The first year of being an RN is tough: a new place of employment, always second guessing yourself, pretending that you know what you’re doing so you don’t freak out your patients. The list goes on and on, but at least you’re out of nursing school! Here are a few things Angela Vipond learned and posted on ScrubsMag.com. I hope you think it’s as funny as I do!
1. Something all new doctors and nurses learn fairly quickly (it’s a universal law in hospitals): Never, ever, EVER say “slow,” “quiet” or “calm.”
2. Do not ever say “I don’t know what day shift was talking about—he hasn’t had a bowel movement all night” because within an hour you will be engulfed by poo.
3. It’s okay to cry after your patient dies.
4. A wall suction canister works great to drain your foley bag, especially if you need to walk any distance to dump it and don’t want to wear urine on the front of your scrubs.
5. There is no “I” in nursing unless you are trying to win a spelling bee.
6. The opposing shift is not your enemy (see #5).
7. It’s okay to say “I don’t know,” and usually, if you are willing to ask, you can find someone who does. Always, always, always put patient safety before your ego.
8. Charting is very, very, very important.
9. “Real world” nursing is SO not like Grey’s Anatomy or ER. Believe it or not, we do NOT have sex in the break room. In fact, we are too tired from working hard to do anything but eat, pee and sleep during our breaks in the break room.
10. We as medical professionals often get so used to being elbow deep in other people’s body fluids that we forget that our friends and family might not want to discuss stomach contents, rectal tubes, sputum samples or spurting arteries over dinner.
I’m sure you have or will have a bunch more items to add to the list as you finish your RN to BSN program. In nursing, you don’t just learn about science and anatomy; it’s amazing how much you learn about human nature and the people around you!
To read the complete article mentioned in this post, please visit:
http://scrubsmag.com/22-things-i-learned-in-my-first-year-as-an-rn/
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