CinderNurse

A term I learned yesterday, apparently it is the concept of making the new nurse do the scut work or being your slave. Of course my Preceptor said se wasn't going to do that, but it was a funny concept, accurate in most cases, but funny nonetheless. I have never heard that term before.

So my night as an Acute Care Pediatric Nurse... I couldn't remember the most basic math and I couldn't remember reconstitutions and concentration math either. But it was basically just nerves and being put on the spot and literally my mind blanked. I felt so dumb though, soooo not like me. Other than that I watched how things were done, then I jumped into holding babies, changing babies and hanging feedings. So the usual things for me just on a tinier scale.

What the night consisted of was,getting acquainted with the unit, quieting a fussy baby who had stridor and just would not sleep, pulse ox alarms aplenty, q2h diaper changes, q2h repositioning, giving meds via IV push and NGT, hanging IV antibiotics via syringe pump & slow IV push, hanging tube feeds,making formula, drawing labs from both a PICC and a scalp vein (the scalp vein venipuncture, OMG terrifying!)and answering the many needs of many needy parent. Anyway this IS the big time ladies and gents.

The morning arrived with an onslaught of RN nursing students to our tiny facility and it hit me that I am the RN, this is real... and thank GOD I did not have to write a school careplan on my patients today.

Back tonight then next shift on Sunday again. The only part I don't like abut it is that it is NOT 7 miles from my house like my other job, I am not looking forward to a Monday 6pm commute. I really hope the traffic is going the other direction.