The best nursing advice you've ever received

[findingmywayRN]

I was just thinking back to the advice and wisdom I'd received over the years and laughed at how true so much of it was!

Can anyone post the best nursing advice they've been given here?

Here are some of my favorites:

1. You control the room, the room doesn't control you

2. The best doctors are the ones who listen to nurses

3. Always trust your instincts

4. Never suction anything with your mouth open

Anyone else?

[Zookeeper3]

I work in an ICU so they may not all apply

With loud abusive patients/family/doctors... take a step back and speak softer

We are seeing patients and their family at their worst moment, it's not about the nurse

Who cares if the ABG is perfect if your patient is breathing 40/min, gray and diaphoretic?... forget the numbers

You can't fix drug addiction in the ICU, medicate freely and avoid DT's

The best code is spoken softly, done calmly and with the fewest people

Always offer to help each peer before sitting down to do non nursing things

"they are all our patients", answer the beeping IV or call bell

When the screamer becomes quiet... get up and check it out now!

[gentlegiver, ASN, LPN, RN]

Air goes in & out, Blood stays inside, any deviation from that is bad!

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

Take care of yourself at home. Otherwise, you will find yourself coming to work stressed about home life issues only to find out, thats when the real bad days at work begin.

Avoid the underlying social scene in the hospital. Make friends outside work who are not in the medical profession. You will find it alarming what it is like to be surrounded by people whose lives are not consumed by medical career gripes.

When you feel like nursing is too much, move on. Its not for everyone, and there are people who............at one point in life, it is for them, but, later in life, it is no longer for them. Always having this in the back of my mind avoids burn out because I never say to myself "I have to do this for another 25 years?:eek:".

In the end, it is your decisions and your license that will be under fire if something goes wrong. Don't let people not accountable for the pt. insist you do anything you don't like. None of them will stand up in court and say "Yes Your Honor, I made the decision to give that insulin, I insisted the nurse give it and bullied them to do it." A big part of nursing is knowing when to listen to admin./management and when to pretend you are listening to them.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

So true! Made that mistake once, made it worse by repeating the mistake another time with Maalox!

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

So true! Made that mistake once, made it worse by repeating the mistake another time with Maalox!

OOPS! Forgot to quote this in reference to the post about making sure the cap is on tight before shaking the MOM bottle. Also loved "3. All bleeding stops eventually." from another post...made me giggle as that is not necessarily a good thing!

[carolmaccas66, BSN, RN]

Start EVERYTHING early - meds, observations, asking patients how they are, if they need pillows, blankets, etc, notes, IVs, taped handovers, then at the end of the shift, you have time to breathe out, relax, check over everything and do what hasn't been done. Don't let time get away from you!

[bunnyRGN]

The best advice I've ever heard about nursing was prior to starting my nursing training was the advice I got from a nurse with multiple years experience, she said to me "you will make lots of friends." I often wondered why she said that to me, I now know why. That was probably the only thing she could say about nursing that wouldn't put me off :)

[teeniebert, LPN]

I was doing "home tours" and "agency orientation" just after being hired as a direct care associate (non-licensed) in a group home for the developmentally disabled. The manager of the first home I toured said to me, "There are lots of good people in this company, but they are not your friends." I thought it was strange at the time, but it's true. Friends tell each other everything, trust each other, stick up for each other, and keep each other's secrets. Co-workers and management, not so much. Oversharing and/or asking for advice about your non-work life can come back and bite you in the butt.