nurseklw72

As the years go on, I find that I'm saying more things to patients to shut them up. I get more complaints about the food and the comfort of the beds than anything else. My reply to them is this: I'm sorry your bed/food is not to your satisfaction...

I got in trouble for the same issue. I'm a single mom. Between my son & I, there's no way we're going to keep call-ins under the mandated 5 a year. I found a way to work around the whole call in issue. I only call in if it's my son who's sick...

I have moderate hearing loss in both ears. I wear digital CIC hearing aids. Of course, it's a big PITA to remove the hearing aids to use the stethoscope, but I make do. I use a Littman electronic stethoscope. I think it's a 2000. I've had it a f...

I was fortunate not to witness this. It happened quite a few years ago on a med/surg floor. A patient with a new colostomy who had psych issues decided to pull the thing apart. The night shift staff heard him yelling in his room and went to see wha...

We make it a habit to connect the chest tube to a canister and the canister is connected to wall suction. We do this for chest tubes to bottles or pleuravacs and for NG suction. We had an incident where someone couldn't remember that NG suction sho...

I had the same thing happen to me. I had a stable patient that was planning to be discharged home that day. When I made first rounds that morning and asked him if he was glad to be going home that day, he said,"I'm going to die today." I brushed t...

I am a preceptor at my hospital. I get paid $1/hr to precept any nurse new to the hospital whether it's a new grad or a seasoned nurse. Of course, new grads are going to take more hours to precept. Also, if the nurse stays longer than 6 months, I ...

The bad attitude meeting must be in a book for managers or something. Anytime the staff is upset about staffing shortages and the fact that it is directly detrimental to the quality of care they can give, management pulls this trick out of the bag. ...

I interviewed for a family practice clinic associated with a hospital. As an RN, I was offered $12.00/hr. I told her I can't work for less than $20 since at the time I was working in a hospital for a base bay of $21.00 and I've been a nurse for 6 y...

I have no idea what possessed them to do it, but this year, we got pocket knives. I'm hoping no one who is armed has a mental meltdown.

I'm getting ready to be a bike commuter. I live 3 miles from my hospital. We don't have bike racks and I am currently asking human resources to make one available for the employees who wish to go "green".

I work on a stepdown/pcu unit that is currently using 16 of 28 beds due to staffing. Our ratio is 4:1. Usually we have one secretary and one aide on day shift. Nights has a secretary until 11pm and every once in a while, they'll have an aide for p...

We had a senior nursing student on our unit one day. Her patient had meds due at 9 am and 5 pm. After passing her 9 am meds, she asks, "what do we do now, just sit around until 5?" She was informed that there are a number of things to be done li...

I live in northwest Arkansas. I'm an RN with 6 years experience in a cardiac unit. I make a base rate of $22.66/hr. Throw in shift differentials for 3-7pm & weekends. I bring home about $1300-1500 per 2 week pay period. Cost of living isn't ...

I was offered a med/surg supervisor position after being a nurse for about 3 years. Like you, I was flattered and jumped on the offer thinking about money and better hours. I thought since I had been a charge nurse for 3 years and could lead the un...

I work in a cardiac unit. We're having some serious problems. We have recently acquired a new supervisor that has initiated several changes in the way our department is run. This has caused discontent among the nurses and the physicians because th...

I was a school nurse for the local high school for 2 years. I had to leave because the pay wasn't enough for my particular situation. (I happen to be a single mom.) In my particular state, a BSN is not required to be a school nurse. I was paid an...

While I appreciate that you have a deep passion for your career choice, please be aware that not all nurses are "called" to the profession. Nuns and priests are "called" to their vocation. I chose to be a nurse for several reasons. The insatiable ...

We have a unit like that called CDU (Clinical Decision Unit). It started out as a full time 23 hour observation unit. Now, it's only open when the units are full and as a last resort before diversion. They staff with float pool nurses on call.

Before I became a nurse, I used to work in admisisons. Several times a day, the little old ladies would come in & inform me that they were to go to RADIO-OLOGY for a MAMMEO-GRAM. After the 10th time, I stopped trying to correct them.

I absolutely think nurse's shouldn't work when they're sick. Everyone else is right about the patients are either immunocompromised or dealing with other health issues and don't need the exposure to your illness. Also, your co-workers don't need it...

I wouldn't doubt if something she said was taken out of context and printed. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if our salaries were decreased, the nursing shortage would reach disastrous proportions as many of us would leave the professio...

I simply tell the aides what I need done and they do it. I have a good relationship with the aides. I find that if you treat them with respect and help them when they need a hand, they'll be more than happy to carry out whatever task you set out for...

Our facility had a doctor that felt the nursing staff could improve on their efficiency and he decided to prepare a lecture hour on how we could do our jobs better. He was challenged to be a nurse for day. He took on the challenge. He showed up fo...

I had an elderly lady once who needed her meds crushed in applesauce. I put the crushed meds on top of the applesauce & served her. There were some chunkier pieces in the mix. She took a few bites and was chewing the meds up. She smiled at me...