surenot442

Ever since the pandemic has started I have felt there has been more pressure and more tasks than ever delegated to the bedside nurses. As many left the hospital to work from home I have felt the weight and burden of additional roles. I spend more time as case management, social work, lab and others. Also the increased burden of making sure my patient and their families have time to connect with each other. The increase in regulations and restrictions for visitors has again put "one more task" onto the bedside nurse. It takes time to get an Ipad and set it up for family conferences while trying to coordinate your time in and out of isolation rooms! And I can't be the only one who has seen MDs pass right by a COVID room without going in and sit down to chart a full head to toe moments later. As a critical care RN I fell these burdens and added tasks are bringing my practice to a breaking point, a tipping point of not being able to provide safe and effective care. It troubles me deeply on a personal level, anyone out there having the same experience?

Besides turning up fi02 there are other interventions you can initiate. Suctioning and providing oral care, adjusting sedation, assessing if your patient requires a bite block, re-positioning, and percussion and vibration are all good places to start. Try to figure out why your patients 02 if dropping first and foremost. If you do have to bag the patient recruitment can be obtained with the use of a PEEP valve on the BVM. Ask your charge or RT if your unit stocks them. Hope this helps... ?

I came in as a new grad with no medical background. I love the amount of anatomy I have learned as well as a really strong base in the actual procedures I have. I don't like the M-F 8 or 10 hour days. I wish OR nursing could be 12 hour shifts like other specialties. (and call is a bummer)

The first problem you have here is that you are taking the housing. You should take the tax free stipend which should get you an extra $1000 a week and find your own accommodations. The pay per hour is usually 15-20$ an hour and it is what you will be taxed on. The stipends are tax free making it very lucrative.

I used to want to take my CNOR and maybe one day get my RNFA but I am feeling disinterested and un-motivated more and more lately. The high turnover, un-motivated staff, and the management team who seems not to care all reinforce these feelings for me. I have been working in a 16 suite OR for 2.5 years since nursing school. I am starting to feel restless and a like I am falling behind others who graduated with me. I really wish I had spent more time with patients and working on my basic nursing skills before the OR. Management will not allow me to scrub or take on new responsibilities because they say we are spread too thin, although the distribution of labor is very unfair and there are always extra people just hanging out and not doing cases. There is a small group of individuals who do all the cases while others just, well, do nothing. Is this common in other OR's? Should I think about moving to another OR or switching specialties altogether? I don't know what my next move should be and any input or advice would be appreciated.

I too was a new grad in the OR, I have now been doing it for 1.5 years. No doubt the OR has a steep learning curve, don't be too hard on yourself right out of the gate. Give it some time and absorb just being in this new environment. It sometimes takes time for the other nurses to "accept" a new nurse which can be frustrating on its own, but again give it some time. Ask some of the "older" nurses if there are books available to borrow. Alexander's Care of the Patient in Surgery was a really helpful book for me at the start. Ask your manager what resources they have available for you and if you will be taking part in Peri-Op 101 course.