doppelganger2

NOM NOM NOM!!! Today I was literally swimming in a sea of first year nursing students from two different schools(20 students in all). 5 of my 6 patients had a student nurse and I had an orientee(2nd week on the floor). The students were passing the morning meds with instructors and providing AM care. I gave report to those 5 students, 2 instructors as well as my orientee and 2 cnas; spoke with 8 different doctors about all 6 of my patients during their rounds; updated the care coordinator and charge nurse; assess the patients and give any meds students can't; field calls from lab/pharmacy/OR/specials/family members etc. Did I mention this is just the first 3hrs of my 12hr shift? During this whirlwind of activity I was polite, nice, smiled and provided answers to questions asked of me by the students. Yes I probably walked quickly past said students seemingly ignoring their stare down as they attempted to get my attention at one time or another. Yes my answers were probably short, concise and to the point without much elaboration like some are accustomed to in the classroom setting. Yes they probably even heard me take a deep breath in and let it out from time to time while charting or prior to speaking(deep breaths in and blow them out to stay calm/centered, right?) So to those students that feel like they are being eaten take some of this into consideration the next time you think or say "nurses eat their young". P.s.for as long as nurses have been eating their young, there really shouldn't be any nurses left c:

It depends on what area of nursing you want to work in. Bed side in hospitals, an lpn probably won't get you there because they are being phased out(at least where I live). Now if you're looking at geriatric/elderly population, like a nursing home short term/skilled rehab then an lpn will suit you just fine. Also dr offices do lpns too. Hope this helps

I agree that it is completely out of line for that nurse to be aggressive with you and essentially leave you. But You could look at it this way: the new nurse (you) on her first day on the unit(not first day on orientation) goes running to the supervisor crying about xyz feelings and issues she's having. Which is acceptable but did you talk to your "mentor" about these issues before you went to the supervisor? Were you proactive by asking questions about things you didn't understand first? From what you've written here this situation/job won't be very good for you especially if no one including the cna's have your back. Transfer to another unit as soon as you can! Or another facility.

When I was looking for my first hospital job I applied to 5 positions at one hospital. I was interviewed essentially for all of them at the same time. Be prepared for the question/comment "I see you applied to xyx positions. Is there one in particular you'd favour over another?" This is where you plug in how willing you are to learn no matter what and the type of asset you'll be to any team.....

OP if you don't feel comfortable providing care to a dying patient or find it too difficult to deal with persistent family members who are looking out for their loved one perhaps you should not care for that patient. It's really that simple. I would not want you to care for my dying relative.

Dear OP, My favorite quote "mind ya business, just mind ya business" It sounds like you are complaining/whining because someone else got something you didn't. Unless you can prove the instructor gave them the exact answers to the test, then the complaint is useless and petty. Suck it up and move on.

This is more in response to the resident having the recurrent cdiff. Are they on any kind of probiotic (lactinex or acidophilus) even activia? When you are checking their stool for cdiff, are they actively having loose liquid stools? If it's been months of cycling with cdiff, potentially this patient child be a carrier of cdiff. And with abx so frequently, with no input of good bacteria the cycle will continue to repeat itself. As far as the procedure for semi private room sharing/bathroom sharing with a cdiff pt it's going to be diligent hand washing and loving bleach to sanitize everything.

Op- you've read the suggestions provided to you. In your own words there is "neglect" by nursing staff and fraud by the person doing the care plans for the residents. As a nurse you are REQUIRED to REPORT, as set out in any BON in the US. So by not reporting you are facilitating both neglect and fraud, no matter how good your intentions may be and how much you care for this resident.

The best advice I can give you on "how to proceed" is to report this place immediately!! You have an obligation to report the neglect you stated you've observed.

I'd wait to quit your PRN job until you actually sign a contract with the full time job. A phone call isn't 100%

It isn't going to hurt you or the patient to check a blood glucose level, it takes seconds. If they aren't on the hypoglycemic protocol it's left up to the discretion of the nurse when to check it,aka nursing intervention, don't need an order to do so. Better safe than sorry.

I like being a nurse.I've definitely hit my stride on my med-surg floor. If you're not enjoying neuro anymore, before you completely jump to another floor, pick up some extra shifts on other floors that are equivalent in skill sets to yours.(kind of a paid test drive) I'm sure your hospital has needs on other floors than your own. When I worked part time I regularly picked up on neuro/uro/ortho(essentially a broader picture of med-surg) floors to mix it up if I was feeling bored. Put it to your manager like this: I'm thinking about picking up some extra time. If there aren't any openings on neuro, when I'm available, what other floors can I sign up for that I don't need any orientation to?

If they truly believe the nurse is not passing meds as scheduled and have proof of it then bring it up to the immediate supervisor. From your own statement it seems as though this nurse is finishing and with that extra time is helping the supervisor. Maybe instead of the other nurses throwing accusations around they should ask this nurse how she is effectively managing her time and learn some new things OR better yet pay attention to what they are doing and they might get done faster. I've been the nurse with 20 plus ltc patients, and it turns out if you stop flapping your mouth, pay attention to what you're doing and actually do it, things get done.

@ OP Wow you really polished up/edited your post since I read it last. Here's the thing: yes people die regardless of nursing intervention. Yes everyone make mistakes. Yes you are new and overwhelmed by your current position. Yes the facility you work for doesn't care about its employees or support them. Do I think you contributed in some way to this pt death, yes. Your facility and other co workers take part of that blame as well. Hopefully you learned something from this experience. Obviously you see where things went wrong on your part and will be able to act differently next time. I don't think that you should quit your job until you have another one lined up. If nursing is what you want to do with your life then keep doing it. Just learn as you go and know that mistakes(big or small) can have serious consequences when your dealing with people's lives.

Forgot about you seeking a hospital job. I say good luck with that because the ratios are better than ltc. But smaller ratios mean higher acuity of care and a need for higher level of critical thinking skills.