chrispicritah

if you drive drunk, you need to be shamed. after 22 years of nursing, i remember the worst thing i saw when i floated to the trauma unit was a multiple freeway accident caused by a drunk driver...he was drunk as cooter brown and ran into a woman who was 8 months pregnant. her baby could not be saved, apparently the placenta became separated from her and he died. she was injured but had not yet found out that her baby died. he was so drunk he didn't know what was up. i remember we were all crying, it was so sad. the police wanted to beat him down and he had the nerve to be demanding! so many people drive drunk and kill others, unfortuately they walk away without a scratch. and you want to take care of me? what part of spend the night don't you understand? what happened to "can you give me a ride home" don't you understand? my father was an alcoholic, and one of the saddest things about an alcoholic is that they are so selfish. all they can think about is "i". they don't see the consequences of what they do. it is always about what they want, what they didn't get, or how can they fix it without paying the price for what they have done. and if you ever work with a nurse who has come to work drinking it ain't nothin' nice. now before anyone calls me judgemental come and work at the job i am leaving for a week, then go back. too many excuses, so little time. cc soon to retire from nursing after 22 years:roll

chile doan worry, dem just jealous! travel and do yuh 'ting... "why should i worry, why should i care, (s'ting, s'ting) cause i've got "street savoir faire"! go for it! cc soon to be retired june 30, 2006:balloons:

50 is the new 35!!!! cc soon to retire on june 30, 2006:balloons: young!

it's OK...don't get bitter, it's not healthy. it makes ulcers and who knows what else? don't wait until that happens because when it does, they will just find somebody else to hire in your place, drink coffee in your name if you die, and forget about you. take care of yourself. cc you know the story:balloons:

yes! and we don't thank ourselves and appreciate others enough. i don't believe that you have to become bitter to leave any profession, that is not healthy. but, management likes to sit and look busy, in their ivory towers. i mentioned this fact about managers working in the floor and this one manager acted like she was going to have a baby right there! they can't function anymore. if they had to do what we had to do, they would walk off the job today. i agree, they should make them all work on their floors one day every 3 months. one 12 hour shift. and they don't get to be in charge. they will take an assignment like everyone else and do it all! that is all it would take to change things. i guarantee that they would call off sick... cc

i would always make rounds and go to each person, and say "hello mr/mrs. so-and-so, i'm miss crispi and i am your nurse this evening. do you have any pain?" unless i was on the jail ward in which case i would not tell those inmates my name. i would show my badge and turn it back wards once they saw i was wearing one. i would just tell them my name was "nurse"...it was what we did for safety. and i always had on my badge. i would cover my last name up on the jail ward and just leave my picture and "RN" visible....some of them stalk nurses.

do you want to be a nurse because it is in your heart, or because of some other reason (i.e. not wanting another meaningless low paying job) that is not a good enough reason for going to school to be a nurse. it is hard work, and it gets harder everyday. there are plenty of things you can do, make money and be happy. if you want to be a nurse because you really want it, then go for it! it will be worth it. but, before you make any choice, why not go to a career counselor and do an assessment to find out what you really are cut out to do? i believe that we live longer and happier lives when we are doing what we are put here to do. for some that means nursing, for most, it is something else. just make sure you are doing the right thing for the right reasons. be well cc soon to retire june 30 2006:balloons:

well, your response is actually more of what i expected to find. and no, i am not venting. i am speaking the truth. speaking what i believe does not make me bitter, it makes me honest. if nursing students are discouraged from nursing because of what i posted, then it is a good thing. that is like saying that quoting the fact that 50% of all marriages end in divorce will discourage people from getting married. well, if that is all it takes to discourage them, then they should not marry in the first place! marriage is more than putting on a white dress, walking down the aisle and marrying a man in a nice black tux, eating cake and going to the bahamas for a week. nursing is more than putting on a cute uniform and crusing the hallway with a tray of medicines and fluffing pillows. the problem is, no one wants to hear the truth. nursing schools do not present the harsh realities of what nursing is to potential students. oh, and to the other poster, you know i want to get out so i won't have to be relegated to a rocking chair. i want to still have life in my bones. and, you don't know what jobs i have done in the last 22 years...so i won't even comment on that. but i will say, i was good at all of them. when it's time to go, it's just time to go.:blushkiss that being said, carry on-- cc soon to be retired june 30 2006:balloons:

go to the doctor and make sure nothing is wrong with your feet like fallen arches or heel spurs :uhoh21: then try the other's suggestions. nursing shoes always bothered me. dansko clogs and some other kind i bought earlier this year were nice. but i wish i hadn't bought them since i am leaving the hospital. be well cc soon to be retired june 30 2006:balloons:

that sounds very antiquated, apparently that hospital is not up to standard on pain control. when i had several fibroids removed, the anesthesiologist asked me in the pre-op area, what i wanted, demerol, morphine, or dilaudid. i was not in a "elite" hospital, it was just a regular hospital where people go. the doctor told me before hand that i would have a pca. when i woke up, i had a pca with dilaudid going, although i was too asleep to use it and was trying to get out of the bed (to go where?) but i had no pain. so they sound kind of mean. i'm sorry they treated you that way. be well cc soon to retire june 30 2006:balloons:

i don't know about that, the only real way to learn about starting IV's is by doing them. when i first started out working, we used to have IV nurses, who only started IV's. i learned from them. they told me if you can't see a vein then feel for where it is "warm" the vein is underneath. i became very good at it and could get blood from a turnip. i learned how to feel for where it was warm. it takes practice. starting IV's for me was harder than getting blood because you can use shorter veins for phlebotomy. but if you have already taken the class then the only real way to get good at it is to watch others do it, and practice yourself. be well cc retiring as of june 30 2006:lol2: 22 year veteran:balloons:

i have not read all of the posts but i would say the most important thing is, remember that you can only do one thing at a time. if you have d/c orders at 0830 and meds to pass and paperwork, then only one of them can be done first. i would do the medicines first, that would be my priority. the paperwork can be looked at and given to the charge nurse. let them know what you have to do and ask for help. you can only do one thing at a time properly. otherwise it is not safe. i used to pass meds on a medicine ward with 25 pts, avg 9 diabetics, who would all need F/S before breakfast so i would do that first. i didn't have to do any discharges, but i had to check all of the f/s, give all the insulin, and then check all meds before starting out. the rest of the morning i was doing meds and checking orders. it was a mess. but being organized was the main thing. it is hard when people make negative comments and are not supportive. but that is how it is most of the time. don't allow others to dictate how you feel, you are giving them waaay too much power. i know what i am talking about. after 22 years i will be leaving nursing at the end of the month. good luck and be well cc

thank you for you post, yes, i love to write. maybe i will write a book one day. who knows? as i said, i have seen a lot, maybe too much at a very young age. it is not for everyone, just like marriage, children, or any of the other life choices we make along the way. for those who say i should try some other aspect of nursing, i appreciate what you have to say but that is not my truth. if it's yours then you should follow it with full intention. i have taken care of everyone else for half of my life, and now it is time to take care of me. if you read my post you will see that it has started to take a toll on my health, and i don't think that any job is worth that. and, no...i'm not bitter. just honest. after 22 years on the battlefield it would be hard to leave without some scars. they don't give us purple hearts but they should. i worked in the biggest hospital in the US for 18 of 22 years, other 4 years i worked in private facilities and a plasma center. i have been almost everywhere and seen most things in my young life that are unbelievable, like the man whose wife tried to chop his head off with an axe, but he lived...anyway i won't say anymore. it's time to leave. and, for new nurses or those who want to be nurses, i would say, just make sure it is really what you want, not for money, not to give what you didn't get (like me) but because it is truly your life path. listen to the stories people tell you. they don't tell you that before you go to school because they don't want to scare you. just like having a baby, if you listen to the horror stories you might freak out. most of the time it is not as bad as they say, although it is rough. but like anything else go in with both eyes open. to the poster who said that the classroom has its own challenges, yes, that's right. everything real presents a challenge. but it's all about what types of challenges we are fit and willing to deal with, not the ones we run from. i have already had kids who touch others inappropriately, or are hypersexual, or talk about bringing guns to school because they are angry. i deal with all of that. but you know what? i love it. i can't say that i ever loved nursing. it was just what i did because i did it. have any of you women ever had sex with a man because he was there but it felt like nothing? well... anway, enough before somebody says i am beating the horse to death.:deadhorse be well and thrive-- cc anyway i like this site, i will keep posting when i have a chance. i

well everyone after 22 years i am leaving the nursing profession. i have spent almost half of my life taking care of other people, and it is now time to step aside and let someone else step in. i was very young when i started out, and i often say that i chose nursing the same way many women choose a man, for all of the wrong reasons although i was good at it, i never harmed anyone, i worked hard, cleaned pts real good, cleaned nails, ears, etc. made beds, toe pleats and all, passed meds, did IV's, blood and all of those other tasks they added to the list over the years. everyone was well taken care of, except for me. i silenced my own voice. so, it is time for me to leave. after numerous injuries, (back, wrist, neck), backstabbing managers, obnoxious families and insulting doctors i just can't do it anymore. i'm tired and just have done all i can do. i have worked everywhere and seen it all from the ER to the OR. i didn't do it for the money, it's really not that much for all of the b* i have to deal with. i feel sorry for the shallow person who wants to do nursing for the money. i would not want them standing over me.:chair: if i had it to do over, i would not. but i can't undo what is already done. i love kids, i love art. i have a degree in art and opportunities to teach it are coming my way. not the same money but much less stress on me, no injuries and no more palpitations and bradycardia. i don't like telemetry either-- working in it, or laying down in it. the beeping really creeps me out, and when i look up and see "50" on the screen that does not help. :redbeathe i did not wake up and decide to quit, it has taken me a long time to get to this place and i realize that it is either remain in this relationship (profession) at my own expense, or get out now while i still have my physical and mental health and strength. i have seen too many of my commrades die prematurely. i don't want to be next, before my time. good luck to you all, be safe, CYA, and most of all when the going gets tough, get out! crispicrittah:saint:

as someone else already asked, why would you want to do that? when you go someplace and need some type of service they will charge you more money because they think you have it. and, nurses are easy prey for criminals. people like to get nurses. i would not do this. but if you must, go ahead. just remember that you were warned. cc soon to retire after 22 years:saint: