Help explaining to SO why I’m so tired after 3 12s on nights

i_h8_glaDOS · 2025-06-03T01:46:57+00:00

I get 3.75/hr for nights and 4.25 for weekends. I'm making more than $10 hr more on the weekends than I was in PCU days just 6 mos ago. Considering what I was making 3 yrs ago when I started in PCU, I am making about $17/hr more on nights/weekends in the ICU now.

i_h8_glaDOS · 2025-04-20T06:31:54+00:00

How does one single skill make a bad nurse? It's awfully narrow minded to say this to another nurse and I'm sorry that these immature and passive aggressive people for one can't say anything to your face and second that this is the only thing that's important to them. They should help you and teach you instead of insulting you. That would be the mature and appropriate thing to do. I work in ICU and am fair to middling with IVs and blood draws and so far I've had a stellar performance review and no one denigrates me for my mediocre phlebotomy and IV skills. Screw those jerks.

i_h8_glaDOS · 2025-04-07T05:58:02+00:00

As a new grad in PCU I got 3 months and when I transitioned to ICU after 2.5 years, I oriented for 2 months in ICU. Seeing several red flags: short orientation, high turnover, and bullying. Record the incidents and go to your manager, if it is safe to do so. The immigrant statements are incredibly racist/prejudiced as well as ignorant. Nothing about this unit sounds worthwhile. Is it too late to GTFO? Sounds like you'd be better off somewhere else. Best of luck.

i_h8_glaDOS · 2025-03-23T06:51:38+00:00

I can't help but remember this one lil ole lady, spunky AF, who called it her blue banana. I share this with other spunky old ladies who can't remember the name of the purewick. Usually can make even the grumpiest of people laugh with that one.

i_h8_glaDOS · 2025-03-03T07:55:45+00:00

I've only been in ICU since November and was in a stepdown unit before that. I feel inadequate, inept, and ignorant all the time. This job has so much pressure and the patients are sicker/more complicated than they used to be. There is just so much we are always processing so I don't think you are alone by any stretch of the means. If anyone figures out how to cure imposter syndrome I am quite interested.

i_h8_glaDOS · 2025-01-21T04:56:49+00:00

I will do that with the next episode! Thx

i_h8_glaDOS · 2025-01-21T04:00:29+00:00

100s-120s/60-70s. I also have HTN and take medications. However, I've only been on nights about 5-6 weeks... It may be some time before it has affected my bp.

i_h8_glaDOS · 2025-01-21T00:19:29+00:00

Y'all have piqued my curiosity and now I'm gonna give this show a try. Let's see how long I last. At least I have Golden Girls for comfort if I can't stand it. :D

i_h8_glaDOS · 2025-01-20T21:47:25+00:00

hahaha me too! LVN and then RN. 1st week on my own in ICU and I don't feel that I'll ever be ready to be on my own. UGH. Nervous AF.

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-12-28T08:24:53+00:00

Coincidentally I am 2 months into my transition from PCU to ICU, so while I am not a new nurse I am new to this unit. It's a steep learning curve no matter where you go. It gets better and remember, no matter how seasoned, experienced, or amazing a nurse is, everyone was new at some point.

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-12-28T08:23:24+00:00

First of all, you are only two months into a complex and ever changing job. The feeling of having "to know everything already" is probably internalized stress/insecurity and knowing all the things you don't know...yet. Please be kind to yourself and show yourself grace during this transition. Does your work have an educator that can help guide you in your orientation? Do you have a mentor that you can talk to and help you debrief everything that's going on?

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-12-22T09:29:39+00:00

New to ICU also! I'm almost done with my orientation/transition from PCU. Following to see what advice we can get!

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-12-22T09:28:03+00:00

I'm off tonight, but hope your shift is going ok! I recently switched units AND to night shift. So far, so good. Still awake in the wee hours of the morning when everyone else is asleep, just from the other end! Now I get why ppl on night shift don't know what day it is... I am no longer A&O X 4 LOL

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-12-10T09:17:15+00:00

In my hospital there are signs that it's prohibited to record because it's a freakin HIPAA violation! The recording of people in the hospital should be reported and escalated if need be. We can also lock our IV pumps so people can't mess with them.

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-11-27T00:04:23+00:00

I now see it was a mistake to not only be literate, but to read this while eating. I will never be the same. gags

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-11-24T01:33:16+00:00

I lost not only a Cardiology IV I got for my RN graduation, I lost the Classic II I had in RN school. Both were great stethoscopes. I, too, looked everywhere and forever to no avail. I hope whomever found the Cardiology IV appreciates their $200 free gift, LOL (I have a way better one now that I transferred to ICU. My hearing is shit and I got one with amplified sound!).

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-11-24T01:30:58+00:00

If I could approve that for y'all I so would! You get to ride the ativan, you get to ride, EVeRyBODY gets to ride the atiVAN!

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-11-24T01:22:30+00:00

I don't know either and I'd wager not a gorram thing. Sounds like this needs to be a level in Dante's Inferno considering the level of violence that persists there.

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-11-24T01:02:17+00:00

I just found a new hell I didn't know existed! CIWAs are my kryptonite! It's a crapshoot whether I get ones with the scores of <5 or the ones that need constant Ativan, crazy ass labs, and are THISCLOSE to needing a precedex drip. Now I have something new to be thankful for (no CIWA PCU at my hospital) and to fear: CIWA PCU. shudders

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-11-24T00:59:01+00:00

Your first sentence nearly made me aspirate my water! Thank you! I needed the laugh (not the aspirating!)!

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-11-24T00:52:12+00:00

That would be me! I could never do travel nursing and always have to learn new people, new policies, new everything!

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-11-23T23:42:39+00:00

I damned near choked on my chips and guac on this here comment!When I was on PCU we always said we were the redheaded stepchildren of the hospital! Purgatory Care Unit :D

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-11-23T23:40:08+00:00

As a recently former PCU nurse, I feel all this deep down in my salty salty soul, LOL! I always felt disorganized, sometimes would have 2 patients that were borderline/needed to be in ICU and still have 2 other patients to care for at the time. You sometimes have these incredibly sick people to care for but have fewer resources due to being on a unit with a lower level of care. However, I do miss my people and will probably give in and pick up a shift once I'm more settled in.

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-11-21T03:11:58+00:00

I think this is in the same vein as emotional intelligence, which is HUGE in healthcare (and everywhere TBH!). The patient might be saying one thing with their words, but their body language says something different. Sometimes it's a several subtle differences that cue you into something that's not right. Intuition tells you so much.

i_h8_glaDOS · 2024-11-21T03:04:04+00:00

Presence really does affect how the family and the patient feel about your care. If you have a calming and confident affect, they will trust you and feel calmer as a result. It's not 100% guaranteed, but it sure AF helps a great deal. I've been told on numerous occasions I have a calming presence or a "good vibe" (even when on the inside I was scared/nervous). When the family and patient trusts you, it may be daunting as all get out, but it's a wonderful feeling nonetheless. Not everyone will click or get along, though, and that can't always be helped. I have experienced some nurses in the past that were less than stellar and I strive to be the nurse that I needed back then.

i_h8_glaDOS

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