Had a patient pass away with some family already at bedside. A person wearing scrubs walks up to the nurses station and my coworkers say she’s probably a hospice nurse. She asks how he’s doing and I said he passed, and idk if she just didn’t hear me right or if it didn’t register but she then asked me what are his vitals and I said, very matter-of-fact, zero and zero and her face just drops and she speeds over to his room… turns out she was actually the daughter-in-law

I am a new grad working at a nursing home. At our LTC, we have a clipboard we use to update the provider on things that are not an emergency but is an issue. I work at PM so i never see the NP. Today she saw me and came up to me and said “you are the one who writes me a lot, you need to stop that”. I was so shocked and embarrassed. I genuinely don’t even write her a lot. The other nurses tell me she says this to everybody but WTF.

I’m a nursing student and I watched my first live birth and fainted. It sucks. The birth had already happened and I was helping with the baby’s vitals when out of nowhere I started feeling dizzy and then it happened. I hate when u wake up after fainting and everyone is hovering over you talking loudly. They told me I hit my head twice and very hard so that’s why I’m getting checked out in the ER right now. They assured me this happens pretty often to students and other people. Makes me feel incompetent and discouraged but I shouldn’t feel that way. I even wanted to work in the OR. Sigh.

Elderly male patient. Cognitively well and baseline full ROM in all extremities. While completing this patients am care, I handed him his prescribed clotrimazole to apply to his groin area. Patient proceeded to state that I had to do it as his arms no longer worked.

I informed pt that new onset loss of use of arms warrants a code stroke, and we would proceed with inserting an IV and going down for a CT scan. The patient suddenly regained full use of his arms at that exact moment. It was a miracle. Don’t know how that happened 🤔🤔🤔

Our unit is pretty small (<40 beds), and we have 3 people who basically live here now. Two of them have been here 6+ months since they don't have family who can take them and are waiting on placement. Our 3rd person has been here for 2 or 3 months and is in the same situation.

Did you have a patient like this? How did they ultimately get placement? They can't live here forever, so what happens next?

I'm still in my first year of nursing, and my hospital is a non-profit if that helps add context.

Okay, this isn't new at my hospital but I'm irked every time it comes up: timed transfers into clean and ready beds. The ED is supposed to deliver the patient within 30 minutes, regardless of whether anyone is available to receive the patient. Regardless of whether there's a bed or any safety equipment in the room- as soon as EVS marks the room as clean, the patient could be on their way. Same with PACU.

Convince me, please, of the benefits of transferring a patient to a unit that isn't ready for them. I understand on a macro scale that offloading the ED is important- we're always on overflow down there. But even then I'm not convinced it's globally better to deliver a patient and make more space in the ED. It's jeopardizing the patient who gets transferred as well as the other patients on my unit when we drop everything to try to settle the new patient.

I promise we're not dragging our feet. We'll call as soon as we're ready: after there's at least an ambu-bag and suction in the room.

I guess the question I should be asking is who is making money by keeping these handoffs as tight as possible?

I have tuberculosis, necrotizing fasciitis, and I’m rapidly losing vision in my left eye. But I feel anxious leaving the unit short staffed, do you think it’s appropriate for me to call in?

I had a patient that a nursing student was feeding. Then he started eating himself and shoveled so much food into his mouth he aspirated. By the time I came in he was sating 76% but coughing up food on his own. Still able to talk in between coughs. I set up suction but he was coughing up big food particles. 02 came up with some oxygen. He didn’t lose color or conscious. I called RT but there was nothing for them to do they said just make him keep his oxygen on.

Pt was confused. And he was totally fine afterwards.

I don’t know why I didn’t just call a rapid and now k feel so dumb. But at the same idk what rapid would have done?? Like he spat up everything himself and his 02 came up within 10’ mins.

My biggest flaw is I always think to manage stuff on my own when I should just call for backup.

Just need legit feedback on what you would’ve done.

Just wanted to know if my resumes is ass lol. I can’t seem to find a job as a new grad. I’ve applied to probably 500 jobs and have had 10 interviews.

Hi fellow Canadian RNs,

I’m an RN with 4 years of experience working in Ontario. I’m starting to consider moving to another Canadian province where I could realistically afford to buy a detached home on an RN salary as a single person (unmarried, no partner, and relying on one income).

For context, RNs in Ontario currently earn approximately $39–$58/hour, with a 4-year RN earning around $47/hour. In the Greater Toronto area (GTA), detached homes can easily start at $1 million.

I’d love to hear from RNs working in other provinces! If you’re comfortable sharing, I’d really appreciate your insights on the following:

1. Hourly wage: How much do you currently earn per hour?
2. Years of experience: How long have you been an RN?
3. Work setting: Do you work in a hospital, community, clinic, or another setting?
4. Province: Which province/territory are you in?
5. Job market: How is the job market for RNs in your province? Are jobs readily available, and is it easy to find full-time positions?
6. Housing affordability: Do you know any single RNs who have purchased a detached home on their own? If so, approximately how much was the home? If you’ve done this yourself, I’d love to hear about your experience!
7. Financial comfort: After paying your mortgage and other living expenses, do you have enough left over for savings, investments, travel, and enjoying life?
8. How is job security? Do layoffs happen in your facility or province?
9. Working conditions: How are working conditions for RNs? Are staffing ratios reasonable? Is your workplace unionized? Do nurses feel supported by management, and are PSWs available to help with patient care?
10. Overtime opportunities: Is overtime readily available? Is it paid at 1.5x or 2x your regular rate?

My goal is to find a province where I can have a comfortable quality of life, own a home, and still have enough money to save, invest, and enjoy life without relying on a second income.

Thank you so much in advance! :)

Iv been a nurse for a little over a year and recently made a medication error. My patient who is young was ordered 4 mg of IV morphine, but I accidentally administered 8 mg because I pulled two 4 mg vials, thinking they were 2 mg each like I had used previously for one of my other patients morphine orders.
The medication was given around 10:30 PM, and the patient didn’t receive any additional doses the whole night we discovered the error a few hours later due to a discrepancy in the Pyxis. I reported the error and notified the physician, who acknowledged my message with a simple “thanks.” I immediately went in to assessed my patient and took her vitals they were all normal and the patient was awake and talking to me normally. And actually still complaining of pain.
I spoke with my managers, and they were extremely understanding and reassured me that this would be a learning experience, not something punitive.
Even though my patient was doing well when I left, I feel incredibly embarrassed and disappointed in myself. For some reason when I scanned the meds both vials it didn’t flag me unless it didn’t pick up the second scan and that’s why I proceeded.

I started on med surg as a new grad and I was on my floor for about a year and a half. I enjoyed learning all that I did and talking to patients but after a while I just got so burnt out of my job. The high patient to nurse ratios, all the busy tasks, etc. I decided to make a shift into the OR because I thought it’d be a nice break from the stressors of bedside. Now it’s been a month and I’m realizing that I miss bedside. There’s practically no patient interaction and the days go by sooooo slowwww it’s crazy. I didn’t realize how slow the time would go This job is a lot more technical than I thought and slower paced. I’m realizing I a work best in a fast paced environment and I miss doing my nursing skills. I miss critically thinking, interpreting labs, hanging and giving meds. I miss the time going by faster and I guess that ties along with being more busy. I didn’t think I’d be missing my busy med surg floor this soon. The people down in the OR are also not very friendly so it just feels very isolating down here as well. My old manager said she’ll be glad to take me back at anytime but I don’t know what to tell my OR manager or if I should wait it out longer to see if things change.

How do people feel about vitals machines with only temporal thermometers? I've always understood them to be the least reliable.

The machine instructions also have the audacity to say they are the most accurate without citing any research to back that claim.

Did I miss research? Is there a way to accurately use these thermometers? Or should I try to hide our old vitals machines before they take them away?

Im in nursing school and recently took a job on the unit i work on as a nursing associate to become an RN when I graduate. I’m working a PRN schedule and I literally forgot to call into my second shift of the month until my coworker called me 22 minutes after it started. It’s marked as a “not proper notice” call in on my schedule :( i feel so bad 1. To call into a shift that i only have to show up to twice a month and 2. That i FORGOT to even call in?!
Im in an accelerated program so life has been so busy and this weekend I worked was packed with people in town and different events so I can see why I forgot but I just feel so guilty and bad and worried they’ll also want to not follow through with hiring me as an rn :(

Cuz if you come at me again for some dumbass "workflow improvement" and "this is our new policy change!" that's gonna make my life 100x more annoying I'm gonna take these 18g IVs and stab my eyeballs out.

Hi there. 25F outpatient charge nurse here. Started working with my current team a year ago.

I don't recognise myself anymore. I used to have fun, I used to enjoy my job, I used to love going to work, I used to smile, I used to joke, I used to laugh. Now I sleep 15h a day and I despise what my life and I have turned into.

My husband keeps telling me he's worried about me over and over. And I understand, hell, I am worried about me. I have no social life anymore. I have no will to make something of my day and enjoy whatever I'm doing.

I come home from work crying, I go to bed and cry myself to sleep. Sometimes I just stare at a wall and feel nothing. My light has dimmed so much that I feel like I'm just a pile of skin and bones. I just want to lay in bed all day and never come out of it again.

I care about my job. I have a shit team that I've put all my energy into, but it didn't work. They didn't change. I've told upper management many times, had countless meetings and still no support from them either. But the job itself I love, it's just impossible to do properly when a team is lacking quality of care, sense of responsibility, knowledge and literally everything else imaginable. And trust me I've spent a year trying to make it better and working on it all with them.

I keep thinking about work. I can't stop thinking about work. I dream about the things I'm supposed to be doing the next day at work. The dreams are so vivid that I can't separate them from reality at this point. I don't enjoy my life anymore and don't recognise myself in it.

I've involved upper management in this situation so many times. I've spent many hours in calls, meetings, on emails and more to convince them that this team needs to be managed by someone that ranks higher than me. No help though, no support. They keep upping my workload knowing how bad it already is.

I told upper management I was on the verge of a burnout back in June. They told me to take PTO and "walk around in a forest that'll fix everything.". I feel 0 support and the lack of acknowledgement makes me feel like I'm overreacting. As if I'm the issue.

And I still haven't been able to call in sick. Still haven't told my husband how bad it really is and how I cannot even handle to think of getting out of bed, let alone do it. I'm scared it'll worry him even more and I'm afraid it'll affect him negatively. I don't want to be seen as giving up or weak. And even if I call in sick, what am I going to do? Sit at home and drive myself crazy by constantly thinking about work and all the things I still need to do. Might as well just go and get something done, I'm gonna be feeling like a corpse either way.

I know burnouts happen all the time in nursing. But how does one handle this? How do you manage it? Can someone please let me know how to stop losing my mind?

I know there’s some throughout this sub. as well.

Hi friends, I have been a nurse for 7yrs in a specialty area. I have currently been traveling for a few years. I am considering taking a permanent job. How do you handle negotiations for pay when there is a pay scale (i.e new grad to top-ish rate). I'm in a big city in Ohio. I believe it is expected that you negotiate as a professional in a field, however I struggle with it. Especially what number to ask for. I have looked on reddit to see what nurses in my area are making at 7 years in similar roles, but it varies a lot. Work does take a big toll on me and my schedule (as I'm sure it does a lot of you). I take call and it's hard to schedule things around it in addition to the normal 40hr work week. If you have successfully negotiated a higher pay can you give me some tips? Such as did you give them an exact number. Also if any recruiters see this can you tell me how much margin you have pay wise with experienced nurses? Thank you in advance!

Without too much information, I am seeing pressure injuries wound care being delegated by nurses at my workplace to CNAs, this is where they’re being insured to cleanse the wound, apply dressing, etc and reporting signs of infection to the licensed nurse. This is in WA state, and I’m uneasy about this but I’m not sure if anyone else has had experience seeing this being done?

I feel like whenever I post here that it's a vent session and the advice is usually to leave my hospital. I'm actively looking for other jobs that are NOT med-surg and that pay me at least what I make now, are union and benefited.

I am an ED RN in California at a union hospital. I work nights. We have several new grads that just got hired and are on orientation which takes 3months.

Things have felt really hopeless lately. Yes we've been busy, but not necessarily because of major surges d/t COVID or Flu. It mostly feels d/t understaffing. Every shift we have 2-3 open spots for RNs to pick up shifts, not because we are trying to aim for overstaffing, but to just meet the need of the department. On top of that, we have call offs. For the last several months it has been busy every. single. shift. Several times per week there is a looming threat of having to pull the break RN. We had to pull the break RN the other night. Several RNs were asked to cover each others' sections while the other RN was on lunch, putting that RN at 2X the ratio. Additionally, many of us did not get to take our last 2 15min breaks. As a group, we filled out an ADO for the missed breaks since we've been told by our Union to do so. Management's response was that we should have informed our Charge RN ahead of time that we were going to fill it out to give time to make adjustments- even though they are the one who made the arrangement. We were also told that they "often have to pull the break RN to accomodate surges." My response was basically that we need more RNs to prevent that, and the only way to prove that we have a need is to complete ADOs.

The breaks are another issue. We have one break RN for our area (excluding critical care and fast-track). In order to accomodate all breaks, we have to overlap sections which puts the break RN at 2-3X the ratio. In addition, break RN is expected to also be a resource and assist in taking patients up to the floor. I am aware many places do not even have break RNs and are lucky to even get breaks. I am grateful to have a break RN. However, if we are legally entitled to something that makes our jobs safer and we aren't getting that- that's a concern. We tried to work around this by having some RNs combine their 30s and 15s (clocking in and out appropriately) and was told by management that we can't do that because it is against the contract. But so is overlapping breaks and that seems to be allowed to slide by management.

I feel caught in this loop of knowing I have to report certain things to cover my ass and protect my license. If something happens and I did not report a potential risk, I know that the hospital and management will claim they didn't know. This is less an accusation of my specific hospital, and more about any business in general. It is up to me to cover my ass. However, I also know there is subtle retaliation. There is gaslighting. A lot of "that's just how it is." "You're not going to change things." And I don't know what to do anymore.

I believe in my soul that standing up and speaking up when something isn't right is the thing to do, but it's the opposite at work. My voice doesn't matter. Advocating doesn't matter. I don't matter. Speaking up for myself doesn't work. It feels pointless to push back against the lack of consideration and safety. There is no winning. I dread going to work because I know that I am going in to get my ass kicked. I'm exhausted. I'm sad. I'm apathetic to things in my life. I'm angry and my tolerance for any crap is so low. The few days I have off in between are not even enough to recover. Time off would be amazing, but what is the point when I know what I'm going back to?

It feels like none of this will get better. I'm trying to look at other hospitals and am having difficulty finding a job so I can leave my hospital.