ImpactED Nurse remembers being a new nurse and meeting the real world.
"And so I began to realize the difference between what we should do, and what we must do."
We are just finishing orienting this years crop of new nurses. It is always challenging to pry them away from their wide-eyed idealism and prepare them to practice safely in the real world. The world where you have more tasks than anyone human can possibly do so you have to learn to prioritize your time to meet the patients needs while somehow completing the mountain of paperwork that JCAHO has created. Paperwork that does nothing to improve patient care but has ensured that the nurse spends less and less time at the bedside where she is needed.
In nursing school a simple Foley catheter insertion may take 45 minutes to set up the sterile field and prep the patient without breaking sterility. In the real world it takes about 5 minutes.
In nursing school an IV set up and insertion can take nearly 30 minutes - in the real world it only takes about 10 minutes and if the patient is crashing- about 2!
In nursing school a sterile dressing takes 15 or more minutes - in the real world it takes less than five.
School teaches you all the necessary theory and steps so that you can safely and effectively cut corners and still achieve the same results.
This years graduates have made the long journey from wide-eyed idealists to competent, efficient nurses. Let's join together and welcome them to the trenches.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
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8 comments:
The one thing I always tell a student nurse on their first ED rotation:
Remember, it's THEIR emergency, not yours!
We need new nurses now more than ever.. especially since some of " us" will be opting out due to oh ageing. I remember that if I care of our young nurses now hopefully they will take good care of me in my dotage
Since we are always given more paperwork than it is possible to complete, the veteran learns what paperwork can be faked.
Glad to see you back and blogging. I have worked so many 12 hr (read 14 plus hr) night shifts that I cannot think straight...therefore...I am following the Pied Piper and going into casemanagement. I have been told it's not "real" nursing...but why is it not real nursing to help people LEAVE the hospital and go somewhere else to finish getting well??? Had a pt yesterday...DNR...Pt family accepted HOSPICE care )oh, ESRD, 400 lb, Unable to get HD cath in due to size and other circumstances. Well when they were ready to leave and ambulance on the way...they decided to REFUSE TO leave...WHY??? MAMA MAY DIE IN THE AMBULANCE....HUMMM and what part of DNR and HOSPICE CARE for END OF LIFE...did they not get...??? Wow...ok...I'm thru venting. I got to teach aides how to roll and change a pt that outweighed them by more than double their body weight and not get hurt.
Iam happy to come across your blog, I have been a nurse for a year now, I currently work in L&D. My true love is the ER, I am just nervous to go there what are some things that you would suggest toget myself prepared to make that Leap?
And having worked with GOOD, Competent nurses for a year as an aide, and having seen how they do things the right AND fast way- I'm amazed by my first rotation clinical instructors, who were community nurses 800 years ago. To say they're out of touch with the way things function in the real world is an understatement! Lets hope my next rotation is better- these instructors still WORK in the hospital!
And having worked with GOOD, Competent nurses for a year as an aide, and having seen how they do things the right AND fast way- I'm amazed by my first rotation clinical instructors, who were community nurses 800 years ago. To say they're out of touch with the way things function in the real world is an understatement! Lets hope my next rotation is better- these instructors still WORK in the hospital!
I have been treated by nurses off and on since I was ten years old and I must say they are the backbone of the medical industry. In my clinic, a number of the PCT's are also going to school to become full-fledge nurses.
Nurses do most of the work, are the first to act when there's trouble and are the main communicator between the patient and his doctor.
For those brave enough to enter the nursing profession, I applaud you and wish you nothing but the best.
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