lilshorty

I actually will not be working in that type of float position. It's more of an occasional position. Also, I have since been offered a regular part-time position. It's kind of crappy hours, and nobody wants me there because we don't really need another nurse on our floor right now. Yeah, there MIGHT be another nurse quitting soon and then I'll get more hours. However, when I told my manager that I had some other places I had applied, she got all huffy and said she wasn't sure if she could guarantee me that job either! I really need the med/surg experience, because without it I don't have a chance of getting a job in my dream spot-E.R. I'm doing my preceptorship in our E.R. right now. I love it. We had a 2-car MVC with 2 injured patients that came to our E.R. One of them ended up in my area and my nurse and I were on the trauma team. It was an amazing adrenaline rush. Also, we probably saved the girls life. Very cool. The team-work was amazing, and I recieved some nice compliments for how well I handled the situation. I think that is what nursing is all about.

Well, thank you all very much for your help. Now, it gets better. I was turned down for this job because I was too task-oriented, and becuase I "need to have a medical-surgical foundation first." Sooo, my manager has gone on to hire a girl who graduates with me who has never worked on a med/surg floor except 5 years or so ago when she was a CNA there. I'm a little offended, I have to say. I have worked on the Med/Surg floor as an intern for two years, and have floated to the ICU at least two or three times a month almost every month. How is it that I need a better foundation, but she's okay when she has NO foundation? I'm a little confused. I wish her the best, but I'm having a hard time understanding my manager's thinking process. Especially since the general thought in the unit was that she didn't do well on her interview, couldn't time manage and fluffed her way through the answers. I guess on the one hand it makes me realize again that it truly is not what you know but who you know.

I'm graduating in May and I'm 5'4". I've had a few people ask me how old I am, but mostly they're just joking. I look very young also, but I agree that you just have to act confident. When you present to people as being confident (not cocky) they usually take you more seriously. When people say something about my size, I smile and laugh with them, then do my assessment or give their med or whatever. Once they figure out that I know what I'm doing and that I'm pretty competent I never hear about my size again, unless it's "Oh, it's my cute little nurse again! She's so little isn't she? But she really knows what she's doing!" (I get that a lot from the old grandmothers.) :chuckle

Okay, all of this is comforting. However, it still doesn't explain what "task-oriented" means, and how I can change it. This is my problem. Nobody will tell me what to do differently. They say nurses eat their young. Unfortunately I'm starting to agree. The nurses I work with are great, at least on the evening shift. However our day-shift nurses have been there so long that they expect everyone to meet their level of nursing. Soooo, they don't answer questions. They just expect me to figure it out on my own, like if I don't I'm not good enough to be a nurse with them. Someone please help. I want to change, so that I can be a better nurse.

Thank you, that makes me feel a little better. I have interned for two years, and apparently the criticism comes from the fact that I have been compared with two other interns (one of whom is competing for the same job and has been working as a CNA/EMT for 15 years) and a couple of students who have also worked in ICU at one time or another. My husband agrees that if I think I would like clinic nursing I should try it. Thanks again!

I saw the show, liked it except for that. It's kind of sad in a way, because it not only makes the nursing community look bad, it says that ALL doctors still feel that way about nurses. The hospital I work at has some pretty great doctors. They respect us and our opinions and usually the first words out of their mouth when they come in the door are, "Who has Mr./Mrs./Ms. so-and-so? How is he/she doing? What do you think? " I'm proud to say that most (I say most, not all. There are a few left from the stone-age) of our doctors have broken the stereotype of stereotyping nurses. I think that statement reflected terribly on people who have done nothing but help my career grow to this point.

I am a 4th semester nursing student at a technical college. I currently work as a nurse intern on a med/surg floor and float to ICU occasionally. I was informed that on graduation there will be no jobs except in ICU. There are two part-time jobs there. Amidst much discussion about taking on a new grad I as placed as an intern in the ICU for the remaining four months until graduation to "try things out." I was given the opportunity to apply for one of the positions, and my interview seemed to go well. I have had nothing but positive reports from my R.N.s, and my manager informed me that my evals look good and have been improving nicely. However, after several "confidential" meetings with my various nurses they have "said that you don't look for enough new experiences. You're too task-oriented." It is now too late to change anything to be able to get a job there. I will continue to work in the ICU until graduation, at which time I will begin 3 months of orientation back on the med/surg floor and then will be offered a float-pool position as that is all that is available there now. "We don't want to lose you, but we think you need to learn to dig deeper before working in ICU." Help! I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. All of my work is done on time every time, the doctors have complimented me several times on good nursing skills, such as noticing new abnormal heart rhythms which necessitated a move to the ICU, and my patients love me. The med/surg nurses that I work with the most have no complaints. I need to know what to change so that I can fix it. I don't want this to be a black cloud hanging over every resume I ever send out! Also, I'm not sure that I want to be there... I have an opportunity to work in a clinic. I know it's not as glamorous, but the hours would be perfect for me as I'm a young-married and hope to have kids. Am I giving up if I take a clinic job and work float-pool?