polkadotti

I have been an RN for 18 months on a busy paediatric surgical ward, and am getting a bit anxious that I'm losing many skills we learnt at university. Not one single nurse carry's around stethoscopes to auscultate heart/lung/bowel sounds or palpates abdomens or pulses. It's a very busy task-focused unit and whilst I've learnt a lot about time management and prioritisation, the fact that I haven't performed any of these skills for nearly 2 years has resulted in me being feeling incompetent in it. I brought my stethoscope to work to practice on patients and had multiple people - staff and patients - question why/what I was doing because nobody uses them. Practicing on patients feels foreign, I get nervous and I feel like I don't really know what to listen for or where or what I'm doing. I don't want to lose my skills and I want to be a thorough and skilled nurse and I don't really know what to do? Are there courses/volunteer work/professional development that would allow me to build these skills back up? Thanks!

I am very determined into getting into neonatal nursing after graduation. I have already completed an overseas volunteer placement in Nepal working in NICU. But I have never been placed in a neonatal round for placement... So far for my resume, I have completed: 'Basic Neonatal Resuscitation' (an online course), and 'First aid for babies and children' What else can I do as a student to gain experience in this area to show interviewers that I am passionate about this specialty?

It's more the smalltalk with patients that I don't like so I think in the regard of giving information to parents and collaborating with other health professionals I would be ok with. Thanks both of you for the advice though! I'll take it on board... :)

I'm a nurse/midwifery student and just finished my first year but I keep second guessing myself. I am just so shy and awkward and I hated the first placement I did because I didn't know what to say to the patients. I am a caring person but I am not good at stepping up and being the strong, comforting figure and I usually rely on other people to carry conversations. The only reason I have stuck with nursing this far is: 1. I want to be a neonatal nurse - and I figure that would be easier, even though I would still have to talk to the parents. But having said that I know it's hard to get a job straight out of school in this area and I don't think I could handle it if I had to work somewhere else first. Getting through placement is bad enough! and 2. Job security. I have other passions I would much rather do (I have never really been interested or good at biology/healthcare) such as working with animals or the environment, but it would be hard to get a steady job in these areas and I figure I should just set those passions aside as hobbies. Anyway..... I just need advice :\ Thanks! x

I am an australian citizen... what kind of process is it to meet US standards?

I've read that it is easier to become a nurse in Australia than in America - that in Australia there isn't as much information required to know etc., and that American nursing degree's have much more scientific based skills to learn. So would I, as a student nurse in Australia, be under-qualified if I wanted to work overseas in America? Would I need to undertake additional study? Also, is extra study needed just for America, or other countries as well if I wanted to do travel nursing? Thanks :)

So I'm in my first year of Nursing school and I already feel drained and just down, I don't enjoy it at all. My first placement was at an orthopaedics ward and I hated it! I'm considering not doing it anymore but other careers I'm interested in don't pay as well and also - I have always wanted to be an NICU nurse. I'm just worried that I will finish my degree and get into NICU and still not enjoy it. So I'm asking for advice - and if NICU is different to normal nursing. Obviously I haven't had much of a taste of it yet but I don't want to waste 3 years of my life on a degree I won't end up using! Thanks everyone x