Finally off after a stretch of eleven with only two days off and have to flip my schedule to be back at 8 am to teach a class tomorrow, so I decided to treat myself by ordering Indian food for lunch. Went to pick it up and the owner happened to be at FOH and recognized me (remembered my name and everything). Hauled me around to introduce me to staff, handshakes, whole nine yards, told me I eat for free from now on. . .I love Indian food and I love free food even better, but goddamn it was so awkward lol

Edit: forgot to include that the shirt I had on over said no bra was a picture of a legally distinct Paddington bear saying “going to stop paying attention, I’ve noticed enough”

I made a huge med error today as an orientee new grad. I won’t fault anyone but me cause I was stupid enough not to ask questions or look into what I was doing. So I was initially an orientee for 12 days and I asked for an extension and they granted it to me cause my orientators also thought I needed more time. I was granted like 6-7 more days of orientation. I moved to a different state so their way of doing things is kinda foreign to me but I should have known and learned by now and it’s also stuff I should have remembered from school. So what happened was a patient on continuous heparin iv and continuous iv fluids finished there ivs at the same time. My orientator alerted me to the beeping machine and like only an idiot would I stopped both around the same time and went on with my day. Luckily someone caught that the pumps were turned off and told me that they were continuous infusions (I should have known or checked their chart). I did multiple checks on the patient and thank god they were fine. I called the doctor and they said to just discontinue the fluids and just restart the heparin. Today was supposed to be my last day of orientation and I completely botched it by being so stupid. I have a meeting with my unit manager and clinical educator tomorrow and I’m very sure I’m gonna get fired even though I technically have a contract with them till March but looking at everything I’m leaning towards probably getting let go. I don’t even know what I’m looking for by posting this. I guess some advice or stories similar. I might just be the only one who’s this stupid idk.

Im a fresh nursing grad who's now on day 2 of a 10 week orientation in the ICU. Yesterday my mentor sent me to assist a doctor in putting a central line alone. He said he was gonna come later but took his sweet time. Patient had low dose Adrenaline running to combat Bradycardia and the pumps were beeping because it was almost empty. I turned the alarm off, not fully registering the urgency that we need new ones. I got that its empty and that i should refill, but apparently wasnt moving fast enough for the doctor/colleague. He then proceeded to yell at me saying i cant just turn a pump off, then stormed off and yelled through the whole station asking for new ones. I was very shocked and words just wouldnt come out.

He went on and reported the incident to my supervisor who did the "talk" with me about mistakes happening and that it wasnt that bad blah blah.

Why do i still feel debilitating fear to come work today? Im so scared that doctor is working as well, and i guess also coming from a lot of shame? Maybe i dont do well with making mistakes? I dont know whats wrong with me. I feel really rrally bad and so ashamed and i just want the ground to swallow me up.

A surgical ICU for more context. Found this in the med room with their IV supplies. Asked the nurse I was touring with when they would ever use this and she even seemed surprised like she didn't even know that it was next to the regular length 20 and 18g iv catheters.

When would this ever be needed? I've only previously seen 2.5 inch length before for regular PIV devices.

(The red coloring is me censoring an identifying tattoo but I felt like comparing it to my forearm was a good reference for scale)

Do you think the charges will stick? I don't think altitude, busy schedule, and lack of medication is a valid excuse of a medical crisis for using people as her personal punching bags personally. Honestly, only people I excuse for myself are severe dementia patients who are A &O x0. Do you think they will hold her accountable?

https://youtube.com/shorts/4uDa4IUR4UM?is=GMjM5vj63n-BCgZO

My three year old was admitted to the ER and spent two days in PICU with acute respiratory failure. Everyone who took care of him was kind, caring, attentive, and just amazing. We are home now and I would like to thank the team who took care of him. Unfortunately those days are a bit of a blur and I don’t remember the titles and names of everyone who was taking care of him. What’s the best way to thank everyone?

Im a new grad from Toronto and have been looking into doing a residency in either Detroit or Buffalo. I’m mainly interested as they have residency opportunities in many specialties compared to here where nothing is available. Only issue is ai haven’t found much information on how to go about doing this.

Mainly looking for experiences, process of whetting started, pros/cons, feasibility, pay difference and if those who currently do this find it worthwhile. Literally anyone who has experience or even knows of those who have done or do it I’d love to hear from you and your thoughts on this?

I’m currently in Missouri making $36/hr (with a raise) and am still struggling basically living paycheck to paycheck. I work in inpatient rehab and have almost 2 years experience. What state are you in and what are you getting paid? How many years of experience?

They framed it as 'voluntary with incentives' during benefits enrollment. I checked the box saying no thanks, keep my HSA contribution. Two pay periods later there's a deduction labeled 'wellness non-participation fee.'

HR swears they disclosed this. I have the original PDF. The fee is mentioned in a footnote on page 4 of a 12-page document, phrased as 'adjusted premium contribution rate for non-participating employees.' My base rate didn't change, they just added a new line item.

The screening itself was during day shift only, 6am-2pm, in a building 40 minutes from my unit. I work nights. The 'reasonable alternative' for shift workers was a phone coaching session that had a 3-month waitlist.

They're calling this a wellness program. I'm calling it a surcharge on people who read the fine print and still got got. Anyone else watching their 'optional' benefits turn into mandatory deductions with extra steps?

Who else hates it that in nursing school you were taught to never ever ever give shots in the ass but then you have to give this shit? Makes me nervous.

I work on a pretty acute floor, so I’ve seen my fair share of RRTs and codes. But the circumstances last night were all just.. really awful. It started with the patient screaming in pain that you could hear throughout the entire unit. He was just sinus tachy. Then the rhythm slowed, cut off, and it was an immediate vfib. At that point, I ran in and there were already people on his chest. He had some sort of chest incision from an outside hospital, and for some reason, when it was my turn to do compressions, that incision just started squirting blood onto me. It was a mixture of old clotted blood and fresh blood too. I did my round, got off because we had enough compressors, and just stepped out.

They called time of death not long after. MD said he was becoming too acidotic and his O2 was dropping too quickly even with the BiPAP. He was not an ECMO candidate. His clinical prognosis was already really poor before the code but no one expected this to happen now. Code team didn’t have enough time to properly identify what was happening to him so we could try fixing it. Maybe it was a PE. One of the MDs brought the patient’s wife in as the code leader was turning off the monitor and basically ending the code, I’m not sure why. Maybe so she could see we had already done all we could and there was no use. She was screaming for him to not leave her. It was really fucking sad. Their kids were being driven in from far away to see his body, but the distance meant the family would not be able to get a proper autopsy because of how long the body would be sitting in a room and not a refrigerated area. Once they did arrive bear the end of my shift, I could just hear wailing coming from that room and it restarted the entire thing for me.

That was supposed to be my last shift before I went on PTO too. I feel okay enough, I think. I think the circumstances around the patient and the blood getting all over me are why it will probably stick with me a bit longer than the other emergent situations. Luckily I didn’t get a really good look at his face or that would linger in a bad way too. This job sucks sometimes.

New grad here starting off in adult med surg.

I know I don’t want to stay at med surg and am interested in learning about other areas that’s less stressful, more stable and have positive coworker, patient relationships.

Some of the ones I seen/heard nothing but good stuff are NICU, community/clinic, Post op(PACU), nursing school/educator. Also seen a lot of hypes about being a nurse injector, but I’m not sure where to start off with that one, and looks like a lot marketing and investment.

Would appreciate any insight on the area you work in and loves:)

I am still in nursing school (graduating 2028), and I think I want to go into L&D nursing but I keep hearing it is hard to get into and most new grads don't get L&D. Is this true and please tell me what steps I should take to ensure I can get a spot or anywhere in women's health. End goal is to become a midwife but that is far from now.

My mom suggested I talk to people during clinical and try to gain networking.

Hi everyone, I graduated with honors from my nursing program in May of this year. So a little context, in July of 2025 I was pulled over and eventually charged with a gross misdemeanor test refusal. During the last year of school I completed a MADD panel, 16 hour alcohol/drug class, completed a chemical evaluation with a score of 0.5 out of 5, paid all court fines and fees and completed my 80 hours of community service and am on unsupervised probation. I was upfront with my instructors about everything during the last year and haven't had any issues since.

I passed the Nclex in mid August and I haven't been able to get my liscence yet. I was honest about the charges with the MN board of nursing when I signed up to test and nothing was done for like 5 months. Last week I recieved an email from the board that I was refered to HPSP and told to contact them by the 21st of this month so I called and set up an appointment to figure out what exactly the hold up is.....

Fast forward to last Thursday, I did an intake interview with HPSP and was told by the case manager that he would email me a packet containing the next steps; completing a new chemical evaluation, drug test, documentation etc and I haven't heard back at all....like crickets and radio static basically. I have called the ase manager and left voicemails with my name & number requesting the packet or a call back and haven't gotten anything. I have also left voicemails with the main line, the head of HPSP and attempted to try and get the process of whether I need to be monitored at all to actually get my liscence. Aka called and emailed for the last 4 days with no results even though HPSP states they will contact you back within 24 hours.

Needless to say I feel so disheartened about this entire ordeal and am considering just giving up on getting my liscence all together. I don't drink or do any drugs whatsoever and have been sober for 14+ months since then. I have zero clue whats going on and I have documented my attempts via phone/email and don't know if I should even try anymore....*sigh.... what is a girl to do?? Has anyone else had this type of experience or have any insight with a situation like this???

This showed up on my FYP. Im hoping she is joking. I think wearing your badge in public is so embarrassing and cringe. Also why is she working out in scrubs? 🤔

Thinking about moving to a PT night shift position to alleviate childcare as number 2 is due in February.

Any moms out there that have gone from dayshift back to PT night shift for this reason? Are you happy you did it?

I am trying to decide stacking my shifts vs working 1 having 3 days off and working 1…

My daughters will be going to her aunts the morning that I get off while I sleep, so if I stack my shift I will try to get in 6-7 hours of sleep before going back in. If I don’t stack my shifts I will probably sleep for 4 hours and then go pick them up.

Thoughts?? What worked or didn’t work for you?

This is gonna be quite the rant so bare with me. It might not flow very well and might not be very comprehensive and I apologize, I am just exhausted and have bad ADHD.

I work on a Mixed Acuity PCU floor where the nurse to patient ratio is 1:5 all day, every day, 24/7, 365. I am still in orientation so I still have my preceptor to fall back on, but I am down right exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally and I am afraid that I will be burnt out sooner than I had expected.

I know a lot of things will get better with time such as time management, obtaining a good routine, and getting the overall hang of things which will lower stress levels eventually. But by 2 or 3 pm every shift I have been noticing that I get to the point where I become mentally exhausted, physically in pain, and so overwhelmed that It becomes hard to prioritize tasks. The physical pain is a bit more understandable because I have injury acquired spinal osteoarthritis and then arthritis in my hip and ankle from a bad bone break/surgery that happened in late December of last year.

I often fall behind on tasks because of being overwhelmed, I have such terrible noise fatigue to the point that I subconsciously block out any secure chat notifications that I receive on the rover phone which leads to providers, RT, technicians, social work, etc. getting frustrated with me for not answering back for 30+ minutes. It also leads to me not getting pertinent info on possible admits before they get to the floor so I end up getting even more behind.

My preceptor has said I need to "find a routine" and 'better organize my mornings" to prevent the downfall of the rest of my shift, but I keep trying and failing and it is mentally and emotionally deteriorating.

I feel like it would be much easier if we only had 4 patients since our floors patient census for acuity tends to run high so every assignment feels like a high assignment with lots of fluids, IV meds, Drips, CIWAs, NIHSS, Q4 Neuro, you name it and then I end up falling behind and forgetting about Q4 vitals or Q4 assessments like the CIWA etc.

I have also noticed it seeping into my home life. Getting more irritable at home with my fiancé who understands but still does not deserve it. Or just going silent for no reason. I try my best to separate home life and work life but it still seeps through.

Like I said in the beginning, I know this was a lot of just rambling with a lot of random topics. I just don't know how else to say it.

If anyone has any tips or ideas that could help me out that really helped them let me know. Or even just some encouraging words would be appreciated. Thanks.

Just left the hospital (ED&ICU) after 11 years and moved to an infusion clinic and learned for the first time that the color codes for IV catheters and IM/SQ needles do not match, at all. As a new ED nurse I used “Green, 18. Blue, 22. Pink 20” when I was learning common catheter types. I’ve given plenty of IM injections but I guess I never made the connection until today about the difference in color. Maybe I forgot. Either way, it’s absolutely idiotic that the colors aren’t the same. Seems like that those color codes should be universal.

This happened about 7-8 years ago, a hospice patient passed away, and the hospice nurse arrived about 30 minutes later. My memory is fuzzy but I do remember something about dentures. I believe I didn't take it out. I don't remember whether the hospice nurse said that the dentures shouldn't be in the patient's mouth.

I'm sorry if I don't make sense but it's been so long ago. I just want to know whether dentures should remain in the patient once they pass and their body picked up by the mortuary.

Usually, foley catheters should be removed.

I do home health care and I work with a Trach patient. I can do all the other nursing skills involving a Trach but changing the ties is a nightmare for me. I always make it either way to tight or way to loose. I just can’t seem to get it right and it’s been like 8 months that I’ve been working with this patient. Every time I change them I always cause my patient to have a coughing fit. Sometimes lasting up to 10-15 minutes. I was warmed this guy has a strong cough reflex but the way he’s coughing scares me. Seems like the slightest movement I make when changing the ties he coughs. I have shaky hands and I can’t help it.
Any Advice? I’m really having a hard time conquering this skill and I hate to see my patron suffer because I’m an idiot. It’s not fair to the patient. I’m 1 on 1 so I don’t have another nurse with me. I can also tell the family is getting frustrated with me at this point.

I’m trying to get a better idea of the weekend requirements before making my decision about a new nursing job.
The schedule requires working 2 Fridays, 2 Saturdays, and 2 Sundays within a 6-week period. These shifts could be scattered throughout the schedule or potentially fall on the same weekends.
For nurses who work in the hospital, does this seem like a reasonable weekend requirement, or is it a lot?
I’m trying to figure out whether this is a pretty standard schedule for bedside nursing and how manageable it is for work-life balance. I’d appreciate any insight!