So...What Kind of Nursing Task Do You LIKE?

[VivaLasViejas]

We've got a really good thread going on the kinds of nursing tasks we hate, so I thought I'd throw this one out there to get people talking about the kinds they actually enjoy doing.

For me it was IVs. I stunk at them for the first couple of years after I got out of school because I didn't have much of a chance to start them in the LTCs I worked in. But when I got into acute care, I didn't have a choice but to learn, and within a year I was getting calls from the ICU to come down and start an IV in someone they couldn't get a line in. Frequent flyers would actually request me by name to start their IVs because I could do it quickly and on the first try. I don't know why I had so much luck with the hard sticks, when sometimes I'd miss a big plump one in the hand; there was also the occasional shift where I wasn't "in the zone" and couldn't hit a barn door with a two-by-four. We all have those days. But I sure miss holding a 20-gauge angiocath in my hand and sliding that baby in smoothly and effortlessly.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

Trach changes and CVVH. Keeping track of all the Is and Os and balancing it out with CVVH is really fun

I like that too... I like it especially when there is an extra amount we're pulling off per hour and I'm adding it in the running total. It's like watching money accumulate in the bank. I can look back and say the person is 600ml drier than they were when I got on shift. LOL.

I also like inserting foleys. I always volunteer to do that for coworkers.

[Wrench Party]

Patient education, and IV sticks are growing on me, now that I'm becoming proficient. I appreciate the fact that the charge nurse has to stick these patients a few more times because SHE finds them difficult too.

[CrunchBerries]

I love OR, can't get enough of it. Anatomy class that is actually interesting.

[Farawyn]

IV starts and phlebotomy, staple removal, inserting foleys, and patient teaching on contraception and abortion.

This. Plus vaccines. Suctioning. Pretty much anything invasive.

(Working in the clinic was so much fun, teaching the patients about STDs, contraception and what their choices were. There was a lot of teaching to be done, very little knowledge in the population with whom I worked. The patients were kind of salty, and some of the stories were great. We talked about sex all day long!)

[ixchel]

Ditto. Gnarly wounds with dressings I get to change.

Drawing blood on an easy stick.

Giving vaccines, because I get told "I didn't even feel it!" a lot

Diabetic teaching

Precepting students (usually... had a student fall asleep once, that one I didn't like)

This, but all patient teaching, labs off a C line, and seeing a pulse ox go from low to normal after a good suctioning.

[Farawyn]

Anything with pus.

[whichone'spink, BSN, RN]

Poop is not the worst aspect of nursing, is what I always say. Oddly enough though, I like getting patients cleaned up and smelling nice, especially after they have an incontinence episode. Same goes for linen changes. Nothing like clean gown and clean sheets to make the day go nicely.

I'm also very happy when I have a patient with a central line or PICC line, because it makes lab draws easier as long as the line works. Results also come back faster because I send the specimens fast and there's less of a chance of hemolysis.

[flyersfan88]

Love wound care. Love packing a nice WTD dressing in a tunneling wound.

Giving lovenox/heparin. Idk what I do differently but my patients always compliment me saying "that's the best one I've had yet!"

Getting rid of a productive wet cough with a niiiice deep suctioning...and making the trach site look brand new with good trach care.

I suck at IV starts but love phleb. So satisfying.

[FlyingScot, RN]

Intubating, especially squidlets!!

[Oh'Ello, BSN, RN]

Dressing things: Wounds, Trachs, Central Lines. Theres no greater feeling than laying out a damned good looking dressing.

IVPush Anything, but especially the 'Rubicins'.

I also really love giving IL2 for some reason.

[cardiacfreak, ADN]

I love pulling anything out, Chest tubes, femoral sheaths, IJs, JPs, etc...

[Farawyn]

I love pulling anything out, Chest tubes, femoral sheaths, IJs, JPs, etc...

Me too! It's like...whhhoooooooooooooop! Ta Dah!