kacs13

I love my 12 hour shifts. I've actually been browsing for a new job and won't even consider shifts other than 12s. I like 4 days off and grocery shopping in the middle of day on a Tuesday when everyone else is at work. It does such working weekends and holidays when all my friends and family is off. Now that I'm a mother, working holidays sucks more. But I'll still take it over 9 to 5 grind.

I've recently decided to potentially leave my floor of 8 years and I'm struggling with the decision. Some background, I've been on my current floor (a surgical unit-post op orthopedics, general surgery, vascular, urology, podiatry, neuro surgery, with some medicine and trauma over flow). I really like my job. It's challenging and fast paced as we have a quick turn over. Ive recently gotten my orthopedic nurse certification. I've learned so much here and it was the perfect first job. Over the years, I've seen nurses come and go, since its medsurg, it tends to be a job where people only stay a short time and move on. I've stayed and with my seniority has come perks. I'm charge most days, I'm tight with management and looked at as a leader on the floor. I've never thought that I'd be a medsurg nurse for my entire career, but the longer I've stayed, the harder it has become to leave. I know that there are so many areas of nursing and there are so many different opportunities and I've started feeling like it might be time for me to move on. Ive never had a desire to work in a unit and I'm not ready for a 5 day a week gig. I have a small child and plan on having more, so going back for my masters isn't in the cards yet. On a whim, I applied for an ED position after talking to a former coworker who now works down there. I've always thought the ER would be exciting. I work in a level one trauma center in a big city in the northeast. I have an upcoming interview, but now my panic has set in. Am I making the right decision? I feel so comfortable at my current job. I don't dislike it. What if I hate the ER? Am I ready to be the low man on the totem pole? I feel close to my coworkers now. We're like a family and I'm terrified to never have that again. We recently had neuro surgery introduced to our unit and as part of that we had to shadow on a neuro surgery floor at our sister hospital. I had an amazing day there. I meshed well with the nurses, I jumped right in, and felt like I was part of their team. I think that experience is what made me realize that I could leave my job and start over and it'd be okay. But I know the emergency room is so different. I'm just scared I guess! just looking for other people's perspectives. If some ER nurses could chime in that'd be great! Thanks in advance.

I've been a nurse going on seven years. Ive had one needle stick a few years back with a used insulin syringe. Rapid hiv test was negative, hep c negative. I went on with my life. This past week, I was approached by a charge nurse on another unit to attempt a difficult IV. I had the time and Im a pretty good stick so I went over to do the favor. I had the IV in (a 20g) and when I hit the safety retraction I felt a little graze or maybe a scratch. Looked at my finger, it was intact, no signs of broken skin, bleeding etc. I went and washed my hands and thought nothing of it really. I at first thought it was probably just the plastic part. I realize everyone is on "standard precautions". When I put an IV in, I wear gloves, but I normally poke my index finger out to try and feel a vein. I realize I shouldn't do this. But i do. Im being honest. When it's a known hiv infected patient I dont. They told me she was here for a lap chole and was most likely being discharged later that day. No other info on her. Later when I returned back to my unit, my paranoia got the best of me and I looked up her hx. There it was: hep c and hiv +. I followed protocol as though I was stuck, although im not fully sure I was, maybe a graze? Last time I stuck myself, I jumped a mile and my finger bled, felt a little tender, etc. They started me on PEP (truvada and isentress ). After the first dose, I felt ok. No side effects. So I decided to go ahead and do the month course per protocol. The NP in the ER studied my finger under a bright light and seemed to think I was being paranoid. She didnt see any signs my skin was broken. Maybe I was being a little paranoid. But I haven't stopped thinking about it since. I realize its only a 0.3% chance, and even less so when taking PEP. But it still nags at me. I keep repeating the incident in my mind. I guess I came here for support. And to hear others stories. Thanks for listening (reading).