Some questions about being a nurse

[sam3992]

I'm a high school Junior and I think that I might want to be a nurse when I grow up but I have a few questions about being a nurse and I would appreciate it so much if you could answer them. What exactly do nurses do? I know in doctors offices they will check your height, blood pressure and all that but I've been lucky enough to never have to stay in the hospital so what would your typical day be like? What do you love most about your job? What do you hate? Do you work in a hospital or doctors office or another place? How many patients do you have on one day? How long have you been a nurse? What do you wish you would have known before you became a nurse? Anything else that you think I should know? Thanks so much!

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I know in doctors offices they will check your height, blood pressure and all that

Don't be so quick to assume that all of the friendly faces who check your height, weight, and vital signs in doctors' offices and clinics are nurses. Some are nurses, but I'd conjecture that the good majority are medical assistants.

:welcome: Welcome to these forums, and I hope others answer your questions.

[vashtee, RN]

Whatever I say will not even come close to describing it all, but I'll try to hit the highlights.

Nurses basically are in charge of administering medications. This doesn't mean just handing them over - we are responsible for knowing whether or not a medication is appropriate for our patient. We also need to know what to do if our patient has a bad reaction to the medication. We need to know how to determine if a bad reaction is happening, and whether treatment seems to be effective. We need to know when to call the doctor, and when NOT to call the doctor.

We have to know how to physically assess our patient's various body systems so we can monitor for signs of improvement and worsening conditions. This includes (but is not limited to) post-surgical problems.

We need to become expert at knowing how to find out what a patient needs in terms of physical and emotional support, and know how to access whatever it is they need, such as social workers and clergy in addition to medical professionals.

We need to have the skills necessary to ensure our patient's normal body functions when their bodies are not functioning normally, such as urination, defacation, and inability to swallow their food or beverages. We need to know when things that look "iffy" are actually a problem.

We offer comfort to our patients and their loved ones. Hold their hands when they need it, and scare them when they need it (as may be the case with patients who are non-compliant with medical treatment regimes.

We do wound care, start IVs, administer tube feedings, monitor ventilators, help patients bathe, suction out tracheotomy patients so they can breathe, make sure people are getting enough oxygen to ensure their tissues don't die. We shave old men.

Some of us work in specialty areas, such as labor and delivery or surgery (there are lots of specialties), and they each have their own set of responsibilities.

We teach. A lot.

Yes, we deal with poop and vomit. Yes, you DO get used to it.

We do tons of paperwork.

There is lots more, and I am sure I am missing very basic stuff, but I mostly want you to see that our jobs are not routine or boring. But it IS hard work. :)

[leslie :-D]

sam, if you really want to get a sense of what a nurse does, you may consider getting a job as a nursing assistant:

either in a hospital or long term care facility (nursing home).

or, you could go to either facility and talk to the director of nurses, about 'shadowing' a nurse for a shift.

it's hard, hard work, but gratifying for many.

good luck, honey.

you'll find your way.

leslie

[BradleyRN]

Doctors dont spend much time with the patients. It is up to the nurse to be the one to catch anything that goes wrong and report it to the doctor. Meanwhile we have a whole lot of nursing measures that we implement to make the most difference during the illnesses of those in our community. It is so stressful and difficult and yet very rewarding at the same time.

[LadyJRN1]

I would like to say that I really enjoy the field of nursing and what I can do for someone else. My issues in the field are the politics and the way that nurses treat each other. Yes nurses do eat their young; however, after you have been in the field for a while you learn to be more assertive instead of aggressive and stand up for yourself. Men have it a bit easier in the field and I love working with male nurses. They are the buffer between all the interpersonal conflicts between the women.

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

And as a male RN, let me say that occasionally, I AM the one that all the jokes fall on when the women are having a rough shift....

[-MNC_RN-]

We do so much, it's impossible to answer that question completely. The responses you've had so far have helped, but there's no way to capture it all. From a critical care perspective...

- We do frequent assessments (sometimes every 15 minutes or so) to catch alterations in physiology and body systems that may be leading to compromise.

- We do frequent focused assessments of specific body systems to further understand the alterations in physiology that we see... lung sounds, heart sounds, pulse checks, neuro checks, etc.

- We collaborate with physicians to medically intervene and support the body systems that have been altered so that the patient can heal. Many times--and this is key, because much of the public doesn't realize this--that collaboration is true collaboration. That is, experienced critical care nurses sometimes *are asked by physiscians* for suggestions and ideas. We make suggestions and many times they are listened to. Critical care is a true team approach. Physician, RN, pharmacist, respiratory therapist... the whole team working together, making and listening to suggestions for the good of the patient.

- We independantly diagnose patients' responses to illness and intervene.

- We do for the patients what they can't do for themselves.

- We start IVs, defibrillate (shock the heart in an emergency), titrate critical medications, place tubes to put stuff in or pull stuff out, monitor and analyze heart rhythms, heart pressures, brain pressures, run specialized dialysis, manage ventilators for breathing, balloon pumps to ease the work of the heart... all sorts of stuff. Not all critical care nurses do everything--that's what the team is for. Each hospital has slightly different things that various team members do; however, the critical care RN coordinates it all in collaboration with the critical care physician.

- Critical care nurses work in many different environments: intensive care, emergency rooms, recovery rooms. Some are hired by hospitals only to be part of some sort of rapid response team--to go to in hospital emergencies. Some critical care nurses ride in ambulances or fly in helicoptors or planes.

I hope that helps!

[anurseuk]

Well like others have said... there is a lot more to it but I'll start by describing my day at work on a normal shift... as long as no emergencies come up.

I work in cardiothoracic critical care, really enjoy it.

Typical first 30mins of a shift:

Get handover for the whole unit, get allocated a patient (1:1 nurse patient ratio) get in depth handover from previous nurse about patient.

Check medications, check infusions, check medication calculations, check emergency bedside equitment.... suction, airways, monitor/ventilator alarms...

full assessment of my patient top to toe, vital signs (AND react to them, we dont blindly chart without knowledge), airway.... ? patent?ventilated ?type of ventilation mechanical? invasive ?non invasive/ trachy/ ET... cm tied at/ type of airway/ cmh20 in cuff. breathing...ausculate chest ?equal ?secreations ?base sounds ?suctioning ?fluid ?pericardial rub etc.... mode of ventilation, palour of pt, rate and depth of breath, visually observe chest movement, ? using accessory muscles...etc circulation.... colour of pt, palpate pedal and radial pulses, quality of pulses etc... neuro obs... check surgical wounds, check amount of drainage in drains, sedation levels.

check post op instructions.... ward round, querie any meds that I think should or should not be given with the docs/pharmacists.

And thats the first half an hour of an NORMAL shift.... which we don't have a lot of!!!!

My advice would to be to get some experience of nursing in a hospital environment... we do a lot more than the above, and a lot more than weighing pt's!!

But I really enjoy it 99% of the time, it can be a very rewarding job, with lifelong learning and lots of oppertunities :) good luck!

[sam3992]

Thank you all so much for your replies! I appreciate them so much.