Yitong_RN

I worked in med-surg/neuro-tele for the same amount of time. I did a critical care internship, but it wasn't exactly what I expected. I went from night shift on the regular floor to day shift ICU...OMG so much more work, and so much more required specificity. I was used to treated patients on a long-term basis where I needed to comprehend treatment in a big-picture way, but in ICU everything had to be JUST RIGHT. I wasn't used to that. On more than one occasion, I thought I'd enjoy the ED for the focused stabilization, then ship them upstairs kind of thing. I had a terrible preceptor in ICU, but that's beside the point. I want to address your concerns. I work on a cardiac tele unit now that necessitates more specificity than my former med-surg job, but def not as much as ICU. I like that. As far as classes, I would recommend a full residency if you transfer to ICU. If they offer you just a straight transfer with a two week orientation, don't do it. A good residency should have a lot of in-house education to go with it. As for IV starts, just try to do as many IVs as you can. Ask your coworkers to let you do their IVs. Ask for altered pts that pull their IVs lol...maybe. It's possible you could shadow in another department that does a lot of IVs like med-day or with the PICC team; you could completely concentrate on that without having to be anyone's primary nurse. Good luck!

Thanks for all your replies. The crux of it is: would I be giving up a valuable job (i get paid and get to learn stuff) vs would I be giving up a job because it is truly unsafe and unsatisfying, but it's just that way because it's new to me? I've thought of the things I find truly unsatisfying (the EMR, ****** med admin, lack of supplies, doing lots of non-nursing duties), and wonder if those will actually change OR those are just things to get used to. I think the latter. I worked at my other job yesterday with Epic, WOWs, and full supplies (although lower acuity), and it was nice. Also, would it serve to really bite me in the ass to leave a job so early after getting hired? I could just leave it off my resume, but...everyone knows everyone, so would that follow me? Anyone here had a similar experience?

I recently got a job at an HCA hospital in DFW on a cardiac tele floor. I've been a nurse about 6.5 years, with most of my experience in neuro tele/med surg. Actual job is good; I like what I'm learning, coworkers are friendly and supportive, my direct manager seems available, workflow is a bit busy (but part of this is me adjusting to a new work environment). I've been on the floor two weeks, and yesterday I saw an MICU nurse I went through orientation with floated to the floor I was on...after only two weeks of her working on her floor. I was told it was HCA policy to do that. When I said she'd not been oriented to this specific, or this kind of floor, I was told it's just kinda what happens. This bothers me. The floor seems to be lacking random equipment and supplies. Some of the equipment is very old. The EMR is HORRIBLE; it's Meditech. HCA owns it, so I don't think it's changing anytime soon. I used to use Epic and a newer version of Meditech. Both were light-years ahead of this one. The nurses are tasked with a lot of non-nursing stuff. There's talk soon of phasing out PCAs. Although I like the patient-centered care approach, there's a whole lot of the-customer-is-always-right stuff. It makes me wonder how supportive upper management is of clinical staff. There's a whole lot of shoveling of patients too..get em in, get em out stuff. I guess you don't become the biggest hospital corporation in the nation by not trying to make your bottom line A1 priority. I'm two weeks on the floor, but the above stuff seems ominous. I could stand to learn a lot, but it may be at the expense of being unsafe/working at a job that I feel like I'd just put up with or get used to like the that's frog gradually being boiled alive. Anyone else have any experience similar with HCA? Like to give another nurse your take on it? Anyone else have

Thanks, CG. I agree that those patients aren't just 'stick 'em in bed and give them their multivitamin' simple. I think it's the fact I've had a lot of med-seekers lately combined with the fact that the initial excitement of when the job was new has worn off. That's not a reason to just let it all go, but I think it's a good indicator that I'm getting tired of all that. I have learned a lot from med-surg, and I honestly try to tailor my nursing care around how I would like my or my parents' nurse to be. And I hit the bullseye very much of the time. I wanted to start out with med-surg because I believe that to be the cornerstone of nursing. I just don't think it's my home forever.

Hahaha....I meant better

Ah, yes. I thought of this right after I posted. Thanks for your input.

Hi, all---I read a number of threads addressing my question that I want to ask here, but I thought just asking in the general forum would still yield a good result. I've been a working RN or three years now. My first year was in physical rehab and frm then up to now has been in med-surg/neuro-tele, both nights. Both the jobs were super exiting to me when I started, but I'm starting to become bored with my current job. I was really bummed, then my BSN buddy (i'm an ASNer) told me that according to nursing research, and from talking to other nurses, this is where most folks start to get bored. I felt a little better knowing that. Professionally, only time-management is a challenge, and that's not really all that hard. I take care of very few patients I really have to think about. And the stuff that tedious, like pain-med seekers or high-anxiety patients that monopolize nurses' time, but don't try not to, are starting to get to me. I don't really feel bad about this attitude anymore; it naturally happens to a lot of nurses, but I've realized always being around that kind of thing doesn't go toward me engaging my empathy, hahaha. I've been talking to all the old nurses I can about specializing. Here is a list and my thoughts. ICU--I think I would like the fast-paced stuff. Being super detail-oriented has been problem for me, but I can adjust. Learning in-depth pathology and therapies sounds interesting It was my favorite clinical in school. ED--Again, the fast-paced stuff has that allure to me. I want to get beer at working codes too. I work about 2-5 a year and never get enough practice to feel confident. I think there's also less documentation than med-surg too. Sometimes when go down to the ED, nothing is going on. That seems boring to me. I know that's not case with all EDs. OB/L&D--no thanks. Cath Lab--maybe doing the procedures would be fun, but watching waveforms on a monitor all day is a one-way ticket to Boresville for me. Peds--I love kids. They're so fun and silly. I have a real soft spot for them and want to help them. Lots of coworkers have told me I'd be good at it. I'm good at interacting with kids. Something I've recently thought about was that peds don't necessarily intrigue me physiologically. I'm ok with the fact they're different from adults. I just wonder if me wanting to move to that specialty based largely on just thinking it would be fun is misplaced enthusiasm. And finally, med-surg--what I like about it is that I stay moving all the time, I've learned a lot from it, but am getting bored. I like some of my coworkers very much that are med-surg nurses at heart. This is getting very long, so I'll sin off for now. I'm not really looking for answers, just ideas from other folks who've been in my shoes before. Any input is very appreciated.

Thanks, both of you. At least I know now. Don't screw up (or get caught); the FBI knows it forever.

Hello---I'm a new male nurse from Tennessee working in Texas. I'm in Arlington at Healthsouth Rehab Hospital. Anyway, I'm having a problem endorsing my compact license here. When I first came here, I was told I couldn't work on a compact license for more than 30 days. I began the process of endorsing my license and becoming a resident here. I'm 100% Texas resident. I just need a permanent Texas RN license. When I appliedto the BON, I didn't disclose an arrest from ten years ago I had because it had been expunged and not found by any agency except one: the FBI. The charge, I recently found out, was 'Burglary, Motor Vehicle.' Whoa...sounds serious! I opened the door to a flooded and abandoned truck ten years ago. I was convicted of a misdemeanor and had it expunged. Anyway, it was expunged with the state, but not the FBI; it's with them forever. ***, I thought. I even did a year of clinicals at the VA in school, and even that fingerprint background check showed I was clean. Before I took NCLEX in Tennessee, I got a letter from the board there asking me to explain the arrest. I wrote it and provided them with a copy of the clean background check I had run on myself in Tennessee. That was fine for them. The Texas BON has found this offense halfway into me practicing on my temporary license here. I sent them a detailed account of what happened and the same clean background check of me from Tennessee. I guess it wasn't good enough because my application has been sent to their Investigation section. The BIG problem is that the investigation won't be over until 2 months (maybe only 2 months) after my temporary license expires, and the BON will not renew it. T-R-O-U-B-L-E I really don't want to move back to Tennessee. I love the place, but I've come so far, and I LOVE my job here. I talked to my former instructor who is also an attorney and used to practice in Texas as an RN. She said I should be able to practice here on my compact license as long as I claim Tennessee as my permanent residence and my place here in Texas as my domicile. I've never heard of that, but I never knew 'bedlam' was an old English law term until she told me so too. I was also advised to speak with an attorney well-versed in Texas BON law too. Can any of you make any recommendations? Has this ever happened to anyone here? Thank you so much for any advice you can give me about this.