MelissaBarthold

I worked full-time night shift....and got a terrible cold. But - because we got written up for every day we were absent from work (and if it wasn't scheduled PTO, you were absent), I went to work. In addition, the first day we were absent on 'sick time' we didn't get paid for -- only after the first day. Apparently, that rule discouraged people from calling in. I was the one that could always get an IV in a laboring patient, so they asked me to put one in a patient that had already been stuck by 3 people with no success. So here's the scene: put on mask to protect patient, wash hands, assemble all equipment, apply gloves, apply tourniquet, clean proposed site.............. and stop. Back away from patient, remove mask and gloves, turn and blow nose. Reapply mask, wash hands and repeat....and repeat.....and repeat....... It took me 6 times before I got the IV in and could tape it and have the patient's nurse finally secure it. And my head nurse comes in at 7 AM and says 'Oh, is that allergies?' 'No, it's a cold.' It was apparently perfectly ok for me to come to work and spread my viruses around. That's how it went through the whole staff --- one communicable staff member at a time.

I understand --- I went back to school in a RN to MSN program. I had a diploma and a grand total of 12 hours of college credit. I had to earn almost 160 credit to finish. I was working full-time, with 2 kids in college and 1 in high school. Quite a different background than my fellow students. Almost all my fellow students were well under 30 - and I was very well OVER 30. I remember taking a course that included a history of the women's movement in the US. I had lived during the time they were studying and remembered about burning bras and marching in protests for the Women's Movement. It wasn't ancient history to me!! The one thing I found was that I cared more. I really wanted to be in school, I really wanted this degree and my life experience provided a lot of support to my studies. And I really worked at my studies. I think I was the only student in several of my undergrad classes that completed all the assignments. Isn't that what we were supposed to do in school? I was amazed at students who paid a lot of money for these classes and put little effort into them. (Obviously, this wasn't true of all students-- but certainly more than I'd ever expected to see.) And --- I ended up doing much, much better than the other students, and I really enjoyed being back in school again - and coming from a different direction. I was now an experienced expert in my field - not a nervous 18 year old with no knowledge of what I was getting myself into. So -- the younger students may seem to know more than you --- but they really don't. You are the expert - and as you go through your classes, you'll find that your life experience and your practice experience will really support your studies. Congrats --- you'll have the BSN soon----and then can go on for your MSN!!! Melissa

Wow -- don't get me started. And --- I promise: I couldn't make this up. When I had a posterior fusion - after a week in the hospital pre-op on IV fentanyl for intractable pain and 13 hours in the OR - I was in surgical ICU. I got one dose of IV fentanyl. The nurse 'caring for me' decided I was drug-seeking (based on who knows what - I didn't know her, she'd never met me), so she got my pain pump order canceled and the pain relief order she asked the intensivist for was a fraction of the dose I'd been on preop: 1 mg fentanyl every 2 hours prn. And....just to make everything great: she took away my call light and closed the sliding glass door to my cubicle. I promise - I couldn't make this up. No surprise -- I ended up with PTSS. All I could remember was seeing the glare of the fluorescent lights....and that I kept asking for help.....that never came until the next morning. That was a very long night........horribly long.

I'm a nurse with a bad back. With the help of different docs - ortho, neuro, pain management - I used conservitive medical management for years. Then...I hit the point where the pain was getting worse and worse -- and when I finally developed foot drop, I admitted that I was at a point where that surgery I'd been avoiding for 20 years was necessary. I'd been on fentanyl patches at home - but they were no longer helping - and got admitted for intractable pain. In the hospital, I was on what - to me, anyway - were huge doses of IV dilaudid. I was conformable and functioning. It was several days before there was an opening in the OR schedule, so I used that time to prepare my students' assignments & set up my office so my assistant could manage while I was out. As one of the NP's noted, my back was split open in the OR. And while I'd planned for post op care with my docs (who ordered a PCA pump for me post op) and the Pain Service NP --- I thought I had covered all the bases. I didn't count on one of the ICU nurses - who I had never met - and who admitted she didn't know me - deciding that I was 'drug-seeking'. I have no idea where that came from or what she saw that gave her that idea.....but there it was. And apparently, she convinced the ICU intensivist that I was a major drug seeker. He cancelled my PCA and ordered 1 mg of dilaudid IV every 4 hours. That was a fraction of the dose I was on preop. No surprise - I was asking for pain meds all the time. In addition, while my docs had clearly told me they wanted me to stand at the bedside that first night- she refused to let me do that - actually yelled at me. And the final horror: my repeated requests for pain meds led to her taking my call light away - and closing the sliding glass door to my ICU room. So - I now know what it feels like to be a supposed 'drug seeker' - and what it feels like to hit a pain level of 10 --- and have no relief for over 9 hours - and to feel abandoned by my nurse. I'm not saying your patient isn't inappropriately drug seeking - you were there and you assessed him. But, I can tell you that not all patients that repeatedly ask for pain meds are inappropriately drug seeking. When my PCA was reordered at 7:30 -- and the pain nurse had it on by 7:45 ----and gave me several boluses, until my pain level was below a 4....then I stopped asking for pain meds. I did ask to speak to the unit's director tho.....and discussed with her what I went through over the night shift in the Surgical ICU - truly one of the most horrible nights of my life.

I just finished my DNP - I'm a little older than you are. I'm looking for a teaching position - I've been teaching part-time for the last 11 years. So far, several interviews....apparently, I don't have enough research in my background. Well, DNP's work in translational research, not original research. Maybe we're too new? I'm still looking tho!

I am somewhat....mature. I got a diploma at 21....then a MSN at 50........and just finished my DNP at 66. I got both my degrees because I wanted to. Those degrees opened up new avenues for me that wouldn't have been available without them. There are many things I can do now ----starting on my third career! I absolutely say yes -- get that MSN. Learning never stops -- and it's just a great way to keep learning. Melissa

You might try an RN to MSN program. In most cases, you don't earn a BSN at all - just the MSN. You may be surprised how much credit you can get for the courses you've already had - both the ADN courses and the ones you took while working on your BSN. It may not take as long as you'd think - and that MSN can really open doors for you.