I am being disciplined. What Now?

Every nurse at one time or another loathes the words "HR needs to see you" or "You need to go speak to the manager" even if you are well aware that you made a mistake, and that you are going to have to answer to it. There are some nurses who set themselves up to purposefully wreck havoc. This is not the norm. And if you are one of those nurses, you should seek help far outside a disciplinary process.

Most nurses are full of good intentions and always doing right by their patients. But contrary to any hero worship, we are all human. And we are bound to make mistakes. Human error to policy and procedure loopholes, chances are in one's career, they may have at least one "talking to". Read More

What would you do if you got overpaid?

The night of pay, most of the staff look up their pay stubs online. I looked mine up last night and noticed that I was over paid by 1500 dollars. For a moment I daydreamed about what I could do with the extra money. Of course, I never had any real intention of not notifying payroll. I showed my co-workers and to my surprise many of them advised me to not say anything. In fact, only one agreed that I was doing the right thing... Read More

Time for a vacation!! Where do you want to go?

Are you feeling run down? Are you tired of working x amount of hours? Tired of co-worker's constant complaints ... tired of all the policy changes ... tired of all the doctors who ignore your calls ... Then it may be time for a vacation. Where would be your perfect vacation? Read More

How do I get involved in Neonatal Research or Conferences?

I've been working NICU for quite a while. However, I'm getting tired of the hospital schedule. I'd love to get involved in neonatal research, or get involved in conferences for NICU nurses/staff. Any ideas on how I go about this? Anyone have any contacts? Read More

All the cool people work nights!

You know it's true! What's the BEST thing about working nights? For me- it is the absolute sense of teamwork. Every job I've ever had on nights, those people became my friends. We depend on each other when the going gets tough. And I think all night shift health care people share a common bond- you can meet one in an airport and instantly have something to talk about. How 'bout you? Read More

The raw truth about what NPs really do

I am a new RN working L&D at the bedside. Honestly nursing is no where near what I expected it to be. I come home every day crying. I feel stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted all of the time. I am VERY interested in continuing my education and becoming an ARNP. This time I want to be sure I know what I'm getting myself into before getting neck deep in school debt. So I want to know what are the pro's and con's of the job? If you could do it all over again what would you do? What area is the lowest stress? The lowest risk? Which area has the lowest rate of lawsuits? I want to know all of the complaints and all of the perks of being an NP. I just want to be prepared for reality because being a bedside RN slapped me in the face... HARD. Read More

Case Study: Fever

The following is a case involving a patient with fever. As the case evolves, I will present assessment findings, lab results, and diagnostic results in the hope of eliciting responses on how we would approach the care of this patient. I'm extending this to multiple parts and it may drag on for weeks. Please feel free to post your thoughts. Be nice to each other though, this is a free forum of expression but always remember to adhere to this site's TOS. Though this case is based on a real patient case from start to end, some facts have been altered to protect privacy. Read More...

Back in the day...

I was regaling a new grad the other night as to how things have changed in the 35+ years since I became a nurse. She was appalled to hear that:

• Gloves were for surgery. Only. Yes, we cleaned up messes and changed dressings/ started IVs with our bare hands
• The only 'treatment' for hypoplastic left heart was to place the baby in the mother's arms.
• We mixed our own TPN.
• Benadryl and ibuprofen were only available with a prescription.

PLEASE share you 'back in the day' stories! Read More

Dropping Magnet

I found this interesting. One of this regions largest health system's flagship hospital has dropped it's Magnet certification. They have been certified since 2004 and was the first hospital in the state, outside the state capital, to receive Magnet certification. They have a reputation of being an early adopter of technology and practice changes.

They have been struggling with profitability the last 3-4 years and have layed off around 200 people across the system, including all of their clinical nurse specialists and a bunch of managers.

Cost savings is the reason given to staff. Bedside nurses are pretty much indifferent and the public doesn't seem to know or care that they had a Magnet hospital in their town.

I wonder if this is an isolated case or if it will be a trend, or partial trend. Read More!

A Time to Heal

As hard as it is to admit even now---two months after my career crashed and burned in a rather spectacular flameout that my former co-workers are reportedly still talking about---there's something to be said about the experience of it. (Much of it isn't printable.....but I digress.) I didn't enjoy this defining event one bit, and will never look back on that time with any fondness. But it was a turning point which forced me to hit the Reset button and examine what was good and true in my life, and what needed to be taken out to the curb with the other trash. Read More

Funniest/weirdest/most unusual baby names

As many of you know by now, Kim Kardashian had her baby. As if you couldn't miss all the annoying coverage over every single detail. They named that poor kid North West. What are some of the funniest/weirdest/most unusual baby names you have seen. Could be a patient or some one you know in your personal life. And if you are someone with one of those odd names did you just learn to live with it or would you change it. Read More

Supplies a new grad ER Nurse should carry

I start in the ER next week. What are some items you can suggest that are important to carry with you (especially as a new grad)? So far I'm thinking:

• A small notepad to carry in my pocket
• A sharpie that I can attach to my badge
• A trauma shears
• A click pens with different colors
• A lock for my locker
• Extra pair of scrubs for my locker

What else? Read More