The Unwritten Rules of Nursing

In this episode, we are discussing the rules of nursing that are not found in your textbooks. What’s cool, what’s not cool, and how to be an awesome teammate right out of nursing school.

Click here to check out my course, Med-Surg Mindset: A Crash Course for New Med-Surg Nurses

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[OffhandAgent]

I like the idea of setting the pump to alert halfway. Seems like a huge time saver.

[carolynmayo]

Don’t discount the person who signs up to bring the utensils, plates and napkins. It all costs $$ and this person may not be able to cook.

[JoyfulJenn]

I’m returning to nursing after being gone since 2011. I’ll finish up my refresher course this week at LSU in New Orleans. I’m soooo happy to find this podcast!

Y’all had me at Hoisin Sauce 😊

[vpadilla]

6 months in as a new grad 👋🏽& I’m so thankful for alll of you and this episode. I felt like I was right there with you all cracking jokes, laughing, knodding my head yes in agreement, just a whole experience. Love it and love you all. Thank you

[colleenUN]

as a new nurse. later in life career. this was very helpful. Thank You

[BriBorgersen]

A messy room is a huge huge pet peeve of mine!!

[wedgepressure]

Listening to this episode makes me never want to ho back to the floor ever again hahaha! Cath lab for life!

[carolynmayo]

One issue that I had to confront was frequent “being pulled” to a specialty unfamiliar to me. I felt like a burden to one of a regular unit nurses having to ask countless questions.
One other thing. If the new nurse on the unit has a good Preceptor, it makes a difference in the long run so the newbie knows the acceptable behaviors for the staff members to melded rather than be confrontational.

[daisyviluck]

The copy-paste documentation thing can get really bad in home care. I had a kiddo on a vent that the settings didn’t match the order for about four or five days (I was the per-diem nurse that night and hadn’t been there in a week), then the mom’s getting upset that I’m making calls to my supervisor and the respiratory company and it’s the kiddo’s bedtime (vent at HS) and it was a big uproar…

[jillbrooke]

Love you guys 😂 I work at a hospital in Maryland we aren’t allowed to have pot lucks anymore… house keeping ruined it for everyone in the building they had a pot luck during Christmas and apparently one of them had Covid and gave it to everyone that was at their pot luck 🤮jerks

[sandyhossman]

We all have worked with the napkin nurse, while many of us haul in crock pots that are full of food and heavy. I was the meatball nurse and a peppermint chocolate dessert, I was always ask to bring that in. I also make great country style ribs that I have been ask to bring in the summer. I was taught as a new grad to always have new bags to go or full backs up. Empty vasopressive drips empty used to just pass me off.

[blueSMOX]

Thank you so much for these podcasts!! I am starting nursing school (BSCN) in a few weeks and I am TERRIFIED!!

[ICUsierra]

I really think people need to take breaks when they get a chance to. They can help you when they get back. Unless the patient is dying, people need to get breaks and if they don’t, this can lead to burn out.

[sonjacrivici]

Am brand brand new on neuro rehab ward, and loving these pods. Thanks so much ladies!

[hvnxxo]

Not a nurse at the moment, but this is great information to know. I wouldn't ever consider copying notes from other nurses that's a huge red flag, especially when VS can change and mental and physical can change as well. I look forward to more charting videos because I feel like most nursing instructors do not go in-depth on how to chart efficiently and That is the main ISSUE. they love to throw around "If you didn't chart you didn't do it" but won't explain the reasoning and some people like myself need more help with foreign concepts.

[lindakincaid]

when I have a drip from pharm like bicarb I aways order a new one when I hang one. just because it goes in so fast. I always program it for way less then in the bag.

[ConniMiller]

I do understand the expectation of making sure the next shift is taken care of before you report off, but also assess the situation. Emergencies do not go according to shift change time tables and nursing is truly 24/7. Do not be that nurse that walks into a dumpster fire harping about IVFs and wrinkled sheets. You may have touched on this later on in your pod cast, but I am only at 13:47.

[joanstrayham]

Have that next iv bag hanging there rocks!

[DorkInProgress]

I appreciate this so much! I'm 2.5 weeks off orientation in my first job (a med surg floor that does a lot of ENT, GI and urology post-op as well as cardiac) and am striving hard in all of these areas. It gets so hard to stay organized and get everything done, let alone with the level of precision I want to, and I find myself having days where perfectionism almost drowns me alternating with days where I'm not satisfied with my attention to detail. Luckily I work on a supportive unit where there's a strong culture of offering to help and that means the world. I did find my heparin drip almost dry the other day when I took report though ... 5 minutes remaining. Ugh.
Question: what's the practice where you've worked in terms of nursing progress notes? Most documentation where I work is box-checking and many nurses don't actually type out any kind of note, or if they do, it's cursory. I don't want to practice that way, but am not sure how to format something that many nurses don't do.

[jonnieswinea]

Never, ever leave work from your shift to the next shift nurse. Not cool.