Nurses - Tell me about your jobs!

EricaG · June 28, 2008

I have been a nurse for the past 3 years and I LOVE my job!!!! I actually just went back after taking a year off (3 months sick leave and 9 months mat leave) so I am just getting back into the swing of things. I wouldn't say that nursing if a fun job, but it its an enjoyable and rewarding job. I missed working while I was off for the year, and actually went back to work 3 months early.

I have been working in a rural hospital that has 22 beds (including 2 ICU, 1 pallative and 2 labour & delivery). Rural nursing is different from specialty nursing in the sense that you 'specialize in everything'. In rural nursing you can have a little bit of everything going on, from labour & delivery - geriatrics - cardiac - dialysis and more.

For example, at the beginning of my first shift back to work last month we had a woman that was fully dialated and she had her baby within an hour, then I was off washing different patients, many that are long term care patients awaiting placement. Then I had to go do a big dressing change on a patient that has extensive abdominal injuries caused by a self inflicted gunshot wound. With rural nursing we also work in the ER so I was covering coffee and lunch breaks over there, and finally I finished off my shift with a man that came in and was starting to have a heart attack. We had the paddles (adheisive pads) on him and watching him so we could shoke him if the medications we were giving him didn't help and he ended up coding on us. The medications ended up helping, and we didn't have to shock him, but that was my first shift back!

In rural nursing you never know what to expect during your shift. This morning when I got to work, we were told about a woman that was in the city for an appointment yesterday and had fallen and bumped her head. After the 2 hour ride home, she was complaining of a lot of pain in her pelvis, so her family brought her in lst evening. They cleaned up the small cut on her head and did x-rays which showed a stable pelvic fracture. She was admitted to the ward after the broken pelvis was determined. There seemed to be no other problems besides the pelvis pain, and she was taling to the staff when they did rounds at 5 am today. At 6 am when they were doing the water rounds, one nurse went in there and she was unresponsive, had gurgled breathing and foaming from the mouth. They quickly moved her to ICU and the Dr on call came over to figure out what was going on. After we got report this morning, I went over and helped to intubate this patient so we could ship her to the city for further testing and treatment. We got a call back from the city this afternoon and she has a massive bleed and they want to send her back to die. Of course with us being a rural hospital, we don't have patients here that are on vents, so she can't come back unless they can get her off of it, which taking her off could also be the end of her life.

I wouldn't say that nursing is a fun job, but it can definately be exciting and rewarding. I truly enjoy my job, and although I am also one that has so many careers that I would love to try, I don't want to leave nursing to do it.

Downfalls - Because of the shortage, the risk of burnout is high, and you really need to watch yourself to try not to let this happen. Dealing with anger patients that are waiting to been seen in the ER, many people think that a sore throat or a knee that has been bothering them for a few months are priorities and that it should be first come first serve!!!! I love when people tell me that they are going to go to the city to be seen and I inform them that they are triaged at a level 5 (lowest level and many of these things can be seen in the clinic) and when I was in the city and triaged at a level 2 (needs to be seen by a nurse right away and a doctor within 15 mins) I was there for 5 hours! They usually change their tones and appriciate it only took them an hour to be seen here. Watching people suffer and those who have to die alone because they either have no family or friends, or they don't come in to be with them.

Benefits - I love labour & delivery and being one of the first people to see and hold that brand new little life! Seeing a patient leave the hospital that was not expected to leave alive. To see a patient smile and thank you for helping them get better. The overall satisfaction that you are making a difference in peoples lives everyday, those of the patients and their families.

I would totally recommend nursing to those who are up for the type of work involved. If you don't like blood, you can't handle other peoples or any other bloodly fluids, I wouldn't recommend it. If you can handle these, than this job is like no other.

amandalovesryan · June 28, 2008

i hate those kind of stories, like the one about the woman, how old was she?

we had a man found unresponsive at a crack house. his friends did not know his name so he was a john doe who was intubated and out of it. his girlfriend finally came in with a pic of him intubated at another hospital to identify him. nice.

EricaG · June 29, 2008

Okay, here is another story. I was working in the ER today and it was busy off and on. It started off quiet (we don't use the "Q" word when we are at work though) then suddenly there was a line up of people that needed to see the DR. Fianlly we got them all taken care of and gone, and then it was quiet again. Then we got slammed with everyone coming in again, then we got them all cleared out again. The last big slam we got was about an hour and a half before I was don't work, and we were just finishing with them when I left. The last slam had many people with all sorts of things like UTI's, FB in the eye, suture removal, and so on, plus a woman that had a laceration to her forearm d/t a tablesaw accident, a woman that came in after swollowing 24 T3's, an autistic child that can't handle noise (his reaction to noise is plugging his ears and screaming!!!), and one of our nurses that came in in labour with ruptured membranes. The last one we finally got admitted to the floor, so she wasn't in my care anymore for the last hour of my shift. I am tired and I wish I could have a nap, but I am now at my second job....MOMMY!!!!

kpate79 · June 29, 2008

I've been a nurse for 5 1/2 years and I like it. I've only done Labor and Delivery b/c as crazy as it seems I don't really think I would enjoy my job if all i took care of was "sick" people. I've been sent to med-surg and I truly have a lot of respect for those nurses. I like people who are healthy and coming in for such an exciting event. Just like any job it has its pros and cons. What I really enjoy is only working 3 12 hr shifts/wk. I'm a travel nurse and fortunately so is my FI. He's from Ohio and I'm from Louisiana. We met on our first assignment in St Thomas-pretty cool. We've since traveled to San Diego, HI, and are currently in L.A. He does med-surg and enjoys his job. I also like the fact when I have children one day I can work as little or as much as I want. You always have day or night, 8 or 12 hr shifts too. If I had to do it over again I definitely would!!

Sarah · June 29, 2008

I'm a Labor & Delivery nurse too... there are quite a few on here!

I've been a nurse since 2005, and Labor & Delivery is what I've always done- I went to nursing school wanting to do L&D. I really love my job. It's very exciting and rewarding, and even when it's bad, you still have so much you can offer your patients. I am so honored to be involved in what is one of the most important moments in someone's life- the birth of their child. It's really an amazing thing.

I think one of the best parts about nursing is the flexibility, and then opportunity for advancement, and new learning. I'm always doing something new. In addition to L&D I have cross trained to do Triage (like OB ER), Pospartum, Special Care Nursey, and charge nurse. So including those things and labor, that's at least 5 different areas of just labor & delivery nursing I could be doing any particular night. I'm never bored

I also work 3 12 hour shifts a week, and hardly have to use vacation time unless I go somewhere for more than a week. The pay is great, and at my hospital we can work unlimited overtime, which definitely helps~ I usually work 48-60 hours a week.

alex · July 1, 2008

Thank you ladies all so much for your replies! I completely forgot I had asked these questions so I haven't checked for any replies for a while.. oops!

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Originally Posted by JHarwood2Be

Oh here is a forum you can check out for all things nursing related. You'll read the good and the bad! allnurses.com - #1 Nursing Community for Nurses

Thanks for the site - I'll have to check it out!

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Originally Posted by amandalovesryan

there are so many amazing things about this job, i met a ton of great friends, i learn something new every day, i make amazing money, i get to learn about people's lives 80 years ago. you do not have to go to a 4 yr school. there are programs with hospitals that are only 2 years long. there are also some excellerated programs that are only 18 monts. I say go for it. you can always find work!

I wish it only took that long...

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Originally Posted by kleslie5

not in Canada

However, there are 2 yr programs (straight - no summers!) for those who meet the undergrad prereqs, so if you have a science undergrad or even a few yrs of uni science like anatomy and physiology, you might consider this option...the programs are called CTF (compressd time frame) programs...at UofT and UWO for sure if you want to stay in Ontario! I got my 4 yr RN degree from UWO - the program was fantastic, and I have lots of friends who did the CTF program, so I can tell you more about that if you're interested.

In ON, we also have the new grad initiative, so all new RN grads are guaranteed full time employment for 8 months at least after graduation. However, with our nursing shortage, you could work anywhere, anytime, so this isn't really a big concern. If you want to stay in northern ON, there are lots of great northern incentives, so more $$$$

Anyway, I love nursing - the profession is amazing and there are unlimited opportunities in so many areas.

Good luck with your decision - I know it is a big one!!! Kate

Thanks for the info, but I think I'd be staying here at home to take the program if I decided to. Because of the extreme nurse shortage (& doctors too!!) our local college (Northern College in Timmins) has an agreement with Laurentian University (Sudbury) where you can get the 4 year undergrad while studying here at the college. It's a pretty great thing. I wouldn't consider moving away because of Mat's job.

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Originally Posted by ethrondson