Survived first week

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Well I survived my first week on the floor as a Ortho RN.. Well I am in orientation and am following my preceptor, but still :)

The hospital census has been horrible, thanks to the FLU we have become a catch all floor, so instead of me just getting used to Ortho patients.. I had Pneumonia, back Sx, all kind of NON-ortho stuff.. but oh well I guess any experiance is good.

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Specializes in Community Health Nurse.

:balloons: Best of luck to you nurs2b, and good luck on your exam!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho.

Thats the norm during these flu seasons, every floor becomes a catch all. We have had a couple rounds now of every bed being full. They have canceled scheduled surgeries etc. Finally we are getting back to a more normal flow of med/surg/ortho patients. Is almost refreshing to have our normal patients back rather than every bed filled with a pneumonia patient.

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Congrats on passing NCLEX. I also just passed and have been working as a GN on an Ortho floor at a Level 1 Trauma Center. We rarely get med/surg problems, although occassionally we will get overflow. We only have 18 beds so we usually are full of ortho pts. I love Ortho! I like taking care of people who are "broken" and not so much "sick". I have been on the floor for weeks and have had 4 pts. I feel overwhelmed at times, but I think that is typical. I have a lot to learn! Hope your orientation is going well.

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

KimRN03 You said it all!!! I love ortho too.

In 1977 when I started there were 80 ortho beds. When I left in 1999 there were 28. We hardly ever had over half of those with ortho pts. But we got all kind of spillover everything....post heart cath, preeclampsia, psych on suicide watch, sickle cell crisis........and UGH eyeballs! I'd trade an eyeball anytime for a total hip or knee.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Good luck - you are well on your way!

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Thanks... This has been my first week on nightshift, and it is taking some major adjustments... I like it as far as it being much quieter and having a lil more time to do things.. Bad part is there are usually only 2 RNs for up to 28pts.... They say we can only have 13 each, but it usually ends up being more I have noticed. Next week I am on my own, which is kinda scary, there are still lots of things I haven't done or seen....

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