duwah

I worked at what was at the time the only union hospital in my state. First hand I can tell you that the rules were in writing...which made both administration and staff go thru designated channels to resolve differences. I believe it made for better working conditions to know exactly what was expected of you. It was not necessary to join the union to benefit from the contract we all worked under...but if you wanted a say in the contract you had to be a voting member.

Gotta say it helps to have a sense of humor. Also really liking people is a plus. I mean REALLY liking humans in general. Years ago I had a husband (yes...to all my friends...even I had a husband) who used to say that anybody could make pleasant folks like them. But it was magic when you could make unpleasant folks like you. Triage is the same way. While it may drive you wild to sort thru the junk to find the 'real reason" a person might sit in an ER when they could be any other place, it is a talent and need. Heads up. You are the front person for the whole hospital, and those persons depend upon you for their needs and safety.

Flight nursing covers a lot of different things. You can be a flight nurse and fly only neonates. Or peds. Or crosscountry transports. Or intrahospital transport. All of these things you can do without being hercules. However, if you intend to do the down and dirty it would be REAL helpful if you were in great shape. You have absolutely no control when your patient is 300lbs and fell down a remote cliff.

Remember that thing about random acts of kindness? It works in nursing, too

I don't like to share the air with cigarette smoke. That said I have a lot of bad habits that I do not recommend to other people. But I do believe as health care workers we have an obligation to inform our patients of health risks. My mother used to tell me "do as I say, not as I do"

current facility requires insulin checking. I have also worked facilities where you checked both. While I find this inconvenient I also find that I perhaps check myself a little closer....and that can't be all bad. Have seen several large med errors with heparin drips...and think that it is not inapropriate to have this rechecked by another nurse whenever possible.

Oh. You have forgotten. You are a nurse. Not just a nurse...but a nurse capable of doing med surg (the hardest job in nursing). You are a hot little commodity. People all over the world will hire you...fight over you. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LAY AWAKE BECAUSE YOU HATE YOUR JOB!!!! If you are this stressed (where you cannot sleep because of dread) you need to reevaluate your position. Check out the long term care facilities in the area. Check out your local physician's offices. Check out the school. Check out home health. All these places need nurses. All these places will teach you things. I would bet my bottem dollar you have been told that med surg is your ticket to all else. I would also bet that if you asked on any of the other specialty sites if all of those other nurses were med surg first the answers would surprise you. You can be and do what you want. Now go to sleep, if you need to change jobs it isn't the end of the world. Maybe it is just the begining.

I don't know where you work, but some hospitals (government springs to mind) have rules as to what you can and cannot do outside of what they consider is your primary position....their employee. The facility where I work had a conflict of interest form they wanted us to sign (mandatory). It took months for me to fill this out because I had a second job which could be construed to be a conflict of interest...

First off let me say I am sorry that you feel somehow to blame on this. You did all you possibly could, and more than would be expected. We who have worked awhile have all done med errors. I have seen some little, and some big. You need to be carefull....but also forgiving.

Poisen control will often help you identify drugs. Or sometimes I just google them.

Our hospital must be extra tiny (probably 12 med surg beds). We have three regular beds, a gyne room and two trauma rooms. One nurse and one tech staff during regular hours, then just one nurse from midnight till about 10:00 am. There is some exception on weekends when we staff a 1 to 1 additional nurse. We have a 15 minute rule about triage. You would have to see our triage area to understand that unless I am in a trauma room I can often hear the triage being performed....so feel comfortable having my tech perform it if needed as long as they come and tell me what they have. If I (we) didn't do this some patients would never get triaged until the trauma/critical patient was stable/shipped/admitted, ect. I figure they could staff us a little better if they object to this.... oh yeah, our techs are mostly paramedics.

Seren, Tomorrow will be better. And the day after that better still. And if your charge laughs at you it even might be because you did something she found funny....even if it wasn't funny for you. Like the time I walked down the hall trailing toilet paper...thank God it was just the housekeepers that early in the am..... We persist because we make a difference. And you are making one just by caring and being there. Hang in there, it all comes.

Transition from LPN to RN should be no problem. I did this program about 8 years ago, finished in 6 mths. It was really the only answer for me at the time. But as the previous poster mentioned...if you can't self study this is not the program for you. Good luck, it can be done.

depends on the company you fly for. Of course...all companies would like super nurses with a ton of critical thinking background experience such as ICU. But some will take just ER experience. The local company where I live actually asked me to fly for them (which I did for exactly one year). I was terribly honored. I had NO ICU experience. No High level trauma experience. But what they said I DID have that attracted them to me was the ability to make a decision. They did require that all nurses were ACLS, PALS, NRP and ATLS certified. I was acutely aware that every time I took a person under my care that they depended upon me and my skills. It put me totally at another level and for this I will always be in their debt. This was a rotor company with about 50% scene calls. I would suggest checking the requirements of the companies around where you live and putting the word out that you are interested. Good luck. Flying should be for those who aspire to great heights. P.S. A rotor feels a lot like riding in a car....unless you have weather.