Well, here it is September and I've been kvetching about low census and getting called off (including on Labor Day when I could've gotten time-and-a-half).......all of which was made up for in one 8-hour shift yesterday. I mean, we got SLAMMED. Eleven surgeries, ten admissions (4 of which I did myself) and two transfers from the ICU, all on the 3-11 shift. I didn't sit down all evening except for a 15-minute supper break, but that was the least of my worries. One of my admits was a total care pt. with new-onset seizures who was supposed to have VS every hour, and another was a woman with blood sugars in the 400s who needed fingersticks every hour for 6 hrs (should've been in the ICU w/insulin drip if you ask me).
Then one of my patients was a 1:1 (LOL with urosepsis) whose urine suddenly turned to frank blood and large clots, and I was supposed to irrigate her Foley catheter every hour!! No CNA to help with any of this, so a lot of it didn't get done. And I wasn't the only one who had a hard night......everyone else was running just as fast as I was, and on top of all of it we just started using a new computer system (MediTech) and it crashed, leaving us
unable to order labs or do anything else for almost 2 hours.
Finally, just as I was coming to the end of the shift, my post-ictal pt., whose VS I hadn't had time to check in several hours, dropped his BP from 120/70 to 80/38, and still another admission came in (ETOH and Ambien OD) who couldn't find her butt with two hands, but kept going outside to smoke. I felt awful that the
vitals hadn't been done, but there was no way on earth I could've gone any faster or done any more than I was already doing. We usually are staffed better than this, but last night we could have had half the nursing staff on the floor and we STILL wouldn't have had enough bodies.
That's easily the worst shift I've had in the 6 months I've been back at the hospital, and one I won't forget any time soon. The kind of shift that leaves one wondering why in the world they paid
good money to learn how to be a nurse in the first place, and at the same time terrified of losing their license for something they did or didn't do in their rush to get things done.
So.......what were some of YOUR most memorable shifts from hell?
I've been crying off and on since 0500 this morning.
Should I quit?
here's another..((((((((((((((hug)))))))))))
I agree with thirdshiftguy-NO job is worth that much heartache or headache. I would start looking for a new job tomorrow. Or atleast give notice-and take some time off. Good luck.
So sorry to hear what you are going through ~ I have no advice other than please don't give up on nursing altogether ~ maybe all will take is a fresh start at a new place !!
Oh, and I have to add my great big ((((((((((((((hug))))))))))))))) !!
Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
Originally posted by cheerfuldoer
Thanks Tweety for the hug. I haven't had one in a loooooonnnng time. Hubby is overseas, and I come home all alone talking to my three foot teddy bear and telling it how much I hurt. My eyes are so swollen from the crying. It's been twelve hours now that I've been crying off and on. Can't get out of my bathrobe for anything. All I've eaten today was a couple pieces of chicken. Time for some herb tea...nice and hot...and a couple of Benadryls and two Tylenol. Wish I had some Ambien. I've got a doctor's appointment next week because I feel like I'm falling apart completely from the pressures at work.
O dear-here is a big hug-and a foot rub....Please-get your butt outta there...You can find a better fit...Sometimes the grass is no greener but occassionally you are in a field that is brown and dead...Go! before your health and spirit are broken..It's also no fun when you are not feeling support from your co-workers-that is too much stress....
Had to go dry my face. A girlfriend just stopped by to comfort me because she couldn't hear me talking on the phone through my tears. I just took some tylenol. I'll wait an hour, take the benadryl, then try to get some much needed sleep. Right now I'm so wound up I can't sit still long enough to fall asleep.
All I want to do is be the best nurse I can possibly be without selling myself to the wolves in the process. I have to be protective of myself and make sure no one stomps on my dignity and self-respect. If I don't watch after myself, who will?
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
That's right, Renee.......you have to take care of yourself in this profession! ITA with the previous posters, you need to get OUT of this job and into one where you can use your obvious caring and your talents in a way that satisfies your soul and meets patients' needs.
I agreed in writing that I would work for that hospital for one year because they gave me a relocation bonus. Be careful of those places offering traps like that. Never again will I do that because it only means you are going to walk into a messy situation with no way out but for the nurse to walk away taking the blame for their previous unresolved problems.
I'm not a quitter, and have hopes to stick it out three more months, but am trying to go to another unit to finish out my "sentence". Yes...I feel like it's a noose around my neck right now.
Sounds pretty scary. I'm a nursing student and I've been in the field for a long time and I know what you are talking about. The nurses have it pretty bad and that's putting it mildly. Sometimes I ask myself 'what am I crazy' for going to school is this what I'm looking forward to? No way, the pay is rotten. I work for an agency as a CNA/CMT my pay is pretty much the same as some of the new nurses in my area. I will have my own horror stories to tell soon. I really hope things could get better where you are.
Thanks poe me. Maybe by the time you finish nursing school, things will be better. We as nurses can only hope things will get better. I want to become a CEO, build my own hospital, and make it all about nurses. I would NEVER hire a negative nurse, or anyone who thought they were better than someone else simply because they had this or that. It's about nursing..........good old fashion compassionate hands on respectful nursing. No bullcrap...just respect, teamwork, motivation, total support, and working for the good of all...not just patients and management, but staff. Lord let me become a billionaire, and see what I will build. I will build it.........the good nurses will get hired. :kiss
Oh,....Cheerfuldoer,.....I can relate to how you are feeling. You are not alone! Wouldn't it be nice if those problem co-workers could put as much effort into pt care instead of ratting out their "team" members? It sounds like this is a sign for you to move on and that there is a better place out there for you. Don't give up hope because I am sure not every place is as bad.
After reading your posts, I could just sit down with ya and cry! Since you've had the hugs and foot rubs from the other posters, I'll provide the shoulder massage!
Sorry to hear how bad it's been - maybe with all the hugs from her (foot and back massages, too) you can make it through your committment - did they have a clause that if you didn't stay, you paid part back ((pro-rated, by months?) If not, maybe start looking elswhere now, adn have something lined up - can give plenty of advance notice - then maybe the others will stop their c#^p!
IT'S BEEN AWHILE SINCE I WORKED THE FLOOR, BUT WE HAD RULES ABOUT PATIENTS WITH HOURLY VITAL SIGNS. Hourly anything actually--they were to be on the care unit with one on one care-ie.-ICU or tele. Did those rules change?
Variance reports, incident reports, unusual occurence reports, whatever your hospital uses, should certainly utilized in this case!! That's unsafe practice and you are placing your license on the line!!
jenac
258 Posts
here's another..((((((((((((((hug)))))))))))
I agree with thirdshiftguy-NO job is worth that much heartache or headache. I would start looking for a new job tomorrow. Or atleast give notice-and take some time off. Good luck.