Any Nurses In Here?

NeonKitty

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Casadalinnis
I've always stood up for myself when the situation got bad like reported the RN to the DON because she kept giving me a rough time to run her meds or when people had falls in our assisted living. I can't do stuff like that because I'm lucky I even achieved something this far because it wasn't an option before. She told the staff I was a snitch and proceeded to make my life hell with other superiors....turned out she was an RN for only 6 months. I'm not stating that's why she was passing her work load more like she might not have known she was doing wrong or just knew I was replaceable. They wrote her up but it was too tense of a work environment to stay and I was making only $10.00 when my job before that paid $13.00 an hour.

I've always been the type to make sure someone was dry, clean, eating if they weren't on G-tubes and such, made beds, had a tidy room and were given time by me if they had problems and I always did this through my shifts. I mean people would come to me about how their family was putting them away and not visiting because of POA's and I'd let them vent. I learned peoples' life stories from the places I've worked and always was closer with the residents/patients because the staff was at best a disaster to work with. Some of the aides would leave their people soiled throughout the shift and do a quick clean up job come an hour before the end of their shift. I was the type to feel bad they had that aide and sneak them to their room and get them cleaned and changed....it's humane. I always knew I would be responsible if something happened to the person but I've never had an incident where I've had a fall or injury thankfully. We just have girls/guys here who would rather text throughout their shift than actually work and it makes others do more and you eventually get to the point you want the next step up because you're disappointed being compared to those girls.


Couple of points here: It is important to confront the individual directly before going to mgmt. Primarily because, at least in my experience, they very much get the point that you are not going to put up with their $hit if you take them aside and call them on their crap. The trick is keeping it professional. But any time I have had an issue with a staff member trying to push me around (primarily when I first started nursing) when I confront them on it, suddenly they leave me alone and are treating me with respect.

Secondly, I'm really surprised to hear that patients weren't being changed all day. That is really inconceivable to me because even on a busy ward all patients are checked and cleaned up as needed, turned and tucked in q2-3h. Usually more often than that, a patient that is noticeably soiled in any manner is attended to promptly and will have a complete change of linens. The aides do their rounds of the ward in an organized fashion, and nurses check on their patients every hour, minimum. Generally speaking, especially on nights, the charge nurse will check the patients periodically too.
 

Mizzvaine

Well-known member
2 more years and I will be done with BSN program. Nursing has been one of the hardest things ive done in my life... so far. But it is so rewarding.. I really enjoy taking care of my patients and making them feel better.

Last year, i started my clinical rotations and boy, it wasnt an easy transition. I used to get all A's in my prereqs and now, I get really happy when i get a B. you have to really use your critical thinking skills and almost everything has something to do with application of knowledge.

There were 70 students in our program.. and almost 20 people already got kicked out. You need to get 73% or higher in all your classes including Gen Ed classes. If you dont, you're out. It sucks.

Anyways,I didnt really plan on becoming a nurse.. but now that i know how it feels like to be one... 2 years or pre req +3 years of nursing... is definitely worth it.
smiles.gif
 

Lauren1981

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mizzvaine

Anyways,I didnt really plan on becoming a nurse.. but now that i know how it feels like to be one... 2 years or pre req +3 years of nursing... is definitely worth it.
smiles.gif


that's what i needed to hear because i'm just now finishing up prereq's and it gets SO overwhelming at times and at points discouraging. it's just so much stuff to know and i get paranoid that i won't make it through. this is why i ask these questions. you and most people i've heard from have referred to this being the hardest thing you've had to do but how the rewards will always out weigh the struggle to get there.

i get to apply this fall for the program so that i can start the one that begins january 2010. i'm in a&p II right now and i'm just like "F*CK!!" lol, because it's so much information!!! some days i want to pull my hair out but i just push through it. my lab is SUPER easy since it's all visual and hands on. plus, as crappy as the formaldehyde smells i find anatomy fasinating. we've been dissecting a pig for three weeks now (and i feel sad everytime i have to cut on it) and i love being able to see these things up close. i did a heart a few weeks ago and was just amazed by it.

thanks for that info
yes.gif
 

Mizzvaine

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lauren1981
that's what i needed to hear because i'm just now finishing up prereq's and it gets SO overwhelming at times and at points discouraging. it's just so much stuff to know and i get paranoid that i won't make it through. this is why i ask these questions. you and most people i've heard from have referred to this being the hardest thing you've had to do but how the rewards will always out weigh the struggle to get there.

i get to apply this fall for the program so that i can start the one that begins january 2010. i'm in a&p II right now and i'm just like "F*CK!!" lol, because it's so much information!!! some days i want to pull my hair out but i just push through it. my lab is SUPER easy since it's all visual and hands on. plus, as crappy as the formaldehyde smells i find anatomy fasinating. we've been dissecting a pig for three weeks now (and i feel sad everytime i have to cut on it) and i love being able to see these things up close. i did a heart a few weeks ago and was just amazed by it.

thanks for that info
yes.gif


It is pretty overwhelming.. haha. you'll be bombarded with new information that you have to put in your head for a short amount of time.. espcially if you have a quarter system in your university/college. Medical Surgical has been the hardest class I had ever! LOL. The exams killed me.. it's like all the choices are right but you have to pick the best one..

Trust me though... it gets easier! Next thing you know.. you're used to answering questions like that. It will take time.

Never cram when you get in the program. :p That's my advice for you... take days ahead of you exam to study your material..
thmbup.gif


And like you, there were days too when I just want to pull out all my hair! LOL. It gets really frustrating. I came to a point where I asked myself "WHY am i getting this kind of grade.. is it me or the program??" haha. It's pretty stressful.

Clinical Rotations saved my butt. In the nursing program, it's the only thing I enjoyed the most..
smiles.gif
I think you'll enjoy it too since you enjoy hands on skills. Ugh.. pig? that's crazy! We dissected cats in anatomy.
th_LMAO.gif


GOODLUCK!
 

glowy

Active member
Those pre-reqs are very important! I've had many concepts from A&P 1 and 2 return again and again.

I'm about to enter my last semester (!) of my BSN program. It has been a tough four years. Some people just don't understand that nursing school is tough and takes a huge amount of work. Don't get discouraged!

Always remember to take some breaks and step away. Some people let nursing school completely take over their lives, and get horribly burned out. I'm so happy I have chosen this profession, I know that's it was a great choice. Good luck!
 

NeonKitty

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by glowy
Those pre-reqs are very important! I've had many concepts from A&P 1 and 2 return again and again.



A&P will be your constant companion. From physiology you will build your medical/surgical knowledge (pathophysiology). You will be drilled on it in clinicals. Our clinical facilitators weren't satisfied with us carrying out nursing skills and assessments, you had to be prepared to answer questions on the disease process, the pharmacology, critical thinking and problem solving. This will repeat again in your final practicum. I've had two senior practicum students thus far and it was important to me that they learned all the pathophysiology as it pertained to the field.

Here's some examples: 1) How are you going to tell if your patient is becoming septic if you don't know what to look for?

2)Hmmm....patient's hemoglobin is dropping, blood coming out the NG...what is happening? You'd better know, because you're the one who has to call and wake the doc at 3 am, and you had better be able to convey your assessment and what you think the patient is doing if you wish to have the problem addressed. So there's blood pouring out the NG now, what are YOU going to do about it? What should you look for in your assessment? How does it compare to your initial assessment you did at the beginning of the shift? What do you anticipate might happen next? What do you need to do to prepare for that?


3) Patient falls out of bed in the middle of the night. You're the only one who hears the bang. You open the door to find the patient laying on the floor unconcious. You don't know much about this patient, or why he's laying there, but you remember his nurse commenting that he had an INR of 7.1. So what do you do and what do you assess for, what tests are you going to have to take your patient for?

This is how it goes. In an average night shift on the medical ward I used to work on, it was not unusual to have to have to deal with this many acute issues in a single shift.

Those are just some examples, and you're not expected to have all the answers right out of nursing school. But you certainly want to work toward having this knowledge level, because when you've been nursing 11 months and show up for a shift and discover they've made you charge nurse, you're short staffed, and everyone woring with you is a grad nurse (not yet licenced) its a perfect storm. Especially when you only have a Med III on call
th_rolleye0014.gif


This is why I love nursing. Its not for the weak, but you never stop learning, and every day you come to work it's different, and you never know what might happen.
 

Lauren1981

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by glowy
Those pre-reqs are very important! I've had many concepts from A&P 1 and 2 return again and again.


omg you won't BELIEVE how many people in my a&p classes I and II are always saying "we won't even have to know all this shit" and i'm like, uh we probably will! lol! i know i'm not going to be diagnosing patients but shit, i can't imagine a patient asking me about a disease/disorder and i'm like "um, let me back to you on that"

Quote:
Originally Posted by NeonKitty
A&P will be your constant companion. From physiology you will build your medical/surgical knowledge (pathophysiology). You will be drilled on it in clinicals. Our clinical facilitators weren't satisfied with us carrying out nursing skills and assessments, you had to be prepared to answer questions on the disease process, the pharmacology, critical thinking and problem solving. This will repeat again in your final practicum. I've had two senior practicum students thus far and it was important to me that they learned all the pathophysiology as it pertained to the field.

Here's some examples: 1) How are you going to tell if your patient is becoming septic if you don't know what to look for?

2)Hmmm....patient's hemoglobin is dropping, blood coming out the NG...what is happening? You'd better know, because you're the one who has to call and wake the doc at 3 am, and you had better be able to convey your assessment and what you think the patient is doing if you wish to have the problem addressed. So there's blood pouring out the NG now, what are YOU going to do about it? What should you look for in your assessment? How does it compare to your initial assessment you did at the beginning of the shift? What do you anticipate might happen next? What do you need to do to prepare for that?


3) Patient falls out of bed in the middle of the night. You're the only one who hears the bang. You open the door to find the patient laying on the floor unconcious. You don't know much about this patient, or why he's laying there, but you remember his nurse commenting that he had an INR of 7.1. So what do you do and what do you assess for, what tests are you going to have to take your patient for?

This is how it goes. In an average night shift on the medical ward I used to work on, it was not unusual to have to have to deal with this many acute issues in a single shift.

Those are just some examples, and you're not expected to have all the answers right out of nursing school. But you certainly want to work toward having this knowledge level, because when you've been nursing 11 months and show up for a shift and discover they've made you charge nurse, you're short staffed, and everyone woring with you is a grad nurse (not yet licenced) its a perfect storm. Especially when you only have a Med III on call
th_rolleye0014.gif


This is why I love nursing. Its not for the weak, but you never stop learning, and every day you come to work it's different, and you never know what might happen.


this further explains why i feel a&p are beyond necessary.

thanks ladies!!!!
 
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