So, it's been a lame few weeks. By lame, I mean really crappy. I am thankful for our guest OPs! You've helped keep the party going! Thank you [emoji5]ï¸
Some stuff I've learned.....
I just walked in on my ten year old taking notes on radioactive and stable isotopes. This kid. OMG.
DNP will cost me $60k. And by all the anecdotal banter around these threads lately, it seems my program will be a bit better than many.
My kids are excited to see me more when I go back to school. Problem is... If I don't find enough aid, I'll still have to work. (I do want to work maybe a day a week.)
Apparently my forte is critical thinking. My crutch is apparently time management.
The words "I can't even" have not come out of this mouth more than they have these recent weeks. For real. I can't even.
If you haven't worked at a hospital where the CEO and all senior management are nurses, do it.
I could not get back on night shift fast enough.
Receptionists need to be taught that "stable" is not the same as "not a problem". Or, maybe just hand the phone to a nurse with common sense.
Our med/surg floor sees no problem with keeping discharged patients' names on their census to maintain staffing. IN FACT, they have no qualms with short staffing another floor to do it, and they'll give the pulled nurse a full patient load and the rest as few as literally two patients.
Good performance ratings = bigger bonus
I know I'm the last person on the planet to think this through, but I was reading a summary of HCAHPS and I realized the MOST important thing that SHOULD be measured wasn't on there at all. The ONE thing that would make all the rest really not matter. What's that one thing? OUTCOMES! Holy stethoscope but why?!
I hope your week has been awesome! What have you learned?
I learned (re-learned?) that I really hate the hospital during respiratory season. So many sick babies. RSV sucks.
I also learned that sometimes doctors are well meaning but clueless.....
A respiratory rate in an infant that has been chugging at 75 all day and working hard that suddenly falls to 30 is not a sign of a miraculous healing, but a sign that this kid is pooping out. Especially when they are unable to maintain their saturations on an ungodly amount of oxygen. If I hear one more doc tell me... "Well at least their RR is improving", I may not be able to control my reaction.
I learned that I am nervous to apply for a local new nurse residency program. My school handed out 10 applications. This will fulfill our preceptorship and should end in a job offer. The only issue is that they want a year commitment. You get to request your top three choices but no guarantees. I learned that this is the first running of this program. I am leaning towards doing it.
Definitely do it - you're lucky to find one with such a short commitment. 75% of the hospitals around here have a two-year commitment, and the rest of them have a three-year commitment. I've never even heard of a program that would only make you stay for one year.
If I hear one more doc tell me... "Well at least their RR is improving", I may not be able to control my reaction.
I sincerely hope you work in a teaching hospital and you're talking about residents. If you're talking about attendings, that's the kind of thing I'd jump ship and find a different place to work over. Physicians not knowing what the heck they're doing is the kind of stuff that makes me worried about getting caught in the middle of a lawsuit.
I learned that sometimes it's really okay to be moved even if you were disgruntled about it when you first walked in the door. I'd had the same two patients for three nights straight, two vent patients who required deep sedation for vent compliance with families that left by 7pm - the perfect assignment where I could get things done on my time with no interruptions. I picked up a night of overtime, and they moved me for my overtime night. I was initially a little irritated... but then I walked over to the nurse that had those rooms. One of my patients had been terminally extubated and died a few hours before I got there, so that room was just open for an admit, and the other had been extubated and had clearly gone off the deep end and spent the whole night screaming at the top of her lungs for fun. Sometimes, even if you THOUGHT your assignment was good and you wanted them back, it is a blessing to be moved. I have learned to keep my mouth shut and not complain.
I learned that my black cloud at work is still alive and well. It's been hovering for 3 solid months now but it went dormant last week so I thought I was free.
I was reminded that our respiratory therapists will never stop amazing me with their extensive knowledge and calmness under pressure! Ours are amazing and are great team players that go above and beyond to help nursing when we are drowning.
I learned that I still can't figure out what to get my husband for Christmas!!
While we are bellyaching about Christmas, can I just say I am not exciting over the upcoming Elf on the Shelf photos that soon will be taking over all my social media outlets?
Indeed, a teaching hospital. Oh, the joys of residents.
Right? We have (or have had) a couple who need to learn what they don't know and when to listen to the staff (we're trying to help). Though, there's a fix for that too...
I've learned that working the remaining days of a 30-day resignation notice makes me antsy to leave even sooner. However, I will not stiff my current employer.
I feel you on this one. I gave 2 weeks at one job, and things were so bad staffing wise and I had the time before my next job began I was talking into staying 4 weeks. The second of the "last two weeks" were the most rough two weeks I worked as a floor nurse.
1. Applying to grad school at the same time as a coworker is awesome - we're proofreading/editing eachother's applications. Hopefully we get in. We're not directly competing - different tracks. :)
2. Confirmation of what I long suspected: super busy people are simply more efficient.
3. Confirmation of another long suspected truth: as a person, you more efficient when you use all available tools/resources.
4. I seriously contemplated "world domination" as a professional goal for my grad school application. I was frustrated by it at the time, and have revised the paragraph to be much more appropriate. It's hard for me because I don't have an "end game" or a role which having will mean success for me.
5. I know WAY more than I thought I did. Like, whoa. I'm teaching people things I was never properly taught (had to learn the hard way).
6. One of our cafeterias serves my favorite soup all week the week of holidays! Score! (Some days it's the little things man)
7. I had two coworkers treat me in ways I didn't want to be treated. I took the higher road (though I'd be lying if I didn't say I talked to my boss about it), and learned more about myself (and others). One lectured me about something s/he is guilty of (habitually) as if they were my boss - we're equals, and this situation almost never happens (nor did it in any way jeopardize a patient). The other (who was in charge) took their frustration for their inability to effectively communicate and manage resources out on me, instead of owning their own shortcomings. I don't expect perfection, but don't bite my head off for contradicting yourself. My boss suggested I discuss this with/email the department manager, but I'm honestly afraid the next question will be so why don't I learn charge? I'm not sure I want to be charge.
8. The baby kitten I got this year? She's half-grown, and into EVERYTHING. It's amusing, yet also not. At all. My dog is so much better behaved! The struggle is real - I really have to try to remember my dog as a puppy into everything.
9. I have the most bittersweet feelings about the thought of moving on after grad school. Then I remember I haven't gotten in yet, not have I finished (plan to go part time, so it's probably 3 years away) and a lot changes in 3 years.
10. I am not, under any circumstances, working my day off this week. I was going to offer part of it, but decided I deserve me time. Staffing is finally better (not perfect but better). After my appointment, I'm getting a haircut. Fun things for me are good too.
~PedsRN~, BSN, RN
826 Posts
I learned (re-learned?) that I really hate the hospital during respiratory season. So many sick babies. RSV sucks.
I also learned that sometimes doctors are well meaning but clueless.....
A respiratory rate in an infant that has been chugging at 75 all day and working hard that suddenly falls to 30 is not a sign of a miraculous healing, but a sign that this kid is pooping out. Especially when they are unable to maintain their saturations on an ungodly amount of oxygen. If I hear one more doc tell me... "Well at least their RR is improving", I may not be able to control my reaction.