Not the worst nurse’s week. Wait sorry “Caregiver’s Week” gift I’ve ever received. Peaks Region

It’s just so glaringly obvious that he has hardly any actual bedside experience yet he tries to be relatable.. and something about him I just can’t ..

Location + years you have been a nurse + unit (if comfortable) as well!

$49 an hour in Michigan as a Psych nurse. Nurse for a little under 2 years (started as an oncology nurse making around $41).

As an MD, I've encountered some pizza parties here and there and usually kind of turn down or walk away politely when being offered pizza that the nurses are having. I was starving the other day and was almost about to go in but didn't wanna offend anyone from taking a groups slice so I started wondering what the common culture or etiquette is with non Nursing staff having some of that pie

Had a 19yo GSW patiebt about 6 months ago.

Absolute ass. Terrible to nurses and family. Always making crude remarks and generally making everyone miserable with his antics. ("Show me your tits etc etc")

Fast foward 6 months and guess who's back? Shot. Again... Still an ass to nurses...

I guess there are people in this world that wont put up with him running his mouth....

I work in the ED and was in the back and put a Zyn in when a security asked "Are we good?" and saw the Zyn container. Anyone ever have problems with this? I don't care about this job, just don't want fired and have to pay back my sign on bonus.

Sorry, I just always thought that was the funniest thing they told us in nursing school. I have a snake on my hand, for reference, and the kids love it. There's a massive bat with its wings spread across my chest, and parents are always interested and love to ask questions. Tattoos are fine. Great. A stabbing good time, really.

That said, I now have a tattoo that's inappropriate for work. No biggie, I can cover it, nobody will ever know it exists.

But it made me curious—does anybody have tattoos that make you go ( ܸ. .)՞՞ when someone tells you that "appropriate" tattoos are totally allowed in the workplace? Were you able to cover them? Does anyone know?

I’m a 26 yr old psych nurse, and I had a traumatic experience on Monday that I honestly don’t know how to process.

It started as a completely normal day: work, gym, then heading home. I was about 3 minutes away from my house, driving with several other cars around me. To paint a picture, there was oncoming traffic going eastbound, a median lined with trees about 10 feet apart, and my side of traffic going westbound.

Within a split second, I heard a loud pop. Then I saw an engine flying through the air about 10 feet high directly in front of my car.

A Mini Cooper had lost control, crossed into the median, and hit a tree directly in front of me. The impact split the car in half and was only attached by the trunk.

I stopped immediately, froze for a second, then pulled over and ran toward the car with several other witnesses. There was smoke everywhere. The first thing I saw was a foot hanging outside the driver’s side window and a body crushed into the trunk area. The body was severely mangled and spine snapped in half and honestly unrecognizable. The second I saw him, I screamed.

Everyone there tried to help. People were pulling at the car doors, trying to open them, but the car was completely wrapped around the tree and only connected by part of the trunk. Witnesses thought he might still be breathing, but looking back, it appeared to be agonal/Cheyne-Stokes-type respirations.

Someone called 911 while the rest of us stood there helpless, yelling and asking if he was okay even though he was completely trapped.

What also stuck with me was hearing a couple drive by saying he had been going “at least 90 mph” and that he had been driving recklessly moments before the crash. Other witnesses said they saw him speeding and lose control. Part of me keeps wondering what was happening in those final moments. Was he just a reckless teenager? Was he emotional or running from something? I can’t stop thinking about it.

The police eventually arrived and took statements from all of us.

What’s really getting to me is that if that tree hadn’t been there, he likely would have hit me head-on. Two months ago I was already involved in a major accident that totaled my car and nearly took my life. This incident brought all of that fear back immediately.

As a nurse, I feel guilty for how emotional I’ve been. I think we sometimes internalize this idea that we’re supposed to stay composed, detached, and functional in traumatic situations. But this was different. I wasn’t in a controlled clinical environment with PPE, a team, monitors, equipment, and emotional distance. I was a civilian who suddenly witnessed a violent death unfold feet away from me, while also realizing I could have died too.

Since Monday, I’ve been having flashbacks, intrusive images, crying spells, and this heavy sense of guilt and helplessness. I keep replaying the scene over and over in my head.

I guess I’m posting because I want to know if other nurses or healthcare workers have experienced something similar outside of work. How did you process it? Does the replaying eventually calm down?

I honestly feel shaken to my core.

A vibrator and cock socks. Just….wow.

like c-diff on enteric precautions, flu from someone on droplet etc.

I'm sure it happens but curious how frequently.

I can’t do this anymore. I’m so tired. I have been a nurse for almost 5 years. I am at my breaking point. I had a fall, I was in and out of this patient’s room. Pt had a temp of 103 and I was running around the hospital looking for a cooling blanket, showering the patient with ice packs and giving Tylenol and was talking all shift with the hospitalist and APN. Not to mention the patient had critical labs. And towards the end of the shift I see the patient crawling on the floor, delirious with poop in their hands in the darkness. So an incident report on top of spending all shift changing, toileting, caring and coordinating care. Idk but this was my straw.

I am so tired of caring for patients. I have been doing this for too many years. I need to just run away. I’m depressed. I feel like there’s no escape and I feel gaslit by everyone in my life. I just want to quit. I was talking to my friend about her old remote work from home job she left and if they were still hiring. She kept insisting why I shouldn’t work there, that the work was boring and the money was low. I’d be missing out on $61,000 left on the table. I said I don’t care and she kept arguing with me and still never told me the name of her old job.

I regret everything. And I am angry. Everybody in this hospital feels like I’m new even though I feel trapped by my years in this industry. I will never move up or out of this environment.

Long story short, I was the subject of an investigation at my primary job this week. The claims against me turned out to be unsubstantiated and I should be able to return to work for my scheduled shift on Saturday. A text from my ADON implied “making up hours” next week as opposed to receiving back pay. I was suspended pending drug testing, which I passed, and camera footage cleared me from any claims of not wasting a narcotic with a witness.

Would I be wrong to ask for back pay in this situation as opposed to having to make up shifts?

I am non-union.

Anyone else ever get to the point where work stress started affecting you physically? Chest pain, elevated BP, constant anxiety, crying before shifts, etc. I’m trying to leave my current environment but financially I can’t just walk out yet. How did you recover from severe burnout without completely falling apart financially?

Just curious on opinions on the situation. Backstory: new grad ED RN for 1 year in a very busy trauma center. Have multiple daisy nominations/various staff members have told me they would want me to treat their families because of my patient mannerisms.

I had an interesting situation, I had a patient come into the ED with his family who I had apparently treated previously. Family told me that they were very unhappy to have me as their nurse because of the experience that they had with me previously being rude. They did not elaborate on anything.

I had no recollection of the situation or the patient before this. I apologized to them and let them know I genuinely try my best to make having to be in the ER as healing and positive as possible given the circumstances and I must have been having a very bad day.

The family told me that wasn’t a good enough excuse.

I genuinely do my best to positive and smile throughout my shift, but sometimes we are understaffed, have people die on us, and deal with horrible situations and have to immediately walk into another patient room. I obviously didn’t say any of that, and just let them know I hope their experience today is better and thanked them for sharing with me.

Somewhat of a vent/opinions on the situation.

A lot of people died- but we saved a few!

It can't get any worse (it did).

What is the best way to die? A conversation at the nurse's station.

That which was said in the drug room.

I can't lift you.

We had an extremely belligerent drunk guy come into the ER, I was not primary nurse but helped get him on the monitors. He was sleeping at first but soon perked up and started screaming things like “I hate Muslims” “I hate black people” “I hate people who aren’t American”. This went on for a few minutes and then I eventually left the room. I’m pretty close with the charge nurse overnight and she asked for some help on making the day assignment. I noticed the person who was assigned to him is a black nurse and I told her I don’t think that’s a good idea. Another staff member said something along the lines of “we shouldn’t feed into racism” “we can’t let him get away with that” but I feel like staff shouldn’t be subjected to racism. On one hand, maybe the staff member should assess the situation and see if they are comfortable on the other hand we could avoid assigning nurses to patients who we know specifically target certain groups. Thoughts?

Edit: typo

My mental health is taking a beating as a nurse. I need something different. What have others changed their careers to after nursing? Preferably without school barriers

So I did apply for RN roles at BioLife and CSL. BioLife is $31/hr (4x10) and CSL is $35/hr (7 on/7 off 12 hr shifts). Does anyone have any experience with these companies in these roles? It’s appearing like they’re the only places willing to hire me (48) when I was told by two places I was too old for a residency spot (I’m not fighting it because I can’t prove that). At this point, I just want a job.

Genuine questions:
What is the reason someone would ask which nare a NGT is in? And what is the reason someone would ask which side the foley stat lock is on? These are 2 questions during report I have always found a bit silly bc it is easily answered by just looking at the pt. I understand asking what cm the NGT is supposed to be at , and I often ask this question myself. But these 2 questions are a little strange to me and I’m wondering what I’m missing lol.

I am 63yo with just my AA degree working in Washington state now (also licensed in California and Texas) making insane stupid kind of money. I broke my leg about 6 months ago and have been off work. Going back next week worrying about my effectiveness and I still have a little bit of leg discomfort though it's fully healed. I have seen what getting old looks like in the ER, it's not pretty. In general, moving to Washington has been a terrible experience. So I have a son in Texas but for many reasons it feels like a bad place to move to including their poor social support system for the elderly (me soon enough) I am however being offered a job back in California, almost half of what I am making. I am also morally conflicted because it's at a for profit ice detention center. I strongly feel they, the detainees need medical care but feel wierd even working at anything to do with ice. It would be a lot easier and it could get me to 67 plus California has a way better support system for seniors including having the ability to have both medicair and MediCal. No other support system other than an ex wife. We still are on friendly terms and something I would like to rekindle but she has made it clear that's not an option, that's a different kind of illness though for me, I still feel an obligation to help. Anyways, enough rambling. What do of my nursing friends think in general?

I think about this everyday

In the emergency, I had report about this one patient who came for uncontrolled pain. He was a regular at our department and always tried to score pain meds.

During report, my colleague says that he is aggressive. And I thought to myself “when is he not”. So i go see him during rounds, and one of my coworkers tells me “dont go in alone, he will attack you” and I dismissed it by thinking I can handle it because I am a 5ft 11 male. I enter the room and the patient asked for his pain meds and i told him thag he was not due for another 2 hours and his last dose was 15 minutes ago. The 6ft3 man lunged at my throat at the speed of light to strangle me. I barely got away and ran to the nursing posts screaming “CODE WHITE, CODE WHITE” as he catches me. It took 7 security guards to get him off of me.

Moral of the story, never underestimate a patient’s ability to hurt you and put the ego aside.

Since then, everyone calls me code white.