rn<3cat

Yes, I understand the feeling, honestly, I think you need to find a way to cope after a hard day. Ever since I started working in a hospital, I secretly struggled with a lot of anxiety, only my parents knew this, as I would vent to them. But I refused to let anxiety tell me how to feel. All my shifts were always hard and challenging, and there are times I would think to myself why I am in this job. But over the course of the year, I "experimented" with different coping mechanisms, eventually, I formed a habit or thought mechs that helped me cope. I listed some of them below: 1. "It's Not your fault and do what you can." - This phrase helps me on days when pt's get verbally abusive, by thinking this to myself, it frees myself from taking things personally, especially when the pt has psych issues. This also reminds me that I'm not a super nurse but that I am just a human being helping another human being. 2. Get to know your coworkers. - Know Everyone you get in contact with, e.g. housekeepers, unit clerks, security, doctors, nurses, pharmacists... you are not in this alone, very important to wringe out all the help you can get. Take time to talk to people, talk random, tell jokes, acknowledge their presence, take risks and you will be amazed at all the help that will come your way. 3. Be super honest. - If you feel like the assignment is too much for you to handle, and will affect your safety and pt safety, let your charge nurse know. If they dont listen to you, speak to the manager, if they dont listen to you, call higher up. If they all dont do nothing about it, then leave that place. It took some time for me to get the hang of saying "no" being that I am a shy person. To keep your thoughts together, write down your concerns so when you present it, it will be clear to everyone. It can be something like, "I dont feel comfortable taking this assignment, I have this pt who is...... and needs....., pt safety is at risk and I feel overwhelmed that I wont be able to do this safely..." 4. Vent. Lol this is self explanatory, but do vent within the realms of HIPAA. 5. Quiet room. - On really stressful days wherein the call lights resemble a disco ball, and i feel like smashing my work phone, and when those darn IV pumps won't stop singing...once I go home, I go to my closet, turn off the lights and put some cushions on the ground. I close the door and just sleep. I do this to give time for the brain to rest, no stimulus, no loud noises, nothing lol. Suprisingly, it helps. 6. Travel. - Explore different places at least once a month. Find someone to go places with, even if it means a starbucks in a different location. 7. Collect something random. I collect....stickers. 8. Read jokes and verbally share them. - This is a good ice breaker with co workers. Have about 3-4 jokes memorized. This is also good for family members who eye you out like an eagle lol. One time, I was flushing a pt's PIV, and everyone in the room suddenly got quiet...I paused and looked at them and said, "Wow, it got quiet here all of a sudden, don't mind me, continue on..." They started laughing and resumed talking. 9. Randomly help someone at work. Offer help whenever you can even when you are busy, honestly, people appreciate it even just by saying, "Hey, if you need me, here's my number..." "Let me know if you need help turning a pt".. 10. Get to know your pt. I talk to my patients as much as I could, it builds a bond and trust and will make your day run smoother. I usually begin by asking..."Hey, how are you today? How was your night?" then next time i go in the room..."Do you need anything right now, any concerns" if all goes well i proceed to questions like, "Do you have pets?" "Wow, I hope winter won't be too cold. What do you think?" 11. Take time to pray and be thankful. Close your eyes and just thank God for all the things you have, no matter how insignificant. "Thank you, God, that I have two feet, that I could see, that I can taste this delicious burger without worrying about dysphagia..." 12.Sleep. Have a day where the only thing you do is sleep or rest to read a book. 13. Eat good food. Treat yo self! 14. Buy something beautiful. There's more techniques...but so far these help me cope throughout rough times. Oh, and yeah, do get your bachelors, it will open more doors to other types of nursing, or take a class in something random that you enjoy, e.g. jewelry making, art, dance...

Omg, this post helped me a lot! I've been struggling so much to whether I want to be a nurse because of my shyness. I really love to help people but sometimes I feel like I'm too much of an introvert and I get easily exhausted around people. My advice is maybe is a change of work environment, so far I've been working as a NA in a home health settings and I find this more manageable, especially that I have to deal with only 1 patient at a time. I'm going to retake my NCLEX soon and hopefully survive transition from student nurse to RN.

Hi everyone, NCLEX is fast approaching for some of you, and if you're like me, I don't do well without mnemonics. Back in first semester of nursing school, I had the hardest time memorizing about the different insulin onsets, peaks, and duration. Well, I formulated this simple mnemonic. You can memorize them within 5-10 minutes and you're good to go. (You might need to use your imagination for some of them) RAPID ACTING: 15 yr old wanted to grow up fast, 60-90 yr old grandpa misses his childhood days when he was 3-4 yrs. old. (Onset: 15 min. Peak: 60-90 min. Duration: 3-4 hrs.). SHORT ACTING: You feel 1/2 shorter than 1 basketball player. If you can only grow 2 to 3 feet more! Oh, you won't feel so short because from 3 feet, you'll be 6 feet tall like that basketball player. (Onset: 1/2 to 1 hr. Peak: 2-3 hrs. Duration: 3-6 hrs.) INTERMEDIATE ACTING: Waiter: There are tables in the middle, how many tables do you need? Customer: Two for four then (2-4, 4-10). Waiter: Okay, you'll be able to sit around 10:16. (Onset: 2-4 hrs, Peak:4-10hrs, Duration:10-16 hrs) LONG ACTING: 2 climbers are better than 1. That mountain doesn't seem to have a peak. It might take a full day (24 hrs) to climb up. (Onset: 1-2 hrs. Peak: no pronounced peak Duration: 24 hr +)

Yey! Comic Con! Congrats on passing! I would say that the pearson vue trick is about 95% accurate. So far about half of my classmates used the trick and it was accurate,they got good pop up and it coincided with their passing results. I failed the NCLEX though . I did do the pearson vue trick and it brought me to cc page. At that moment my whole world came crushing down and I needed a gallon of ice cream ...but yeah, the trick works , for those who are gonna take their nclex soon, I highly suggest using it, and even though it brings u to the cc page, don't fret, feel free to cry, it's better to cry now than later because you will need the strength to review again if indeed you fail.