Supplies, Networking and Testing

I’ve had a pretty good week so far. I was very busy in clinical this week. I’m still on the PCU and the acuity of these patients is pretty high. I’m not sure how I’ll do when I move up to ICU. I am seeing a trend with this hospital, however. I really like the fact that this facility serves an underprivileged community, the nurses seem to really enjoy their jobs, they work well together, and learning is always encouraged. I’ve checked off more skills in my two days on this unit than I have the last year and a half of nursing school. Here is the problem…you can’t find supplies, techs are rare and there seems to be a lot of issues with charting. They are short of unit secretaries, so paper charts don’t get put into the computer system in a timely manner, there is double medication charting and paper care plans that are not computerized in any way, shape or form. I know that back in the olden days, that’s how things used to be all the time, but step into the 21st century people. I don’t know for sure if the low supplies and low staffing are a normal part of this hospital, but I hope things get better as I go through the semester. I’d love to work here come January!

A word about “Meet and Greets”…. Last week I attended a local hospital’s recruiting “meet and greet” at a restaurant close by. For those who are looking into attending something like this in the future, please note that you will NOT get a job this way. There were literally hundreds of nursing students from all over passing out resumes to the unit managers who were hiring GNs for the spring. Unless you already know someone, don’t expect to be able to stand out in this crowd. Besides the fact that I had previously met one of the nurse managers, my time last week would have been better spent studying for the test I’m am having today. Yes, I learned a little about their GN/new RN training, but I have a feeling that the resumes I passed out will never see the light of day. Anybody who knows me knows that I am pretty introverted and not the hob-knobbing type, so maybe I could have done some things differently. For the most part though, it’s better to get in good with the people you meet at your clinical sites. I’d be curious to know if anyone else has had luck at event like this. Anyone?

The test: yep this morning I’ll have my first test of my last semester. It’s over Cardiac/Respiratory. Here is my oversimplified example of a standard nursing question…

Question: What is the sum of 2 + 2? Choose the best answer.
A. 6 - 2
B. Four
C. IV
D. 4
E. Only A and C

Wish me luck!

-DV