... I am new to nursing and ALREADY NOTICED/KNOW that things aren't exactly like nursing school. For starters, I did every one of my nursing school clinicals in a hospital setting and our courses were geared more toward managing the acute-care patient too boot.
I work at a SNF/LTC facility where not only to I pass a litany of oral medications per patient, but I do wound care, feeding tube administration, and the occasional IV antibiotic administration. All for 25 pts per shift. I runn my butt off!!
Oh, and only had 3 DAYS of 'training'.
Is this the type of place people warn about when they say "you'll put your license on the line" ??
Or, is there something more specific I should be looking for and worried about??
A want to avoid such a place, especially as a NEW GRAD RN.
As said earlier, no one knows of any nurse who had their license yanked by the board for being late with a med pass. Yes, your state might have a stroke about that, but that will come back on your facility, who of course is going to want to know why you're late, but again, NOT something you can lose your license over. I refuse to hurry along and risk making a med error, which, if serious enough, COULD jeopardize that little piece of paper I've worked so hard for
Oh, wow. "Hurry along" doesn't mean not doing my 3 checks of 5 rights to me, fyi. If you understood what I have been saying, it's that I am new at this facility, the DON and other long-employed nurses do not stand up to the STNAs, and that I have had *1* course overviewing managerial styles, not how to implement them. Will not reiterate what I've said AGAIN. When people want to over-simplify, when they want to accuse rather than offer solutions, there is no point to having a conversation. Your indignant comments might have made YOU feel better about yourself, but it didn't help me at all.
OK, you TOTALLY did not read what I was saying to you. I am in your corner as far as doing your check of the 5 rights, I said my med pass is late too, b/c I will not race through it with the sole intent of finishing "on time". Please take the time to digest what I said. My comments were not "indignant" and I'm going to leave it to others to point out that you've again chosen a big word and used it in the wrong context....I wish you well in this job, clearly you're going to need it....
Oh, wow. "Hurry along" doesn't mean not doing my 3 checks of 5 rights to me, fyi. If you understood what I have been saying, it's that I am new at this facility, the DON and other long-employed nurses do not stand up to the STNAs, and that I have had *1* course overviewing managerial styles, not how to implement them. Will not reiterate what I've said AGAIN. When people want to over-simplify, when they want to accuse rather than offer solutions, there is no point to having a conversation. Your indignant comments might have made YOU feel better about yourself, but it didn't help me at all.
If you're letting your aides play on their phones, you need to step up your management skills NOW. In my facility, having a phone on the floor is an INSTANTLY fireable offense. All I have to do is call my DON and she will come in and walk them out the door. It's happened too.
Sounds like you work in a well-run facility. Unfortunately, many facilities are not well-run. When I worked in an ALF, any conflict between nurses between nurses and aides was decided in the aide's favor because they were cheaper. Aides were allowed to do whatever they wanted, including sleeping on the job (outside of their 30-minute lunch break, which they had to clock out for).
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
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This thread has been edited.
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Our call is to be supportive, not divisive.
The op is a new grad and came here for advice. Lets be supportive and give her the tools to be successful.
@ Grntea- If you wanna run through my comments and questions with a fine-tooth combgo for it. I usually appreciate constructive criticism, but Im not a big fan of pointless scrutiny. [/quote']
GrnTea does that quite frequently. I wouldn't take it personally. She helps tremendously on this board, and that even includes grammar. Take to heart every criticism/pointers you get and learn from them. It would have been different if she had said it with an attitude implying you are stupid. She simply provided you with the knowledge to learn from.
I agree with the comments about prioritization. Ideally, the resident should take their pills with water that just came out of a Brita, but it may have to come from a cover pitcher with water that came from a tap 20 minutes ago. Yes, the nurse is responsible to be sure the residents don't become dehydrated, and yes, you may need to "push fluids" at times. However, this cannot consume your time when you are in the middle of your med pass. It's a balancing act, but it something that nurses have to learn....and something school can never prepare you for.
Oh, one other thing. Don't worry about what the aides say about you. They have never been there and I'm sure most would do no better than you...many worse (but don't tell them that!).
Oh, one other thing. Don't worry about what the aides say about you. They have never been there and I'm sure most would do no better than you...many worse (but don't tell them that!).
Ha. Oh, im sure they couldnt - they simply dont have the nursing education. The thing that can be frustrating is that these aides only have 5-7 patients apiece... some are really great while others do as little as possible. I cant closely monitor them bc of this facility's set up. I care for 25 pts b/n 3 houses. And, while I was feeling attacked and like noone understood, I agree that Grntea does have some valuable wisdom to share
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Understood. The thing that's troubling me is that so many of my patients are incredibly THIRSTY when I give them their pills. We learned in nursing school that the feeling of thirst diminishes with the elderly. And that adequate hydration promotes adequate tissue perfusion, thereby reducing the incidence of pressure ulcers, infections, and heck even codes. Each of my 25 residents/patients gets an average of 8 medications on my shift (2nd) alone. I was taught that the elderly metabolize medications more slowly (ok, so everything slows down with them except BP), so if my people aren't well hydrated, we are asking for trouble. Obviously, I have some work to do with time management, the place I work at has unrealistic expectiations, &/or I should be delegating more.
I would like to figure out how I can delegate more effectively to my aides. We got oh, 1 chapter on managing styles in nursing school.
To be honest, I am struggling to worry about and learn MY job 1st. I must say that I'm feeling resentful towards the established nurses who haven't delegated a thing to these aides. We nurses run around like mad-women while many of the aides sit around and play on their iphones.
So when you see them sitting and playing with their phones, you say something like, "I need vitals on the patients in 201 and 203. Also, Mrs. Smith in 207 needs to have her water pitcher refreshed. Let me know if there's anything "off" with the vitals. Thanks." And you move on. You shouldn't need to beg them to do their job; it's what they're getting paid for. When you ask an aide about the vitals, if she says she didn't get them, you just tell her matter-of-fact, "Well, I need you to take those vitals now." Don't worry about being liked by them. (That doesn't mean you should be disrespectful.)
Some aides will just try to push you. You have to let them know that when they work with you, you expect them to do their work.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Oh, wow. "Hurry along" doesn't mean not doing my 3 checks of 5 rights to me, fyi. If you understood what I have been saying, it's that I am new at this facility, the DON and other long-employed nurses do not stand up to the STNAs, and that I have had *1* course overviewing managerial styles, not how to implement them. Will not reiterate what I've said AGAIN. When people want to over-simplify, when they want to accuse rather than offer solutions, there is no point to having a conversation. Your indignant comments might have made YOU feel better about yourself, but it didn't help me at all.
And........Bye.
People have been trying to give you good advice, yet you are not only rejecting what's being offered, but you're lashing out at them as well. To me, that explains a lot.
People have been trying to give you good advice, yet you are not only rejecting what's being offered, but you're lashing out at them as well. To me, that explains a lot.
And it explains a lot that you would have an opinion on a post that needed serious editing by AN administration d/t inappropriate comments. My comments stayed bc they were appropriate. Others' were removed as deemed fit by admin, so you dont have enough info to make an accurate assessment. Thanks for your concern, though!
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Nola009
940 Posts
Oh, wow. "Hurry along" doesn't mean not doing my 3 checks of 5 rights to me, fyi. If you understood what I have been saying, it's that I am new at this facility, the DON and other long-employed nurses do not stand up to the STNAs, and that I have had *1* course overviewing managerial styles, not how to implement them. Will not reiterate what I've said AGAIN. When people want to over-simplify, when they want to accuse rather than offer solutions, there is no point to having a conversation. Your indignant comments might have made YOU feel better about yourself, but it didn't help me at all.
And........Bye.