At some point and time even the most seasoned nurse was a new nurse. They too were bright eyed, anxious, excited, and scared to death they were going to mess it all up. I recently asked on Facebook for one piece of advice for new nurses. The response was so great that it just had […]
New Grad Nurse
Being a new grad nurse is one of the toughest challenges you may face in your life, but you don’t have to face alone and unprepared. We’ve written tons of tips, tricks, and strategies to improve your experience during your first year as a nurse. From improving your time management skills to understanding when and how to delegate, we’ve got you covered.
Ready to feel like a confident nurse?
A nurse residency program guides your first year and helps you to deal with the emotional weight of being a new nurse. A self-guided holistic residency will help you feel confident sooner and love your nursing career, all while learning how to both live and work a nurse.
Star the New Nurse Master Class: a Self-Guided Nurse Residency
A Nurse Practitioner’s Medical Mission to Africa
This week I am featuring an interview with my sister in-law, Elizabeth Fields. She recently went to Bora, Ethiopia with the medical mission group Health Gives Hope. Last week, I interviewed their founders, one of whom is actually a Nurse Practitioner! Click here to check out the previous post. To give you a little background about […]
How to Deal with Verbally Abusive Patients
We’ve been there. The patient is incredibly rude, demeaning, or even saying sexually explicit things to you. Patient satisfaction has been preached to you constantly.. but what do you do when the patient crosses the line? I’ve had quite a few experiences of all of the above. I felt helpless until I figured out the […]
When Your Patient Starts Crying
One of the first questions you may ask yourself in your nursing career is “What to do when a patient starts crying.” Everyone has their own forte’, and for some, providing emotional support to people in crisis can be an OMG WHAT DO I DO moment. It can be uncomfortable. It can be weird. It […]
Nursing Time Management for When You’re Totally Overwhelmed
This post contains affiliate links It never fails. You start your day with the best nursing time management intentions. You started your assessments and meds on time (woo hoo!), and then all of a sudden three doctors round at once and expect you to implement their orders immediately. One patient needs to pee, one needs […]
Delegation Tips for Nurses
Delegation is a tough thing to master as a new nurse. While the NCLEXNCLEX tells you which tasks are appropriate to delegate, it doesn’t exactly outline how to go about doing it. I realize that not all units have certified nursing assistants (CNAs) or patient care technicians (techs), but many do. This post is for […]
Something You’re Dying to Talk About
Being a critical care nurse, I’ve witnessed quite a few people pass away. I’ve assisted in taking people off of the ventilator to allow them to pass naturally. I’ve cared for patients that are donating their organs. I’ve been there for people when they take their last breath because their loved ones could not bear […]
You’re a Life Saver. Literally
I don’t know if any of you nurses out there struggle with what I’ve been fighting over the last year or so. Whenever I’m in a large crowd and see elderly people or someone not looking so hot, I play the worst-case scenario out in my mind. They collapse. I run over. Start CPR. Yell […]
Guide to Calling Doctors at Night
I decided to reblog this post about Guide to Calling Doctors at Night for all of you that just graduated nursing school, getting ready to start your first real nursing job (probably on nights) that have never had to call a physician in the middle of the night. The first time you do it, you’ll […]
How to Manage Your Time in Critical Care for Nurses: Part II
This post contains affiliate links One of the most important things to master in critical care is prioritization.. what do you do first? It’s kind of like prioritization on the floor, except the stakes are higher. Instead of doctors rounding, patients being hypertensive, patients in pain, families wanting you to discharge them 10 minutes ago, […]
How to Manage Your Time in Critical Care For Nurses: Part I
I’ve worked on both the floor and intensive care. In both units time management is absolutely essential. However, time management on the floor is very different from time management in critical care. I’m going to go through some tips to help you appropriately managing your time in a critical care setting. I know it […]
Heavy Scrub Pockets – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That!
A question I am frequently asked is “what do you keep in your scrub pockets during your shift?” I used to keep them full just in case I needed something. I used to have any and everything in there. I have since figured out that my scrub pockets are prime real estate. Only the most […]
Nursing Time Management Scenarios
Something that is essential in your development as an efficient and safe care provider is appropriate time management. Below are some sticky situations and the safest and most efficient way to address them. Q: You’re assessing your new admission. She’s crying in pain. Her blood pressure is 162/38. She needs an IV. There are pended […]
Nursing Drip Basics
I’m going to do a few posts on various drips that are geared towards newer nurses. Here are my 11 points of enlightenment when working with drips! 1. When you get an order to start a drip, that becomes your priority. Yes, I know Mr. Roberson in bed 28 really wants his suppository but he will have […]
Orienting a Struggling New Grad
Love your blog! I’ve been a pedi cardiac nurse for two years and I’m orienting my second new grad (yikes!). I have this really awful feeling that she is not cut out for acute care. Week 4 into her orientation and it feels like day 1. We were giving an IV med yesterday and after […]
The Death of a Heart
I recently saw this video on YouTube and thought it was necessary to share. Nurslings, new grads, nurses new to telemetry.. check out this 1 minute video of a cardiac arrest:
Dealing with Nurse Jerks and Bullies
Nursing can be a very humbling career path. In nursing school, you’re constantly told how to do things and being corrected, and not always in the most gracious ways. And then when you get your big fancy nursing job, you feel like you just went from 8th grade, where you’re on the top of the […]
How to Survive in the ICU
This guest blog post comes from Natalie Bridges, RN. She’s a critical care nurse who jumped into ICU nursing straight out of school. Below is her guest post about ICU survival for newbies. After my first shift in the Intensive Care Unit, I thought to myself, “maybe this was a mistake.” Not knowing any […]
Nursing Time Management Tips
Learning your own time management style is one of the toughest parts about being a new grad. Here are tips I developed after working on an acute care nursing floor with cardiac and stroke patients. I typically had 4-5 patients on day shift and 5-6 on night shift. Report was 30 minutes and ended at […]
When Should I Call the Doctor?
Loaded question, I know. There are lots of variables and situations. Typically, we have a lot at our disposal to be able to adequately many situations without calling the doc. I love that because it means I can handle a lot by myself (yay for autonomy!). However, here are a few basic guidelines/rules.. 1. Check […]
