GSDlvrRN BSN

Hello allnurses! It's been awhile and I'm glad to be back. I work telemetry now (my unit spans 2 floors at the hospital I work at and we take care a wide variety of oatients including medical telemetry, surgical telemetry, sometimes ICU patients, and stepdown). I've been reflecting over my career the last few days after experiencing/seeing some **** at work. I just want to share some outrageous things I've seen throughout my career as a telemetry nurse, previous correctional nurse, and LTC nurse before that. Please feel free to comment or share. ***Mine are not positive experiences and some are disturbing*** I've seen a confused elderly woman masturbate with BM on her fingers. I've seen a man successfully commit suicide by tieing his sheets to his cell door and jump off the top tier. I've seen a man with a lung mass that ruptured drown in his own blood and code. I've seen the son of a demented and cyanotic patient yell at him and say "You need to get well!". This man had pulmonary fibrosis, 93 years old, liver failing, kidneys failing, heart failing, not getting better for a month, palliative care on board and unable to change plan of care, per son. I've seen an entire cardiology team sign off on a patient and refuse to put in a pacemaker for a third degree heart block because there was a language barrier when they tried to consent the patient. (Get a translator, Doh!!) I've seen a 40 something year old male patient admitted 13 times in 12 months for alcohol withdrawal. I've seen a woman with a hemoglobin of 5.4 bleeding after a total hysterectomy refuse a blood transfusion because she gas hep. C and "dosen't want to give it to anyone" ( umm what???). I've seen a patient successfully commit suicide 10 minutes after his family left and the sitter was discontinued after psych cleared him and told family they "didn't need to be there 24/7". I've witnessed a nurse divert meds, get reported to supervisor/management/ state board, continue working and passing narcotics independently, try to divert again, get caught, and ask me to falsify the narcotic count.(I reported it and he's still working, passing meds independently). I've also seen a nurse infuse plasma, the order was for leukoreduced red blood cells, and she told her orientee that means it "takes out the red".

I personally like to crochet! I make blankets and sweaters for my husband and I and our family. I also get tattooed often. Haha my husband is working on subjects and Im his favorite canvas I relax in the tattoo chair and focus on my breathing and it's actually like meditating for me!

Bump!

For me, I want to honor patient's and families wishes. I worked at a nursing home for 9 months before my current job at a jail and I had some patients in their 90s (some on hospice), with low quality of life a laundry list of medical diagnoses and have had their share of surgeries/sentinel events (MIs, strokes, amputations, some were quadriplegic, etc....). I would think to myself "Why are they full code?!?!?!". I mean really, a code can be horrific! It was hard for me to think about coding someone who has already been through so much. Well, a lot of the time the family was still "hanging on," or there was a family member that was the designated "decision maker" or had medical power of attorney and had a POLST form stating the patient was a full code. It was very hard and ethically challenging to me to code some of these patients whose family decided that I am going to violently pump their chest and we're going to do "everything we can" if they code. I hated it. I hated that a non-medical professional had legal authority to dictate what I had to do with MY patient who I just wanted to be comfortable and to die with dignity. I felt like, even though the patient had given someone else the right to make decisions for them, I really wasn't sure if it was what the patient wanted. I did it because it was my responsibility to honor the families wishes for the patient when the patient couldn't decide for themselves. I also did it because it was illegal if I didn't!

Isn't the answer a matter of opinion? I feel like "coolest" and "glamorous" are immature ways to describe a job.

"I have applied for 100 jobs and no one will hire me! I don't understand!! I have a 4.0 GPA and was valedictorian in high school, captain of the volley ball team, deans list every year, president of the chess club, and prom queen!!! Doesn't that count for something?!?!?!"

Just an update. I have regrouped, I am applying to new jobs and doing so has given me a better attitude and outlook on life. I practice self care such as going for walks to clear my head and I have got in touch with a few friends I haven't talked to much. I have a better support system and things have greatly improved in my personal life. I am so grateful that, with nursing, it is so diverse that when my life changes (like it just did) I can get a job that is a better fit for me. We will see what I land but I plan to get out of the jail and go back to the hospital, hopefully to rehab or burns, something more rewarding and somewhere where I can see my patients get better. That is when I feel the most fulfilled!

This thread reminds me of when I was on the floor the first time in nursing school and I was shadowing a CNA on day shift. Part of the night shift CNA's report to the day shift CNA was that the patient was gay. I thought "So?????"

Actually, it should not affect patient care if they are in jail. I don't think that you have taken care of perpetrators of sex crimes in jail...so I find it inappropriate for you to speak of patient care in jail.

Not incompetent, maybe just uninformed, right? This issue doesn't deserve any more energy or time, you have a lot to look forward to :)

Off topic but....when I worked at a SNF I was told by my supervisor that I could not delegate applying medicated creams to CNAs, because you have to be a nurse to administer medications. I live in California so I am not sure how it goes elsewhere. Should the nurses have delegated that task to the OP in the first place? I wouldn't give blood pressure meds to a CNA to administer to the patient, so what is the difference?

I don't have a lot of vacation time because I just used a bunch for vacation. What I can do though is swap shifts and ask a few nurses (or a PRN nurse if they want all three) to work my three shifts next week and I will work for them in return. I have tried medication, I was stable at the right dose and it helped to not feel so low. I felt like I had one mood, I didn't feel happy or sad, and that worked for me at the time. I have been off meds for two years and have considered getting back on them! Thank you for the responses :)

I can clarify. I feel bad over the breakup and it has exacerbated the symptoms I already have. I have a very hard time concentrating at work and have little motivation for even daily tasks. The demands at work are too much because I'm so cloudy lately.

Hello, I really need advice right now. I have mental illness, I was diagnosed with PTSD when I was 19 (5 years ago). I don't have any close relationships. I had a close relationship with my now ex boyfriend and he called me at work to tell me he moved his stuff out. This was a long time coming, we had deep issues, but before I left for work he said he wanted to get better and stay. I am willing to talk about this in PM or my personal email but not on this public post. I am not disclosing details right now. I hurt so much that I can't concentrate at work. My head is not in the right place. I have no support. My therapist has told me for a long time that I "lack supportive relationships." She is right and this lack of relationships has greatly effected me. The effects of loneliness and isolation are profound. I feel like I can't get my head in a good place, going home hurts too much, and being at work is difficult when I am choking back tears and running to the bathroom to cry. I am watching the clock waiting for when I can just leave. I feel like I need time off work. I need time to completely dedicate to getting better. Can my employer hold this against me? Will I be seen as a weak person on the team?

I left because I became interested in corrections and accepted a full time job at the jail. I would go back to a rehab job though!