birthingbabiesrn

If you think that because a mother does drugs because doesn't "care enough" about her child, you need to be educated about how addiction works, how hard it is to stop, and why people turn to drugs in the first place.

Q&D, thanks so much for your post! I actually received an email from the DoN at SHC after completing an application, but she's on vacation for the next week so I haven't spoken to her on the phone yet. How are you liking it up there so far? I used to live in Seattle and have lived pretty much always in metropolitan areas, so that type of area is very new to me. Any insight would be appreciated!

It saddens me to see that so many nurses here do not have a basic understanding of what addiction is and have no compassion for it. It also saddens me they don't realize that unauthorized testing leads to mistrust between a patient and provider. That women will avoid prenatal care altogether because they use and are afraid of being arrested. That not every woman has access to a midwife. One cannot wake up one day and stop their addictions--this very rarely happens or works. Women do frequently wake up pregnant. Not everyone has good access to birth control. Educate yourselves for your patients' sake. It will also make you feel more at peace about working with your patiens.

Poor guy. I hope you showed him a lot of compassion.

Good for you for being able to look at how you're nursing and notice there needs to be a change. Many people don't do that. If you're having extra trouble with anything, might be a good time to seek out a therapist. They're good about giving you tools to handle tough situations.

Patients are sick. Expect to treat them like you would treat a sick child (with care, and without complaining you didn't go to nursing school to be a waitress.) They also have their own issues, and it's compounded with being sick/injured. If you're having trouble having compassion, find a therapist and work on it. Both you and your patients will enjoy your shifts together more. And if any personality conflicts come up with other nurses that you can't resolve, address them with your manager and HR if necessary. Don't let someone's bad attitude push you out of a job you'd otherwise like to keep.

How about: it's a violation of my patient rights to subject me to a test I didn't consent for. Has anyone heard that one yet?

Like I said above, I'm not getting any hits even in med-surg.

Thanks for the tip! I've applied for several positions for a couple of different PeaceHealth hospitals in the northwest. Hopefully one will pan out.1

I'm a new grad who's had her RN license for three months and has been unable to land a nursing job due to the lack of openings in her area, let alone in L&D. I am willing to relocate for an L&D position, but I don't know where in the U.S. is in particular need for nurses in L&D and will take a new grad. Anyone have any insight? Thanks!

I'm a new grad who's had her RN license for three months and has been unable to land a nursing job due to the lack of openings in her area, let alone in L&D. I am willing to relocate for an L&D position, but I don't know where in the U.S. is in particular need for nurses in L&D and will take a new grad. Anyone have any insight? Thanks!

Actually, it's not illegal for employers to ask these kind of questions--it is illegal to base whether or not to hire someone based on the answers. http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2011/01/10/is-that-interview-question-legal You want to be employed at least for a year anyway, because of FMLA, as several people have noted. You're going to be in orientation for the first two to three months, and you'll need time to build habits before going on a break. And to our Canadian and other non-U.S. nurses: we're not even guaranteed pay for the 12 weeks we have off for FMLA. Most people use some sort of combination of saving up vacation days and short-term disability to cover for those 12 weeks. Some companies give additional paid leave, but those are few and far between.

Nurses with this attitude ("Don't you have bills to pay?!") tend to be one of the reasons why new nurses change jobs. Usually this kind of statement comes from "We're already short staffed, I'm stressed enough as it is, I can't bear the thought of one more new nurse realizing this sucks and getting out, while I stay here year after year." Yes, we all have bills to pay, but no, it's not right to expect people to be continuously miserable at their jobs when there are other options out there--and there are a lot of options out there for nurses (yes, some places and situations more so than others.)

I just want to add one risk of formula that I didn't catch stated here (sorry if this is a repeat): Formula has a (albeit small chance) of being contaminated. Several formulas have been recalled at various times over the last decade. Please encourage mothers who do choose formula to sign up for recall alerts (or keep an eye out for them on the news/internet) and educate them where to look for lot numbers, and to never use formula that looks like it was opened before they bought it (remind them a store will exchange these.)