BumbleBuddy

Our census has been fluctuating a lot lately. People in overtime and PRN folks are usually canceled first. We keep a list of who gets canceled, put on call or floated and rotate through the nurses. If a nurse is put on call, especially for a night shift, we only keep them on call until 11pm, even though I think hospital policy allows up until 3am. Every unit I've worked on at this hospital doesn't call someone in after 11 or 12. Our full-time charge nurses never get put on call or canceled unless it's an extra shift for us. There are only 4 of us (2 on dayshift, 2 on night shift) on the unit. Relief charge nurses are rotated through like all the other nurses unless they're the only person trained to charge on the low census day. If you like your job, my advice would be to get a PRN/flexi job to supplement your income. If not, you could always try moving to another unit that has a more stable census. Before accepting the position I have now, I interview for a charge nurse role at a smaller hospital in my area. On the day of my interview, I noticed nurses were transferring patients and cleaning/bagging equipment. I asked what they were doing and was told that the unit was closing because the hospital census was low. The nurses and nurse manager I interviewed with were very nice, but I ended up passing on the job offer because I needed a more stable income.

Gay guy checking in. I didn't realize I would be as bothered by the shooting as I am. It scares the hell out of me. This guy murdered innocent people, people just like me, my fiancé and my friends, because of his hatred towards their sexual orientation and possibly his own. What's even worse to me is that no one around where I live seems to care. No one even really discusses it. It hurts that so many people hate us just because we are different. Trust me, if I could have chosen my sexuality I would have gone the straight route, but that hand wasn't dealt to me. Instead I'm living in a world where people are actively fighting against my right to love someone in marriage, they're trying to strip away my freedoms by allowing people to openly discriminate against me, in some parts of the world they're killing people like me only because we can't control who we love or are attracted to. In the end we are all humans sharing the same world and our differences won't matter when we leave.

Wouldn't you make the same or very close to what a PRN nurse would make if you just picked up OT shifts in the other unit? Or do your PRN folks get money rained on them?

You are not a bad nurse, you're just nervous and new to the job. Everyone makes simple mistakes when they are new and will still make simple mistakes when they've been working for 30 years. Just try to stay calm and slow your brain down a little so your body can catch up! You'll do great once you've settled in to this new position and some of that new job jitters goes away! :)

Use your d*** call light. Stop walking out to the nurses station every time you want something because you think you will get it faster. Other nurses may stop in the middle of whatever they are doing and fetch that ice for you, but I'm not. I'm going to finish whatever I'm doing first. Treating a heart rate in the 160's is more important than your ice. You walked to the desk so walk a few more feet down the hall and get it yourself! Rant over. It's such a beautiful day and I'm craving tacos.

Or greatly increase your exposure to the CRAZY family members...

My mom worked nights and slept days, leaving me alone at nights when I was a kid. I had to learn to care for myself and deal with the fear and depression of being alone. When she was home she would have outbursts and constantly remind me of how poor we were, making me feel like I was a burden. Later on she started drinking more and more. During her outburst one of her favorite go tos was "You can go live with your father." I felt like we eventually switched roles where I became the parent and she was the child. My father was never present and the kind of dad who would say "I'll come pick you up Saturday" but wouldn't be seen for years. He never even told my sister and brothers I existed. We eventually came across each other on MySpace of all places. The only person who would come and get me when I was alone and crying after a storm had knocked out the power was my grandmother. She was my rock. She constantly reminded me of how much she loved me and was always there for me. Now I'm standing by and can't do anything as she loses her mind and body. Dementia is awful and unforgiving. She still tells me that she loves me and she's proud of me, sometime several times within 10 minutes lol. Growing up like I did left some scars. I have an intense fear of abandonment, fear of being left alone, generalized anxiety and some serious issues with self-esteem and being too critical of myself, but it has also made me a better person is some ways. I'm more responsible, very independent and also have a lot of ambition.

I'm more patient centric when introducing roles. "Hi Mr. Patient! My name is Beyoncè and I'll be your nurse tonight. This is Jay-Z and he is your PCT tonight. We'll be here with you until about 6:30AM. " Or I'll say "This is Blahblah, one of our PCTs." "That is bippityboppity, one of our nurses. They'll be working with you tonight."

I only have one more day off on my 6 day stretch and then it's back to a job that irks me. Thankfully I only work three days then I'm off again! Hallelujah! Praise those 12 hour shifts!

It sucks. No. Sometimes. No. There are my answers. My opinion may be skewed by the fact that I work at a large hospital in the city that takes the most acute patients in the area. Most of the patients I get are chronically ill and don't follow medical advice leading to frequent readmits. The others are extremely old with no quality of life and are being forced to live by family members who are never present. It's tough and thankless, but you get a lot of exposure to all kinds of diseases. It's a great unit to start in because of that exposure and the amount of time you'll have to practice your nursing skills. Most people at my job don't make a career out of med/surg and end up moving on to less yellow pastures once they get enough experience.

5 occurrences in a year. Sick days are 1 occurrence and tardies are .5. 5.5 occurrences is a verbal. 6.5 is a write up. Occurrences fall off 1 year after you received it and disciplinary actions fall off after 18 months. You can be off several days and have only 1 occurrence as long as the days are consecutive.

I think I have the cardiology III. It's pretty awesome and about midrange in price (150$ I believe).

I'm the type that's oblivious to when people are flirting with me. The dots didn't connect until one day a discharged patient called the unit to give me his number a week or two later. I was completely shocked and so uncomfortable. Then to make things even more awkward, I was on a different unit a year later and guess who gets admitted? Yeah.... I was not his nurse. I'm a male and I don't view myself as being particularly attractive, but the amount of times I've been hit on or even harassed is crazy.

I was mislead by the title of this post.... But anyways. I like a midsize unit. Ours is 30 beds. There's enough staff to cover days you need off. There's also enough people here to rotate around and prevent that annoyance you get working with people every single day, but also not too many so our staff members aren't practically strangers.

I live in the south and my base pay is 21.50. I make about 26.50 an hour since I get differentials. The cost of living in my area is not really that cheap, but I live about 25 minutes away from work to save cash. My house payment is $800 for a 2 story 3 bed and 2 bath with garage. If I lived closer to work I would be looking at over $900 a month for a one bedroom apartment. My last apartment (a 35-40 minute drive) was in the 1100-1200's for a 3 bed/2 bath. There are some nurses in surrounding areas here that start out around $18.00/hr and I don't know how or why they do it. I could NEVER see myself doing such a stressful, important job like this for $18.00. I barely make enough for it now!

Dude, math sucks. Luckily the math courses required to enter nursing aren't really that bad. I'm sure if you put in a little extra effort you'll do great!

I second Tylenol. Or Aleve. Works wonders when you have that one patient who makes your head feel like it is gonna explode or when management tells you about a new change in policy.

Thanks for the input AceOfHearts and HouTx. I think I'm ready to take the plunge. I want to stay within the same hospital system because they're paying for most of my BSN, but at this point I'm considering just paying out of pocket to save my sanity lol.

I've had about 6 days off of work and it's the first time since I've began this job that I took time to enjoy myself or respect my free time without counting down the days until I work again. I cleaned my house, made multiple dinners for my love, hung out with close friends, did some unnecessary yet therapeutic shopping, drank multiple cocktails while watching trashy TV and spent time with the puppy. This free time also lead to a lot of contemplation and reevaluation of what I'm doing with my life. I was originally going to post this on the "What I learned this week" topic, but it turned out lengthier than I expected. So this is what I learned: I learned I care too much about a job that doesn't really care about me. It was my first nursing job and I've been here for two years (med-surg & step down). I'm one of the very few left who originally started when I did. I feel like I've dedicated a lot of time and have been loyal here, but there's no real opportunity for growth or any loyalty/respect returned to me. So why have I stayed at this job that I feel doesn't respect me or open any doors for my future? I guess the answer lies within comfort and fear. I'm comfortable here and in a routine. I remember when I learned new things everyday and could see the value of working on such a generalized medical floor, but now the learning is happening less often. I know the patient population and I know how to handle the majority of situations that arise. It's a routine, it's familiar, it's comforting, but it's not very fulfilling. The fear is of change, leaving this routine to start something new, something unfamiliar. What if I fail? What if I'm not a "fit" and they get rid of me like so many others have experienced? How would I pay my mortgage? My car note? What if this the new job makes me miserable? What if? I guess these are thoughts that cross all of our minds when we think about changing jobs. I'm not really sure where to go from here, but I know I need something different. A job that won't stress me to the point of being ill, keep my mind occupied on work even on my days off, and counting down days until I return to work instead of enjoying the off days. I see myself becoming resentful and I don't like it. I'm not happy and no one can change that except for me. It's time to move on.

I'm not sure it's Breast Practice (see what I did there?), but I've seen it a few times, usually on the upper chest. Im curious about the safety of it too. Desperate times call for desperate measures I guess.

You don't have to really worry about her for much longer in my opinion. If she continues on the route she's on she'll end up failing out while you move on up. I experienced this with some of my nursing school "friends" who either didn't try or didn't have what it took to make it through. As time went on the communications became fewer and farther in between until that person just disappears from your life, kind of like old high school friends. I have ONE friend that I did remain in touch with after they failed the first go around, but this person was so determined that she took time off, studied her behind off and is now an amazing RN! Just keep trying your best and focus on you! :)

I would go with med/surg. You get exposed to a lot of different diseases, many of which are chronic. You get to see how those illnesses (CHF, ESRD, HIV, etc) are managed and what kind of treatments they get. You also are able to identify when those patient are heading in the right direction or not. It's good for FNP because you'll be seeing some of these patients and will know how to appropriately handle their care. You also see a lot of odd ball cases like spider bites, rashes, various infections and beyond.

"Career Advancement."

I'm just going say that yes, they can make you do it, but if they're gonna make ME do it then I want the housekeeping pay on top of my nursing pay.

^^^This! Sometimes I am shocked at how brown the alcohol pad turns after using them on someone! What the heck were you doing before you came into the hospital? Mud wrestling? Rolling around in dirt? Dirty dancing? Lil' old meemaw why are you so dirty!!??