Related: Authority, Management, Morale, New Grad, New Nurse, Nurse Relationships, Nurse Support, Power, Professionalism, Sabotage, Scapegoat, Stress, Truth

When I first graduated nursing school 25 years ago I started out on an adult Med/Surg unit. Because I worked as a nurse aide during school in the float pool, I knew many of the nurses on that floor to begin with. However, by the time I started there was a different nurse manager (back then "head nurse") and some newer faces.

The head nurse was [...]

Related: Assertiveness, Attitude, Caring, Conflict, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Patient Advocate, Patients, Power, Prioritizing, Respect

As Doctor Pru stood there reading the file her mouth turned down into a frown.

"Who triaged this patient?" She called out across the room to anyone who would pay her attention. Everyone ignored her except me. I knew whose file she had and I knew she'd make a fuss, not because there was a problem, but because she loved to pick faults and seemed to [...]

Related: Caring, New Nurse, Student Nurse

Brienne Pies, RealityRN’s most recent Spa Giveaway recipient, isn’t a nurse yet—but nursing seems to be in her blood.

A nursing student at South Dakota State University, Brienne remembers how her mother, a hospice RN, changed lives.  “People would always come up to her while we were shopping and thank her for the care she provided them or a loved one. I wanted to know what [...]

Related: Assertiveness, Authority, Boundaries, Communication, Confidence, Conflict, Feelings, Hostility, New Grad, New Nurse, Patients, PCT, Power, Professionalism, Respect, Stress

I am a brand-new nurse--just two weeks off orientation. I am 20 years old but look a few years younger. I have had issues with two PCTs who are probably in their 50s, and have worked together on my floor for about 30 years. I haven't had issues with any of the other PCTs.

One issue: They feel insulted if I ask them if they did [...]

Related: Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Doctors, Embarrassing Moment, Humor

We've shared our most embarrassing moments in nursing. We've shared our funniest nursing stories. Now it's time we turn the tables on the docs.

Though usually professional, respectful, and brilliant, even our highly esteemed doctors occasionally misstep. It's only fair we take a little time to share their stories. Here's my favorite.

One Tuesday morning this summer, a patient came into the clinic [...]

Related: Anxiety, Confidence, Failure, Fear, Mistake, Morale, New Grad, Orientee, Second Career Nursing, Stress, Weaknesses

I am a second career nurse—53 years old and a new grad.

I landed a job at a teaching hospital because I love to learn and felt it would be a good place for me. But I feel like I have bitten off more than I can chew.

Every day I make at least one mistake. I’ve already made two medication errors which resulted in my having [...]

Related: Anxiety, Confidence, Fear, Feelings, New Nurse

It's been 25 years and 1 week since my first day on my first job.

It was in a community hospital on an ortho unit that saw an equal amount of med/surg patients (cause let's face it, how many ortho patients can one small community hospital actually have). As I recall, we had 30 beds, each of which had traction bars and trapezes. The [...]

Related: Career, Learning, New Grad, New Nurse Tips, Nursing Jobs

Over the last few years I've seen many new graduate nurses get jobs in some pretty intensive areas of healthcare, such as theater/recovery, emergency room, intensive care, pediatrics, and neonatal, to name but a few.

The young graduates are all smiles and full of excitement at landing such interesting jobs. Of course, the units taking on new grads often provide extra time to orientate the new [...]

Related: Abuse, Attitude, Career, Caring, Stress, Success, Teamwork, Truth

I'm a school nurse; I left the ER behind: the stress, the shift work, the adrenaline. Now I work in an exclusive private boarding school in the European Alps. Naturally, like most affluent kids, they don't know how lucky they are.

One of the students told me the other day she wants to be a nurse. I asked her why, and she said she thought I [...]

Related: Caring, Conflict, Critical Care Nursing, Patients, Perfect Nurse

After being off for a few days, I went back to work at my cover-all ICU. I had the typical two, vented patients, who were very much fluff and turns.

Around 9 pm on my first night back, a twenty-something-year-old male from the ER arrives. The ER nurse gave our nurse report, stating the patient was breathing a little fast. We are all thinking 25-30 breaths [...]