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        New Message Board Archives >> 2005 General Board Posts >> Any nurses out there?
        
(Message started by: kimmiedawn81 on Aug 15^th, 2005, 3:05pm)

Title: Any nurses out there?
Post by kimmiedawn81 on Aug 15^th, 2005, 3:05pm

Hey, I need some advice, I'm thinking about going into nursing school. All of you nurses, how do you like it?

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Frank_W on Aug 15^th, 2005, 3:10pm

I like nurses. :-X [smiley=laugh.gif]

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Svenn on Aug 15^th, 2005, 3:19pm

"Naughty Nurses"is my favorite [smiley=laugh.gif] [smiley=laugh.gif] [smiley=laugh.gif] [smiley=laugh.gif]

Svenn

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by ghost62 on Aug 15^th, 2005, 3:27pm

Yous guys ...

Ya beat me to it darn!!!!!

;;D ;;D ;;D

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by kimmiedawn81 on Aug 15^th, 2005, 3:43pm

How did I know that the whole "naughty nurse" thing was going to be brought up. LOL

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by ghost62 on Aug 15^th, 2005, 4:19pm

The naughty nurse always brings it up. :o :o :o ;) ;;D

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by LeLimey on Aug 15^th, 2005, 4:27pm

Kimmie, you know when you get to that point in your training where euthanasia is discussed???
Remember this!

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Kim Y. on Aug 15^th, 2005, 9:15pm

I love being a nurse. There is no job more rewarding then taking care of people in my honest opinion.

It is a job that isn't based on how much you make but more on the pure satisfaction of helping someone and bring a smile to someones face when life seems bleak.

Going for my RN now....

Go for it if you are a people person and love that line of work...

Kim

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by mcf69 on Aug 15^th, 2005, 9:36pm

I'll be starting my second year of nursing school in Sept, just trying to figure out why I didn't do it sooner. All I can say is GO FOR IT!!!!!!!

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Tim_Z on Aug 15^th, 2005, 9:40pm

Still going to school, not a nurse yet. It is harder than I thought it would be. I was a slacker in high school, now my GPA is 3.5. I am still trying for that 4.0 quarter. I took the plunge and am going for it. I hope things work out and you find what you are looking for.

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Charlie on Aug 16^th, 2005, 2:30am

Nurse's cafeteria at our hospital is a real candy store.....but I digress.... the good old days.

Actually, I know mostly male nurses. I have an aunt and uncle that are retired nurses. It makes a great marriage.

It's a good profession and you'll always have a job.

Charlie http://www.netsync.net/users/charlies/gifs/doctor.gif

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Jasmyn on Aug 16^th, 2005, 5:18am

My brother Adam were first a sarge in the army pm forces, then left and became a missionary, then farmed with tulips, left that and went into social work, became the headmaster of an orphanage, then left for England and became a male nurse that fly with the donor organs to the recipients. Finally he is happy! :)

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Frank_W on Aug 16^th, 2005, 8:08am

on 08/16/05 at 02:30:36, Charlie wrote:

It's a good profession and you'll always have a job.

Not to mention, sexy dress-up clothes for role playing... er... Like for Hallowe'en, I mean. :-X ;;D

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Jasmyn on Aug 16^th, 2005, 8:33am

on 08/16/05 at 08:08:51, Frank_W wrote:

Not to mention, sexy dress-up clothes for role playing... er... Like for Hallowe'en, I mean. :-X ;;D

Yo, Frank I agree you would look sexy in a nurses uniform!... Even for Hallowe'en ;)[smiley=laugh.gif]

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Frank_W on Aug 16^th, 2005, 8:51am

Thank you! The push-up bra does wonders for my bustline. [smiley=laugh.gif]

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Lizzie2 on Aug 16^th, 2005, 10:52am

I don't have the 'sexy' nurse's uniform because I wear scrubs every day. LOL

I am glad that I became an RN except some things do bother me now that I'm 'out in the real world.'

On our unit, they complain a lot. This can be disheartening - especially for new nurses. At least I have my friends that graduated from my program along with me - there are 4 of us on the neonatal unit, and we are all experiencing the same thing.

Not everyone orients equally. As most know here, I had to meet with the manager to be switched from my backup preceptor because of how awful she was. Things are now much better. :)

Also - sometimes (as has happened to my friend) they leave you to do things and don't check on you - may spend a large part of the day on the phone, etc. This leaves you either totally unable to get things done - or in a potential spot to do something really wrong! They should be assisting - especially when it is a brand new skill! In my case, I shouldn't have been given a kid who coded all day on my first day in the Intensive Care Nursery...LOL

And yes - like in anything - money and seniority do matter. However, while I understand that whole deal, I do NOT appreciate that when 4 nurses all the sudden decide they want Christmas off, and I'm scheduled to work Thanksgiving - all the sudden I'm told that my holiday is switched to Christmas. Well - I already planned to have that off - so I did have to say something! I was nervous about that, but it's fine....Now I'm working New Year's instead - which I don't care about. Of course I was told that since I don't have a husband or children, then working Christmas shouldn't matter... Yeah... ::)

Even if you are new, you have to learn to stand up for yourself or you will be walked on like a doormat. I did this about the preceptor issue, the holiday, and then a couple of other random small things before. I haven't been met with animosity when I have to say something (for the most part), which is a nice surprise. Yes, being new means that you have to start from the bottom and get last pick, etc - but it doesn't mean they should take that as an opportunity to screw you over just because other people don't want to work.

All of that aside - I'm very glad I became a nurse!! However, as I was walking to the train this morning, I thought to myself that perhaps I would enjoy going back to teaching piano lessons instead. ;) However - those thoughts are always passing! Keep the joy of the good memories and also the pain from the sad memories in your heart - and you'll never forget why you get up and do this every single day....

As the old saying goes, "Why do I keep banging my head against the wall? Because it feels sooooo good when I stop." ;;D

Best of luck to you!!!

Carrie :)

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Jonny on Aug 16^th, 2005, 5:53pm

on 08/16/05 at 10:52:06, Lizzie2 wrote:

Also - sometimes (as has happened to my friend) they leave you to do things and don't check on you - may spend a large part of the day on the phone, etc. This leaves you either totally unable to get things done - or in a potential spot to do something really wrong! They should be assisting - especially when it is a brand new skill! In my case, I shouldn't have been given a kid who coded all day on my first day in the Intensive Care Nursery...LOL

Yo Kid,

Dont ever let yourself be put in that position again, you hear me?..........you owe it to that baby that someone is there with you in that situation, I know its not your job to make sure your boss is there, but Speak Up!

Whoever left you alone should be fucking fired!!!

Love ya, kid :-*

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Kris_in_SJ on Aug 16^th, 2005, 7:51pm

As a former nurse, I can assure you that you will have job security and good pay far into the future.

As a former nurse, I can also assure you that if you are a hospital nurse, at some point you will burn out on what you do and want to move on. For many, that's to a doctor's office or into administration. For me, it was into a new career.

This doesn't happen to everyone. Thank God for the hospital nurses who still love what they do after 30 years. But for most of us, 15 years of working holidays, nights, weekends, etc. while the rest of our families are enjoying regular lives becomes a bit overwhelming. Sorry - spoken like a true "burn-out."

It's a truly rewarding profession, and like many who leave the field, I'm still helping others through nonprofit work. The heart for other people never leaves.

Kris

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Lizzie2 on Aug 16^th, 2005, 9:11pm

on 08/16/05 at 17:53:29, Jonny wrote:

:) I'm pretty good at saying something when in over my head, but I know my best friend there is not so much. She's the one who royally got screwed over by the nurse on the phone. Basically, on Friday, she worked 8 hours (I think) and she said the nurse was on the phone for about 7 of those hours. It's true - I've seen that happen - and then yesterday that's the same nurse who told me that Christmas doesn't matter because I don't have kids or a husband. I'm not overly fond of her!

So then today - not long after I wrote that first message - I was back up there taking care of my ONE kid with a trach and on a vent....wouldn't you know - this kid has been fine yesterday and this morning - and as soon as I touch him to do anything after I got back from lunch, his heart rate drops to the 30s and he desats to the 50%s. OOOooooook...so that's when I pull the vent off and start bagging him.... My preceptor was at my side - thank goodness...as was respiratory, another nurse, and 2 residents - then the attending as it kept going on and on and on and...............yes, he's still alive - although I don't know how after this day.

So this persisted for the last 7 hours of my shift - holy never wanted to chop my head off so bad in my life. My right eye was about sealed shut by the time I left. His 3pm care/feed were late because he was getting an EEG at the time - so when that was done, I was working on his meds, and he got his 3pm care at 4:30 - which is frustrating b ecause he gets care every 3 hours. I wanted to ask my preceptor so many questions - but she was on the phone for like 2 straight hours.

Meanwhile, I'm making this new respiratory therapist stay at the bedside while I suction him, change the diaper, etc because if I touch him, he nearly dies. I did not even want to do a single thing to this kid - if I tried to check his blood pressure with an automatic cuff on the monitor, he would desat to the point of needing to be bagged with high flow O2....this did not make me feel comfortable about things that required more than just filling a tiny cuff with air! :-/

I seriously wanted to cry.

If I wasn't off tomorrow, I would call out - I need a break.

And you're right - there is no excuse for putting a kid in danger - fortunately I knew what to do, and I was more proactive about getting help and we have respiratory on the unit 24/7 - they lived in our room today as we had 3 kids doing this very same thing.

Kris - isn't it funny that you got a new career after nursing and nursing IS my new career?

I really do love it - I just probably will never sleep at night until I feel more confident that I have not screwed something up in some big way!

I actually felt less nervous working in the ER than I do in the NICU! Something about these tiny little infants that have no 'voice' can be really quite frightening!

Still worth it just the same :)

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Frank_W on Aug 17^th, 2005, 7:46am

Agree with Jonny. If something makes you uncomfortable or is beyond the scope of your training, STOP. Seek help from another nurse. If the person responsible for training you is too busy talking on the phone about her manicure that she had last week, that's just bullshit. >:(

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by CHTom on Aug 17^th, 2005, 10:33am

If that nurse can get away with talking on the phone for 7 of her 8 hours shift, it seems to me that she has some sort of clout with the administration and she may be very good at bullshitting and ass kissing and they probably think that she is the best nurse since Florence Nightengale. My advice, Lizzie, is to steer clear of her and don't get into a power struggle because you, as a new nurse, will most likely lose and be out of a job. Continue doing what you are doing, i.e., asking for help when you need it, asking advice, etc., but avoid a confrontation with HER at all costs. It is sad but true that in any organization there are people who aren't much good at what they do, but are VERY GOOD at ingratiating themselves with the powers that be and wind up being believed when they lie, making others look bad so that they look good and who's word is taken as gospel by the powers that be. Keep your cool and don't trust her and don't discuss your personal life with her. You won't be under her thumb forever, so keep that in mind. I hate cliches, but often it is not what you know but who you know that matters. Hang in there!

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Lizzie2 on Aug 17^th, 2005, 10:45am

Definitely the truth! Well - fortunately that nurse is not my preceptor - she is, however, my best friend's preceptor! I don't particularly like her (and I don't gather she cares for me or Amy much either), but at least I don't have to really work with her!

Now ordinarily my preceptor is excellent - I wonder that maybe yesterday was just an 'off' day. Fine day to pick, though! No joke I didn't even want to look at this kid the wrong way.....or he'd be halfway to heaven before I even got up from my chair and walked 10 feet to his bedside.

As of last night, I was so spazzed out about everything that I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it to my neuro appt this morning without stabbing a hemostat through my right eye. LOL Somehow, here I still am - went to the neuro and all.....which means that I still had to go to the 8th floor of Jefferson...even on my day off - I totally can't get away from that place! (It now even haunts me in my nightmares... LOL)

So now I'm going to go eat lunch and sit and wait for comcast to show up and install my cable - they're to be here anytime from 8am to noon today - and that leaves them 18 minutes. ;)

Happily enjoying my day off,
Carrie :)

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Charlie on Aug 17^th, 2005, 5:47pm

Glad you're getting a day off. I agree with most of what has been said here. Jonny has a way with words.

Someone there has to hear from you and how this affects you.

Keep ranting. It's good for you.

Charlie

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Kris_in_SJ on Aug 17^th, 2005, 6:58pm

Charlie's right - if we can't rant here, nowhere is safe!

Hang in there, Carrie. Funny - I was an ER nurse for 15 years in a county hospital. Saw more horrible trauma than I care to think about. Despite the constant onslaught of gunshot wounds, overdoses, heart attacks, etc., I knew I could handle it. The one area of specialty I never thought I could handle was the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. I admire you and all those who are entering the profession these days. The rest of us need you!

Kris

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by nancyc on Aug 18^th, 2005, 10:12pm

I love being an RN...the profession can be cut throat sometimes with the nurses...but the patients are wonderful and that is the reason I stay in the field anyway! The hours can be long though...being pulling 65 a week for awhile now...BUT GO FOR IT...you wont regret it...smiles,nancyc

Title: Re: Any nurses out there?
Post by Jasmyn on Aug 19^th, 2005, 7:09am

Hi, Nancy great to see you here, missed you!