mimibrown

My husband doesn’t work in health care, so he doesn’t completely “get it.” But he is very understanding and supportive. I have also worked on units that have drained the life out of me, and he was patient as I transitioned to a new lower stress area. I would recommend that you can try to find ways to make your home life more smooth. If I had to work on my husband’s birthday, I would plan something another day so I could be present emotionally. Try to plan around your schedule for special occasions. Fwiw, your fiancé has to get used to the schedule and the life of a nurse. He needs to learn how to be adaptable because we work long hours. If my husband gave me a hard time after working a 14 hour shift and still mustering up energy to go out to dinner, he would get an earful from me! He knows I work hard, and he understands when I have had a long shift/ week and he tries to be supportive. It sounds like you need to try and get on the same page before you get married. You don’t want to be in a relationship with someone who is resentful because you have a non traditional schedule.

Yes I want a manager to provide patient care when we are short staffed. I think it shows that you care about what is going on and being helpful to the staff. I do think it’s important that you have experience in the area or relevant experience. One big thing I would love is if the manager actually managed poor performing employees. It’s demoralizing to work your butt off while some of your coworkers slack off in a big way. Constant call outs, rampant drama and chaos, gossiping, multiple long breaks, overall crappy attitude. Please, do something with those employees! How do you have a job when you call out weekly? I don’t get it!

Unfortunately, this is fairly typical behavior. I wouldn’t bring it up to management. You just have to learn how to get along with “sandpaper” coworkers. You will always have those kinds of coworkers. Learn to work around and ignore. She won’t change.

I was in a similar situation once. A doctor wanted to infuse a med through a peripheral IV that the policy said central line. I refused and went back and forth for hours. Part of the reason why I refused was because I had 6 patients and there was no way I could give the patient extra attention. Guess who coded on the next shift?

You’re coworker sounds extremely toxic. I would have a sit down with your boss to discuss the situation. You don’t answer to your coworker and they should not be going behind you to get you in trouble. Nursing is stressful enough.

I don’t think so. Take the leave, and get the rest. Your baby will only be little once. The job will be there when the time is right. Nursing for the most part is understanding of new parents. I don’t think it will work against you. I wouldn’t want to work for an employer that wouldn’t allow me to rest and recover after pregnancy.

I treat VIPs the same way I treat everyone else, with kindness and respect. If someone else wants to bend over backwards, have at it. I just roll my eyes whenever we have a “VIP.”

Without further information, it’s hard to know what would be better. What are you struggling with the most? Floor nursing can be a grind. If it’s not working out, go into another area. I would suggest trying a different specialty to see if you like it better. A few different areas come to mind- OR, IR, Pacu, IV therapy, case management, insurance, home health, dialysis, school nursing, sub-acute, long term care. If floor nursing isn’t for you, try to find something less stressful until you can plan a next step. I’m not familiar with the paramedic world, but why can’t you go back?

Oh dear, this sounds like a very unsupportive environment. You need to tread very carefully if your preceptor is friends with the director. I’m not sure exactly what your preceptor is thinking by having a student teach you things. It sounds alarming. I think it would be best to go to another unit. If you ask for another preceptor, it might be perceived as an insult. Your current preceptor could talk poorly about you to whoever takes over. It could cause you to have a bad reputation among your coworkers, which would be an uphill battle to overcome as a new grad. I have been in toxic environments before, and I think it’s best to cut your losses and move on. Critical care will always be there in the future if you want to go into it again. I suggest trying to transfer to medsurg or a step down floor. It’s hard enough to learn as a new nurse. Having an unsupportive and neglectful preceptor sounds like a recipe for disaster. It’s probably not the answer that you want to hear but I have learned that a toxic environment rarely improves. It’s not worth the stress even if it’s your dream job. You have a long career ahead of you. You want to be in an environment where you can learn and ask questions without being talked down to. I don’t think this unit is the one.

Request the transfer first. Wait until you have an interview lined up to tell the director. I waited until I had an interview before I told my manager. She was very supportive though. Don’t feel bad about going where you feel comfortable.

Just turn in the badge. Every place I’ve worked, I’ve had to turn it in. A hospital I worked at several years ago, had a nurse impersonator walk around and steal purses and wallets out of offices and patient rooms. She had on scrubs and a badge. It’s a security issue.

I would report them to cps in a heartbeat. You can do it anonymously. Please don’t let “family” loyalty stop you from doing the right thing. I truly feel sorry for those children, they are being abused.

I think in an emergent situation, some protocols get missed. If no harm was done to the patient and you documented everything, I can’t see how it would be a huge deal. I would reach out to the educator and ask for clarification on the policy. The charge nurse should have told you that day.

I hate this kind of stuff. Sorry that you are dealing with this foolishness. I realized with people who behave this way, there is something wrong with them internally. They are negative and don’t have anything meaningful in their lives, so they try to tear people down. After all, misery loves company. I agree to not give them a reaction. You can always do bedside report to check lines and meds if you really think someone sabotaged you. Definitely keep a record of dates and times of any incidents.

I’m sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing your story. I hope you are able to find some peace knowing that you gave your dad your best.