JennRN65

Hugs to you! I had shoulder surgery 6 years ago after a patient tried to remove my arm. I was out of work for almost 7 months though with the recovery. Shoulder surgery recovery is the most painful thing I have experienced in my life and I have had three kids. Unfortunately, the injury was never completely fixed and I still have pain to this day. The level of pain varies though. There can be times where it's just a slight ache and others where it hurts to move my arm at all. This past week I had a patient that was quite large and helping them sit up just set off my shoulder pain intensely. Thankfully, it has calmed back down. Good news though, I can still work as a critical care nurse, I can still turn people, I can still function well. It will get better and you will learn to live with it if it flares back up.

You can choose to believe that. There are issues in every profession, but you aren't reading a board about every profession, you are reading a board about nursing. If 10 people post about a bad day here, that's a lot. Think about the sheer number of nurses working each day. If you have decided at this point in your education that "we have a lot more bad days than other professions," maybe you would be happier looking into another profession.

No, what you see are nurses being human. We all have bad days, but we also have good ones. You aren't going to remember the posts that say, "I made a difference today," but you are going to remember clearly those that show another side of nursing, the bad days. There are many great places to work, many days that you impact someone's day in a positive way and tons of great coworkers that you can count on at work for help/a shoulder to cry on/a ear to vent to. It's like anything else in life - but maybe we should post more about the good days, the patient or family that appreciates everything you do and the coworkers that don't leave you out a limb. I love being a RN. I have been a nurse for 18 years and although I have had bad shifts, I wouldn't change what I do for a minute.......(unless I win the lottery and then I will be a retired nurse)...

Some people are just toxic.......and don't get that 36 hours a week is a full time job...... It is her normal behavior towards you?

Wow, they show a ton of open positions. Now if they didn't have such big bugs down there.......... They are all close to disney though..... :)

I went through the "overage" of nurses in 1993 when I graduated. It was tough then too. The majority of my classmates who had jobs at graduation were people who worked at facilities as tech's, unit secretaries or in some other capacities. I was able to find a part time job in August after graduating in May at a hospital that I was a candystriper at for 5 years. Thankfully, I worked full time hours (picked up hours in any unit I could) and started a full time position at another hospital in March of the following year. I was a single parent at the time too. Nursing graduates today are graduating in an economy that stinks and into a medical system that is in the process of undergoing major changes, if not a total overhaul. The ONLY way to get a leg up on your competition is to be working in a hospital already. In places like NY (where a family member graduated last year May and still looking) it is even more vital to have a foot in the door. I realize some people will say that they cannot work and go to school, but that is the reality of today. If you are in an area with real glut of graduates, you are going to have to bite the bullet on it....... Nursing demand is cyclical, but I don't think the pendulum is going to swing as it it did in the past. I think the shortages of the past are gone as many people flock to what they think is a "guaranteed check."

While many of the nurses I work with commute the 45 minute to an hour drive, it would drive me nuts. I have done it before and it gets very old, very fast. Add traffic, bad weather, accidents, etc etc......stir. Add to this that you will be driving home that distance after working all night. For me, Job A is definitely the one I would choice. You have a tough decision and only you can figure out if the the NICU call is strong enough...... Good Luck, you have two great choices.

We recently started bedside reports. Complete report takes place as normal at the desk, but when the report is complete, both nurses go to the bedside to confirm all of the information (checking surgical sites, IV's etc etc). We have always done bedside on the the critical patients, now it's done on all patients. So far, so good.

they have called at least 4 times begging for help........ Sigh....we are going to get beat up AGAIN tonight. Hoping this is not the new normal.

Yes, it happened to me before. I will tell you to try and not let it bother you, but it will regardless. Sometimes it has nothing to do with you (the majority of the times), but has to do with the stress level of the family and their interpretion of the situation. Either way, you feel bad. I was "fired" 15 minutes into a shift recently. My bad - was assessing my patient with curtain closed and family started pulling curtain back and walking in. I explained what I was doing and asked them to return in 15 minutes. I was deemed rude and was told the family member did not want me near their loved one. Hey, it's only an ICU setting and a critically ill patient. I guess I should have stopped and delayed my assessment. I found out later in the evening that they (the family) had issues with various things (not relating to nursing care - just life in general) during the day and I guess I happened to be there at their breaking point.

1. The nurse who came to tell you that the patient needed the bedpan started the cascade by not putting the patient on the bedpan herself. You don't need report to put someone on a bedpan. 2. If the oncoming CN heard and saw was going on (enough to write up the aids) why did she/he not intervene initially? 3. Sorry you have to work with people who cannot do something simple like put a patient on the bedpan. Chin up, you did nothing wrong.

I always work my 3 - 12 hour shifts in a row. In fact, I am working my fourth tonight. It's much easier for me doing them in a row, I hate breaking my sleep up.

How do you know it is your patient?

Was trying to decide whether to buy the updated book or buy the app for Iphone and was wondering if anyone has bought the Iphone app? Do you like it or would you rather have had it in the book form? TIA!

Don't answer the phone - let them leave messages. There are days that we get 2 - 3 calls a day for help. My answering machine is my friend. Now if the voice on the other end offered an incentive, such as double time for me changing my plans, I may pick up......