Returning to bedside nursing after 9 years!

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Specializes in Acute Care, CM, School Nursing.

Hello, everyone!

I have been out of bedside nursing for 9 years. I completed a RN refresher course, and will be starting a per diem med-surg position in July! :yeah: I am extremely excited to get "back into it"!

I used to be pretty good at inserting saline locks. They were called heplocks in my day ;) . But, during the clinical portion of my refresher, I tried several, and didn't get any in successfully! Naturally, every time I didn't get one, I became more anxious about it... Also, during my refresher clinicals, I only had the chance to attempt to insert one Foley into a little old lady. Of course, she was very swollen, and it was difficult. I wasn't able to get it. The assigned nurse eventually got it in.

I was kind of hoping that my skills would be like "riding a bike", so to speak. Some things did come right back to me. But, naturally, I'm obsessing over the ones that didn't! What do you all think??

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I don't know your age but as I've gotten older it's harder for me to see where to put the foley. My vision is complicated because of previous surgery and there are some things I simply cannot see to do. Taking out those fine facial stitches - I just can't see them. Also, my stamina has decreased. 12 hour shifts really wipe me out.

In a few weeks can you give us your perspective on how things have changed in the last decade? I see an ominous trend away from patient care and towards "customer service," also makework such as increased documentation that adds greatly to our work without adding to patient care.

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Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

I think they will come back and you just have to give yourself a little time. You still have a huge leg up on the new grads so your stress will be less than theirs!

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

Unfortunately, it is not like riding a bike. Give yourself a couple of months or three or four....

then things will be better...but don't expect expert and don't, whatever you do, get defensive if people try to tell you how to do things.

You're rusty and need help right now--safety always comes first.

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In a few weeks can you give us your perspective on how things have changed in the last decade? I see an ominous trend away from patient care and towards "customer service," also makework such as increased documentation that adds greatly to our work without adding to patient care.

Boy, are you ever preaching to the choir!

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Specializes in ICU, ER.

I returned to ICU nursing after a 10 year absence. I had a preceptor for a few weeks and did okay. Your skills will come back to you. Give it some time.

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I am in the same boat, but I have been away for about 5 years. I have a few questions, if you don't mind. How long was your refresher course? Did you take the course for your own confidence level or do you think you needed it to make yourself more marketable? I am two weeks from signing up for a 3 week course myself. Thanks, in advance, for your response.

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Specializes in Acute Care, CM, School Nursing.

Fungez, I will certainly post after a few weeks on the floor, to give my perspective on things. :)

JoPACURN, trust me, I won't get defensive! I'll take all the help and advice I can get... LOL Yeah, I figure it'll take a few months to get back into the swing of things, at least. I'm only doing per diem, 1 or 2 eight hour shifts per week. So, it'll take longer than if I went back full time.

MsDiva812, I took the refresher for both reasons. I wanted to feel more comfortable going back to work. But, every hospital that I contacted told me that once you've been out for 5 years or more, you need to do the refresher to be hired. I'm in NY. I don't know if that's an actual law, or if each facility decides on their own. So, I figured that it was basically a necessity for me. I would highly recommend my refresher course! I found it to be very helpful. It was through South Dakota State University. The theory portion was done online, and the clinicals were arranged at a local hospital. You have a year to complete the course. The entire class was 200 hours: 120 hours were for the theory portion, and 80 hours were clinical.

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone! :)

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Hi Tina,

I can relate to everything you are saying (I was away from the bedside for 18 years!!! ) Your skills WILL come back to you.... Try to take every single opportunity available to practice. Let other nurses on the floor know that you would like to start any IV's for them...but don't let the patients know that you are anything but confident. For me, I find that taking my time in finding the best vein possible is one of the most important things. Then go for it! You will develop the feel very quickly. Remember, even the best most experienced nurses sometimes cannot start an IV on that patient on that day. Just keep trying and don't beat yourself up. You will get it!! I've been back at the bedside for about 3 months and now I can get most of them.

You will get it! Remember, thoughts become things.

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Specializes in Case Management.

My experience with the clinical setting was way long ago..I took a refresher in the 80's after being a stay at home Mom for 7 years. Getting the refresher course was required, even back then. I worked too hard for my license, and after staying at home for 7 years I was anxious to get back into it. The refresher course was great, but the on the job training was much more important in my opinion. I had a complete orientation with a bunch of new grads. They looked up to me and gave me a lot of confidence.

You will find a lot of it coming back naturally. I found quickly that the best way to stay on top of it was to be super organized. I had a list of everything that needed to be completed on my shift (I went back working steady nights). I worked part time in the beginning, working my way up to full time again. Working the night shift helped because of the pace which was just a little slower than days or evenings.

The biggest adjustment were the new things, like PCA pumps and computerized system for everything. But the nursing part didn't change much.

I have been away from bedside nursing for 20 years, working in managed care now. I was glad I took the refresher, and glad I went back into nursing. I could easily have changed careers at that point, but my heart has always been in nursing.

Good luck, and do keep us updated on your progress.

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