HelloWish

As a new nurse I went in early to research my patients, but I clocked in for it. I don't do my job without getting paid. Now as an experienced nurse, I don't need to do that. Also experienced nurses know what to hand off that you need to know so you only look up what you need to know. Generally it takes me 5 minutes to look up my 3 patients and the most important details. We really need to know our patient's though due to them being critically ill, but with time management and experience you are able to do it far more quickly.

Those billing and coding courses are a scam unfortunately. If you are interested in that type of work, something like utilization review may be a good job to look into. I don't know how much experience you had, but that kind of job does require experience.

I had a needle stick by a patient positive with Hepatitis C (it was a non-coring mediport needle). I was okay, never contracted it. I then had another needle stick by safety pin that had been removed from a patient gown with a patient with MDRO (multiple drug resistant organisms). I was fine again. It is very unlikely there would be an issue. Employee health contacts an infectious disease doc typically and they can give you info on any risks.

This is a common mistake with experienced nurses. I have just learned to go back and check later on to make sure everything has run as it should if possible. If I catch another nurses mistake who is already off shift, I just correct it.

I have a friend who was I think 60 when we went through nursing school together. She does pediatric private duty now. She is very physically active for her age. I think there is a lot to think about but think it is feasible.

Notify employee health. They will know and reassure you.

I am fortunate, our IMCU is 3:1. I interviewed at a couple of other hospitals near me which do 4:1 and they even took on sicker patients than we do at my current hospital.

I work at a good hospital and in a good unit too. They have a 94% employee retention rate at my hospital. You can ask the hospital about employee retention when you are looking for a position. They do exist!

Congrats! No it is not aggressive. I am not an aggressive person and every job I have gotten I emailed HR or the person I interviewed with to thank them for the interview and express my strong interest in the position. If I had not heard back a week later, I would email again. Each job I was interested in and did this landed me the job. It is proactive and shows interest.

This sounds like a nice job. However, maybe you would feel more satisfied by adding a PRN job at the hospital. Then later you can decide if you want to move out of your current job. Office nursing wasn't for me and I had my dream job in research. I hated it! I like the physical aspects of hospital nursing, not so much the incessant call light, getting water and snacks - there is a trade off. Also I am working on my masters so the schedule is great. I love 4 days off and the ability to schedule appointments during the week. I lucked out in finding a great hospital though. My hospital is physician owned. I don't know if that what makes a difference but they have a super high nurse retention rate.

A walk on a nature trail or floating in a swimming pool all by myself, although to shut my mind off I have to get lost in Netflix.

BPs often have to be taken in the forearm. If you have a patient with a mastectomy and cannot take the BP in that arm and the patient has a PICC line in the other arm, what do you do? Either the forearm or the calf area. I wouldn't put the BP cuff on the elbow though, move it down all the way to the forearm. I would still take the pulse in the same area as you do when you take a BP on the upper arm or try the radial pulse.

Most hospitals offer Employee Assistance Programs as part of their benefits package, which are a certain amount of therapy sessions per year covered by your employer. Furthermore, no one will know you are in therapy!

Removing stitches and pain management. I like finding the right way to give pain meds that reduces the patient's pain when other nurses haven't been able to!

I think it depends on the hospital, the culture, and your coworkers. I am working in a Intermediate Care Unit. The hospital is in a nice location, and while I do take care of the critically ill, the patient's aren't as sick as some hospitals. The ratio is 1 nurse to 3 patients. I really like my coworkers and the hospital culture and want to stay at my hospital. I feel like I fit with my unit and the people there. That makes all the difference. This is my 3rd job as a nurse, it took a few tries.

I feel like this is an insult to nursing and higher education. Sure I understand working toward college credit in HS, but if it is so easy to become a nurse then it takes away any professionalism and credibility associated with nursing. Should such young minds be adulting and entrusted to the lives of others? Not to mention, as another has stated these young ones would be exposed to things that I feel would be traumatic to their development.

I do not chart every single hour, and I work in critical care in a step down unit. If I find I need to frequently chart in narrative, I addend my progress note and add to it with the times. I narrative chart frequently for cases of attempted suicide or something really serious that needs frequent documentation. Otherwise I write one progress note with the important information at the end of shift. For instance if it is a patient with a leg hematoma or DVT or something of the sort and I am watching for compartment syndrome, I chart left/right leg pulses and sensation intact throughout shift. I only chart pertinent info that is helpful for another person to read or to remind myself later on. I agree about charting about notification of the physician for critical labs, important findings etc. as it does protect you.

I am so sorry this happened. It does seem excessive based on how you described it. You persevered through nursing school this far, so you can make it one more semester as much as it stinks! You can be a leader and study group leader for the next semester. You will graduate with just that much more knowledge and have an edge up as a beginning nurse! Trust me, as much as this sucks now, when you start out as new graduate nurse you will be that much more confident and knowledgeable! Just be very careful in clinical situations next semester!

I don't like bedside report, as it is disruptive to the patient's rest. However, I did have a patient who we went to the bedside during report and the patient literally had a stroke as we walked in. This patient had been talking a few minutes before when coming back from imaging. So, while I don't think we should do bedside report on every patient. I do think it is important to check in on each patient when you first start shift.

I decided to give CBD a 3 week trial and keep my fingers crossed that I wouldn't be drug tested. This was to decide if it really helped then it is worth risk, if not I would move on. I researched the product and went with a company that had lab verified CBD. I bought a pure CBD high percentage product. It didn't do anything to help me in any way - no pain relief, no reduction in anxiety, not any easier to sleep than before. The trial is done and now I can move on and not think about it anymore. In general, this has been my experience with most alternative remedies. At one point a few years back, I was a naturalist and avoided medications like the plaque and then tried prescribed medication with much greater effect.

When I worked in a preschool, I was sick for one year straight. At the time, unknown to me, I had developed a need for a medication like Advair to prevent infections from going to my lungs. Also, my calorie intake was too low which lowered my immunity. So now when I get sick, I immediately start Advair and get better quickly. Allergies/asthma were causing me to get repeatedly ill and now with appropriate management, I get ill maybe 1-2 times per year at most! Also, at the time when I was getting sick for a year straight, I tried all the natural support and remedies out there to no avail, including Elderberry!

What gets me about these medical shows is that they show the doctor doing everything - I do find it somewhat insulting. Nurses just come in receive an order and say "right away doctor" and walk out. The doctor is at the bedside drawing blood, starting an IV, helping the patient to get up and walk - while the same doctor goes to the MRI room to review the scans while the patient is being scanned. Also the same doc pushes the patient in their bed or a wheel chair to some other area of the hospital or walks them out on their way home. In my time as a nurse, I never saw a doctor spend more than 5-10 minutes with one patient, and some only 2 minutes! Yet on the shows the doctors do everything including wheel them out of the hospital. These shows actually show what nurses do and a small portion of what the doctor actually does. Honestly, these shows wouldn't be too exciting if they showed only what the doc does except maybe in a trauma situation or surgery. Also all the codes on TV show the doctor's doing everything again. In my experience it is the nurses doing the work and maybe the doc come in and gives some orders.

Apply for the oncology position. If you get an interview, let them know that your current position is not a good fit.

LOL!!!

I am still at the beginning of my nursing career, as I have been a nurse for 2.5 years now. However, I work in a critical care role and find my knowledge base growing. Any patient I take care of with a condition I am not thoroughly familiar with, I go home and read about it or watch youtube videos. It helps to understand the bigger picture, what and why the doctor is doing what they do and to educate future patients. I also read about the medications. Patient's ask me a lot questions now because I can answer them and they appreciate it! Often times patient's will tell me I explain more to them than their physician. I also try to round with the doctors because when they explain what's going on I listen and learn and can rephrase it in a way the patient will understand or explain to family later on.