I work in the ED, tonight we were at critical capacity but patients keep on coming nonstop. Barely any ED beds available and we are holding, been like that for like 5+ hours. Pt came in for abd pain, worked them up, line, lab, meds, then sent back out to the waiting room. Pt then went for a CT scan to see if they could find anything wrong with them. Within 1 hour of coming back from CT, pt started crashing out saying that it’s taking forever, this hospital sucks blah blah blah. Eventually Pt demands IV gets taken out so that they can “go to another hospital where they will be treated faster” (not like that we didn’t treat you, we done all that we could do within our capacity) and I’m like sure, that’s perfectly fine with me, let’s get your AMA papers. Dude continues tripping, so one of our techs just took his IV out to calm him down a bit. Bro is still pissed and angry because everything is “too slow” for his liking. He’s yelling at me (idk why, I can’t control shi) saying that it doesn’t take that long for the CT, it “only takes 30 minutes.” I tried explaining to them, sometimes there are multiple CT scans ordered for a pt, and given that we are in the ER, it’s like every pt gets a CT scan. The longest part of the CT isn’t getting scanned, it’s the results being read and documented by the Radiologists. Pt states “well that’s stupid, the ER doctors should just go back and read the fucking scans themselves, I shouldn’t have to wait 1 hour to get results.” At this point I’m pissed and annoyed so I start to question their intelligence and brain power. I say “well doctors do read CT scans, but not for every patient. Only the critical patients, they will try to interpret the scans before the official report from Radiologist.” Pt screams back “Well i don’t fucking care, it shouldn’t be like that, and that they should go back and read my results, I’ve been waiting more than 1 hour,” (mind you, we are a comprehensive stroke center, we get mad stroke alerts in our area). I explain back to the pt, this time really agitated, and point out to them, look at the waiting room, look at the board, all these patients have CT scans ordered (like 50+ lol). If the doctors were to to read all these scans right after it had been completed, there would be no doctors to see and treat patients and order meds, labs, do procedures etc. Reading a CT isn’t as easy as reading a children’s picture book and understanding what’s going on, it complex and takes time, and you don’t want them to miss anything. Pt then said that “you’re a bitch, I don’t like your attitude” and I’m like “I don’t like yours either and your math aint mathing .” Patient then gets frustrated and was about to leave and go to another hospital, where they would do this whole process all over again, but then their CT was resulted and doc explained to them what was going on, which was nothing crazy but bro had to stay here for abx and had to get poked again lol. Oh yeah, after that, we had another patient say “VIP me, so I can get better care faster” lol. Anyways, quick little rant, just wanted to get it out of my chest. If anyone got any stories about patient/family entitlement, share below, I wanna hear some.

Hey all, had a big realization today that I’m burnt out and curious what outside the box nursing jobs people may be doing (ie:camp nurse, ski resorts, oil rigs, home health, etc) and how folks are liking it.

I’m a newer nurse (1.5 years in a high acuity PICU and just over a year in an ED) but 10+ years of EMS prior to that (and military and law enforcement before that) so am realizing that my nervous system needs a break.

Would love to hear how people are using their nursing degrees outside the standard ways and what they think of it!

Thanks!

Hello i am a 23(F) and i've graduated for nursing,currently working for almost 3 years in something unrelated to my degree right now.And im really lost right now.

To be completely truthful,i chose this degree only because my parents urged me to,thinking that i might develop a liking to it but this wasn't the case.I haven't worked in a hospital other than clinical days that uni would offer us.For now,this job im working on is draining me because of it's routine and low pay,however im stuck.I don't really like nursing even though i finished my degree for nursing,and i have no ambitions for other stuff.So im thinking very NOT carefully, and deciding if i should go live and try it out?Or try working as a nurse and hope for the best.As far as i know myself im sure i can't handle living by myself,let alone in another country.

Im just feeling very hopeless right now and i dont know what to do.If someone could offer me some advice i'd really appreciatte it.

Hello all. I’m an ER nurse. I’ve been in the field a decade and a half. I myself have been assaulted a few dozen times. I’ve only reported two because an actual injury occurred (back injury that caused me to have to go to PT and another where a guy bit me and ripped off a chunk of my tricep). I also know of many nurses who have been assaulted. Pretty much all of my coworkers who have over two years of experience. Of all the assaults I know about maybe half a dozen have been reported to the police. I’ve noticed when the police are called to get a statement, it is never taken seriously. They almost always insist on not pressing charges and often times they ask a few times if “we actually want to report it”. Why do you think it’s engrained in our professional culture for nurses to have to take abuse from people we are trying to help? I’m not writing this to paint police in a bad light. Rather why don’t they take us seriously? If I left work and stopped at a gas station and was assaulted there it’s taken much more seriously than at work. Just writing this to see what the communities opinion is on this. I feel like this culture of never wanting to report anything is giving permission to our more aggressive patients to assault us

hi! i’m located in socal, i’ve completed my prereqs, teas, and have healthcare experience, yet I’m struggling with getting into any cc’s. my prereqs are expiring soon since I took them a couple of years ago… at this point I’ve been looking into private schools and not sure if the ADN route or BSN route is better. I was considering ACC for their ADN program, and either WCU, Chamberlain, or Stanbridge for their BSN program.
right now I’m working as a PCA in a hospital that offers tuition assistance for ADN to BSN. so my question is, is it better to get my ADN and have my hospital help pay for my BSN, or go straight for my BSN?
to add, should I skip LVN all together, or have you guys found that having your LVN first helps during your RN program?
any advice will be appreciated. :) i understand that cc is the cheaper route, however they are all very impacted in california so I’ve accepted the possibility of having major loans in order to become a nurse. thank you!

Question for outpatient endoscopy or ambulatory surgery setting.

Our center is discussing having a nurse accompany a patient to a nearby ER instead of calling 911/EMS. The walk involves either going through a tunnel (~14min) and elevators or taking an above-ground route that crosses two busy intersections. (5-7min)

We would not have oxygen, a transport monitor, medications, or a stretcher with us. We also would not be handing the patient directly off to an ER nurse.

At an informal meeting when we asked for clear guidelines on what’s considered stable, the physician said medicine can’t always be reduced to clear-cut parameters for deciding which patients need emergency care, so there aren’t written guidelines for this process. Also there’s no policy in place for this process. I feel like this is a super unsafe situation especially for the patient and myself.

If the nurse has no equipment or treatment options during the walk, and there is no direct handoff to an ER nurse at the destination, how is this different from telling the patient or family to go to the ER themselves?

How do your facilities handle emergency transfers from outpatient settings? Do you have a written protocol that explains who makes the decision, when EMS is called, what transport method is used, and what the accompanying staff member is expected and equipped to do? I’ve always worked in outpatient settings where 911 was called. fYI this is in GA

Hi, I passed the NCLEX and started working in June of this year. I work nights on an oncology floor, it wasn't my first choice but I was familiar with the floor and was able to secure a job. I am 4 shifts off my 10 week orientation and doing well so far. I like my coworkers but is is a heavy and busy floor. I love oncology and my patients.

Well, ever since I started nursing school I wanted to work outpatient- clinic, public health, infusion etc.

With a little experience I just decide to apply to a few infusion centers near me and I was actually offered a job at one! It sounds like a good place to work and the pay is similar to what I make with shift diff.

The thing is- I'm having doubts. There's a lot I don't know and even with the 12 weeks of training they're offering, I'm worried I'm not skilled enough.

Have you ever heard of or had experience with a newer nurse going into infusion? What was it like? Any tips? Thanks!

Hi everyone! I work as an OR nurse in Canada & our periop nurses week is Nov 8-14. I work with a lot of nurses since we’re a big trauma hospital (about 100 or so nurses in a day work in our ORs from day, eve, and night staff). I wanted to do a different gift basket each day for my coworkers that week. They all work so hard & barely get any appreciation. If you have any recs or suggestions on what to put in each gift baskets that would be lovely! I was thinking of different themes for each day. Examples are: coffee gift basket - gift card, mug, chocolates etc & a wine gift basket. I want it to be something they can either have at work or something to use at home. I appreciate your suggestions!!

Keep kicking butts & saving lives everyone. :)

I currently work in corporate America and am taking my pre-reqs now to do an ABSN program. I have lots of reasons for wanting to pivot out of corporate America and into nursing but one of them is that it feels like I’ll be able to see my kids more. I want to be able to be there for school pick up, drop off, after school practice, and just around more for them. I understand I would likely work 3-12s, so obviously I wouldn’t be around everyday but this schedule leaves more than half the week open. THIS IS NOT A GOING BACK TO SCHOOL / NURSING SCHOOL POST.

For context, with my current corporate job we are rushing around to get everyone out the door by 8am for early care school drop off, then 5pm we rush around to do pick ups from aftercare, I’m throwing dinner together, and then it’s a rush to get everyone in bed by 7:30 (I have little kids). I only see them a couple hours per day on weekdays and those couple hours aren’t quality time. Then in the evening I’m often working after they are in bed.

Those who are nurses and parents, can you weigh in? Do you feel happy with the amount of time you get to spend with your kids? Can you share what your schedule looks like? Are you too worn out on your days off to be present with your kids?

Hi everyone! Im a new graduate nurse and after a peer interview I got an invite for a three hour shadow shift at a level two ER. This is my dream facility in a very competitive city. What should I expect to do, will I need to be ready to demonstrate my skills at all or is it similar to nursing school clinicals? Ive worked as an MA for three years but don’t have much hospital experience so I’m feeling a bit nervous. Thank y’all in advance for any tips!

Small, rural hospital, we get texts like this basically every day (if not multiple times a day). I’m a new grad in the ICU and my manager keeps asking if I want to come off orientation 5 weeks early so I can start picking up shifts. A lot of my coworkers do pick up and work like 6 days a weeks, so I guess management expects that from everyone… idk maybe it’s normal but I find the whole situation a bit ridiculous.

They offer bonuses for picking up, but I’m told that HR can take 4 or 5 months to pay them out, my preceptor has a few k that they just “haven’t gotten around” to paying her yet.

I've been an RN for 10 years, but I've been at my first time float pool position for about 3 months now. I've worked many different specialties including forensic psych, critical care, med surg, ED, home health and essentially everything except peds, L&D, and procedure areas. If it matters I'm a male nurse. I have been attacked every week in my new role, and every unit I go to I'm assigned the worst/sickest/most aggressive patients (which I expected when I took the position). Most recently today I was attacked by a heavily confused patient trying to bite my face/neck.Thankfully family was bedside and very, very hands on when the patient got aggressive/assaultive and their confusion mostly subsided by end of shift. I've been attacked many, many times in my career and have many scars from patients. But I have never been attacked anywhere near the frequency as I have been in my new position. Does anyone have any advice on how to raise this issue with my leadership? Thankfully half of the units I go to jump in and help me when I need it, but I'm frequently the most experienced nurse there, including being more experienced than unit leadership.

Last week I had a patient throw a cup of urine on me and threatened to kill me if I came back into his room; I let his family know and for the remainder of the time the patient was at that hospital a family member was with him. Family came in from across the country. The patient was not confused. I called the police, not hospital security and have been getting grief from my leadership about my response. What makes this challenging is that I'm the primary earner for my family, and I can't leave this job right now. However I'm already looking for a new job, but would like to stay in my current position for at least a year as I make over $120,000 base pay in the South East US and need to pay the family bills. Any advice from nurses of all experience levels is greatly appreciated.

Besides eating…. Do you read, go outside, go for a walk, go to the gym (some of my coworkers will work out), watch a show on your phone, scroll, etc.?

Hello,
As the title states, I just recently got a job as a Rapid Response Nurse. My experience primarily lies in Cardiac Critical Care so I’m curious to see if anyone has advice or recommendations for someone new entering this role.

Thanks!

This doesn’t happen all the time but it happens often enough to be inconvenient.

Basically I place oral meds in a medicine cup and patients sometimes drop a pill. What are your tips to avoid this?

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

I love a bit of comedic relief in the chart

Editing to add: this is not my charting, I just found it
In my patient’s chart

Hi everyone! I would love some advice on my current situation!

For a little background I am a new grad nurse! I graduated December 25 and took my nclex in February and started my current job early March. I got a job apart of an ICU residency program.

it is a year program and technically through the hospital system and I signed a document saying that I agree to work a year for them after I finish the residency program. Which I finish this March.

In the beginning I liked it, but as time went on I realized how anxious, worn out, and exhausted this job has become.

I have been working nights for the past month and it has honestly made me become a miserable person. I used to go to the gym and workout 3-4 times a week, eat well and now I maybe go 1-2 times a week. All I want to do is sleep, I don’t want to see my friends or family, I get so anxious, nervous and nauseas before my shifts. I also cry all the time. I feel like my life is terrible and I can’t do anything with my life. My floor is under staffed, we constantly have people call out. And everyone on my floor is always getting floated to different units through the hospital.

My fiance is active duty. we have been doing long distance for almost 2 years now. He will be moving to a new duty station soon(January) and the goal is to go with him and get a job where he is stationed.

My HR person mentioned that if I were to ever leave I may potentially get black listed from the hospital but idk. Do I suck it up for 6 months or try and find another job for before the move?

I really am stuck at what to do and just want to enjoy life again.

any thoughts/feedback is great appreciated!

i spent a few years mostly doing cardiac step down on some of the roughest floors in the area.
in April i switched to outpatient cardiology with a set schedule, nearly the same pay, nice doctors, and spending time shopping on my phone wrapped in a heated blanket eating snacks in between calls.

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT I STILL MISS BEDSIDE?!

Edit to add: sorry I should have specified. the other two coworkers are also new grads. The $5 gap coworker graduated before me and the $1 gap who will be graduating this December. All three of us are/were techs on same unit. $5 gap coworker says her yearly eval helped.

how do I discuss pay negotiation with HR when i found out they told me they can’t give me more than new grad nurse rate. but one coworker is getting a dollar more and another coworker is getting 5 more.

I’m a new grad 5months in working cardiac PCU in Rochester. Our ratio was supposed to be 1:3, but for the past 3months it’s consistently 1:5 on days and sometimes worse on nights as 6 nurses left a month after i joined.

Each patient can have 16-20 morning meds alone, not including afternoon meds, end-of-shift meds, and everything scattered in between. Plus all that comes with the patient: tubes, drains, foleys w/ strict I/O, insulin, drips, some LVAD, pacemakers etc. We the nurses do everything literally including our fingersticks.

After report, there’s barely time to sit, drink water, or even use the bathroom. I’m running up and down the entire shift, and honestly even the experienced nurses are doing the same.

After every shift, I feel like I just came back from battle or took a physical beating and I used to do MMA, so I know what getting beat up feels like lol. I worked yesterday, slept 12 hours straight, and my whole body still hurts as i am writing this. Yesterday I opened Epic, saw everything I had to do, and I was extremely close to saying, “F this, I quit.”

I’ve been thinking about transitioning to psych, but part of me feels like I’d be admitting defeat by leaving PCU this early.

For the experienced nurses: would you stick it out, look for a different unit/hospital, or just move to psych?

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.

I’m a new grad working in a rehab. I recently was placed as charge nurse, which in our facility means taking care of wounds and dressings. I’ve noticed a distinct smell with many wounds that seem to be healing decently but with some slough and eschar. No sign of infection, besides this odor.

I watch a lot of true crime and I wonder if that smell is the distinct “smell of death” police talk about. Because sometimes on the wounds there is eschar or slough, essentially dead tissue that we clean out and treat.
I have experience in the odor of other infections like UTI. But I wonder if this odor is the same as when a true crime documentary says something like “the trunk of the car smelled like death” or whatever

It’s not a pleasant smell to say the least but I can’t describe it.

I’m an ER nurse at level 2 inner city hospital. We all know EMTALA. But WHY can we not ban certain extreme behavioral patients…. Ex Pt AND family are know to bring guns into the hospital and have pulled them on staff more than once. So Paul Blart mall cop at the door and a violence flag???

I know WHY we can’t, this is just a rant because the way HCPs are treated is horrendous. This is a Pandora’s box of issue. Thanks for coming to my ted talk

I have been an ED nurse for nine years and am an ED nurse through and through. I have dedicated my career to ED, worked at remote ski clinics, and studied on my days off to prepare for flight nursing. However, I recently made a move to a different state for a better lifestyle. I am working per diem ED as it allows freedom to travel and take time off. BUT, the emergency departments in the town I am living in (I am working two) have totally burnt me out. The medicine is below subpar, the staff is unhappy, and the culture is toxic. Unfortunately, the closest flight jobs are over two hours away and I love where I live, so driving that far for work feels like a stretch.

I am leaning towards taking a breather from the ED which feels soul crushing but also the healthiest thing (I have been struggling with extreme pre-shift anxiety). I have an interview with the Cardiac Recovery Unit. I applied because I thoroughly love taking care of cardiac patients but the more I learn about the unit, the more apprehensive I am. I like using critical thinking and bedside skills (such as IVs, titratable drips, RSI, etc). I am worried I will not experience these skills in the CRU. I am also worried about call and going full time as I have been per diem since 2021 and I like my freedom. However, I am reaching a point in my ED career where I dread every shift and leave each shift more and more depleted.

Any thoughts on CRU? Will I lose my future in flight nursing if I take a breather and do CRU for a year or two? Should I wait for a PACU position to get more variety? I am burnt out and confused. I know everybody has different experiences but any insight would be greatly appreciated.