Tink87

I also give IVIG and we also do not require an official consent. It's definitely a weird policy.

I work in an infusion center where we give biologic medications and I'm trying to figure out if my workplace is violating practice standards for patient safety. It really feels like they are. The medications that we give are high risk for infusion reactions. However, the infusion nursing staff is not only responsible for monitoring the active infusions but also doing phone triage at the same time, in the infusion room. We dual sign all of our medications before starting the infusion but the checks are very basic. We do not double check labs or consent when starting the med at the bedside. We do not have assignments. Instead, all of the nurses handle all of the infusions at once, which seems likely to increase the risk of error when titrating. There are definitely more issues but these are some of the major ones. What do you think? Is this normal? Am I making a big deal out of nothing? Iy just seems that other infusion practices are far more thorough.

I'm trying to figure out if my job does things in a 'normal' manner when it comes to the infusion nurses. It definitely doesn't seem like we do. So, in addition to actually infusing patients, what are you expected to do? Do you work in a center that is connected to a clinic? If so, are you expected to handle telephone triage for the clinic while doing infusions? Do you take care of routine patient calls while doing infusions? Do you have an assignment or is it just whichever nurse is free takes the next patient? Also, if you dual sign your meds, what does the other nurse check? Do you go through labs with them? TB testing? Do you just verify the patient and the orders? I like being an infusion nurse and I don't want to find a new job but I feel like we are abused as infusion nurses. Our focus should be the patient in front of us!!

Alright, I'll admit it. I'm a freaking job hopper. 3 jobs in almost 3 years. Now, I am stuck in a really cruddy job situation and I know I did it to myself. Long story short, I got my dream job as a new grad (L&D) but I go jealous of all of the 'cool' things my other friends always said they'd see at work and decided to branch out after a year. I wanted to do critical care so I went to cardiac med/surg for a year, then to a trauma ICU. I have been in the ICU almost a year and man, do I HATE IT. I'm not kidding, all I want is to return to L&D. It has been all that I think about since I left. Funny enough, my old L&D floor has a job posted. I applied and emailed my old manager who said that she was happy that I was interested and recruitment would be in contact. That was a month ago. I emailed recruitment today and they said that they are interviewing for the position now but are still reviewing applications as well. They stated that they will contact me via phone if there is interest. I'm not hopeful. I don't really know if there is a question here as much as it is me venting. I am so burnt out at my current job. I'm exhausted, depressed, apathetic, and I think about just never going back all the time. I'm in a horrendous rut. I have branched out and see things, now I'm sure that L&D is where I want to be. I also know that it likely won't happen and I have no one to blame but myself. Ugh. Any advice or kind words? I can't keep going back to my current job but I don't know what to do.

More and more units are going to an 'all nurse' model. I worked on a tele floor with no aids, just one LPN that worked a few days a week and helped us with patient mobility. RNs had to do vitals, toilet and bathe, answer all call lights, feed patients that need help, etc. All while having a full assignment. Yes, our ratios were different (4:1 days and 5:1 nights) but it was still difficult. Granted, there are some benefits. I am now in an ICU with one tech at night to help with turns and stuff, and an LPN during the day. RNs are still responsible for most. We answer lights, feed, clean up, toilet... We do it all. It can definitely take a toll on you when you are already crazy busy.

This confession is important: I am a job hopper. I've been an RN for just over two years and I have had 3 jobs... And I'm looking for another. I started in OB, stayed for 9 months. I wanted to expand my nursing skills and just do more. I went to a med/surg cardiac floor which I did like but I wanted to move to critical care. I took a job in a trauma ICU after a little over a year. I've been in the ICU for 4 months and I hate it. I'm applying for a job in the cath lab holding area, as we used to recover cath lab patients on my cardiac floor. I know a lot of people down there who are pulling for me but I also know the manager is skeptical of my work history. I really believe that I could be happy there and stay for a long time. I also email my old manager on cardiac to see of she'd take me back if it all doesn't work out. I'd be embarrassed to return and feel like my old co-workers would judge me but I was comfortable there. There were definitely things I didn't like but overall, it wasn't bad. There's not really a point to this post other than a confession. It's like my AA for job hopping. Ugh, I hate being like this.

Yes and no. I went to L&D as a new grad but I became afraid of specializing too early, so I left after 9 months to go to a cardiac med/surg floor as a path to critical care. I spent just over a year there, now I'm 4 months into an ICU job. You know what? I hate it and want to go back to OB. The experience has shown me that OB is really what I love and where I want to be. I'm just afraid that I have ruined my chances now.

Definitely only wear them for one shift. Sometimes I'll wear my jacket a few days in a row but I take it off before going into messy situations. It's just for warmth. I miss working in a specialty where I wore OR scrubs and didn't have to do my own work laundry! ?

As I wrote in my last post, I took a job in a trauma ICU a few months ago but realized it just isn't for me. I truly want to go back to l&d, the area I worked in as a new grad (at a different hospital). I met with nurse recruitment as well as my manager and got the okay to apply to the birth center, as that have a position posted right now. At my hospital, they have you shadow for 4 hours before your interview. I emailed the recruiter my updated resume as well as available shadow dates as she told me to do. That was Thursday of last week. It is now Tuesday and I have heard nothing, not even an acknowledgement of the information I sent her. In my previous experience with the hospital and other recruiters in the office, they generally respond quickly and get a shadow set up. I'm frustrated because I really want to get in there, at least to interview. I know these are highly desired positions. I would love to return to my previous l&d job at the other hospital but I currently have a 5 year service commitment due to some benefits I used that I can't afford to pay back. So, what would you do with an unresponsive recruiter? The previous available days I gave her for shadowing have passed so I sent you her new dates this morning. I just want some acknowledgement of the process, you know? Am I just being too impatient?

I started in a busy trauma ICU back in May. Within my first few days I worried that it wasn't for me. I talked myself into sticking with it and mostly enjoyed the rest of my orientation. However, I am now 5-ish weeks off orientation and I don't think it's where I want to be. It's not just that I feel unsure about things and what I do. I know that the nervousness is just being new and confidence will come in time. I don't know, it just doesn't feel *right*. I started in L&D Right out of school but switched to cardiac after about a year because I was having fear about what I was missing out on learning. I never totally loved cardiac but I never hated it or dreaded going in. After a little over a year there, I transferred to ICU. I now dread going to work. Honestly, I wish I stayed in OB. I brought my feelings up to one of my assistant managers via email and she made a point to say that I said I liked it during orientation (which I did) but also said that she just wants to make sure that I'm where I feel I should be. She wants to set up a real meeting. I'm afraid that she will push more into why I said I liked it before. It's hard to explain that it just doesn't feel right. I don't know, does that make sense to anyone? Have you ever hated a certain area of nursing for no particular reason other than you do? Any advice here is helpful. I just feel so guilty for wasting everyone's time training me.

JBmom, Thanks for your reply. I know you are right. She did allow me to be more independent the other day because she was needed to cover other patients for some meetings other nurses had and I was so happy. There definitely are some absolutes but when someone gets super nitpicky about things like wording, it drives me nuts. It also became very clear the other day that we have very different philosophies on patient care. As a person who has watched their parent slowly die, I'm very realistic about the need to sometimes bring up to a patient the desire to withdraw extreme intervention. She, on the other hand, is a 'do absolutely everything as long as you can' type (or so it seemed). The providers and I seemed to be on the same page but she gave a lot of pushback on the issue. I only have two more shift with this person, then I go back to a few of my other preceptors for the remainder of orientation (one of which is actually the nurse in charge of organizing orientation for all new nurses). I'm just a bit worried about what this person will say about me for this week's evaluation. I'm trying so hard not to be argumentative or defensive but I think it may unintentionally come out sometimes. Luckily, the orientation coordinator already knows about my issues with this person. I know I can make it through. I'm just anxious about the next two shift.

I recently made a change from a cardiac floor to a trauma ICU and honestly, I'm feeling a little down. I have only a few weeks left on orientation and I'm getting very mixed messages from my preceptors. I have had AT LEAST 8 different preceptors during my orientation. The vast majority have said that I'm absolutely fine and will be great. They have only minor corrections for me, all of which are a matter of personal preference. However, my one main preceptor seems to nitpick me to death. I feel like I can do nothing right. I understand that ICU nurses are very particular and I realize that she doesn't mean to make me feel so inadequate but it's driving me crazy. I feel as if everything is incorrect unless I do it just as she does. The wording in my notes is never correct for her, I get scolded for not memorizing phone numbers (to be fair, almost no one else has them memorized either and we have them all on our badge), and she goes on very long tangents about things while I'm trying to work with critical patients which makes me lose my train of thought. I know it's wrong to get annoyed by it but I am. I don't want to be defensive but it's very difficult. I am trying to develop my own flow and I feel like she is not allowing that. I don't really know what to do. I don't want to come off as a jerk or a know-it-all. I 100% realize that I still have so much to learn and I love soaking up the wisdom of the experienced ICU nurses. Does anyone have advice? I hope I didn't come off too badly here. I do know that my preceptor has so much knowledge and experience, and she can teach me so much. I just wish she'd allow me to do my own thing (within reason, obviously) without correcting every little thing.

I graduated with my BSN in August 2017 and was lucky enough to get hired on labor and delivery. As a previous LPN in outpatient obgyn for years, this was what I had always dreamed of doing. However, I am now 4 months in and I'm finding that I do not have the passion for it that I thought I did. I'm finding myself bored at work and craving the mental stimulation that my critical care rotation in school provided. I always had a fear that I might get stuck in OB forever if I took the job as a new grad. I have reached out to HR regarding a possible transfer to an acute medical/progressive care floor. My hospital does usually require 6 months before a transfer and I made it clear to the recruiter that I would be willing to stay in my current position for 2 more months if I have to. I guess I'm wondering if you guys think I'm crazy. Is this a bad move? I feel bad because my current nurse manager and co-workers are great. I just don't know if I can hang in there and do my best much longer.

I am a soon to be new grad applying for jobs. I recently had an interview with a recruiter but after the interview, I realized that I forgot to list an old job on my application. I emailed them about it and they said no big deal. Now, two days later, I was having a gut feeling that I may have listed the wrong dates for another job. I wasn't totally sure but I was really worried. So now I've emailed them again to verify the dates. I know it looks TERRIBLE and I offered in the email to just resubmit a new application. I'm really just looking to see how bad people think it is. I was was suppose to contact them again next month to set up opportunities to shadow on some units I may be interested it but now I'm worried that they just won't respond. Did I just let my worries mess up my opportunities with this hospital for the foreseeable future?

Maybe I should clarify. When I say stretch I mean simply enough to tighten the skin and not have the needle bounce off. I don't mean aggressively stretch and flatten out the underlying tissue. This is only for heparin and lovenox. All other subcut we still pinch a fold for.