I am sitting with my 10 year old daughter in the PICU in a major children's hospital while she's trying to recover from pneumonia. She's asthmatic and was born prematurely so her respiratory system just kind of sucks.

She's been on the CPAP all day with small breaks in between with just oxygen.

She was off of the CPAP for a bit longer than she was supposed to be, but she was doing really well so I didn't even notice. The respiratory therapist comes in and says that we have to put it back on, nothing out of the ordinary up to this point. I, as a PCT at another hospital, understand that things get busy and things don't always get done the moment they're supposed to.

Then she turns to my daughter and explains that she left her off of the CPAP longer than the doctor would have liked and said "This will be our little secret, okay?" and then waited for my daughter to respond. Then she said "You won't tell the doctor, right?" and waited for her to respond again. Then she basically ran out the door without even acknowledging me standing right there.

I know I should have stepped in right at that moment but I was just completely stunned and caught off guard. I didn't process what just happened until she left the room. I am absolutely furious. How dare anyone in a hospital tell a child to keep a secret from their doctor (or any adult for that matter) and make them respond.

I called the nurse as soon as I processed what happened and, while trying to hold in my anger because I know it wasn't her fault, and as calmly as I could, explained the situation to her and asked to speak with the unit manager, MHO or someone in charge.

It is very busy here and I understand they can't come right away, I'm still waiting for them to come talk to me, but holy shit I had to just get this out. I already sat down with my daughter and explained that what the therapist did was extremely wrong and if anyone asks them to keep a secret, to tell me, mom and their doctor. I also made sure to tell my daughter that I'm not upset that she agreed with the therapist because you're supposed to be able to trust medical professionals and I know she felt intimidated.

This is the kind of thing abusers tell kids when they're abusing them. Having a medical professional, in a hospital, use those phrases with a child patient is extremely disturbing. The next person who tries to tell her that might be someone trying to abuse her, and I don't want her to look back at this moment and think that it's okay.

Apparently this is mine.

Had a patient the other day who was very agitated, consistently tugging at her trach, getting out of bed, shouting at her CO, the works. She was on trach collar and I needed her back on the vent for the night so she could rest but she demanded she eat food first. She didn’t like the hospital food though, go figure.

She instead wanted Panera from downstairs instead and ordered it from her phone, but her cards declined. I figured that’s too bad, but it’s almost midnight, she would get her breakfast in the morning when she’s back on trach collar. She handed me her to phone to order and pay for her and I said no.

Another coworker was like “why not? It’ll calm her down! I’ve done that before, I buy my patients lunch all the time.” And perhaps this isn’t exceptional care but I just don’t see myself spending money on a patient unless it’s in special circumstances, let alone one who’s been yelling at me since 7pm.

Genuinely curious, are you the type to spend money on your patients?? In what situations??

Is it just me!? I am so angry about the amount of fkn work I (we) have to do as a nurses and the very little benefits that come with the job. I just had a friend win a trip to the Caribbean from her job. My other friend just got a WFH job and he gets 4 weeks of PTO and 2 weeks sick time. Meanwhile, I’m accruing 15 days max when working full time, nights, weekends, and holidays. AND THEY DONT EVEN GET APPROVED HALF THE TIME. Group chats about how “ugh I had a lot of meetings today.” Insta stories “slams laptop shut till Monday 💅🏻” Try crunching meemaws chest as blood spews out of her mouth bc she’s a full code at a million years old and 90lbs. Have you ever had a shitty diaper thrown at you or a grown adult man kick you in the stomach just because. It’s getting to the point where i hate listening to others talk about their jobs and don’t want to contribute to any conversations. And yeah, I know comparison is the theif of joy or whatever, but shit. I’ll admit I am jealous of them and some days, really do regret my decision. All I do at this point is tell myself I chose this. I wanted this. This is the decision I made. But god damn I’m allowed to be angry. Someone please tell me that I’m not alone.

Also, if you know then we’re fam.

After working in health care for 5 years I have been wondering how there hasn’t been another nursing strike, but now I’m just completely baffled.

I could write an essay about all the reasons why there should be a strike, especially now, but i feel like I’m preaching to the choir.

If anyone has any good answers or ideas I’d love to hear them because I’m genuinely baffled.

Edit: As a CT, I make about half of what all the RNs make on my unit. I have no savings and would absolutely not be able to financially weather a strike without help. I imagined that’s the main reason for a lot of us. I’m really just curious why there isn’t more talk of strikes or unionization, not just for better pay and conditions for us, but also better conditions for our patients.

Couple days ago I had five patients, two of which needed q2h pain meds. One of them understood they weren't the only patient, the other didn't.

They started out by giving staff a rules and expectations sheet. The first rule literally stated they were primarily only there for pain control.

So when I was in there closer to the 2.5h mark, the family member called me out and reminded me of rule 1.

On day two, I gave them roxanol (1h) dilauded (2h) dilaudid (2h) roxanol and the family member was still not happy because roxanol #2 should've been given 4h after the first roxanol, not five.

Just venting. Fucking asshole.

My daughter was born preemie so I decided to seek early MMR vaccine for her at 10 months. The peds office nurse sounded very annoyed and tried to dissuade me to get her early vaccination. (I currently live in southern state btw) I insisted and finally got her vaccinated.

I don't see anything wrong with early MMR vaccination, my son got early one as well since we were traveling out of state, pediatrician even recommended it when I was living in northern state. (This was 6 yrs ago)

Is this the norm in the south??? I feel like there are sooo many antivaxxer nurses here and I dread living here and am considering moving back to the north.

I circulate in the CVOR and one night being on call, waiting for the helicopter to arrive, I got bored and started making Xbox achievements for my unit. You know, the little text box that pops up on the screen when you perform a certain task or get to a certain point in a game? What goes on in your units that would be worth the award?

Some of mine:

“Cat-like thief” - sneak into a different OR to take a supply without being seen or noticed by anyone in that room

“Hit the switch, Igor!” - shock a patient into sinus rhythm

“Eagle Eye” - find the dropped needle before first count, bonus points if it smaller than a 4-0

“Chernobyl” - Oops, forgot your lead apron! Finish a vascular case with fluoroscopy without wearing protective lead

“Antique collector” - have 5 or more cases with patients 80+ years old

Just wondering, because we have been. I want to say for the last maybe month-month and a half our census has been very low like haven’t seen it this low since pre-COVID times and the only times we saw it this low during pre-COVID times were around the holidays. I’m talking like multiple people getting called off for full 12 hour shifts low census. To make it weirder, we’re the only trauma (level 2) hospital for 100+ miles in any other direction literally, except north.

I need to work OT so bad and I can’t even get it, freaking tf out bc this hasn’t been the way it is now in legit 8 years or so.

I work inpatient hospice, relatively new (under a year). Been a nurse for five years. Last night I had a poor patient with very bad terminal agitation. Thankfully they had a versed and dilaudid infusion. I spent at least 6 hours of my 12 hr shift trying to help them. Couldn’t pee, was dyspneic, agitated, confused. I was giving multiple extra doses of both infusions, haldol, suppository (no BM for 6 days) and got the pt to agree to a Foley catheter because they were asking to pee every 15 minutes and clearly retaining. Pt was comfortable and sleeping when I checked on them at 0645. While I was giving report, LNA staff says pt son isn’t happy. I walk in the room and he is giving me a look as if I am dog poop on his shoe. He asks me as to why no one has been checking on his family member all night. I explain the nights events. He gets mad about the catheter since the family didn’t want one, and then asks why I didn’t call the provider to titrate the drip. To be honest- I didn’t even think of it. And I should have. Also should have advocated for a pheno order. It was just such a busy night with limited staff I didn’t think that far. The way he spoke to me after I spent so much time trying to make his family comfortable made me feel so small and incompetent. I’m usually pretty good with families, especially with such a sensitive subject like death. The day shift nurse came with me and was able to help explain the whys and hows of terminal agitation to validate my clinical judgment. But it took a lot out of me emotionally as I had a good rapport with the son before he left for the night, and can only imagine what he thinks of me now. I left the building crying for the first time. Anyways, that’s my long drawn out story. Feeling like a crappy nurse in a specialty I’ve come to really love.

Yall I am worn the fuck out. I work on a med/Surg floor where I am working alone with 24 patients every damn day. Yes, I have nurses to help with tasks but I am the only aide. The patient load is about 13/24 tpc’s/Q2 turns. I work for a company who doesn’t give a fuck about their employees and I guess what I’m asking is is it even worth it anymore? I come to work miserable. I go home miserable. I ugly cry in the bathroom at least 5 times a day.. I’ve been doing this 15 years and I just feel defeated honestly. I know I can get a job elsewhere.. I have also tried going to my unit manager and NOTHING changes. Absolutely nothing. She says she will fix the problem but never does. Idk what to do but I’m about .5 seconds from walking 😭😭😭😭

I have 7 years of experience (5 inpatient 2 outpatient). There’s an opportunity for me to move part time which is ideal with two young toddlers. But the thing is it is a 10 am to 7 pm shift for triage nursing. I spoke to my clinic manager about it and she told me that it would be the “end of my nursing career” and going back inpatient or even clinic will be “impossible.” That kind of freaks me out especially since I have over 30 years before I can retire …

I'm a very new nurse, licensed at the new year and off of orientation about 5 weeks ago.

Last night was the first shift that I felt relaxed and confident. My patient load wasn't very heavy and I handled it efficiently. I had time to chat with patients and do nice little things for them, answer call lights, and do tasks/pass meds for my co-workers who were having a busier night. My charting was good and completely early. And IT WAS AMAZING. This kind of night is the platonic ideal of bedside nursing.

And it's a huge relief to finally catch a break and feel good about my work. Most shifts, even when things aren't terribly heavy, I'm running around and fighting off panicking the entire time, just out of fear of missing something or screwing something up. Which, I'm new, this is the deal. But, dang, it's exhausting climbing up the learning curve as a new nurse and just feeling like you're getting fire-hosed constantly. And I've been feeling really low about myself and my work for the past few weeks, despite working on a great floor with mostly supportive co-workers. So, yeah, I needed this kind of shift.

May your shift be blessed with good vibes!

I won’t talk about whether the complaint was valid because she’s entitled to her opinion, but it’s crazy to do that I think. I didn’t even know what to do with it so I just gave it to our supervisor who read it and didn’t do anything (thankfully). I think that would’ve been like the 2nd time ever I had someone fill out a nomination and I was so excited. That was a major disappointment

Anyway I’ll take a 4 for 4, replace the drink with a small vanilla frosty. No, I don’t care if it costs extra

I genuinely feel my mental health and physical health is suffering so much. I just hate going to work. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how much longer I can keep going like this.

I don’t mind acutely ill patients, but which specialty offers the best quality of life? 9-5? Mental breaks from belittling patients, coworker happiness and support? I know it probably is asked every other day, but I’m 10 years in and have done and hated ED, ICU, and everything in between including home health. I’m just looking for suggestions.

I don’t have ED experience so I cannot speak for its depiction, but the scene at the end of episode 2 with the mothers sobs for her brain dead child while people are living regular life outside their room was gut wrenching and brought me back to my med-surg days. I cried. So glad I don’t deal with that sort of thing in outpatient.

I’m interested in knowing more about different salaries for different specialties, states and years of experience. Drop down below if you don’t mind sharing (:

I’m from central Florida, graduated in 2022 and haven’t been able to start working yet for personal reasons, but when I’m able to start my career I think I’d be interested in working peds, OB, mother/baby.

in the forearm portion. they told me to not do AC anymore and i don’t like doing hands cus i be effing them up too much. i’m newer.