englishgarden

Stick it out for a few more months so you will have one year acute care experience under your belt. Why don't you follow your original passion of working in pediatrics? Is there a children's hospital in your area? Tele is good experience to have to...

Don't let one experience define you! I finished my MSN-ed and wanted more time to teach so I took a part-time position in a pre-op unit at a new hospital. My new coworkers were lovely to work with but the charge nurse/pseudo manager seemed to be loo...

I was always trained to clean up the bulk of things and then call housekeeping. It was never perfect when the arrived, it's a dirty job for everyone!

I am so sorry you are going through all of this. I agree with the previous post, let your nursing school know what is going on right away. If the extra shift in the ER was just for experience, maybe you can let that go for now. Worst case scenario, m...

The jail needs to have a policy for dealing with patients with chest pain for the nurses to follow. If you are not interpreting EKG's on a regular basis you will not be proficient and therefore it is not in your scope of practice. There should be a p...

Ecmo is an advanced life saving technology used for patients with heart and lung failure. This type of technology is not available at all hospitals. As mentioned, patients on Ecmo are very sick and require close monitoring and critical thinking. Atta...

I would definitely encourage everyone to get their BSN degree. I just finished my MSN-Ed through UOP at age 55. There is a lot of competition in nursing and age discrimination can be a factor when looking for a job; better to have the advanced degree...

Wow, this thread really got off track! All I can say is that I hope you learned from your mistakes and were able to continue in your nursing program. I've been a nurse for many years and crushing up meds and having someone with dementia refuse them s...

Honestly, I think you are going to get your feelings hurt more than once in both nursing school and in the field of nursing. Both settings are competitive, highly stressed, and known for having some bullies. Communication is often short and curt, and...

I agree with the others and think you overreacted. This was a missed opportunity for communication and support. I'm pretty sure the two of you avoided each other for the rest of the night instead of working as a team.

I've been a nurse for 26 years and I am passionate about nursing but trust me, I wasn't in the beginning. School is hard and starting out as a new nurse can be very challenging. Only you can decide whether nursing is for you. I would not let this te...

I agree, take the NClex and wait on the job. Congratulations!

Trust me you will be getting busier! Use this time to advance your assessment skills, study your pharmacology, and look up all those abnormal lab and microbiology results that abound in nursing home. Start reading up on trach care and how to stage a ...

What an awful experience. The person who trained you should be fired and quite honestly sued. It sounds like others have given you good advice in this blog. Can you approach your last supervisor and ask for a letter of recommendation? I too, have bee...

I finally landed a job this week and the interview process can be grueling. One example of a conflict with a coworker that received a favorable response involved "workplace bullying." I described helping another nurse who was trying to enter an order...

I have strong feelings about this and I don't think it should be ignored. If this only happened once or twice I would gently wake the person and offer them a break. But the people who do this habitually should not be working nights. I say quietly rep...

I have been a nurse for 26 years and worked for fifteen years in the Cardiac Intensive Care unit with my ADN. In California the ADN program is excellent and offers students more clinical hours in the hospital and is specifically focused on providing ...

Dear Needs a Trach, I too am so touched by your determination and spirit. I have seen a lot of good ideas offered by others in this thread. Just remember, there are many jobs for nurses beyond the hospital environment. It may be possible to volunteer...

I just don't think managers are able to be present on the floors these days. Administrators are in meetings all day long trying to figure out how to improve the delivery of care. My last two managers were nurses I had worked with and I really respect...

I really enjoyed reading this thread. After 25 years working at the bedside and mostly in intensive care I have decided to apply for a teaching position at a community college. I have always enjoyed working with the nursing students and providing edu...

Of course not everyone coming into the ER needs IV fluids, but many times it is important to establish an IV access in an acute patient and maintain the line by giving fluids. There is nothing worse then having a patient go south on you without IV ac...

Really great advice for all of us!

Good for you for working so hard to achieve your dream. Just keep moving forward and don't overthink it.Do whatever kind of work you can find and be prepared to have your school schedule change each semester with different clinical hours.I the end yo...

Dear lied to. Two years ago I made a big change in my career. I left the ICU after 18 years and tried home health nursing while I finished my master's degree. After five weeks I was miserable. The best advice I got was "I can't believe you stayed tha...

I have worked as an RN for 24 years with 18 years in critical care. The protocol for clocking in and out, cell phones, and requests for days off is standard in the hospital environment and you will get use to it. Many hospitals have solved the issue ...