CaitlynRNBSN

It is always my pet peeve when nurses get on my case for about what I did on MY shift. I worked a night shift, and I had an Open heart patient that had some cognitive delays. He was VERY VERY difficult to deal with. He would not allow you to touch his IV, his chest tube. He would scream and hit if I even got near it. He doesn't understand. His parents stayed with him around the clock. There was always his mom or dad around to help us because he was so difficult. The doctors were fine with us not doing a chest tube assessment, keeping old IV etc. Anything to keep him calm basically. Anyway, so around 1:00AM the patient's mother wanted to have all 4 siderails up. I put up all 4 siderails because in my eyes the patient is not ambulatory in the first place, the mother was there, NEVER leaves and lets us know if she has to leave to go to the bathroom or something. So I never got a doctors orders to put all 4 siderails up. I'm NOT calling the surgeon at home to request this. Freaking ridiculous. Because I've had this patient for several days and I know the plan with this patient is to do anything he wants to make him calm. Heck...I even had orders that I did not have to do a chest tube assessment if he didn't allow. So the oncoming nurse FLIPPED out at me. I mean...flipped a nut. she walked in there, put a siderail down and the kid started screaming to put it back up. The mom said to her "I requested to have all 4 up. I know its against regulations, but it helps keep him calm." She went on and on about our regulations and how she will need to call the surgeon first. She even tried explaining it to this poor patient who doesn't understand and is just screaming. The mom got a little ticked off I could tell and she put it back up and was like "Well I'm putting it up." and she put it back down and said "I will put it down when I get the ok from the surgeons" I just stood there in shock and silence. she reported me for restraining a patient without orders to do so. What I found funny was the mother requested a different nurse not 30 minutes into that shift. Ridiculous!!! Some may not agree with me on that, that I didn't call and didn't get orders...but really?? What I should have done was just put them in, tell her the orders are in and tell the doctor in the morning what I did. That is the only thing I regret not doing.

Hm, I live very close to tornado ally...and last year we had a small F1 tornado right around shift change, before I was going in for anight shift. Warnings were out, clearly I was going to be late...as is everyone else. Anyway, we have a plan for this sort of thing. And plan is Code grey. Meaning everyone currently working as to stay until it is safe for the new shift to come in. So I waited the storm out. There had been several people injured, nothing too serious. Many trees and things blocking the roads. The main road to get into the hospital was closed. and only emergency vehicles they were allowing to pass. When the cop came to my car and told me I needed to turn around, I pulled out my badge and said "I work at the hospital and with the traumas coming in I don't have time to take the back way" He let me threw. I lied...there really were no traumas...couple minor cuts needing stiches and such but, still it got me where I needed to go.

YES!!! I get calls CONSTANTLY from techs. (I.e. lab techs, ultrasound, MRI, XRay). they call me and will be like "Did Dr.X really want this PTT at 6:00? YES!!!!! if he didn't want it, he wouldn't order it. I get so so so so annoyed with techs from places like that. it is constant, does Dr.X want contrast dye or not?? I don't know....figure it out yourself. Ugh, sorry if any techs on here. but seriously. figure it out yourself and stop making bedside the middle man.

Another reason I hate nursing: Situations similar to this. (Don't know who to push a new policy on?? Just give it to the nurses. They can do it) I once got a "talking to" because I had infection control call me to tell me that the wrong isolation orderd were ordered on my patient. He had MRSA in his sputum so he had Isolation droplet precuations ordered. It is supposed to be droplet/contact. we were al doing contact/droplet, it just wasn't on his chart correctly. So doctors are supposed to put these orders in, but they never ever ever do. So nurses always put in the order for them. We got reprimanded for doing this and were told that if the doctor didn't order it, we were to call them and have them do it. (you can only imagine how this went...) anyway, so when infection control notified me that the wrong order was placed and that I would have to notify the doctor. I told the person calling me I said, "What is your job title?" she was like "Registered Nurse" im like..."Ok, so as a registered nurse you can take orders correct?" She was like "Yes, but that isn't my job?" "It isn't your job to take orders? Because you could cut me out of this, and call the doctor yourself and take a verbal order for this." she is a NURSE!!!!!! she is just as qualified as I am to take a verbal order from an MD and put it in the computer. You are making this 4 steps too long. Cut out the middle man, call the MD yourself and take care of this yourself. You are a nurse. I am busy taking care of patients who are sick and who need me. I haven't peed i n12 hours, I haven't had a drink or ate in 12 hours. You are "busy" sitting on your butt, in your office reading patient's charts to make sure everything is documented like it should be while drinking coffee and eating cookies. Make yourself useful and call the doctor yourself. any new policy is pushed off on the floor nurse, because that's the "simple answer." when really, lets think logically here people. Ok, vent done.

Don't you just wish we could yell at them back and tell them how ridiculous they are being?? I can't stand when they claim they are "too sick" to do anything. Like onetime I had a surgical patient get mad and turn me in because I made him wash his hands after using the restroom. He attempted to wipe himself (YES!! I know. A patient who actually wipes themselves. rare right?) anyway, it didn't go over well. He used like 2 squares of toilet paper. He used a paper towel to wipe all the BM off. He had poo stuck in his nails. AWFUL. So I brought a chair in the bathroom, filled the sink with soapy water and told him to soak his hands while I went to get something to clean his nails out. He got TERRIBY upset because he was like "I HAD SURGERY AND I NEED TO GET INTO BED! AND YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE ME SIT HERE AND SOAK MY HANDS? I ALREADY CLEANED THEM" rasiing his voice. I was like....No, you have poop stuck in your nails and wiping your hands with a dry paper towel does not count as washing your hands. If you touch your incision you could develop an infection. why do people insist on being like that?? FIRST time meeting another patient, I walk into the room...introduce myself "My name is Caitlyn, i'll be your nurse today." His response : "I don't care who you are. Get me my morphine and Ativan now. i'm having back pain and anxiety" I was like.."Well it's nice to meet you too" His girlfriend did NOT like my response and was like "Do you think back pain is a joke?" the doctor was out in the hall (after she got yelled at by patient for not ordering morphine quick enough). need I say this guy was on our floor for 5 whole minutes! God forbid if he needs to wait 5 minutes to get his pain meds. Anyway, doctor just laughed at me when I walked out of the room....I was like "You could have warned me." Oh, such a pleasant man to deal with. I just wanted to give him a big hug.....psht! couldn't pay me to take that man ever again.

We have an IV team. it is wonderful!! They get alerts if a patient's IV is needing to be changed. We page them when we need them. They are available 24/7. They start the IV, they can do PICC insertion as well (if able). They do the dressing changes for central lines. Our IV team also does lab draws for those with central lines. If for some reason they cant, the bedside nurse can do it. they just need to let us know. I've only been asked like once to do it, so its rare they ask you. They are experts at starting them and can find a vein in just about anyone. down side?? I feel like our IV team forgets they are nurses. so I will get called in to shut off some saline, when they have an access code to do it. "I just wasn't sure if he can be off fluids for 5 minutes." I could see if it was diltiazem or something, but saline running at 75/hour? of course you can just it off. So I feel like their critical thinking, just doesn't exist. They come to us for EVERYTHING. "Can you call and get an order for TPA? his PICC won't flush." Well, you are a nurse you are able to take verbal orders. That's usually what I tell them. It IS in their scope of practice to take verbal orders because they are REGISTERED nurses on IV team. However; they are wonderful to have around. :)

1. Wisconsin 2. 2 years 3. Med/Surg-Telemetry 4. $26.41 (for a day shift. I work mainly nights. ocassionally days to keep up practice) 5. $3.00 more for nights. $4.00 more for weekends. (yes! $7.00 more if weekend nights. Which is why I like to do weekend nights). 6. No union.

that is nursing for you and it is only going to get worse. Our hospital is actually talking about getting rid of CNAs because "nurses can do it." think about it....If our hospital does without CNAs i will be leaving. I doubt i'd even give 2 weeks notice.

I had one patient this past weekend that I truly cared taking care of. He was probably 1 in a million. I true train wreck on the phone, but when I got him, he looked healthier than me. Very very sick...he just didn't look the part, never complained, very very respectful and thanked me for everything I did. He would "cluster" his needs together so I wasn't running in and out a million times. "While your here, can I go to the bathroom so I don't have to call you back in?"...for him, I have all the time in the world and even if I didn't have the time, I would make time. He was just so respectful and kind. all I ever want is to be thanked once in a while, or to be treated with respect. On the other hand, I have a patient who is threatening to call his Lawyer because I had him in restraints due to being combative(VERY VERY strong man). He was chaptered, detox etc...you know the kind. I was called every name you could ever think of. such a pleasant man....

You did what was ordered. Nobody could have for seen that coming.

"Decaying stench?" If this ICU had a GI Bleed patient (which more than likely it did) unfortunately there is no way to control that odor. a GI bleed STINKS to high heavens. I work on a CV-Surgery/Telemetry floor, which is down the hall from our ICU. When they have a GI bleed, I can smell it even before I hit the floor. The fact that the floor stunk, by no means has any direct correlation with they hygiene of the unit. You are a volunteer, it is best you stay out of the business of what is happening before you know the whole story behind it. And yes...there are times I have raised my voice at paitents if the situation calls for it. What people from the outside do not understand, is how awful staff get treated by patients and visitors. I have been called every name in the book, I've been threatened to be killed, have my throat slashed and to have everyone in this hospital sued for something ridiciulous. Like, one time I had a patient who was on fluid restriction and they were to not have any fluids over 2,000ML a day. My patient had reached his maximum and I refused to walk to get him a pepsi from the vending machine (not to mention he is diabetic). That was when the patient threatened to have my throat slashed. So yes, there are situations where I will raise my voice to patients and not tolerate such disrespect. You don't know the situation of what was going on. It is not unethical to yell or raise your voice at patients if the situation calls for it.

Song that reminds me of nursing??? hmmm....How about "This is the song that never ends" except, change up the lyrics and it will be "This is the job that never ends"

It's not only the patient's and families that are so ungrateful, it is the management and the "high ups." you know...the one's that sit in their office twiddling their thumbs while reading patient satisfactory scores on noise at night and response to call lights. You want quicker response time to the call light? Try getting out on the floor and answering a few. I would love what I do more if my job would allow me to do my job, rather than all this ridiculous stuff. I'm the type of person that is not confrontational. I just accept it, smile and move on. But it does not stop what I'm feeling deep down inside about situations. I don't know how much more I can keep bottled up inside me, but i'm thinking that it may soon be time to move away from the bedside. I've only been in nursing for 2 years and I cannot do much more of it. im 25 years old, I shouldn't be having these feelings so early on in my career. I feel like my "honey moon" phase did not last long at all!

I just prefer if people don't tell me. it's none of my business...if there is an issue the manager can talk with them. I once had someone call in and tell me they "have the runs" then she got all descriptive. Yea, even though im a nurse I prefer not to hear about my coworkers "runs." just say your calling in and if there are issues manager can call you. I don't care.

It's best to just say you want to leave when you are 2 weeks into it rather than a couple months into it. They haven't invested THAT much time/money into you after 2 weeks. a lot less than they would after a couple months. I don't think this new L&D would think negatively about it if your honest about why you took that job, because at the time it was the offer you had. You were holding out for a position in L&D, where you want to be.