It's amazing how I can go from feeling like I've got a handle on things to feeling like a nursing student on her first clinical and then back...several times in the same shift. I was on the ball when it came to dealing with two patients going through bad withdrawal, but then when we had a patient fall, I did everything except probably one of the important things: get her vitals.
I went to my first code. I was cool, calm, I was collected, I got the code cart, I didn't know how to work the oxygen. I also couldn't find a rebreather but in my defense, that wasn't my fault--there wasn't one there. Patient is still alive AFAIK.
I taped report: I did much better on the patient reports themselves but forgot room numbers. And after going to check census twice because I wasn't sure, I still got it wrong during the taping.
Such is the first year.
On the brighter side, no staff tried to split me today (and I was on my guard much more for it). And one patient thought he was being cute by doing a magic trick with his Trazadone because he wanted to take it later. I told him I was impressed with the act, it did look like he swallowed it, but please take it out of his pocket and take it now or give it back and get it later. It was in his left pocket.
Learned some more about facility politics too. I'm doing my best to stay out of it. And as far as work goes, I've told them I'm just trying to cover all my bases as I'm a new grad so yes, my charting's longer than average and I do tend to stick to the P&P and how I learned to do things in school, instead of "how it's usually done" but I'm not going to be going around ratting people out because they do "the usual way"--as long as patient safety isn't compromised, that is.
I'm not as stressed about all the new nurses anymore. Like I said, I can't put in for hours I can't work, and I'm sure they'll try to find what work they can for me--it's pretty much out of my control. There's plenty of units I can float to so it's not as though I'm only competing for hours in one spot. In fact, they asked me twice if I could put in extra time: they wanted me to stay late yesterday (I had to decline), and they wanted me to come in early on Sunday (in a lapse of sanity I accepted). I'm not sure where I will be, but it doesn't matter. As I tell everyone: I just show up for work, I go to whatever unit I'm told to, I do whatever I'm assigned to, and I'm cool with it.
Though lately, floating is something I have not been doing: they have apparently taken a liking to me in detox. Which is fine with me, because I do like working there a lot.
I need to read up on Librium today.
