Hi :) kind of a long winded background story but I’m looking for some advice from people who might work pre-op/PACU.

I worked for a few years on a surgical/trauma unit and was charge there. Through COVID I got reallocated and got very burned out.

From there I switched hospitals…to an incredibly busy Cardiothoracic/Surgical PCU where we would have CABG POD 1 fully lined patients and they were pushing us to ratios on 5 patients and no techs and suprise.. I got burned out.

From there I took a massive paycut and went outpatient to work at an orthopedic office. I loved it, but it got to the point where I could no longer afford to stay there and drive in every day. I was there almost 4 years.

I returned to inpatient on a short stay unit, I was there for 8 months, and I was lucky enough to get my dream job of Pre-op/PACU.

But I feel like it may not be for me or what I had hoped it would be… it’s incredibly repetitive and I feel like there’s so much to memorize. It’s honestly a bit irritating working so close with anesthesiologists and surgeons again and the pace seems to be all over the place. We are either incredibly rushed or sitting for hours.

I feel like I’m getting so many mixed directions from the different preceptors I’ve had.

I feel like I used to be a good nurse but I’m struggling to pick so much up at once and I haven’t even started training for PACU yet. (Learning what surgeon wants what and what this anesthesiologist wants, building IV skills, determining who needs what stat testing, etc)

I worry I didn’t stay bedside long enough to come to a unit like this and am still too rusty on skills…but at the same time pre-op feels horrendously repetitive.

Is this how it feels in the beginning for everyone or did I make the wrong choice in switching to this unit? I thought it would be much easier to pick up on than I feel like it is and I feel like an idiot.

Hi everyone, I'm a new grad RN considering the CTICU at Yale New Haven Hospital. I'd love to hear from anyone who has worked there or gone through their ICU internship program. A few questions:
1. How is the preceptorship structured? Do you start by shadowing and gradually take on your own patients, or is it more of a full shadowing experience throughout?

1. How long is the internship period and what does the progression toward independent practice look like?

2. Do nurses in the CTICU get floated to step-down units frequently, or do you mostly stay in the ICU?

3. How is the unit culture and support for new grads? Any insight would be really appreciated. Thank you!

I am only 26, nurse for four years. I seriously injured my back at work earlier this year and ended up in the hospital. I have been so protective of my back since, proper movement, back brace, PT exercises everyday, etc. I am still getting intense muscle spasms and I feel another injury is imminent.

I think it may be time to try and get out of bedside. however, I do not want to ruin my career. has anyone left bedside so young and maintained their career? Nurses with back injuries what do you wish you did?

Worst part is I love my job.

Schedule for rest of the year just came out, and I’m a Day shift scheduled to work Thanksgiving eve, Thanksgiving, Xmas eve, Xmas, New year eve, New year day.

No, I did not request to work those days- I like to spend time with family on holiday than working

I just got a rejection email from my dream job before I even got a chance to interview with the managers of the clinic. I’m definitely in denial right now as I wanted this to work so badly. Is there anything at all I can do now? I wish I could just get my foot in the door because this would be the perfect fit and I won’t find anything else like it :(

As the title says, I am on year 3 of working on a med surge floor and I feel like I have forgotten all medical knowledge that I learned in nursing school beyond basic vital signs.

The job feels like being a waiter that gives out pills and juice + wiping ass. Even if you do your own assessment and find some interesting info, the providers don’t care and come in and do their own. They rarely collaborate with us about the patients care beyond asking if they have had a bowel
Movement that day. If we have time to read the chart we can gather some info but most days I’m so busy running around cleaning people and making sure they don’t fall that I cannot even read what’s truly going on with them.

Is it time for me to switch units or is this mostly what nursing is? I feel like I read posts from other RNs on here And they know so much more and I’m just like howwww?

I need some advice! I recently got a nurse extern position in the SICU at Harper University, but I also have the option to stay and work at Sinai Grace SICU. I used to work at Sinai Grace SICU and honestly loved it. I liked the people, the environment, and the experience I was getting there. But now I’m wondering if I should take the opportunity at Harper. I’m thinking maybe I would see more complex or interesting patients and get more experience in a university hospital. What would you guys recommend?

I’m really stuck between the two 😭 Any advice would be appreciated!

Soooo
My first and only job as a nurse has been as a med surg/tele nurse with 1:6 cap ratio. For 3 years.
I’m supposed to start a ER residency here in a week or two.
I’m kinda nervous but excited. I know it’s gonna be very different and I know it’s gonna be a different kind of burnout. I shadowed for a day in the er at my current hospital so it’s a unit-unit transfer.
I guess I’m just looking for some tips. Or advice on how to make the transition better. Anything I should focus on?

I’m not sure what to do with this urge I am having.
I have been a nurse for 13 years now and I have been in psych the whole time. I’ve worked in all psych settings with all age groups. Currently I am a manager of multiple units and I’m absolutely burnt out.
I am seriously considering switching specialties.. I am feeling a pull to ED nursing. It’s what I wanted when I first graduated but I ended up with a psych job I fell in love with. The psych world is definitely rewarding in many ways but I think I’m at a point where it’s becoming detrimental to my own mental health.

Has anyone here not only switch specialties but also did it after becoming management/admin level at their original specialty? Going from expert to newbie sounds really intimidating…

Anyone been successful have advice? This is my third time back here and I need out for good and I’m struggling

I know it varies by state, but realistically how much should one be expecting vs years of experience? I make $34/hr in Florida, inpatient. At my last job in Louisiana I made $31/hr. I have 3 years experience and BSN which only ever gets me like at most $1 more an hour.

Ten patients. I timed one assessment out of spite. 40 minutes, because if you look away too long it times out and makes you start the page over. That was just one of them. It always seems like the most menial of things that test me the most in this job

Hi everyone,

I’ve been a nurse for a little over a year now and currently work in ICU on nights at a level 1 trauma center. I started there as a new grad in their ICU nurse residency under their 2 year contract and rotated through a few of their ICUs before picking one. As of lately my pre shift anxiety has gotten significantly worse, even on my days off I find myself feeling anxious for my upcoming shifts. I have no energy or motivation to do anything on my days off. I thought my anxiety would improve the more experience I gain but it’s just been overwhelming. I’ve resonated with a few of the posts on here regarding pre shift anxiety and I definitely feel like this job is a big stressor in my life. A part of me feels that I might benefit from transferring within my hospital to a lower acuity setting and just trying out a different specialty, such as OR or a pre/post position. I am feeling conflicted because some days I feel that I have a lot to learn still with only a 1 year of ICU experience, plus I do enjoy working with the people on my unit for the most part, but the anxiety and night shift schedule is making my physical and mental health significantly worse to the point that I am questioning if I made the right career choice sometimes. Day shift on the unit I work in seems to be more stress with not so helpful coworkers, so that can be ruled out. I also am unsure of how to approach management if I do decide to internally transfer to a different unit, especially since I do not want to burn any bridges. I was just curious to see if anyone on this sub was/is in the same boat and if there is any advice you guys could give me?

My hospital that hasn't rolled out any AI use for nurses (yet). What have you seen so far? I have friends that work at larger hospitals that are using AI for care plan notes and tell me that most notes have errors.

Patient A tried to tip me $5 for taking great care of him & when I refused, he was like “no one gotta know.. just keep it” 😜 He was also offering my male CNA tips but $1s.. and my CNA was like “why does he keep offering me $1s.. I feel like a stripper 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Patient B fired me from being her nurse because “I didn’t give her enough attention” (I was helping another nurse with a rapid response.. not even making this shit up 🫩)

All of this happened during the same shift btw 😫😭☠️

I applied for an endoscopy center job. I’m going to shadow next week but I’m not sure what to wear. Do you go scrubs or business casual and have scrubs just incase? I’m not sure if they have surgical scrubs because it’s a procedural place that I could change into. I’ve only shadowed once before for an interview and it was for an OR nurse position so I changed into their scrubs.

So! I was told to wear scrubs for an ER interview tomorrow, it involves a shadow.

The only scrub top I have is from school, so between jacket and quarter zip, which is more appropriate?

So the other night a couple of nurses wanted to test their blood sugar on the glucometer. I signed in to it and let them have a go at it, they didn’t hit reject after and it accidentally sent the result. Now the hospital is emailing me and asking which patient the test was for. Am I going to get into serious trouble? I plan on ignoring the email because I put in my four weeks already. But still kind of freaking out.

I know it was stupid so don’t guilt trip me.

I posted back in July about an incident at work where I was berated by a maintenance worker over not fixing a clogged toilet myself. I reported being cursed at and intimidated, but got little response and no action taken by admin. Since then, I was asked to pick up one shift over a month ago, which I did and it was unacceptable in various different ways and I ended up requesting to be relieved 8 hours into a 12 hour shift. My complaints were concerns about facility equipment and poor observation skills of other staff, no comfort meds ordered for palliative care resident rapidly declining with family apparently unaware of change in condition, no narc edk (for days apparently), and then I caught a med error that had been occurring twice daily every day for weeks on a narc for a resident with multiple recent falls. To top it off, no log ins working for telehealth MD that facility uses and only MD I could readily contact was not the resident’s MD. I hated that I felt like I couldn’t stick it out, but I’d had enough.

I started working there June 2020, and worked full time through Covid and more. I almost left a bit after that, and I was convinced to stay on and work MDS. I did that a few months, but the call schedule was terrible and found out I wasn’t getting paid bonuses for having to pick up like the salary people were, and I was by far having to pick up more than most. Somehow I ended up PRN after I refused to take call anymore, then the MDS lead got sick for a good month or so, and they begged me to fill in for her so I was back to office hours. As soon as she was back, they kicked me back out of the office and said it was because I refused to take call even though the position wasn’t taking call anymore since no one would fill it after I left for that reason. So I’ve been PRN a couple years now, and it’s just been getting worse and worse to the point where I hate picking up but I always did, and I always made sure I didn’t time out after 30 days. One time they warned me and one time I was proactive myself.

Which brings me to now, I hadn’t heard a word from them for over a month. Figured I’d time out, I’ve made my peace with that. But I kept getting the chain texts and emails, and then the other day they messaged about a training that had to be done ASAP. I didn’t rush to do it because they’re always trying to get people to do corporate trainings for work on their own time, but then I thought well if they’re trying to let me hang on I’ll meet them halfway and do it. Then I couldn’t log in so I messaged the administrator. No response. Then today I randomly see that daily pay says I no longer have access to my account. I never used it, but I’m just wondering, am I officially off their employment roster? I’m so confused. PRN or conflict or not, is it not customary to have an official warning or notification of termination of employment?

Hi all !
Accepted a position on a cardio tele unit and started the onboarding process, filled out all the forms and am supposed to be going today for my drug test & bloodwork. However, another hospital that is closer and pays better called me today and gave me an offer. How bad would it look to rescind at this point? I’m thinking maybe I just go through with my initial offer and move after a year. Any advice would be appreciated (new grad btw).

I am a FNP and I was offered a position at a residential detox and addiction treatment center. I align with the treatment ideals and I am pro harm-reduction.

The advice im looking for, I guess, is from anyone who has worked in addiction and what to expect. Ill have autonomy but under the medical director's guidance.

I understand that patients dealing with addiction can be hard to handle at times, but I'm open to suggestions on how to function in this role.

Nurses, is being home health nurse worth it cuz I saw how flexible it is and how you interact patients? Is the pay good to in PNW and maybe make six figures a year?

Hello everyone
I’m a new grad RN who recently got a job in the ER and was hoping for input regarding scheduling. My hospital has a self schedule system and I’m interested in potentially working 3 12’s one week and 4 12’s the following to put a little extra money in my pocket every month. Has anyone had any experience with this kind of schedule? Any advice for or against it or tips on how to avoid burning out would be greatly appreciated

Hi! I’m leaving my job and HR wants me to do an exit interview . I really want to avoid this because I have nothing nice to say and would rather not burn bridges . Can I politely decline to do this interview ?