Jaellys

I switched from small hospital to huge hospital. I’ve only been training for a week and am finding myself overwhelmed. I even have asked help for certain drips that I’ve never given at my small hospital on med surg. I’m overwhelmed by finding who to call for what, where everything is, different and many procedures that I’ve never dealt with. i guess I feel like I thought this transition would have been smoother since I’ve worked in a hospital. I’m feeling like a new grad all over again and only the basics come to me easily. how long will it take for me to be comfortable? I just feel ashamed because I have a few years of experience already.

I’m moving and so I applied for a large hospital a couple hours away and got the job. its a meg surg unit but I’ve been told it will be more fast paced than my current med surg unit, since the hospital is larger and takes a bit more higher acuity patients. im getting two weeks of orientation with a preceptor, sharing the patient load. Thankfully It will be the same Charting system that I use now. any tips? This is my first job switch. I’ve heard the unit is very supportive of new people but I’m still nervous as it’s gonna be busier. It will still be night shift. I’m worried about not being able to find things or know which doc to call, or encounter something that I haven’t done before and looking stupid since I have experience already and “should know this”. I have 3 years med surg experience.

For work life balance, is it doable? The 2 12s is what is worrying me. I work 8s and 12s now but am picking up a new schedule.

Nightnerd, you nailed it! Though I have stopped watching medical shows because I just can’t stand how out of touch with reality they are. Developing a dark sense of humor has been my coping mechanism for those crazy and draining nights. Definitely have lost a lot of faith in humanity unfortunately. I have seen that doctors, and the healthcare system in general, is far from perfect. Mistakes are made. And it makes me more vigilant with my own health and makes me question my own doctors decisions more, as I have seen things fall through the cracks too many times. I guess you could say I’m paranoid about certain things! I got prescribed a medication recently and I looked it up to ID the pill to make sure the pharmacist didn’t fill my prescription with the wrong drug. and I’m comforted now by the fact that I may not know the answer to everything, but I know what my resources are and will find the answer/figure it out.

I think to help me get accustomed to the unit and the orders etc. does this seem unusual?

Two weeks of floor training for a nurse with two years of med surg experience. This will be for a med surg floor. I’ve been told it’s busier on this floor but the patient ratio is lower than I’m used to which is good I guess. They said it would be one patient first day, then second two patients, 3rd day 3 patients, and the final days with 4 patients. i also know their computer system as I currently use it now.

A meeting for a sentinel event?

I was told that working in a small, 30 bed hospital as a med surg nurse makes me less of a nurse than one who works in a large hospital. Is this true?

Hi guys, I have been working at a very small hospital (68 beds) for the past 1.5 years, and I have always wanted to work at the large, 680+ bed hospital that I did all of my clinicals in. A couple of my family members work there (not as nurses but either way, they love it.) I am happy where I am, my coworkers are great and I am feeling more confident with myself, but my heart always goes back to the thought of working at that large hospital that I did my clinicals in. I work in med-surg and would be applying for a med-surg position. Could this be a case of the grass seems greener on the other side? I feel like the nurses at the large hospital will look down upon me if I get hired because I come from a small hospital. The small hospital has a very harmonious work environment and management is awesome. Has anybody else taken the risk? Is it feasible to work part time at both jobs? I dont have any kids/other outside of work obligations. Or on call at one place, part time at another? So stumped. :/

I work in a large teaching hospital and I really love it. I have been here since November. I am in a BSN program where I attend class one day per week and do the rest online. I work evening shift and some night shifts. It is becoming really hard to balance school and work, especially because the workload is increasing in school. Should I wait until the 6 month mark to ask to reduce my FTE? I guess I would have to apply to an open part time position Im assuming. I just dont want to look bad this early in the game. And how should I go about doing this? Thank you!

Basically I called wrong doc during the night and got an order from them, they weren't supposed to be taking call until 7 am. I am still feeling so bad about it.

That makes sense, thank you so much!

I am thinking hypothetically about this since I have been studying and brushing up on med/surg nursing books. I am a new hospital rn. since it's only a matter of time before I administer blood on the floor to a patient, what do you do if you are trying to get consent for the blood administration but the patient is not alert and oriented (brain damage, dementia, etc.) and the POA is not present (night shift for example)? Or if they don't have a POA to sign?

I feel so bad. I came down with a horrible stomach bug, violently vomiting and had diarrhea. I could not possibly work like that. Is it likely that I will be fired or get a bad review in my 90 day review for this? Is it necessary to go to the doc and get a doctors note?

I also attend an RN-BSN program at a local University. Its becoming a lot for me. I feel like a lot of the newbies at my work are working so much overtime because they want to, but I am not signing up for extra shifts due to school. Would it be in my best interest to pick up a shift? If so, how often? I literally am using up every minute of my day with something whether its school, spending time with my husband and kids, etc. But, I also dont want to be seen as a non-team player. My hospital does 12 hour shifts. I was originally supposed to be part time because of school, but my manager asked me if I could take an additional shift each week to make me full time. So, I feel that I am being a team player by becoming full time to help the unit, while sacrificing my school time. But its probably not the same thing as covering shifts. And for what its worth, I have never called out (dont plan to) and am always on time. Thanks guys.