[phil]

Hi there newbie here just like to say hi & tell you a little bit about myself. My names Phil I come from South wales in the UK, Im 34 married with two children & one on the way. I work as an Health & Social Care Worker & work in the community nursing people who suffer from a terminal illness such as Huntingtons & MS. I have worked in this post now for two years & enjoy it very much except for the shifts the powers that be give me on a weekly basis Apart from that everythings rosie. Before my current job I worked as an Auxiliary Nurse in Peadiatrics tried a spot of Phlebotomy in the local surgeries & worked with people who suffer with Dementia. Anyway thats enough of me rabbiting on will hopefully catch you fine folk around the forums.

Phil

[trier]

Hi Phil
(I am a student nurse hoping to complete my last year). I have a daughter currently working in London. She is a qualified midwife trained in Australia but can't work as midwife there. She was telling me that some of the wards are really disorganised. For example there are no bedside charts so this means that every temp, Bp and respiration has to be remembered and entered in the charts at the central nursing station. When I have been on prac, mainly public hospitals, We have Medications & obs sheets, fluid balance, 24 hour fluid balance summary, care plan and waterlow assessment (danger of pressure are care devised by patient build, condition weight etc, post anaesthesia obs & wound care chart where applicable). All these are left by the relevant bed and the only time we need to resort to the main chart, is when we check patient history, blood tests or orders and documenting inpatient notes. We remove the med chart if needing to make up IV abs and fluid orders for checking and return it once going back to the bedside. All this saves a lot of steps and removes the need to write down
obs a second time. How have hospitals managed without this type of system? I'm not trying to be critical but I think this was possibly the biggest difference she encountered. plus the 12 hours shifts. ours are usually a standard eight
What system of documentation have you in the states and elsewhere? a bedside system or central nursing station for all documenting. I know I'm being a stickybeak but I'm interested. I believe that anything nurses can do to help their workload and provide solutions should be taken up, it takes time to make changes but having the paperwork there would be instantaneous reporting, cut down activity at nursing station and save a lot of walking. It has probably been sugfgested time and time again by nurses with more experience and seniority but tell me what you think.

[phil]

Hi Trier thanks for acknowlegement of my post Well here in the local Hospitals where I live in S Wales uk we use the bedside system for documentcaion which when I worked as an Auxiliery found it as an excellent system, couldnt imagine any different.Didnt realise that London was like that I thought that all of the uk was the same Anyway thanks again for the reply takecare now hope to catch you soon.

Phil

[trier]

Hi Phil
I may not be a student nurse for much longer. I stuffed up my assessment so badly that I cannot go back to prac. Because of a med error (oral med) the hospital suspended me. I couldn't continue prac. The uni issued me with an assessment after four weeks and I didn't do well although I had been doing well in the prac. There's nothing as scary as being assessed at close quarters. I had to wait a month for the first and then another two weeks for the retry. Even though the assessors were great people I stuffed up again, failing at something that should have been child's play. I should have been able to do them effectively but went to pieces.The more time I had, the more I studied even doing addditional lab practice but still came undone. What really annoys me is I had completed the nursing prac the year prior and did well,but had failed the theory subject. I then had to redo the prac and theory this year. The theory component is going well. I have been offered the option of redoing yet another six weeks prac combined with pharmacology next year. I have a husband who's dying. time is an issue. I had asked for help within one of these forums but couldn't see any replies. Is there life after nursing because to quote the song, 'I guess it's all over now baby blue'. I'm discouraged, disheartened and
I don't know whether I'll ever get over this.
:trier

[mcrux]

Of all things, know that you can get through this.

[trier]

Hi Newby

I did get over it and am now an RN. Scared stiff. After finally graduating this year I found a one day a week job and couldn't go into a grad program because of husband. I even got a distinction for the theory assignment I'd failed at Uni. That in itself is a bit fishy so I thought they were just out to get me. Confidence is not my strongest asset. Well after 2 x 8 hour shifts and one four hour plus two days away from the hospital with induction and orientation. I was told I am not performing at RN level and I certainly couldn't be left in charge of a ward by myself. I was asked by manager how long it had taken me to finish degree I tried to explain and mentioned the med error.
Just what do they expect? I was given six patients and still expected to chase other buzzers, answer other queries and no I didn't get everything done. I just want to be a safe and well organised nurse. Apparently this small hospital has been through several RNs in the same number of months. I am freaking out about tomorrow. I am not willing to give the job up They want me to do a block of three to five days to bring my skills up but can not do this due to my situation. I do not want to jeopardise my license, it cost a lot in sacrifices and emotional trauma. Any suggestions PLEASE?

[trier]

Hi
haven't been back for a while but was contemplating leaving that small hospital after my last post. I did resign because it seemed unsafe and I wasn't prepared to jeopardise licence. I have applied to a post graduate position in a large hospital and pray there's a job with my name on it. The offers come out in May and we start in July if we get in. I cannot wait to get started. It will be exhausting, stressful and maybe I will wonder what I am doing there. In the meantime I have applied for another job, it's one day a week and two hours each day at a boarding school. The Nurse in charge who will be with me , if I get the job, has had experience in A & E and ICU so I am sure she will be able to teach me a lot. Is this a good way to go because I want to get as much experience before I start the grad program as possible. My husband is in a care facility and I really need to get out and have some mental stimulation. Just how scarey is post grad nursing for a new rookie and do most nurses survive?