zaggar

I have. They say no. They keep at it. They're clever. Also, I'm wanting to stop using the old standby of directly confronting the issue, cause life is full of issues and if I spent all my time addressing the crazy things you see in the hospital I wouldn't have time to care for my patients. I want to let it roll off, like water off a ducks back.

Hello everyone. I love nursing. I love helping people get better. I love learning new things. I want to keep doing this. But I've hit a serious mental roadblock that I can't get over. I've been nursing for 8 years, and I would like to do 30 more, but there is one personality type that - seriously - might make me quit. I have a problem with coworkers who try to browbeat me or act like they are better than me. It seems that every floor has one or two people who seem to live for no reason other than to aggravate others, and it doesn't take them long to figure out what makes my blood boil. These people tend to get me during shift change, where I've just spent the last 12 hours trying to do the best I can, just to have them sit there (and you can see their minds working) as they try to poke holes in the job I've done, or get me to admit I don't know some detail, so they can roll their eyes at me and suggest that I'm a terrible nurse - in front of others is usually best in their eyes. They aren't trying to teach me. They aren't trying to hold the floor to a high standard. They are trying to be aggravating passive/aggressive jerks who feel better about themselves by putting others down. These nurses often have been on the same floor too long. Now they think it's "their" floor. They think they are better than everyone else. They give everyone a hard time. And generally everyone puts up with them because these people are good at acting innocent in front of the bosses, plus they are the veterans who have been there the longest, and in general they don't want to go to war with a crazy person. How can I deal with these people without taking it to the boss. I don't want the bosses to fix this problem for me, because it really seems like it's my problem, and coworkers like these aren't going away. Sadly, I've even left good floors because of a few bad apples, only to learn there are bad apples everywhere. I'm afraid if I don't get some good advice that works, I'll be telling them to go to hell (pant pant pant), and then I'll be the one who looks like the problem child. If any of you have overcome this hurdle, I deeply need your advice. I'm tired of spending my days off dwelling on people who are not worth my time and peace of mind. Thanks.

The only place I've ever heard the term is here on this message board.

If anything passes, it will be more health insurance reform than healthcare reform. Health insurance companies might be told they can't just drop clients anymore when they get sick. And everyone will be expected to maintain health insurance. Anything more than that seems very unlikely. So, no. It won't lower salaries. If anything, Nurses (and especially Nurse Practicioners) will find themselves incredibly in demand.

I didn't expect everyone to be so thankful and appreciative and kind to me. For reasons that are totally unfair, I think being a male is a large part of that.

I did various computer, network and sys admin jobs for 21 years, then went into nursing school. I graduate in May. -Quite a change in careers, it's scary!! I was scared during my first semester, when so many people were failing out of the program. Now I'm nervous that I might be forgetting something, but that's it. I'm sure I made the right decision. I don't miss computers at all. -How to pay for it Since I had a previous bachelors, there weren't any scholarships available for me (they don't like it when you are moving backwards from a BS to an associates). So, I put my school costs on a Visa card. I could only get away with that because my school really isn't all that expensive. -Can you go to school for nursing (LPN or ADN) and work full time? Some very few in my class are. Generally they are working nightshifts, and are always zombies when I see them. Most of us have part-time jobs as nurse externs, or are not working at all. I say just live off Top Ramen and macaroni and cheese for 2 years and then get your finances back in order after you graduate. -What issues I may run into being a male and a nursing student. I haven't seen many issues. The women tend to like it when I help them lift, and I don't have a problem with that. Some women don't want a male in the room when they are uncovered, others don't care. I strongly suggest you avoid any flirting or school relationships during your first semester (when they are weeding out the weirdos). Oh, and in case you didn't already know - anything you say to ONE woman you have officially said to ALL women. Mostly being a male is an advantage, since it's easier to stay in the no-drama zone. My biggest advice is to pay attention to different floors you visit, work as an extern on, or do clinicals on. Find a place that is willing to teach you the job. If they aren't, then just move on. That first nursing job can either make you very happy or very miserable.

Others will tell you how great the ER is. They are right, since it's a personal opinion kind of thing. So I'll give you the opposite view as a person who has worked both. ER nursing can't compare to med/surg. 1. Patients are angry in the ER. That's not how they thought they would be spending the day, the stretchers are uncomfortable, and they are constantly waiting. 2. Patients don't often say thank you. They're angry, tired, and just waiting to get their meds or get admitted. Also, every single thing you did to them was either painful or uncomfortable. 3. It's natural that your focus in the ER will be to save lives in emergent situations, as opposed to patting hands and massaging shoulders. That natural focus will make more patients think that you are uncaring, and therefore a bad nurse. 4. Most of the "exciting" things in the ER I actually have different words for. Disgusting, tragic, and perverse come immediately to mind. How many Pelvic Inflammatory Diseases, Schizophrenics off their meds, and old drunks needing to sober up enough to go to jail/rehab do you need to see in life anyway? 5. ER nursing is often slower than med/surg. That's right, I said it. They can't really have any idea what their acuity will be, so there are often times where there are a bunch of nurses and no patients. After two hours of this, the ER will be overflowing and people will be stacked up in the halls. In med/surg, it's busy from 7 to 7, guaranteed. 6. The change of pace is murder, because not all patients are moving at the same speed. You'll be talking to a doctor on a cell phone trying to get one patient admitted, while two other patients are emergent. Then you'll have one patient who is stable and just waiting for a room upstairs. That's 4 different paces you are trying to maintain all at once. Inevitably, none of them are going to get everything they need. There's only so much you can do/remember/accomplish. 7. You don't really get the opportunity to learn disease processes in depth. You learn rapid responses to emergent situations, and after they are stabilized they are gone. 8. ER's lose money. They are perpetually the first to face layoffs. Forever and ever, amen. 9. Med/Surg gets to work hard, fix someone up, and see them improve. The patients go home surrounded by family and friends. It's very positive and rewarding. 10. Pancakes are better than waffles. Tan lines are awesome. People in Washington, D.C. can't drive.

New Balance with a high number stamped on them.

How hard is it to get into a field you want to...(I would like to work in ICU or ER or Surgery...although I know this might change after nursing school and being exposed to different areas)? In my experience (all following opinions are in my experience), not hard at all. Of course, if they aren't hiring for Surgery, then I guess you have to wait a bit. You might be like me, and find out that you like something entirely different from what you thought you would like. What is the worst thing about the job? Stress, worry, am I missing something, did I forget something, are my patients OK? What is the best thing about the job? It's very rewarding to help people get and feel better. It's also nice that you can hunt around until you find the field that's right for you. Are nurses looked down upon, or are they generally treated well? Generally treated well. It's the minority of physicians who treat nurses badly, and most patients love us. If you're an idiot and choose to fight with the patients and doctors, you will be living in the land of continual lose. Are male nurses treated differently than female nurses? If you're willing to help out (in other words, willing to help with the lifting) then you are treated BETTER than female nurses. They like the thought of you being there for them, so will generally be willing to trade favors. How many hours a week do you work on average, with and without overtime? without = 36; with = 48, with those last 8 being time and a half. 12 hour shifts. If you could do it over again would you choose nursing again? Yup. Anything else I should know...? Girls play with each others hair a lot. Never really saw guys do that. Girls also don't mind talking about their periods in front of male nurses.

I had problems with my feet. Our rooms are small, with patients hooked up to IV's, foleys, telemetry and chest tubes, blakes and JP's, and sometimes epidurals, PCA's rectal tubes, SCD's, wound vacs, external pacers...and all of them absolutely MUST get out of bed to eat all meals and ambulate three times a day. I was kicking over everything until I learned to always watch where i was stepping.

So far, so good. Can't last forever though.

Quietly observe. You will notice periods of time where all the pinheads wander off together. Staying behind will be a few students keeping to themselves. They are the real adults.

What I do that helps: 1. Count your blessings. 2. Help someone. 3. Let all snide comments and rudeness slide, except those that will keep you up at night. Then speak your mind quickly and move on.

Yes. Simple truth - you don't have enough money to afford old age. God willing, you will grow old. Then, sure enough, you will have some chronic illness. Maybe only diabetes, maybe cancer, maybe a hip replacement. You can't afford it. And when your old, your health insurance will abandon you. They will just...plain...abandon you. Right when you need them most, they will no longer give you coverage. I have universal healthcare, because I served in the military. It works. You should have it to. Who says you have to lose everything you ever worked for, just so you can go on Medicaid (welfare) just so you can have the healthcare you need to live?

God bless you all, who work to take care of our elderly. We will be in the same boat some day. It's the way our western world is structured. The problem, as stated above, is the lack of meaningful government regulation enforcement. If that doesn't change, then criminals will continue to break the law running holding cells that torture our elderly. You know, the meat packing industry used to be very, very bad. But then Upton Sinclair wrote "The Jungle", which woke up America to the filth that they were eating. The public outcry led to changes in legislation, which cleaned up our meat packers. Maybe it's time for someone to write a new "The Jungle" focusing on the nursing homes that are ran by criminals.

It wasn't nearly as bad as I feared it would be. As a matter of fact it wasn't bad at all. It's still not the job for me though.

Dogs are great. They are wonderful listeners and love to go for long walks. Very therapeutic. I know the concept of long walks isn't that appealing after 13 hours of work, but you can do it, and it beats laying there awake for hours.

I really do. There's so many people out there who are so very sick, and you are there for them. I mean, every imaginable illness, mental or emotional or physical, lands at your feet, and you are there for them. You're not perfect, because none of us are, but you are trying so very hard and your heart is always in the right place. I know you often beat yourselves up over getting some thing wrong, but that's only because you care so much. Please don't forget all the good things you do. And please remember how you are touching the lives of those around you. The patients look up to you. You are the best thing about the poor miserable situation they are in. You are their ray of sunshine when they are down and out. Poor people, sick, weak, frightened and in pain. They really have no clue how to get well again. Thank God you're there for them. So much of the world has turned it's back on the sick, and elderly, and weakened, but you have the bravery to stand there and defend them. And we students love you. I know we make you nervous, staring at you all the time, and we are sorry about that. Please don't think that you aren't teaching us anything. Trust me, you are teaching us a lot. Quite honestly you amaze us. Look around you. See everyone? We all really need you.

Life is what you make of it. Happiness is a choice.

I don't get it. Why can't a nurse tell a surgeon to wash his hands? What will he do? Eat your dog?

Probably within your town are at least 2 or 3 colleges that exist so you can achieve your goals. They are called community colleges and technical schools, and they are there to show you that you can do anything you want. It's their whole purpose in life. They will accept you. They are your stepping stone to getting a great job.

This is a period of evaluation. New. Nurse. Student. That's triple evaluation. Certain aspects of military life are a tremendous advantage in nursing school. Namely accountability and maturity. Instructors love accountability and maturity. Other aspects of military life are a tremendous disadvantage. Namely the military tendency to make a quick decision, whether its right or not. Don't take charge unless you are 100% certain you will be successful in improving the situation and making things better. Nursing school is very, very similar to what life was like when I was in basic training.

Someone I know had gastric bypass - Roux-en-Y, where they actually set the biggest part of the stomach off to the side, out of the main route of the digestive tract. Here's how it all went. She lost weight very rapidly over the first six months, and lost some hair. She looked skeletal. She vomited if she ate too quickly or ate foods that were too fatty. Her entire outlook on eating changed. Then about 3 years into it she started to put some weight back on and is now a normal body weight. She has anemia due to poor vitamin B12 and iron absorption, and needs monthly B12 shots. I would say it was worth it for her, just for the psychological boost if nothing else.

>>I was absolutely floored by your post....very appalled. I can just about bet you that that statement concerning job difficulty just insulted every former teacher, current teacher, and future teacher on this board. So...you're saying that teaching is as physically taxing as nursing? You're saying that teacher's have the same strict margins for error? You're saying that teaching decisions are life and death? I have been a teacher, in the military, for years and years. Apples and oranges. Every time a teachers union goes to D.C. saying that it's not fair that a nurse with an associates degree gets paid more than a teacher with a masters, 100 out of 100 senators thinks to themselves, "Yeah, nurses are overpaid." So you're saying teachers need more money. Fine, that's your fight. Don't drag us into this. It's very simple. If you look at our responsibilities, you would see that nursing would require a lot more than an associates degree if they could get more people to volunteer to work as nurses. Sorry that you're floored and appalled. Teaching takes a lot of preparation if you bother to do it right. Nursing takes a lot of preparation or you will sooner or later wind up fired or jailed. There's a reason why there's a nursing shortage.

My wife was conflicted. On one hand she has great faith in my ability to get things done when I set my mind to it. On the other hand she thought I had really lost my mind on this one. She's excited about it now though.