New job, new hurdles

Being a travel nurse has its ups and downs. I get the pleasure of meeting and working with hundreds of different people all the time. Learning the inns and outs of different hospitals, charting procedures, policies and most important, how to best care for new kinds of patients.

The first week is always rough. The unknown. The blank stares by all your new co-workers wondering "who is the new girl?" Then comes the insane amount of blank learning. Blank learning is the monotonous amounts of "internet learning," the watch this video and learn everything, then take 100 tests on the subject...All subjects of something anyone would know. Finish that all up and your brain is mush, report to the unit and start the confusion learning. This is when your preceptor has you follow them around b/c they aren't sure if you know anything or learn quickly.

See, travel nursing is very quick. You learn on your feet and as you go. You trust that the questions you may ask will be answered quickly and correctly...more importantly the new hospital trusts that you know your skills. One day for computers, Two days to learn the floor and etc and then you are thrown to the wolves. Sink or swim time! Of course if you need help you hope that someone is there to help you, but you should rely on yourself...see why the first week is hard.

On top of the a-fore-mentioned there is the people aspect. All the new faces, nurses, techs, doctors, everyone. You don't know them and they don't know you...leaving a lot up to assumptions and observations. I think I have an idea of who is who and what is what...ask me that again in a few weeks and it will be totally different I am sure.

Note of the week:
This hospital is a teaching facility. Large and well known. Multiple doctors, residents, specialist, nurses and many more.
One encounter was with an attending and a resident. The attending said "you have to be mean to your patients."
Being someone who truly cares about my patients and what I do I was apaulled that a physician teachiing others would say this! I did the exact opposite of what he guided the resident to do. I was very nice. I took the time that the situation deserved and got what was needed. Not by being mean, but caring. THAT is what
nursing, no healthcare should be about. Instead this grumpy and jaded attending gives brand new residents the idea that it is ok to treat people like garbage and not the person that they are.

See why I want things to change....
What would you rather have. A medical person that knows what they're doing and cares or one that is bitter, agitated and knows what they are doing???