a new position in an 8-bed unit ICU near home. I have been a nurse for 18 months and I wonder is it considered normal to feel nervous about starting in the ICU. I have toured the unit multiple times and the turn over rate is very low at this job. I was wondering if I should start studying in prep for this position or just wait until actual orientation starts? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

UH has one-year commitment before you can transfer internally. I've worked at the clinic and UH. I found UH treated their nurses better.

New ENT resident put in order "Please do not ever suction patient." I had to call several times to clarify the order since the patient was a day 0 trach patient. The attending acually called back and said to please ignore the new moron on my service and suction as needed.

1:3- sometimes it can go up to 4 patients on days. If it's a fresh trach or flap patient it's 1:2 no exceptions

I'm biased but I would say oncology.

Did you have a bachelors first? Did you have to retake any classes? I may be interested in this route also. I have a bachelors in something else and will have my BSN in September.

I'm doing that right now. I'm doing an RN to BSN while still working as an RN. I work swing shifts.

I work on an oncology ENT floor and I suction patients almost daily. It gets better with practice. Ask an experienced nurse if you could watch them suction a patient. It also depends on the type of trach the patient have. If they have a lary tube, then little suction is needed like q6 hour suction. If they have a Shiley, for instance, then you would suction more frequently. Like q2 to a4 hours if they have thick secretions. Good luck! P.S. Don't stand right in front of the patient when you shadow the nurse as they suction the patient. Step to the side or you will regret it. I know from experience.

Bumping this thread!!!! How is everyone doing? I'm 2 weeks away from hitting the one year mark at this job(March 1st). It's strange how I was just reading my older post about being terrified from getting out of orientation. I've been on my own for pretty much 9 months now. How time flies! How's everyone doing? Still hanging in there?

Prayers for her and her family.

Usually, they drug test you before you start clinicals. Not sure if that policy has changed though.

On days? 3. Night's up to 5.

Toughest shift? First day off orientation 9 months ago: My patient threw a PE in the middle of me giving off going report to the next nurse and my other patient BP dropped into the low 70/30s with free air in the abdomen. I had to send them both to the ICU. I went home crying because it was supposed to have been a simple assignment. It quickly went left.

I'm almost 7 months in now and I think I have finally hit the recovery stage. I still dread going into work but it's not an overwhelming fear like it was before. I have gotten much quicker on my med passes and assessments. I was even given my very own nursing student at month 6. At this point, I feel like I'm an old new grad. There's newer nurses on the floor who now come to me with questions and I actually have an answer to their questions. Ummm...yay?

I'm still a new nurse but I always come in early(like 20 to 30 mins before the start of shift) to browse the chart before laying eyes on the patient. My floor only allows us to get report 6 minutes before the start of shift so I usually write down which patient has which meds, labs, or reason for the surgery if I'm not familiar with the patient. I work on a surgical floor so things tend to move quickly. I would say do what works best for you but I have noticed it all depends on who you are getting report from also. It can make all the difference

Registered nurse RN youtube channel was helpful during nursing school. I still refer back to her videos as an RN now.

Go with UWorld. I felt it was the closest in design to the actual nclex.

I'm a new grad also. I will be off orientation next week. I think I am in stage 2 already. I am very unhappy with my job. I dread going to work now. My preceptor told me that it's normal to feel that way as a new nurse but I can't help but to stress over the job. I hope it gets better.

Some candy and a oncology nurse pin.

One doctor(resident) came up to me one day and tried to give me the verbal order of ambulating a certain patient in the hall. Mind you, there was "no hello are you the nurse for this patient or anything." Just came up demanding I ambulate this patient. Turns out the patient was a double amputee and didn't have legs at all. Once I pointed it out very loudly to him in the hallway, he slithered off with his tail between his legs.