Things you tell newbies

[JBudd]

A fairly new nurse asked for help bagging a body, as she had never had to do that before. On the way in I stopped, grabbed her arm and said "dead bodies make noises!". She just looked at me with a "yeah right, pull the other one". The other nurse solemnly agreed, yes, they make noises. Newbie couldn't quite decide if she believed us or not, when we kept insisting that dead bodies really do make noises!

So as we were turning the poor fellow onto his side, (he was rather large), the air rushed out in a loud "AAUUUUGHHHH".

She froze looked up at us, totally wide eyed and exclaimed "I am SO glad you warned me before!! I didn't believe you!"

So what would you tell a newbie?

[Cuddleswithpuddles]

I always tell students or new employees training with me that I am human, nothing I say is sacred or absolute, and I am open to questions and discussions about my rationales.

Also, most of what you learned will change in some form or another. Some of your knowledge will be augmented, some tweaked and some will be downright useless in a matter of years. This is especially true for someone who just graduated out of nursing school.

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

It's okay to "bother" me and ask me any questions you want to. It's better to ask questions than to be unsure and do the wrong thing. The stupidist question is the one you did not ask, but probably should have.

It's better to be a little bit late with the right dose of medication than to be on time with the wrong dose, so slow down and be safe.

Great advice, especially about the meds.

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

It seems our new crop of nurses don't need any words of wisdom.

Ha ha *Sarcasm*

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

There is no body cavity that cannot be reached with a good, strong arm and a 14 gauge needle. Some of them, however, ought not to be breached.

Hmmmm...story behind this please?

[NightNurseRN13]

Don't trust the nurse before you, assess and document what YOU see

[resumecpr]

If they lie there and let you do it, they probably need it...

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

If they lie there and let you do it, they probably need it...

In any other context....

[RNperdiem, RN]

Told to me as a new nurse" You see how Melly rushes through her first assessments? Well, she doesn't gain the patient's trust, doesn't think ask what else the patient needs before she leaves the room, and her patients are on the call button all day!"

Learned and passed on to newbies: Take your time with the first assessment.

[NightNurseRN13]

If you don't know, don't pretend like you do. Humble yourself and just ask.

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

Make friends with the secretary!!! She can make or break you!

[pinkiepieRN]

Everybody makes mistakes. Every other nurse in this building was once in your shoes as a new nurse. You cannot do everything! Staying until 2am does not mean you're a bad nurse, but please let me help with what I can (I'm the 11-7 supervisor). Double check your documentation and orders, but know that you're not the only one who goes through the chart. If you transcribed an order wrong or it needs clarification after your shift, it will get taken care of and again, it does not make you a bad nurse. We don't do chart checks on night shift for the fun of it! Thinking that you *should* be breezing out of the building at 11:30p with all of your meds given, notes written, things charted is not always practical. $h!t happens and you have to be able to roll with it.

Your first year is going to be hard. Yes, they took you off of orientation at 3 months but that doesn't mean they expect you to be running circles around everyone else or that a nurse should look down on you for needing to look something up. And again, pleeeaaassse ask for help if you need it/don't understand something/the sky is falling/you're doing something new or unfamiliar.

[lidleanjel]

Follow your gut! If you like something is going south it usually is. When this is occurring and physician is not wanting to come in. Just tell them they need to lay eyes on patient now!