The one thing I learned this year...

[Prettybrowngirl]

I was having a reflective moment as this year wraps up. I want to take at least one lesson learned into next year to help better myself. I had an incident earlier this year in which another nurse took a situation that was totally nursing judgment and went to the supervisor. It did not involve patient safety but was merely a difference in judgment. This nurse was fairly new to our unit and was all to eager to gain brownie points with the nurse manager.

My supervisor initially called to chastise me but actually came to me a couple days later and apologized face-to-face about the way she handled the matter. She stated that reviewing the charting and the circumstances did in fact reveal that it was unwarranted for the other nurse to come to her with this instead of speaking to me personally. The nurse, on the other hand, never addressed the situation but continued to smile in my face and act as if nothing ever happened.

At first I felt like I should have said something to this nurse because we work on a small unit and should have enough respect to deal with each other more professionally. Ultimately, I decided that it would be best to let it go since I was satisfied with the way the manager handled things and just move on.

Since that happened this nurse has had sooo many complaints in the last several months,not only from other nurses, but mostly from families on various issues. One night I came on shift to a situation in which a family member was so upset with this nurse that she had called the nurse manager and then demanded that the pt. be transferred to another unit. This very nurse said to me "It would have been better for her to come to me if she was upset rather than to call the nurse manager." I said nothing. I simply let it be and I felt so much better in the end. I learned that I don't need to "handle" nor stress over everything--just let some matters handle themselves while I continue to try to provide the best care of my patients.

Have you learned any valuable lessons this year from your experience or that of others?

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

If a patient is going downhill, make sure to have a working suction set up, a charged doppler, IV access and a clear path to the code cart.

I've become the "code queen" this year.

[tainted1972, ASN, RN]

This being my first year as a Nurse, I have learned a lot of things, some of them I already knew.. but sometimes I have to learn things the "hard way".

Here are a few

- Keep pen and paper in my pocket to write "things" down.

-always write down the name of the person you are talking to on the phone.. especially if they are giving you orders.. ( yeah I know.. super DUH)

- Dont save things for "later" something else always pops up

- when talking to a doctor about something.. make sure you have all the info you need right in front of you!

- Pharmacies make mistakes.. So do doctors

The most Important thing that I have learned so far is to be confident in my abilities and trust my instincts.

I have had 3 occasions where I felt I needed to call medics to transport someone to the hospital.. I was very hesitant and even worried that I may have been overreacting.... all three times the individuals were admitted.

My confidence has increased greatly, In return my coworkers and patients trust me. :)

[Zookeeper3]

OP I applaud you for not doing that... um hmmm, you just did that to me bit. You acted as a professional. Now, consider what I do, I take this person under my wing, talk bluntly to them in private about it and clear the air. I see your half way there. Once you can call a person respectfully on their actions and have a talk about it, will more private professional conversations occur. Let me give you an example;

day nurse says "I need to talk to you before you leave", I grab her after report is done, she tells me the patients integrillin was disconnected and infusing on the floor when she went to assess him... this is huge as it's needed to keep a fresh cardiac stent open. Sure enough I had done it with an am blood draw. she didn't report it to the manager, but told the doc so we could recalc the amount of time it needed to infuse and it ended there.

I dang sure am more careful now, and that level of professionalism, which does protect the patient is how we NURSE. May I suggest you try it. We all make mistakes, we have to learn from them and can't if they are brushed under a rug and not talked about openly without punishment. Management is where we need to go with unchanged behavior that is dangerous, each other is where we need to go with mistakes.

[GHGoonette, BSN, RN]

I learned this year that there's a lot I thought I knew; and that there's more lessons to be learned!

Here's to 2011, and lots more learning experiences!

*wine

[ocean waves]

Hello. I agree with the writer who suggested a constructive path of "taking this person under your wing...and privately talking with this nurse..." about some specific ways to improve his or her care of patients. I have used this strategy and usually the involved nurse has kindly thanked me for privately and constructively bringing suggestions for improvement to his or her attention.(and I have oh so appreciated similar help offered to me) As the saying goes, "there is no 'I' in the word team"---when we help each other improve nursing care, we are also serving as patient advocates. Best wishes!

[mtngrl, ASN, RN]

I've learned that even RN's can get laid off.

Thankful every day now that I have a job.

[General E. Speaking, RN, RN]

...is not to be afraid of turning up the Cardizem gtt just because your patient has a marginally low SBP. Uping the Cardizem rate may lower the heart rate just enough so the chambers have time to fill, thereby, increasing your SBP.

[skittlebear]

I have learned many valuable lessons over the year.

One: No matter who you think you can trust while you are at work, avoid gossiping as this can bite you in the a** later. For example, if you and your "friend" that you thought you could trust have an argument, you can bet they will tell all your "dirty" secrets to other co-workers. Yes, lesson learned. (Edit: We are friends again but I most definitely avoid talking about work related issues with her).

[lsk40]

Skittlebear I would question that friendship because real friends don't tell your secrets because they are mad at you its easy to be a friend when things are good but true friends are still your friend when things are bad I don't care how mad I am at my friends I wont tell their secrets

[onetiredmomma]

I learned life is too short and my career too precious to stay in a job where the manager has created an atmosphere of fear and paranoia....

[nicenurselpn, LPN]

I have learned to pick and choose my battles at work. Life is too short to stress over piddly stuff!!

I have learned that co-workers who I thought were my friend, really were not after I removed the knife that firmly implanted in my back! Said nurse has since apologized to me, but I am very very very guarded around her. LOL.

I have learned that teamwork is the key in successful working relationships!!

NiceNurse LPN