FolksBtrippin BSN, RN

Agree that M and C should have been fired. We can't let employers dictate what happens to people's certifications and licenses though. That opens healthcare workers up to abuse by employers, which is already a problem some places. I've heard from many nurses on these threads who have been threatened with bogus patient abandonment charges if they refuse to take extra shifts or work overtime. We need a board that will take the time and diligence to complete investigations for healthcare workers accused of abuse and neglect. Many UAPs in SNF are making pennies above minimum wage and are overworked to boot. We need to recognize the value of their work and pay what it's worth if we want quality workers.

As promised, here it is. Post your bonehead moments in nursing. 1. I'm a community psych nurse and I have more than once gotten to my patient's house and realized I had forgotten to bring the needle for injection. Had to drive 25 minutes back to the office and then right back to patient's house. Sorry for wasting state funds for gas and travel time guys. I'm a bonehead. 2. Could not remember "QTC" while talking to the ICU nurse taking care of my patient. Just brain farted. My mind just locked up. Stood there and said "NP discontinued the seroquel because of prolonged Q... prolonged Q... uhhhh.... abnormal ekg." 3. As a nursing student I squirted a patient in the face with saline. Duh. 4. One of our checklist assessments has a typo on it that says cynotic instead of cyanotic. I got so used to it that I thought cyanotic was the wrong spelling and cracked a joke about someone being the color cyan when I saw the correct spelling. Derpity derp.

If no one has said anything to you about this then forget it. People who work in hospitals and such should not come to work sick and endanger vulnerable populations.

Your feelings are natural and normal given the fact that you just failed out of school. In time, your feelings may change and you may decide to go back. I will never forget the young woman in my program who had previously failed out of another program. She was so dedicated and humble and she was at the top of our class. I have so much respect for her. One day, you could be the same. Give yourself time to nurse your wounds. What about getting an EMT or CNA and working for a year? You could live at home, pay off some debt, and take the time to figure out if you want to go back or get into another profession altogether.

Take a deep breath. Needlestick injuries almost never result in infection, especially HIV. Risk of HIV transmission is 0.3% when you know the patient is infected. You would be offered prophylactic meds just in case which would take your risk down to practically nothing. Hep B has a bigger risk of transmitting, but you will likely be immune to that from your vaccination. Even if you weren't, you would get immunoglobulin and be fine. So needlestick injuries are really nothing to worry about. Hurting your back from lifting patients is a real hazard in some nursing jobs. Many facilities address this by having adequate lifting devices. It's a real concern, but not a dire situation. Attacks from patients who are psychotic, demented, confused or just bucking crapholes are rare but do happen sometimes depending on your specialty. This is another thing that is mitigated by a good facility with adequate staffing and good policies to protect staff. Nursing is very stressful on the psyche, and this is a widespread problem across many specialties. That's where your significant occupational health hazard is. Prepare yourself by developing good coping skills now. See a therapist when you need one. Practice self care. Learn to manage anxiety. This is our biggest struggle in nursing.

You are not a kinesthetic learner then. But yes, I agree with you. We should not get caught up in what other people are doing. My advice is for people who are considering working on their knitting in class. It is not advisable, as it will give a bad impression to some students and professors. If you are a kinesthetic learner, take pen and paper notes for your best outcome. School is not just about learning the material in lecture. You can do that with a YouTube video. It's also about networking. Make a good impression.

I did miss that part. What an awful thing to have to work with someone like that.

I am a kinesthetic learner as well. It's very important that I take notes with a pen and paper. Much more important than reading them later. But taking notes with pen and paper is normal behavior for a classroom, even if most people are tapping a laptop instead. I also benefit greatly from chewing gum or a mint, it helps me focus. That isn't exactly normal but since I can do it without folks noticing, it's okay. Folks are going to notice your knitting. As a kinesthetic learner myself, I feel like taking notes is probably better than knitting for learning. You're processing more of the info. Even if taking notes is just about the same for you as knitting, I think the impression you are giving to other students and the professor by knitting in class is a potential detriment to you. So take pen and paper notes in class instead.

We had a student in our cohort who was in her 60s. I think the bigger problem for her was that she had trouble with her knees and was obese. She failed one class about halfway through and then had to take a leave of absence but she retook the class and graduated one year behind me. I don't know what she's doing now. There are many little pockets of nursing that are not as physically and emotionally demanding but they are not as glamorous as hospital nursing. Pediatric home health, developmental disabilities, clinic. These are specialties a new grad can try and are a little more low key, if you're looking to fulfill a desire to care for people without being pushed to exhaustion. Best wishes!

I wonder what their findings were. Maybe they did not see evidence that she gave the med. Of course, if she was disciplined, you would not be informed of that. Any chance the two of you had a miscommunication and she didn't actually give the med? Maybe something she said made you think she gave the med, and you both got defensive? Maybe your manager can facilitate a session where the two of you can talk it out to see if you can figure out what went wrong here. Because if she really gave your patient a double dose of med and then lied about it, I don't see how you can trust her enough to work with her anymore. It does sound like her ego is a bit of a problem. It's very unlikely that she was diverting haldol which is both cheap and not commonly abused. If I had to wager a guess, I would guess that the problem really was a miscommunication. Not that this is your fault.

I would have questioned the physician if I was in this situation. Not blamed the physician. If my patient had a PRN haldol order that was discontinued, and my patient was psychotic, I would want to know why. And "because he goes downhill quickly" is not an explanation. I would want to know what the physician meant by that.

Okay but who TF diverts haldol? Not a med you take for fun.

Am I the only one that would have encouraged he patient to report this? I don't think you were wrong OP. But I would have encouraged the patient to make the report first. If patient refused, then I would do as you did.

Penn Medicine excludes for tobacco use, but not at the NJ locations where that is not legal. It does depend on the state.

I don't answer why I left, I answer what I'm looking for. No beating around the bush, but it's about what I want not what I don't want. "I'm looking for a positive culture with a focus on teamwork." Or whatever I like best about the mission statement. If I have a friend who can vouch for the positive working environment at new hospital, I would drop that persons name in my answer. If they pressed me further or seemed dissatisfied after that I'm not sure I still want to work there. It's an interview, not time to dish up the dirt. They can figure out that your last job was a poor working environment. If they require you to gossip about that, then you're probably in for more of the same.

Okay, this does not suggest that employees prefer non cash to cash awards, but that the total award experience matters, including who gives the award and how it is presented. That makes sense. Folks want to be recognized in ways other than cash. A presentation, certificate, etc. That doesn't mean they prefer to get items in lieu of cash.

You are saying something very different than what crash cart says. Yes, I am happy and loyal to my workplace where I feel respected and valued and I was not happy at the one where I made more money and got less respect. My question is, why would anyone want 100 dollars of tchatchkes over 100 dollars? No one wants bs gifts over money. Everyone wants respect, a nurturing and positive environment. Cite your research.

I work on an act team. Every prospective member has to be approved by the whole team by consensus. And that includes mental health techs. We are taught not to ask illegal questions, but other than that it's up to us whether to accept a candidate or not.

At my workplace, the team interviews each candidate.We come up with our own questions. We know what you can't ask on an interview (family, children, etc) and don't ask about that. You are wrong that your peers aren't qualified to interview you. They are. It sounds like you didn't interview well.

I don't know if my experience is relevant to yours OP, because I live in the US and it sounds like there are big cultural differences to where you live. I would be very relieved to have an extra nurse assigned with me after returning from sick leave just in case I needed it. That is a very supportive supervisor, and I would like to work somewhere like that. My experience working in the US at my current job is that I am not supported when I need time off. But if you are openly discriminated against because of your race, it's understandable that you would not appreciate the extra support.

Nursing is a tough field with plenty of jobs and plenty of them are awful. Job hopping in nursing is common for this reason and is not necessarily a personality flaw. It sounds like you like your current job. So what's the problem with this one? Is there something wrong at work or are you ok for now? If you're good for now, coast it out, don't analyze or criticize yourself for needing to job hop in the past, and enjoy your good fortune. If not, let's talk about what is wrong.

This is true, but within my union supported state, as I have stated over and again you get better working conditions and better wages at the union hospitals. And there is no way you could have negotiated those working conditions into your contract by yourself. Literally no way. PS you do NOT want to work in a "right to work" state! Unions do not have the same power there that they do here.

Why should the sitter know DNR status? Would you expect the sister to respond to the patient according to code status? That's not appropriate to the scope of the sitter. For that reason it is not appropriate for the sitter to know. The sitter needs to know why the patient needs a sitter, gets out of bed and needs to stay there? Pulls tubes out? Is a suicide risk and should be watched? That's all. I don't understand OPs outrage. I think CNAs should give each other report, or the nurse should give a basic report to the CNA. Relevant info to their scope only. It is really unfair to burden the CNA with information that they don't need to know. These folks are not paid like nurses and don't need to take on the same responsibility as the nurse.

All the time, especially now that I work in the community and must endure team meeting with a lot of disciplines. I sometimes hear a blow by blow of the conversation with the patient. I hear this "I knocked on the door three times. Then three times again. Then 3 times again, and no one answered." Who fuxking cares? And one time this: Patient was holding a puppy. The puppy looked like it had an infection in its leg. I'm not a veterinary nurse!

Schools have different requirements. In my school, as long as you had started the series, you were fine. Call the person who does compliance at your school.