What Do You Think You Needed To Learn in School, But Didn't

[xtxrn]

Hey New Nurses :)

In reading through some other posts, I've been thinking (I'm sorry- I'll try to cut down )

What have you found in your first months to year or two that you really needed to have learned in nursing school, but didn't? I'm not interested in bashing any instructor, program, facility....just looking at trends for my own interest in this.

My perspective is that you guys are having to learn a LOT after you graduated that some of us old goats take for granted that you did. But it's obvious that something is different, and it's not just iPods :)

I'm sincerely interested. I'll throw in my own observations later- just interested in what YOU think you needed to know, or do, BEFORE getting hired as an RN.....:)

[Calabria, BSN, RN]

How to speak to the doctors... especially when you really need something if your patient's decompensating.

And/or how to go up the chain of command when things just aren't going right. I think those are things that need to be taught before you're in the middle of it.

We actually had a class that was somewhat relevant to this... but these things got skipped over.

[missmatched]

- communicating with MDs

- charting

- clinical skills: IV, foley, PCA, lifts, everything

- chart checks

- how to ask for help balanced with independence

- juggling, juggling, juggling

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

Yeah- it's good to at least get some rundown about how it usually works with communication and charting terminology and flow. The skills seem to be a universal problem w/about %80+...

The asking for help vs independence can sometimes be broken down to safety, and what is likely to cause more trouble- asking for help, or not trusting yourself. It's hard to learn that- and the only thing to do is run through past scenarios in your mind re: what could have happened if you had done a, b, or c- and see what is the best outcome in your mind....that will give you a way to run through real situations later on :) But when in doubt, ask.

Nurses who have been working for ages still ask each other for ideas, bounce things off of them, and sometimes physically grab them to go into a room with them :)