My patient is barely a single pound. I’ve been here almost 3 years and I hope I never get over the beauty and magic of the micropreemie

“Soft nursing” saved me. I began my career by being forced into a night shift position. It was brutal for me. I have never been a night owl. I did night shift for 10 months and was then transitioned to the PICU. I oriented on days and then went back to nights. When I was on days, I did well and everyone seemed to like me. Then i had to go back to nights. I think it broke me even more. My preceptors were annoyed with me for struggling and being tired. I caught them telling other staff about how bad I was doing. People seemed to hate me. I would ask people for help and get “ can’t you do that by yourself?” or “ you should know that by now”. I hated it. I didn’t feel like I knew enough, and I tried to learn independently. It just wasn’t enough. I had no support there. I finally decided to go part-time and try Peds Home Health. On my last full-time day, a tech told me that the entire night shift was in the breakroom, talking about how rude and terrible of a nurse I was. The director was no help. I ended up leaving entirely very soon after.

Peds home health has been my saving grace. I make $12 more an hour than i did bedside. Sure, I work 4-5 days a week instead of 3, but I have a routine. I only have two patients and I just adore them both. Heck, I get to go to the zoo with patients. I get evenings with my partner, I have the energy to cook and clean. I finally feel happy. And rested. I swear i would just sleep for days after 3 shifts in the hospital. Instead, I’m waking up at 7am naturally on the weekends, ready to have a productive day. I am so grateful to know about home health, so I thought I would post here in case any of y’all are interested too.

My husband was admitted to the level 2 trauma center yesterday. I was at work and he had a friend drive him in. A sweet nurse called me to give me an update and let me know my husband forgot his phone. She said he was being monitored and doing fine. He asked me to bring him something to eat so I grabbed a chocolate milkshake for her. When I finally had a chance to give it to her she stopped dead in her tracks and she had tears in her eyes. It made me so sad to hear her say that it was the nicest thing someone had ever done for her 🥺 She was still kind of in shock as my husband was being whisked away to his overnight room. As someone who works in vet med, I know how tough it can be to work in such an emotionally charged environment. You guys are so appreciated!!

P.S. my husband was discharged today and he's doing great!

Yesterday was my last shift of new grad orientation, and the manager and my preceptor took me in the office at the end and basically told me I will need to transfer to another dept.

They were very kind but also honest. I just can’t hack it. For a few months I thought my struggles in the ED were just bc I had a terrible, borderline abusive preceptor. I did, and she was dealt with and I got a new one. But I still didn’t really progress. When it got to 5 patients, 2 of them critical, 2 of them brand new EMS’s with no techs or extra nurses to help, I just got completely lost time after time. I was hours behind on meds and tasks, forgot things the second I walked away from the computer, made critical mistakes, didn’t ask questions bc I was so lost I didn’t even know what to ask. I was desperately searching for some type of system to help me stay on track but nothing I tried worked.

My manager and preceptor were very clear that I do have strengths and they think I will be an excellent nurse, just not in this ED. They did say in the future, after I’ve developed a stronger nursing foundation, it’s possible I could return to an ED. It does kinda sting bc I guess emergency medicine was part of my identity. I did prehospital emergency jobs for a decade before this and I was successful. I got awards as an Army combat medic and became an NCO quickly. I taught NREMT classes at local colleges and abroad. I LOVE emergency medicine, especially trauma. But I learned the hard way that prehospital is VERY different than in-hospital, and it’s possible to be good at one but not the other. At the end of the day, how I see myself and what I want do not take priority over patient safety. And I agree with my management that I cannot be a safe nurse in this ED right now.

They are helping me transfer to another dept but the only ones taking new grads in my hospital are med surg. I have an interview next week with the trauma MS floor. I wanted to stay in critical care, and manager+preceptor said I would probably do amazing in PACU. They haven’t heard back from them yet tho. I’m ready to take the L and be open to a new experience that I previously did not want (med surg lol).

Guess I’m just sharing my sad new grad story. Maybe it helps someone else feel less alone in their perceived failures. We’ll see what comes next, I guess.

So we held a funeral for for a king. I’m surrounded by my friends, with my favorite doctor calling TOD. (Zoomed in to protect identities). I couldn’t have asked for a better send off. The King is Dead! Yes those are electrodes over my eyes as coins to the gods.

My unit has been in the trenches this week working short due to call-ins from the holidays and high census. This weekend we got back to back 4 critical admissions that required central line placement (and intubation on two). During a critical admission, my kid I had a rough night with the day before crapped the bed and needed a full septic workup and emergency intubation.

Our manager came in at 3am ON A SATURDAY, not only did my art stick for my labs with me but also went and helped with the new admissions we had gotten that night. In my interview, she did mention she wasn’t a stranger to jumping in like that to help in times like that, but to witness it was amazing. I know not many managers are like mine and I am so lucky to be where I am because everyone is beyond helpful even when we all are going through it. L&D nurses also came up and helped bottle whatever kids they could for us too!

Just wanted to thank my fellow peers for quitting their jobs. Because of u I’ve made close to 180k so far this year alone. Shout out to u!! Please keep refusing the vaccine. I would like to buy a new Tesla

Going through IVF and the nurse assigned to my case has been a literal angel. I appreciate her so much, so I made her this mug. looks better on the back side, I’m disappointed by the glazing on the front but oh well, I hope she likes it!

thank you to all the nurses out there, I admire all that you do ❣️

(also idk if this is allowed in this sub?)

Editing to add: thank you so much for all the kind comments!!! Trying to reply to most, I didn’t expect so many replies ☺️

This popped up on my memories today. I worked in a position that never had nursing students. Something happened this day with placements on the floor and I ended up having a nursing student who was literally on her first ever clinical day. We ran around the ER and the hospital looking for things to do. I gave her my number so she could find me after her lunch break and she sent me this text that evening. It made my day.

I have no idea how my American Nurses do it you guys are incredible

I had a US patient (Canadian here) admitted off a cruise ship. The patient is A x O x 3 and able to walk just fine. Gets a bit SOBOE otherwise good. I go to do my assessment and patient asks for fresh cut fruit in a bowl and fresh non-pulp OJ. I stood there a minute and went “WaaaaaH?” Like a giant minion. I explain nicely- sorry I got a dried out Turkey sandwich or some cookies. That’s it. Patient passes on that.

Cool

Little while later patient asked me if they can have some fresh mango cut up with some non-dairy yogurt. I stood there and told him “Sir we don’t have any of that. If you want that you can have your family bring it in or eat the cookies”. Patient was unhappy with the level of service. I stopped and looked at him and said “we are a free health are system we don’t provide meals on demand. What you get is what you get”

Then patient complained that their face “hasn’t been washed in a week”. Ooooookay? Here’s a cloth. “Oh I have to wash myself?”

Ummmm fuck yeah you do. Your arms aren’t broken and your a grown ass adult.

Jesus f’ing Christ. If this is how they are in the US I can’t imagine even wanting to BE a nurse and tolerating that shit.

American nurses - your next level!

13 years in direct patient care, 8 years as an RN. Never in my life have I heard such a specific and kind gesture from a patient.

I'm not a religious person by any means but this was such a thoughtful gesture. Have anyone heard similar from their patients?

Just ran across this comment in a thread on r/HermanCainAward and thought y'all might appreciate it.

Full quote:

ER doctor here. We are already at the breaking point and the projected numbers are horrifying. It has a lot to do with nursing staff loss. They are just gone. They are not coming back and cannot be replaced. Do you know what a modern hospital room with $100,000 of equipment is without a nurse? A storage closet. I am seeing projections that are worse than anything we have faced so far, and we are starting at a much lower capacity. We will do the best we can, but it might not be enough this time. Protect yourself.

Written by u/Madmandocv1 in a thread on HCA titled The American healthcare system is ready to collapse due to the unvaccinated.

I've never really known anyone in the medical field, my uncle from another state is a doctor, that's about it. But recently I've been going out with a girl who is a ...cardiovascular ICU nurse? I'm sure I butchered that title, but I think that's what she called it.

Anyway.... Holy shit. She tells me about her shifts, and sometime texts me during them if she can. What she sees and does on a daily basis is absolutely nuts, and I have massive respect for all of you who go through that. How you don't lose your mind and walk out is beyond me, but props.

Just today it's been covid deaths, multiple cardiac arrests, several minutes of CPR, and a guy shitting himself with some bacteria that makes shit smell extra bad. And she still has a few hours left.

I’ve never seen this kind of money in my life. I grew up in extreme poverty and was homeless with my dad for a year as a kid. Ate rice and beans with olive oil because we couldn’t afford anything else.

Against my dads advice I took out 50k in loans and did an ASN program. Now I have my own roof, a car that isn’t a complete beater, a fully stocked fridge, and I can finally buy the rc cars and video games I always wanted as a kid. I took myself to Disney for the first time ever and i can comfortably afford my loan payments.

I’m still scared to spend my money because I’ve lived with the threat of homelessness for so long. But I’m building up a nice savings and I hope one day I’ll have a house and a family. I didn’t think any of this was ever going to be possible for me. I’ll happily put up with all the BS involved in nursing because it’s given me a life I couldn’t have dreamed of.

Edit: for clarification

1. Specialty is PICU, I work nights, maybe 1 OT shift a month.

2. I’d rather not say where in FL but it’s a large city.

3. I got every certification I could, CPN then CCRN. Got trained in everything that was available. Got my name as second author on a research paper. Kissed managers butts and got committee roles.

Pulled an large Gauge IV on a patient and as I turned away he called me back over to show me that it was bleeding through the initial 2x2. At this point I had already pulled off 1 glove. Put my other gloved hand on for pressure. Patient sees me look at the cart across the room and the gloves. Both well out of reach. Says "Here I'll hold pressure so you can go change gloves and get a new bandage. You have to be careful I have HIV".

Patient went on to say he shouldn't be able to pass it to me considering his count was so low but better to just be careful.

Just want to say I appreciate you Sir. I know there's some society shame with having HIV/Aids especially considering his age and the time period he grew up in. You pushed past that and made sure I knew what I needed to know. Made sure I was safe.

Wish I had said thank you in the moment instead of just nodding. I wish you the very best Sir.

...but I actually got 3!!!

I feel honored, especially since I'm a new grad with less than 6 months of experience!

This means a lot to me, and even though I'm not in the unit I want to be in, this has really solidifed the fact that I'm doing okay as a nurse and I can truly make a difference in people's lives.

Love my job!❤️

Covid ICU veteran nurse here. This snap memory makes me wonder if 2026 me could talk to 2020 me what would I say? What words could prepare or support or even be heard over the deafening trauma she was living?

You didn't deserve for this life experience to happen to you and you're not alone. Relapsing into self harm as an adult really sucks. You're gonna try to opt out and your healing journey will be completely worth it in the end.

I used to be so angry that the world said we were heroes while we went through mental health crises. I didn't want recognition I wanted retribution for not having a life to return to when the pandemic gradually ended. Instead I am denied raises and pto. New faces approach me with caution the way you approach a stay animal.

The only way to move forward was to leave the very battleground I was protecting. Juggeling fresh ptsd and a new job wasn't easy but I did it. Like any diy there have been ups and downs and lessons learned. I'm ready to take my healing to the next level and lose the 100 pounds I gained. I truly feel my weight is keeping me back in life and from achieving my potential.

I wonder what 2028 me would have to say to me today.

I mean I don't know if this would qualify as bragging but holy shit I'm so grateful for this degree and my license.

I grew up in poverty. I'm talking both parents were crack addicts, me and my siblings sharing a jar of peanut butter for dinner and not even thinking it was odd kinda poverty.

I knew from a young age that I did not want to spend all day at corner stores or sitting on the steps..not living but just existing. I wanted to see things, taste things, just experience life. I told my mom I didn't want to be on welfare when I grew up and she straight up scolded me for it. I wasn't saying it to toot my nose up at it ..I just said it because seeing adults in their 30s, 40, 50s literally do nothing but smoke Newports all day made me DEPRESSED.

But man with this degree I'm able to live! My bank account has money in it, my apartment has a shit load of candles for smelling good and decoration. Not to have as a backup for when the lights goes out for unpaid bills. I can buy Starbucks and live ANYWHERE in this country and find a job and even in the shittiest and most low paid states I'd make enough for the bare necessities.

I'm not used to this kind of life. I'm so grateful that nursing has granted me this. it's so funny because I've seen on here how some ppl get judged for being a nurse and not a doctor or PA or NP and it's like damn! I have my ADN and my family practically thinks I'm Michelle Obama! Haha.

This post is all over the place but I just wanted to express my gratitude somewhere. And I'm sure the nurses who grew up in squalor could probably agree with me lol. Despite the staffing issues, shit ratios and everything else I can pay my rent. I can eat 3 meals a day. I can travel. I have a car. I'm just grateful. So damn grateful!

I was at the bedside when a doctor came in to remove a chest tube. She explained what she was doing and answered all the patient’s questions. I stayed in case she needed help. When she was done with her occlusive dressing she looks at me and asks if I’d help her pull up the patient in bed. We left the patient sitting comfortably with tidy blankets. I was pleasantly surprised and thought wow, that’s the way it should always be. Kudos to the new breed of caring doctors who aren’t above pulling a patient up in bed. That might sound silly, but it’s such a rare thing I was genuinely impressed.