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.
That's like the asthmatics who suddenly develop a silent chest and the doc says, "Well, they stopped wheezing!"
Yes, and very soon they're going to stop breathing, you putz!!
I learned that I'm going to go the LPN route vs BSN! I made this decision based off not being satisfied where I'm at financially and not wanting to wait another 3-4 years to move upwards. No, I don't mind having to work in a nursing home or in hospice. Where I live, they have LPNs that work in clinics and in hospice but are associated with one of the hospitals I work with currently so it's a win-win in my eyes. I'm excited for my next chapter :)
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
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I've learned that dealing with a background check company whose labor pool is outsourced to a developing country can be challenging. It's been almost two weeks since my background check for my new job was initiated and it still has not been completed.
.....
The longest time I had for a back ground check was six months. This was prior to nursing working with disabled adults.
I politely suggested they sort the problem. A person with a history of hurting other people could have gone unchecked and done a hell of alot of damage in that time
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
I've learnt to take a moment to ensure my inner voice doesn't come out of my mouth. Especially when dealing with a family member who has some medical knowledge and thinks that their terminally ill relative is depressed and antidepressants will magically fix the problem.
I've learnt to take a moment to ensure my inner voice doesn't come out of my mouth. Especially when dealing with a family member who has some medical knowledge and thinks that their terminally ill relative is depressed and antidepressants will magically fix the problem.
Blueberry's are food of the gods
Blueberries are not in season!
I had this conversation with a 30 year old friend of mine. We were watching Little Women one day on her lunch break (don't ask me why) and the scene where the littlest woman has fresh limes comes up- my friend is all what's the big deal about limes?
So I go in to this whole thing about fruits being in season and not in season. She was eating blueberries in January and I told her that back in "my day" we would never be able to get blueberries in January...
Then I told her to get off my lawn and take her pesky dog too!!!
The longest time I had for a back ground check was six months. This was prior to nursing working with disabled adults.
I politely suggested they sort the problem. A person with a history of hurting other people could have gone unchecked and done a hell of alot of damage in that time
Tenebrae, TheCommuter wrote a good article about direct care workers in group homes in the DD sub forum.
This week I learned that even more of our already overworked and understaffed CNA's are actively looking for other employment instead of just threatening to. I've learned that the CNA's that have no intention of jumping ship [at least not yet] are genuinely concerned about our parent company saying the hell with it and closing our facility. Even the nurses, not quite as bad off for staffing as the CNA's but still dangerously low are voicing concerns.
I don't see that happening, but then you never know. I've worked there for 20+ years and have never seen staffing at such a critical low. Every time we hire two people it seems three leave, and then of the two we hired one leaves. It is a vicious cycle of one step forward and two steps back with no real end in sight. We are all getting majorly burnt out.
I politely suggested they sort the problem. A person with a history of hurting other people could have gone unchecked and done a hell of alot of damage in that time
You mean people actually get to work before the background check comes back? That seems so weird. Everywhere I've ever worked, even if you are "hired," the background check and everything else has to come back clean before your first day.
It is a vicious cycle of one step forward and two steps back with no real end in sight. We are all getting majorly burnt out.
I totally know what you mean. It's getting stupid how burned out I'm feeling. We've hired a ton of people, but we hired SEVEN new grads in the last wave. Seven. I just can't even. We orient new grads for only 4-5 months now to get them out "quick" (we used to orient new grads for six months), but my god. Hiring seven people who haven't even graduated yet (we're talking February start dates!!!), who won't be on their own until June at the earliest, makes relief seem very far away. Yeah, let's get them all out of orientation after flu season is over. Because the summertime is totally when we need extra staff, right?
This week I learned that the proper planning and follow through of last week allowed me to actually enjoy my short holiday break this week. I spent the weekend geocaching with my 9 year old and had a blast!
Now that I've started back on school related things I have learned that I have to find a way to pay a large chunk of tuition, books and testing fees.
I won't qualify for a private loan and can't afford to use the payment plan offered by my school. I've applied for scholarships but am waiting to hear back.
I may just bury my head in the sand and hope for the best.
Jensmom7, BSN, RN
1,907 Posts
That's like the asthmatics who suddenly develop a silent chest and the doc says, "Well, they stopped wheezing!"
Yes, and very soon they're going to stop breathing, you putz!!