ked20

"I stubbed my toe." "My cat hid my keys."

Boston MA 36 years Telephone Triage $69.29/hr Night diff $3.50 (after 4pm) No union

I left nursing to become an attorney. Though I value the education I received, I would not do it again. I practiced law for 7 years. If you think you are disrespected now, become an attorney. You will be treated like the bottom of the barrel especially by colleagues. That's why I am practicing nursing again.

I work with about 30 NP's. They absolutely do not consider themselves nurses. They refer to themselves as "clinicians" They think the nurses they work with are idiots and have stated so. It is really disgraceful.

"Is this your first time working nights?"

A new student nurse standing outside the patient's room, full wash basin and towels in hand, shaking like a leaf. When I approached she said, "I know what I'm supposed to do but what do I do first?." I told her to think about her own morning routine and take it from there.

Try specialties like dialysis or procedural sedation.

This has happened to me several times. Kill them with kindness. It has always worked for me. Apologize for everything. Thank everyone for everything. Help anyone with anything. Bake cookies. I have worked in places where I felt hated. By the time I announced I was leaving, one nurse cried and everyone asked me to stay. And after I left, people begged me to come back. I left one job that started badly and when I left I was taken to brunch in a very expensive restaurant and given a diamond bracelet!

Send an email to everyone on the panel. Thank them for their time and apologize for nervous behaviour. Expand on the vague answers you gave and thank them again for their time. Don't leave the situation as is. You can still make a good impresssion.

The last time I did not get the job (where a spy told me I was the strongest candidate) I contacted Human Resources and asked if I was being considered or not, I got an email thereafter from the interviewer saying "We decided to go in a different direction." They went with a part time person instead of full time. And, someone who knew someone with influence in the department. She quit after less than a year. Guess where I am now? Sweet!

Use a drug eliminated by liver, not kidney.

I recently started writing. And, I am getting such a kick out of what I've written, I am going to publish!

You nailed it!!

Telephone Triage! I love it so much I am writing a book about it. You get to play "Colombo" all day. (you're probably too young to know who that is.)

Don't beat yourself up. Your supervisor is ignorant. I have been a nurse for 36 years. I stuck myself with a needle contaminated with Hep B+ in the 70's. Got sick. It was bad. But, it was a combative patient. It was an accident. I wasn't careless. I was dealing what I had to work with. And, if you can't remember if you recapped then you are dealing with what you had to work with: exhaustion. They work us like dogs. And, then wonder why we can't be perfect, work harder, work faster. It's been this way for years. Hold your head up. You are in the hardest profession there is. Be proud. No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent. (Eleanor Roosevelt)