callnurse45

I would not approach the doctor, but report this to your nurse manager, as verbatim as possible. Leave emotions out of it, and just state the situation as you recall. Most important would be the patient's comments to you, which is the outcome of the doctor's inappropriate remarks. Sounds like he has some guilt about not being there for his patient when she was admitted, and wanted to show that he was totally in control of her situation. He was a jerk because he put you down in order to achieve this.

To multicollinarity After reading your input to this post, I was surprised that you id'd yourself as AA. I am an AA, and twice your age, and have never heard of any of those items attributed to AA's, except as myths stated by some other race. From which source did you find this nonsense. When I read #1, I thought you might be referring to dogs. Never make eye contact?? Really!!!

You absolutely did the right thing in calling the doctor. Your judgement was excellent. I do not understand the oncoming shifts problem with what you did. Unfortunately, that's nursing for you. This stuff does happen. Please do not let them make you doubt yourself. You always err on the side of following your nursing instincts. You should have let them know this, in a non combative or defensive way. Simply state your rationale for making your decision, and that you prefer to err on the side of caution, especially when it comes the patients' welfare. Good for you for using good judgement.

I relocated from New York City in 1987, and moved to North Carolina. The pay varies and depends on where you work. The scenery is beautiful. I live in a nice college town, very close to UNC-Chapel Hill, and not far from Durham, which of course, has Duke University Medical Center. The people are very nice. I could make much more money in NYC, but its not all about the money. When I moved, I lived in a beautiful duplex, with a backyard area, wall-to-wall carpeting, central heat and air, for only $475 a month. Things are a little more expensive now, but very affordable. You definitely get more bang for your buck here.

Dear Bindy I can appreciate your feeling bullied. I realize that you are a new nurse, and that can be a stressful situation all by itself. Let me see if I understand this situation with the blood transfusion. Most hospitals have a protocol to follow pre-transfusion, similar to the order shown to you by the Nursing Office. As a nurse, it is your responsibility to cover your butt, which means you check and double check orders before starting a procedure like a transfusion. Never accept another nurses report without double checking in situations like this. It's just a safer way to practice. Take from someone who has learned the hard way. I, too, am outspoken and it has caused me some problems in this profession, not unlike what you have gone through. Fortunately, I did learn from my mistakes, i.e. learning not to make a sarcastic remark when asked to stay over. It will come back to haunt you, believe me. You might consider another area of nursing outside of a hospital setting. I, for one, do not like the politics that comes into play in that type of setting. I work for an agency that places CNA's in patients' homes. I am a field supervisor, and I spend my day visiting clients and doing evaluations. It works great for me, because there is no stress, and I go into the office once a week for a staff meeing. I set my own schedule. If you do decide to stay in the hospital setting, you are going to have to regroup and handle things a lot differently. Good luck to you.

Dear Estrogen Yes, you have had a rough week. However, after reading your vent, it seems to me that a lot of this stress can be eliminated. You, and you alone are in control of how you handle this stress. You made the errors because you are burned out. You should have read the riot act to the babysitter. You totally allowed her to control the situation. As for the nurse who reprimanded you in front of staff, you should have interrupted her and insisted that she speak to you privately. Anything else is unprofessional, and should not be tolerated by you. You deserve professional courtesy! You have to be more determined when it comes to getting the sleep that you need, so that you can do your job. Venting on this message board is fine, but ultimately, you have to make up your mind that things in your life will change. Make a problem list for yourself, and systematically go down the list with possible desired outcomes. If you don't, the next mistake may be very costly for you, and your patients.

that aspect of nursing is probably the most disappointing, nurses backstabbing each other. it was one of the first lessons i learned after graduating from nursing school. that was one aspect of reality that was not taught, nor discussed. i found this to be more of a reality when i relocated from new york city to north carolina. in nyc, nurses had the nurses union, who was very supportive of nurses and nursing issues. we could actually challenge overstaffing via our "protest forms", and once enough of them were filed with the union, the problem would be addressed formally. in nc, union is a "bad" word. there was stress, but there was also a sense of comraderie between us nurses, despite the day-to-day petty conflicts that arose.

I finally had to remove myself from the situation, especially, since I was not able to change the situation, and was not supported. Removing myself from the situation allowed me to take a better look at it, and make better choices in my next job. I was able to find a job that gives me great satisfaction, much less stressful, and very productive. The problems on the other job was never going to go away. I am confident that I made the right decision for myself.

I have read the posts related to nursing stress, and agree with all of them. However, now there is an added stressor to this mix. Previously, I worked at an outpatient facility, and the majority of the patients were illegal immigrants from Mexico. I know for certain that these patients use the local ED's as primary care facilities. I was a triage nurse at this particular place, and had to screen these clients before allowing them to be seen in clinic. The problems occured when I would give homecare advice rather than sending them to clinic. A large number of workers were also Mexican, and the patients would go to them and they would bypass the triage process and get them into the clinic. I got no support from the physicians, and felt greatly outnumbered. Consequently, I left because I was not able to do my job. It became even more frustrating when I would admit a client into the clinic, and they would return the next day because, "the medicine did not work", which was usually an antibiotic. I would tell them to give the medicine at least 48 hours before deciding that it was not working, but they would find a way to be seen anyway, and I would be reprimanded because I did not let the patient in. The waiting room would be filled with patients wanting to be seen, and every member of their families who came to accompany them. I would leave this place physically and mentally exhausted everyday. That was stress!!

It is really great to read the about the different experiences we all have had with the religious beliefs of, not only our patients, but with co-workers as well. I have not run into the problem so much when I worked in a hospital setting, but now that I am in peoples' homes on a daily basis, it does come up. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am a Buddhist, and as such, my goal is to treat everyone with compassion. The one thing that is universal regarding religion or spirituality, is faith. A great number of my patients are homebound with chronic, debillitating, and sometimes terminal illnesses, and have responded very well to encouragement. I do not consider myself a religious person, but readily accept my spirituality. That is the way I interact with patients as well as co-workers. Sometimes, during a dialogue, I do get asked, "what church do you go to". I usually say, "because of my work schedule, I carry my church in my heart". They are usually satisfied with that. Living here in NC, I have to measure my responses very carefully, and thoughtfully. It is indeed, a work in progress.

It's not that I'm offended by the question, but want to avoid a discussion about it at the workplace. It's like discussing politics, it always turns into a debate. I personally believe that there are no rights or wrongs. Each religion possesses a piece of the truth leading to the same place.

I, too, relocated to the southeast from NYC, and have had that question asked of me many times. It took awhile to get used to the "in your face" way in which the question is posed, as if daring you to respond in any way other than "yes". I am very reluctant to answer that question because of the predominantly evangelical population here in the "Bible Belt. However, if pushed, I tell them that I am of another faith. Usually, I get a puzzled look from the person asking the question. They practically run away, when I tell them that I am a Buddhist. There is not much tolerance for any other faiths down here, but occasionally, I do meet people with open minds. I shudder to think of our current congress, white house, and senate, where the majority are to the religious right. I pray for more tolerance all around.