Elaken

Latest Activity

1. COVID: I'm ready to leave the hospital until the end of the pandemic guilt

   Elaken replied to CardiTeleRN's topic in COVID

   I don’t buy this either. If your system was this corrupt you would have seen it a long time before on other issues. I work at multiple hospitals - on Covid units - and the only patients not needing oxygen are there for other issues that would have ho...

2. Alarming conditions of a job offer letter

   Elaken replied to guest1107684's topic in General Nursing

   Sadly I have never worked in a union. But usually it just guarantees a lot more worker rights because the union has so much more power as compared to a solitary employee. It might be worth talking to the union and getting an idea of what they do and ...

3. What’s with “researching” patients before clocking in?! Is this a standard?

   Elaken replied to NurseOrBust13's topic in General Nursing

   Never ever do this. First of all it is most likely illegal because it probably counts as working off the clock. Secondly you are accessing patient’s information off the clock and that would be a HIPAA violation. What if something changes last minute ...

4. Alarming conditions of a job offer letter

   Elaken replied to guest1107684's topic in General Nursing

   I am just going to say this - what they wrote down is legally the reality of working in right to work states. Any job you don’t have a contract for (which contracts aren’t common) can completely change your job, your pay, and your benefits. What they...

5. Calling briefs "diapers"....*vent*

   Elaken replied to cherrybreeze's topic in General Nursing

   At my work we tend to call the pull-ups briefs and the ones that have the sticky tabs diapers. Otherwise you have to use a lot more words to ask what you need. I am not often talking to the patient about them since if they are in the “diapers” it is ...

6. I can’t get past orientation and want to be an aid instead

   Elaken replied to Bjessica's topic in General Nursing

   Maybe look for a magnet hospital? Those require a certain level of nurse satisfaction so I would be surprised if ratios were ever that high. I work for a non-profit hospital network in AZ. I have been there 6 years on day shift. I have had 6 pts for ...

7. Why are some RNs rarely busy, while others are always busy

   Elaken replied to DesiDani's topic in General Nursing

   As people have pointed out is too varied to know. It is suspect anyone who is always busy (some nurses honestly would be hectic if they had even just one patient) or always having an easy day (probably a lot more they could be doing to improve patien...

8. Fired

   Elaken replied to Lilynelo's topic in General Nursing

   I am float pool for my hospital network. Our new employees get 2 days and many of them are floating to 5 different hospitals that are all a little different. It is quick but, honestly, it is really doable. I have preceptored a lot of staff and very ...

9. When Nurses Say the Wrong Thing: 4 Ways to Improve

   Elaken replied to jeastridge's topic in General Nursing

   I agree KalipsoRed. I am so tired of this “you need to make a connection” attitude. Why? Why is this my job? I am there to medicate a patient. Clean them up. Assess them and catch if things are going bad. Advocate for them. Encourage them to do what ...

10. I Was Fired...for Being Abrasive and Having Attitude

    Elaken replied to Nurse Beth's topic in Nurse Beth

    I am mostly echoing what others have said here but I definitely think needing to explain your reasoning can be pretty exhausting to the other nurses. If I tell you a charting was done incorrectly, for example, odds are I already know what made you d...

11. Cleaning patients after bowel movements.

    Elaken replied to Kidsrablast's topic in General Nursing

    If a patient is at the toilet and I am just making sure they are clean I use toilet paper. If they are excessively dirty, on bedpan, or incontinent we use wash clothes with foam soap 99% of the time. Due to too many clogged toilets we have to specia...

12. Surgeons - ugh!

    Elaken replied to Melanin's topic in General Nursing

    The problem I have with this is it is really hard to say something should be known or is inconsequential. We have a doctor who will think you are the dumbest nurse alive if you have high BP and don’t stop IV fluids. This doc also takes over an hour t...

13. Questions about morning blood sugars/insulin

    Elaken replied to Logracia's topic in General Nursing

    My facilities really struggle with this. Patient’s can order whenever they want. Which means someone might be eating breakfast at 0700 and another at 0930. And they might have 20 carbs on that tray or 65. Same with lunch/dinner so it gets way too ha...

14. Med-Surg v. Telemetry/Step-down

    Elaken replied to Guest1033582's topic in Med-Surg

    As someone above said when interviewing get specific on what a unit takes and ratios. At my hospital every unit takes insulin drips (I know at some this is considered ICU because of the hourly checks but not us nor does it cause a decrease in your p...

15. Does Hospital Leadership and Policy Promote Working When Sick?

    Elaken replied to J.Adderton's topic in General Nursing

    My state recently made it a law that you get one hour sick time for every 30 you work (up to 40 a year - company can do more if they want) and you can’t be penalized for taking it. So now even PRN staff get sick time. Which means as a full time staf...