jnurse35

I'm not sure if they call everyone in the same day. I'm guessing it depends on how many people accept their interviews.

They call you. You'll get a letter if you're not granted an interview.

Found out today that I have an interview!

Hi, I applied but have yet to hear back.

I can see it now. You have a friend with STEMI symptoms at your house and you call 911. Oops you live in a more rural area so they can't get there right away. You're advised to give them aspirin if available. You give them the aspirin. Well then you just administered a medication without a physician's authorization. You may lose your license. People wonder why nurses leave the profession.

Also, the RRT only "policy" in not in writing as far as I know. I was told by mgmt that the written policy is that RNs can draw ABGs.

It is within my scope of practice in my state (missouri) and my facilty's policy states that nurses can draw abgs if competencies are met. I did have some undocumented training from some RTs at the same facility plus training in school. The problem is other skills we do such as starting IVs, setting up art line, starting foleys, etc... also do not have any documented competencies. Typically the RTs do the ABGs at my facility but I have always know that per policy a nurse can do them if necessary. I've never been told otherwise. I was being pressured to get the sample and decided to do what I determined was in the best interest of my patient at that time. I don't know what was keeping the RT but the results were needed and we actually had them by the time they got to the room to draw the ABG. I drew the ABG successfully without complication and with one attempt. I feel that they are picking and choosing what competencies they want to enforce. I have considered a grievance because I cannot get a straight answer from my manager but I would like to avoid it. Problem is they took me off the schedule and now I feel like I'm entering the realm of a hostile work environment. I've never had to deal with anything like this and I just feel like it's being taken out of proportion.

I believe this is something you're going to encounter in any area where people have developed very close relationships. You are an outsider and it's very much like a high school cliche. I myself am very satisfied with my work but I cannot stand my manager and several of my coworkers. Should you strive to change them? I don't think so. I don't believe you can change people. You can try to stick it out and see if it gets better but in the meantime I would start researching some alternate areas of nursing. Maybe it's time to go back to school. You can always branch out and do something outside of bedside or acute care nursing. Have you considered something like Public Health? For example working for the county or city health department? You could probably do some shadowing if you contact them. You could even work for an IT company like Cerner or Epic, etc... The point is there are other branches of nursing that may suit you better. With these options you wouldn't have to do shift work, may get some travel in and would have the energy to work on a graduate degree. Don't discount nursing too soon. A lot of people limit nursing to working 1:1 with patients when it can be so much more.

Did this happened recently? If so then you should be able to file a grievance with your institution. THe policy should be available from the HR department. They may ask that you speak directly with your manager or their manager because the grievance process can be lengthly. Everyone would like to avoid it but in this situation your manager needs to be held responsible. They are supposed to be your advocate, not the physician's. If it cannot be resolved at that level then I would file a grievance against your manager and the physician.Also, if someone is cursing or using profanity at you that is called assault. Call security immediately if it happens again.

I am a registered nurse practicing in an ICU. I had a patient who's airway was becoming more compromised with increasing oxygen demand, in an acute renal emergency with ECG changes and who was unable to clear his airway from post nasal bleeding. After waiting ten minutes for RT to come draw an ABG I decided to draw the ABG and the patient was intubated shortly after. I was told later that nurses can draw ABGs at my facility by my manager. A couple days later my manager calls and tells me they decided only RTs are allowed to draw ABGs and this was "quite serious". I have had training on ABGs at the bedside and in school. My manager could not tell me what the competencies were for ABGs and in fact, most nursing tasks (for example starting IVs, setting up art lines, etc...) do not have recorded competencies at my facility, even in orientation. I feel that I did what was necessary for my patient at the time within my scope of practice. All in all it was somewhere between 15-20 minutes before the RT arrived to do the gas after I called. Has anyone had a similar experience or any advice in this situation?