RN
It's been over two months since I officially started working at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and I now have exactly two shifts remaining on orientation status. Yesterday I was back on day shifts for the first time in almost a month and it was a whirlwind of a day and a reminder of how challenging this shift can be on a surgical floor. I think we admitted 20 surgical patients bringing us almost to capacity (which I think is 50). Our manager was walking around with chocolate between 5 and 6 pm probably trying to keep young nurses like myself from contemplating quitting. At times I felt like the "RN" beneath my name stood for "really neglectful". My preceptor, Alyssa and I started off with five patients and ended up with 7 which is a lot for our floor when you have patients in halo traction, others with spinal precautions, and some who are not exactly "alert and oriented". There were honestly certain patients I saw maybe four times within my 12 hour shift and that is just not acceptable; not to me or to the nursing profession in general. And, I'm sure it's not acceptable to those patients. Thank the Lord for committed patient care technicians who also see these patients and communicate with me about specific needs or changes in their status.
Despite my utter and complete terror at the prospect of being solely responsible for my patient in less than one week, I also continue to be amazed at how much I've learned and how far I have come. I sort of try to regularly remind myself of this. I can now admit a patient in less than an hour (still working on discharging people). I'm quite the expert on narcotics. I've managed to at least get my basic skills in vascular access. I've even placed a couple of tough IVs and complete blood draws with ease. You might catch me staring at your veins, as Jonathan does at times. It's just so fascinating... ;) And, as I've said to many people lately "I still pinch myself that I really have a job in a nationally ranked hospital on a surgical floor!!" Oh, and it's 2 miles from home, in a building attached to Jonathan's building. Pinch...pinch...yup, it's for real.