peach2218

I am learning a ton and at my recent evaluation, my manager said that she's heard nothing but good things about me from my coworkers and the providers I work with. That was incredibly nice to hear, although I still feel stupid and uncertain almost every single day. Confidence comes with time, that's for sure.

I did end up choosing the CICU and I will be off orientation in a few weeks (I'm scared)

I made sure to mention that I knew I was inexperienced, but that I was ready and willing to learn as much as possible. I think working as a nursing assistant helped.

I still feel immense guilt for calling out for health related reasons. First it was COVID in November. Then in February, I went to dig my car out of the snow in the middle of a huge snowstorm and fell and hurt myself at 30 weeks pregnant. Then just 2 weeks ago I had to call off again because I had norovirus and had to go in to L&D to get a bolus of fluids. I was so close to going in to work that day that it's not even funny, but I knew I couldn't put my patients or my baby at risk. I still felt guilty for dialing that call off line number. Health care sucks when it comes to taking sick time. "Don't come in to work if you're sick! Oh, but also, just don't get sick because we need you and you're letting your team members down."

I am NOT vibing today. I'm 37+1 weeks pregnant, working as an aide on my stepdown trauma unit until I have my baby and start my first job as an RN in the CICU (I am terrified). What am I greeted with at 0645? A bariatric patient who is vomiting every 15 minutes, with the HOB as high as it'll go, but apparently not high enough because they are consistently missing the emesis basin and puking all down their chin, chest, and gown. It is 1:30 p.m. and I have changed their gown EIGHT times since starting my shift. We ran out of bariatric gowns on my unit, the unit next door, and the unit above us so I told them that I was sorry but we'd have to settle for covering them with a top sheet for now. They began yelling at me, accusing me of trying to "strip them of their dignity." That was not my intention, but we went through all of our bariatric gowns and the regular size does not fit them. The patient then proceeded to get up and go to the bathroom, walking perfectly fine, but decided that they could not get back to the bed on their own so they wanted me to physically lift them into a wheelchair and wheel them back to bed. (Reminder, I'm 87 million months pregnant). I told them that I could get a wheelchair and wheel them back to bed, but I could not and would not lift them into the chair. They began to yell at me again, saying that I was in the "wrong line of work, honey" and that I was not cut out for this job. They eventually stood themselves up without much fanfare, plopped down into the wheelchair, and I wheeled them the 5 feet back to bed. Where they promptly vomited on the clean sheets. I have 11 other patients and I've barely seen them today. I'm typing this as I wait for a patient to finish up in the bathroom. I'd like to go home now, thank you.

So I had my first interview ever as a new grad RN on Wednesday, with a panel of 7 ICU nurse managers & unit educators from 5 different units. SICU, Coronary ICU, Med ICU, Adult ICU, and the ICU float pool. I got the call yesterday that I received offers from all 5 of them. I have zero experience in the ICU except for precepting in the NICU, which is a whole different world. I am pretty sure I've narrowed down my choices to SICU vs Coronary, but I'm super scared! Are they both equally as intense? Is one more desirable over the other? I have to make a decision by Monday (3 days from now) and I'm at a loss. Any SICU or Coronary ICU nurses here that wanna jump in? Do you love or hate your job?

I always respond to call lights with the same general question-- "Your call light's on, how can I help you?" The sheer number of patients who reply with "Uh yeah, I need some help" just astounds me. Clearly you need help, I am aware of that, can you tell me what it is you need? A few weeks ago I had a guy call and calmly say "Well, there's blood dripping out of my IV site all over the floor.... I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to happen?" I go in and his IV had come out. Blood was spurting out everywhere like it was The Shining and he's just sitting there apologizing for bleeding all over the place.

I took my NCLEX on Wednesday and it was probably the worst day I've had in months ? I'm 8 months pregnant and I have pregnancy brain, and forgot to renew my drivers' license. Luckily I have 6 months to renew it, but the testing center does not accept expired licenses. So I got there at 8 a.m. and was turned away. Instant panic. Hurried to the BMV, got my license renewed, and the testing center was able to squeeze me in at 1 p.m. because some kid was a no-show, by some miracle. I was already flustered and stressed from the day's events, and then I started the test and I felt like it was game over by the time I got to question #10. I answered some easy questions incorrectly and realized it the moment I hit the next button. I guessed on what felt like 85% of the test. I had 39 SATA questions. So I was sweating bullets, panicking, feeling worse and worse by the minute, and boom-- the test shut off at 75 questions. Welp, that's it, I failed for sure. I seriously felt like I was doing so poorly that there was no way I could redeem myself with any further questions, so the test shut off. I went home and ate almost a quart of ice cream in one sitting, resigned to the fact that I sucked and would probably miss the deadline for my hospital's residency program (they want us to pass our NCLEX no more than 4 months after graduation, and I'm already more than 2 months out from my graduation date). I woke up every 30 minute that night, no joke. I was awake for good by 6 a.m., and then the email came in at 6:59-- pass. I swear to y'all I could have fainted from the shock. I didn't know whether to sob hysterically or just get up and calmly go about my day. I'm still surprised that I passed after that fiasco of a day, but it's finally over and I get to call myself an RN ? These next few months of continuing to work as a CNA will be torture! Applied for residency and planning to start as soon as I'm healed from the birth of this little nugget.

Not a big deal but we were out of saline flushes for days and had to make our own. Pain in the ***. We're always out of slings for beds (for the sky lift, every patient on my unit is supposed to have one). We ran out of coffee yesterday, that was mass chaos. I've never been insulted more in a single shift.

I am graduating in 8 days (holy *** is this even real?!) and I have 10 out of 105 hours left to finish up. I am precepting in the NICU and I absolutely love it, it's such a nice change from the adult trauma unit I work on as an aide. I think I'm doing relatively well and I haven't screwed anything up. I've been on time, I ask questions, I do what's asked of me, and I'm gaining confidence with giving report and talking to parents. I'm planning on applying for a residency position in the NICU in the Summer after I give birth, and all RN residents have to bring 2 letters of recommendation to the interviews. I already have one from a nursing school mentor, but I think that a letter from my preceptor might really give me a leg up into the unit. The thing is I'm scared that she'll say no. What if she doesn't think I'm cut out for NICU and just hasn't told me yet? Should I ask her on Saturday, my last day there, or should I just wait until I'm finished precepting and send her a professional email thanking her for the opportunity and asking her if she'd be willing to write one?

I am getting ready to go into my last semester as nursing student, planning on graduating in December. My husband and I have a 3 year old son and I am getting my implant birth control removed next week (it has a 3 year "shelf life"). We aren't opposed to another baby, in fact we are planning on having another and I don't want too large of an age gap between my son and a potential sibling. Anyway, assuming I get pregnant at some point this fall and graduate in December, I could potentially be 6-7 months pregnant when I take the NCLEX in March. I am currently working as an aide at a hospital. Would it make more sense for me to just stay on as an aide, give birth, and then apply for nursing jobs? Or should I just try and get hired on as a nurse while potentially pregnant? Can aides even continue working as CNAs after passing the NCLEX and getting their license? I'm also not sure if I want to wait to get pregnant until after I get my first nursing job, because I'd feel kind of weird about getting a new job and then immediately getting pregnant. I don't want my son to be 6 by the time he gets a sibling.

I graduate in December too, and the hospital I'm working at as an aide right now doesn't open up applications for March 2022 residency until October. November, for non-employees.

They will only drop questions if they review and almost everyone missed it because the question was unclear or had multiple answers that were arguably the best choice.

Halfway through third semester, and this is the first semester where I feel like I'm actually learning stuff. Our instructor is amazing. She makes sure all 7 of us pass our morning meds, and she assigns patients to us based on what we haven't done yet. Next week I'll be getting a patient with IVPB meds because I've never hung a med before. Yesterday I finally got to do an IV push med (and I miraculously didn't screw it up). She genuinely gets excited when we read our tricky tele strips correctly. She is patient with us and doesn't get annoyed at our stupid questions. She sends us down to procedures with our patients so we can watch and learn (I got to sit in on a cardiac cath last week). Up until these last few weeks, I haven't felt the tiniest bit of confidence in my ability to do nursing duties and not just the CNA duties I'm already used to. I'm not as incapable as I think, I just haven't been given the opportunity to practice.

I honestly can't recommend being a CNA enough. I was a CNA in a nursing home for almost 4 years (0/10 do not recommend) but now I'm working as a CNA in a hospital as I finish up school and it has helped me so much. My hospital also lets people who already work with them get first pick of RN jobs after graduation, so that's a huge perk.