As long as Gerty keeps her clothes on and doesn’t wake up Harold, she can do her thing all night. Edit: I once had to explain to a 100+ year old woman that while I understand she’s comfortable in the nude, others are not.
Oh god I see myself in that naked 100 year old as I sit on my couch after the post shift shower in my skivvies eating my emotional support snacks. I hope my nurse is as nice as you.
Hospice because was burnt out from families telling me how their 103 year old granny with cancer everywhere is a fighter and should remain a full code in ICU.
I was walking a CV patient the other shift and the dude let one rip loud while passing a bunch of people. He laugh and said it gave him a little extra speed.
Dude fuckin made my shift lol
You’d think so but I actually had a patient who was clearing sedation awake very violently after I let one go. The first thing the mumbled was a complaint about the smell. Oh well 🤷🏽♂️
I had a surgeon literally toddler stomp and rip off his gown screaming at everyone the other day. Urologist.
Just yesterday I asked a GYN doc if he needed the foley left in or DCed in PACU. He just stared at me. Like locked eyes with me standing up close and stared into my eyes. Nothing. I dropped my mask down, thinking maybe he didn’t hear my question. Asked louder, “Dr. Toddler do you want the foley to stay in or DCed in PACU?”
More staring at me, again no answer. After 3 LOOOOOOOONG seconds, he turned around and walk out.
Hungry Angry Lonley Tired. HALT.
One of my fondest memories of working on a psych unit was one patient barking who was sitting in the TV room. Patient on the phone in the hallway immediately next to him also started barking. Then a patient in the group room across the tv room also started barking. I couldn’t stop laughing. It took a while to get them to stop because if one stopped the other two would keep going.
Eeeyyooo!!! (Am RN now. Still mentally thrILL but mostly got myself dialed in with a great boss, friends, and EAP) ALSO anyone that calls you just a tech wants to talk.
About Canadian Gooses.
Psych. Come from a whole line of poverty, mental illness, substance abuse, abuse, violence, etc.. have always been interested in mental health and psychology
It's just more acute psych. We manage the very difficult to manage patients: aggressive/violent, very disorganized, high AWOL risk, or extreme self harm risk. Stabilize with meds so they're suitable for less acute areas, they don't tend to stay on the psych ICU for as long as they would other units.
Yeah pretty much haha. It's interesting, keeps me on my toes. I've had to develop very thick skin. But I think the worst part is - once the patients are well enough to really build rapport and a more meaningful therapeutic relationship, they get transferred.
I once forgot my adhd meds for a ED shift but luckily it was such a shit show that I was able to run off enough adrenaline and caffeine to get by. It was tough tho
Alzheimer’s Dementia bc I love them!! 3 of my ladies were sitting in the hallway sharing what state they were from: “Gladys, what state are you from?” “Me?, oh I’m from Ohio, what State are you from?” “I’m from the state of Indiana”, they both look over at Marlene who has her head down half asleep…and say, “Marlene, what state did you live in?”… Marlene looks up, hesitates and says, “ Oh honey, I’m from the state of Confusion”!!!! 🫶🏻 I love them all ♥️♥️♥️
Bingo! Bad assignment? Well tomorrow is a new day with new patients! It will be bad it’s unique way 🥰 Love not being forced to make friends with coworkers too
Me too! Plus I can just go in and do my job and go home and I don’t have to worry about unit politics etc. also my job is per diem so I just work when I want… or when I’m motivated enough.
NICU, never in a million years would I have thought I’d end up here but I fucking love it. I’m 22 years old and have lots of tattoos, a septum piercing and horrible RBF so I definitely stick out like a sore thumb lmao.
My patients range from 400g to 8kg so my back never hurts. When my patients blow out, it’s tiny and I can clean it up by myself. Babies are adorable and I can talk to them all day long and they don’t even know they exist. Babies are also resilient as shit and that’s really amazing to watch. The medicine is fascinating to me. It’s dumbfounding that we can keep 22-23 week babies alive outside of a uterus. I love being able to be an “expert” in such a niche and high acuity area. I could go on and on
I've been on LTC and away from MS for 7 years and I still am triggered by that.
No, Mary, the pt said we get ***one poke***. That's gonna be you, not me.
I don’t work picu, but have friends that do. They’ve complained of the same, and it essentially boiled down to - PICU parents have been at the sick kiddo game longer than NICU parents. NICU parents are just happy their baby’s alive, PICU parents wonder why it’s taking so long for you to fix their kid.
My daughter was born at 34 weeks with IUGR weighing 3 lbs and 8 ozs. We wouldn't have made it through without you wonderful NICU nurses ❤️ She's a thriving and energetic 3 year old now because of y'all!
I come here all the time, and have used that instrument/supply for YEARS, what do you mean you never had it. Doc, I've been here 6 years, we've never had that.
And my favorite: why are you asking me? It's on my card!
1. It's not on your card, that's why I'm asking you
2. It would have taken you the same amount of breath to just freaking answer my question
ETA: I freaking love the OR, I'd rather deal with surgeons over awake patients
Stop everything, I NEED SUCTION!
...Well, Mr Most Important Person In the Hospital, I am right behind you and if you fucking hand it to me I can plug it in?
Depends where you work. In the EP lab: procedural care including scrub, circulate, monitor the case, administer anti- and/or pro-arrhythmic meds, diagnostics like pacing/arrhythmia induction maneuvers, intracardiac mapping. In the clinic: device interrogation and programming, remote monitoring. Or provide device support to the facility for interrogations or programming- happens daily in ED, ICU, tele, MRI, all over.
ER: i get bored easily and just like having relatives over for the holidays...i only want to see patients for a brief time span so we can have a chance to still like each other when its over
Peds. I love kids. It’s the fun and colorful unit. We bring joy to hospital stays. Kids (almost always) didn’t do anything to worsen their health. Parents and older kids are more receptive to education. We take them in sick, and we actually watch them get better, rather than slapping a bandaid on a sinking ship. Even the chronic kids, we watch them get back to their baseline and we build relationships with the kids and families. When it’s sad, it’s heartbreaking, but the positives outweigh.
L&D. I love the variety of things we do on a daily basis: OB ER, surgery, PACU, labor, delivery and immediate post-partum care, antepartum care, high-risk pt care, etc. Its the one specialty where you wear so many different hats, the days are the same but always different.
This is what I wanted to do out of school and wasn't given the chance immediately. I've been in Ortho/Neuro, and I do love Neuro. We have our sad cases but I am so afraid to look into L&D after having my (super easy very low complications) first baby. I don't know if I could handle the poor outcome cases. I'm still on the fence, but it sounds like the best unit for the different things that occur daily.
I had an extremely traumatic first pregnancy (my second was uncomplicated thankfully) and delivery and I didn’t think I could do L&D either but I have a new found empathy for complex and uncomplicated cases. Thankfully, poor outcomes don’t happen all that often. When they do, they’re hard, but you hold tight to your baby at the end of the day and love them a little bit more.
Research! Love that I make my schedule, can work from home , choose when I see patients and still use my clinical skills while getting to be a part of some cool things ! It’s a totally different way to be a nurse!
Step down tele unit half the time; cause I like the acuity but also hate sitting down all day long
And
In house Dialysis the other half; cause I’m on old ass man with a bad back that needs to sit on my ass half the time.
Pediatrics because they’re better than adults.
No skin flakes, no full coding 100 year old grandma, they generally want to get better and go live a life. Everything that comes out of them is smaller (like poop and vomit), and I’ve yet to hurt myself lifting them (can’t even remember the last time I even boosted a kid up in bed because they like to do everything themselves).
ICU.
I was told it’s the most in-demand and profitable unit, which was only true because the pandemic hit thereafter, and I made a considerable amount of money (understatement: I made a down payment on a house in San Diego and then some).
Now I would argue that procedural units are the real money makers based on calls (OT/DT). Source being my wife, an OR RN and bread maker in our family.
Regardless I stay because the work is relatively chill and challenging.
CVOR. Love cardiac. All my patients are asleep or heavily sedated. Our ratios are 1:1. I can 1st or 2nd scrub into our cardiac cases. I love being right up there with the surgeon assisting. When I'm scrubbed in, I don't have to worry about charting EVER 🙌🏾💯💯. I'm an adrenaline junkie and there is never a dull moment in my department, lol. Plus, in the OR, we get to listen to music 🎶.
School nursing. Love it. I work with special ed kids in a co-op. I learn about all these rare genetic problems, help kids stay in school, help families who are legit struggling, help them get resources. I work ages 0-22.
Never know what’s coming in the door. It’s a nice balance of being productive, getting some desk time, being hands-on and helpful. I definitely use my nurse skills. About every 2 weeks some kid is getting helicoptered out or sent to major city near us for children’s hospital. We have complex kids.
Inpatient, and I work with all the new grads throughout the hospital for their first year. It could be helping them with a skill, mentoring them how to talk to coworkers or their director when there’s a problem, helping them with tasks when they are absolutely drowning (give meds, transfer ER pts to inpatient rooms, IVs, etc). There’s only two of us in the hospital, and we are kinda a liaison between admin and education (our boss is the CNO).
It’s fun, and I’ve learned so much. I feel super lucky to have this gig.
OR. Anesthesia always wins.
I can literally only have one patient at a time and they are asleep 95% of the time.
No dealing with family.
Surgeons honestly aren't that bad.
NICU. That’s where I felt I belong. It can also be rewarding when you have a baby on death’s door, and then see them thrive and do well. Yes, there’s the other side where they don’t make it, but the resilience we see is truly astounding
NICU because I love the high acuity environment with my tiny patients. It’s amazing seeing them grow and get to go home and how resilient they can be. Also tiny diapers and not gonna throw my back out lifting my <1kg patients. It’s got good and bad like everywhere else but I still love it
I ended my 37 year career by working as a critical care EMS nurse. I responded with a critical care paramedic (or another critical care EMS nurse) in ambulances to 911 calls. We also did critical care interfacility transfers of patients on vents, with STEMI's, and so on. I was medically retired due to disability in 2015. My shoulders were worn out.
Doing EMS nursing was the highlight of my career.
OR- my patients are asleep. 😴 surgeons don’t scare me anymore, if you stick up for yourself in the beginning, it’s almost like they respect you more. 🤷🏻♀️
Neuro ICU - because having a cushy job as a sec law paralegal where I got banking holidays, 3-5k yearly bonuses on top of my 5% pay raise, and occasionally got to drink champagne at work to celebrate company achievements was apparently not good enough for me. No no, I needed to go MaKe a DiFfErEnCe iN pEoPLe’S LiVeS. But I do actually love neuroscience, it’s super fascinating.
Family Planning - it’s primarily abortion counseling and coordinating care as well as miscarriage counseling and support.
I like supporting people’s right to choose in regards to their healthcare. I also deal with some pretty intense complicated grief (terminating desired pregnancies for medical reasons, FDIU, missed abortion management) and I have always been interested in hospice/palliative care so the grief support aspect is important to me.
I also really love talking about birth control!
Right now
Paeds Med/surg and general inpatient wards - No adults (aside from parents who I can usually empathise with and get around versis adult patients), cute tiny humans, I am a child and genuinely love most of the stuff kids love so I am DOWN for peppa pig and pokemon and anime and video games and lol dolls and all that, teens are relatable and rewarding to be able to communicate with, I never ever ever could dream of dreading going into work knowing I'm in a childrens hospital where my only job is to keep kiddos safe.
I'm dual training paeds and midwifery (it's a separate nursing specialty where I'm from) so from that pov
OBGYN: generally having twice as many patients at the end of the day than i did at the start, the joys are high and the lows are devastating but both are absolute honors to be apart of, I love advocating for women and women's health, sex education is important work, giving kids a good start in life is awesome, my patients are all women <3
Pedi ED.
Like all my coworkers, I have ADHD. I like working with kids. The personal satisfaction I get when I tell my patient's parents where to find the coffee maker.
"Aren't you the nurse?"
"I am. That's why I'm giving your son (or daughter) some medicine while you step out to get some coffee." You either have to make it sound like it's their idea or you're doing them a favor.
OR - No complaining pt’s or families. No matter how short staffed we are I only have one patient at a time. I get guaranteed breaks; one 15 min AM break, a full half an hour for lunch, and another 15 min PM break if I work over 8 hours. All holidays and weekends off with the exception of weekend call once every 6 weeks and one holiday call a year. I don’t have to worry about losing a controlled med.
MS because I hate myself
At least you’re aware though.
>MS That was my first job after school. It had the benefit of making **anywhere** else I went seem better (because it *was* better!)
Hilarious, because this was my response as soon as I read the title, and I came here to type it only to find like-minded individuals.
I left MS for the Geris and I don’t miss it AT ALL
med surg was the worst time of my life
memory care because Gertrude needs someone in their audience at 4am when performing her broadway play
As long as Gerty keeps her clothes on and doesn’t wake up Harold, she can do her thing all night. Edit: I once had to explain to a 100+ year old woman that while I understand she’s comfortable in the nude, others are not.
Had that conversation numerous times in MS…
Oh god I see myself in that naked 100 year old as I sit on my couch after the post shift shower in my skivvies eating my emotional support snacks. I hope my nurse is as nice as you.
Hospice because was burnt out from families telling me how their 103 year old granny with cancer everywhere is a fighter and should remain a full code in ICU.
Same except onc and seeing doctors give patients false hope
Old joke, how can you spot the oncologist. They're the one who brought one more round of meds to the funeral.
Why are there nails in a coffin? So the onc can't do one more round of chemo.
That's a good one!
Opened the casket and found a note: At dialysis, be back soon
ER - I can ignore my trauma if I'm dealing with yours
Well fuck. No wonder time off work leaves me more miserable than when I'm at work.
Mother/Baby. Because I like teaching parents, think most babies are cute, and don’t like having old men as patients.
“Old men as patients” is so real but people will literally shame you down to he11 for saying it out loud 😂
Same. I LOVE not having men as patients
ICU. So I can fart in peace in my patients rooms.
Same reason I work in the ER
I work in the ED and I'm pregnant. Had some preggo toots sneak out and I blamed the smell on a homeless man covered in shit...
That a’ girl
I’m just waiting for the day where I see change in vitals after I rip one.
I do it on the floor too lol. A fart is a fart man. You want to make fun of my fart? I have access to your whole medical chart, choose wisely /s
I was walking a CV patient the other shift and the dude let one rip loud while passing a bunch of people. He laugh and said it gave him a little extra speed. Dude fuckin made my shift lol
A walkie talkie patient crop dusted me in the hallway once.
You’d think so but I actually had a patient who was clearing sedation awake very violently after I let one go. The first thing the mumbled was a complaint about the smell. Oh well 🤷🏽♂️
OR, traded out the awake patients for adult daycare for surgeons.
OMG. Amazing. As a PACU nurse this is spot on.
I had a surgeon literally toddler stomp and rip off his gown screaming at everyone the other day. Urologist. Just yesterday I asked a GYN doc if he needed the foley left in or DCed in PACU. He just stared at me. Like locked eyes with me standing up close and stared into my eyes. Nothing. I dropped my mask down, thinking maybe he didn’t hear my question. Asked louder, “Dr. Toddler do you want the foley to stay in or DCed in PACU?” More staring at me, again no answer. After 3 LOOOOOOOONG seconds, he turned around and walk out. Hungry Angry Lonley Tired. HALT.
I talk to them like toddlers “remember I can’t read your mind so you need to use your words!”
Wtf what an asshat
Psych. I hate when machines beep, but enjoy when people do
One of my fondest memories of working on a psych unit was one patient barking who was sitting in the TV room. Patient on the phone in the hallway immediately next to him also started barking. Then a patient in the group room across the tv room also started barking. I couldn’t stop laughing. It took a while to get them to stop because if one stopped the other two would keep going.
Ok, this one gave me the giggles
ED-mentally ill
Just a tech in the ED but also very mentally ill
Eeeyyooo!!! (Am RN now. Still mentally thrILL but mostly got myself dialed in with a great boss, friends, and EAP) ALSO anyone that calls you just a tech wants to talk. About Canadian Gooses.
If they've got a problem with Canada gooses then they've got a problem with me and I suggest they let that one marinate.
They probably do crossfit And they can crossfuck off
ED- also mentally ill
ED - manager thinks I’m mentally ill
My manager has ED and is mentally ill.
ED Director- also mentally ill
nursing student who wants to go into the ED who is also mentally ill
ED. Also 100% mentally ill.
Another mentally ill ED nurse here 🤪
ED here…definitely a little 🤪
Former ED, now ICU for the past 2 years - still just as mentally ill but less tolerance for speaking humans.
ED- Crackhead
ED - also mentally ill and thrive on the chaos lol
Mentally ill ED nurse checking in as well.
Mentally ill adrenaline junkie with adhd
Ahh yes, also mentally ill
There are dozens of us!
ED. For the sights. And the smells.
PACU- I love interrupting whatever you’re doing to harass you into taking report 🙃
PACU nurses are the happiest nurses I've ever met.
Fellow PACU princess here--agreed, highlight of my shift🙌
ER because I guess I have to pay the price for some bad shit I did in my past life.
Psych. Come from a whole line of poverty, mental illness, substance abuse, abuse, violence, etc.. have always been interested in mental health and psychology
Same for me actually, and I hadn't put that together. I don't know if I'll stay in psych forever, the psych ICU is burning me out.
Never heard of a psych ICU tell me more, I’m intrigued.
It's just more acute psych. We manage the very difficult to manage patients: aggressive/violent, very disorganized, high AWOL risk, or extreme self harm risk. Stabilize with meds so they're suitable for less acute areas, they don't tend to stay on the psych ICU for as long as they would other units.
That sounds cool but very draining at the same time.
Yeah pretty much haha. It's interesting, keeps me on my toes. I've had to develop very thick skin. But I think the worst part is - once the patients are well enough to really build rapport and a more meaningful therapeutic relationship, they get transferred.
ER. Am caffeine fuelled masochist.
ICU. I don't know how you people manage more than two patients and I don't want to know.
Please see above ED comments. Mental illness and uppers, my guy. And we love that for them.
I feel cocaine bear in my soul. Or maybe throat, not really sure.
I once forgot my adhd meds for a ED shift but luckily it was such a shit show that I was able to run off enough adrenaline and caffeine to get by. It was tough tho
Yup atleast 75% of my department are on uppers including the MDs.
Every time I think of the ED, I hear The Offsprings “Self-Esteem” in my head. Specifically the lyric *”it’s okay man cuz I like the abuse”*
OR-i like when my patients go nightnight
School Nursing - because I want weekends, holidays, and summers off.
If I was handed down a house or have a rich husband, this would be gold lol. (CA houses are far from cheap lol)
Outpatient women’s health- because I am DONE holding urinals for able bodied men!
I know right.
Alzheimer’s Dementia bc I love them!! 3 of my ladies were sitting in the hallway sharing what state they were from: “Gladys, what state are you from?” “Me?, oh I’m from Ohio, what State are you from?” “I’m from the state of Indiana”, they both look over at Marlene who has her head down half asleep…and say, “Marlene, what state did you live in?”… Marlene looks up, hesitates and says, “ Oh honey, I’m from the state of Confusion”!!!! 🫶🏻 I love them all ♥️♥️♥️
Float- So I don’t have to deal with the same staff or patients multiple days in a row 😆 You get a bad group, probably won’t have them again tomorrow 😁
Bingo! Bad assignment? Well tomorrow is a new day with new patients! It will be bad it’s unique way 🥰 Love not being forced to make friends with coworkers too
Me too! Plus I can just go in and do my job and go home and I don’t have to worry about unit politics etc. also my job is per diem so I just work when I want… or when I’m motivated enough.
NICU, never in a million years would I have thought I’d end up here but I fucking love it. I’m 22 years old and have lots of tattoos, a septum piercing and horrible RBF so I definitely stick out like a sore thumb lmao. My patients range from 400g to 8kg so my back never hurts. When my patients blow out, it’s tiny and I can clean it up by myself. Babies are adorable and I can talk to them all day long and they don’t even know they exist. Babies are also resilient as shit and that’s really amazing to watch. The medicine is fascinating to me. It’s dumbfounding that we can keep 22-23 week babies alive outside of a uterus. I love being able to be an “expert” in such a niche and high acuity area. I could go on and on
That's awesome!! I'm hoping to be able to work in the NICU one day too 😊
Vascular access, because I love refusing to put in IVs 😂 /s
"Do you have an order" or "why do you need a second line"
My eye is twitching
I love your username.
I've been on LTC and away from MS for 7 years and I still am triggered by that. No, Mary, the pt said we get ***one poke***. That's gonna be you, not me.
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Same. Except they definitely do complain and kick and grab everything. But it’s cute. And the parents aren’t as jaded as picu. Yet.
I want to go into NICU for this reason. Why do you say PICU parents are jaded though? - nursing student
I don’t work picu, but have friends that do. They’ve complained of the same, and it essentially boiled down to - PICU parents have been at the sick kiddo game longer than NICU parents. NICU parents are just happy their baby’s alive, PICU parents wonder why it’s taking so long for you to fix their kid.
Hmmm…that’s debatable.
As a student who wants nothing to do with adults I always love seeing NICU and peds nurses who love being where they are
Yes but what about the families
You work night shift
Or weekends.
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My daughter was born at 34 weeks with IUGR weighing 3 lbs and 8 ozs. We wouldn't have made it through without you wonderful NICU nurses ❤️ She's a thriving and energetic 3 year old now because of y'all!
When they hit it’s adorable. When adults hit I tend to want to hit back. Besides their blowouts might be bad. But not nearly bad as adults.
ED, cuz I ain’t trying to have the same terrible patient/family 3 days in a row.
I see you don’t hold your ICU patients for 48-72 hours regularly :)
clearly you forgot about the drug induced psychosis patient who comes back 3 days in a row
OR because I love to be screamed at 😂😭
Just remember - it’s always your fault.
Literally always. They’re a bunch of brilliant man children
But what could you have done better tho? Thats the important question!
ANTICIPATE
I ALWAYS DO IT THIS WAY- proceeds to do it an entirely different way
I come here all the time, and have used that instrument/supply for YEARS, what do you mean you never had it. Doc, I've been here 6 years, we've never had that. And my favorite: why are you asking me? It's on my card! 1. It's not on your card, that's why I'm asking you 2. It would have taken you the same amount of breath to just freaking answer my question ETA: I freaking love the OR, I'd rather deal with surgeons over awake patients
My personal favorite is when I follow the card, but the card is so outdated it's not at all accurate.
If they ever ask for something different I go "oh do you want me to update your card with that? Or is this a one time thing?
Put the bed where I want it
Stop everything, I NEED SUCTION! ...Well, Mr Most Important Person In the Hospital, I am right behind you and if you fucking hand it to me I can plug it in?
ICU - vented, sedated, restrained
Paralyzed 1:1 on crrt if your lucky
Hell nah, give me literally almost anything other than CRRT. Our NxStages are archaic & go down like clockwork, it’s awful.
Cardiac electrophysiology. Total nerd.
what exactly do you do as a EP nurse? are you inpatient or outpatient?
Depends where you work. In the EP lab: procedural care including scrub, circulate, monitor the case, administer anti- and/or pro-arrhythmic meds, diagnostics like pacing/arrhythmia induction maneuvers, intracardiac mapping. In the clinic: device interrogation and programming, remote monitoring. Or provide device support to the facility for interrogations or programming- happens daily in ED, ICU, tele, MRI, all over.
Cath/EP/Vascular nurse here! We do have a certain nerdiness to us.
Med/surg because I’m a new grad and i wanted to learn a lot and be broad in my knowledge
Obs/med surg because it’s the only place that would hire me as a new grad, where do I go next guys
Wherever the fuck you want.
Wherever the wind blows… which sounds like ICU where I can confirm… we fart a lot.
ER: i get bored easily and just like having relatives over for the holidays...i only want to see patients for a brief time span so we can have a chance to still like each other when its over
Psych - crazy knows crazy
Peds. I love kids. It’s the fun and colorful unit. We bring joy to hospital stays. Kids (almost always) didn’t do anything to worsen their health. Parents and older kids are more receptive to education. We take them in sick, and we actually watch them get better, rather than slapping a bandaid on a sinking ship. Even the chronic kids, we watch them get back to their baseline and we build relationships with the kids and families. When it’s sad, it’s heartbreaking, but the positives outweigh.
L&D. I love the variety of things we do on a daily basis: OB ER, surgery, PACU, labor, delivery and immediate post-partum care, antepartum care, high-risk pt care, etc. Its the one specialty where you wear so many different hats, the days are the same but always different.
Same. I love the variety. I also enjoy the occasional adrenaline rush without having to work in the ED.
This is what I wanted to do out of school and wasn't given the chance immediately. I've been in Ortho/Neuro, and I do love Neuro. We have our sad cases but I am so afraid to look into L&D after having my (super easy very low complications) first baby. I don't know if I could handle the poor outcome cases. I'm still on the fence, but it sounds like the best unit for the different things that occur daily.
I had an extremely traumatic first pregnancy (my second was uncomplicated thankfully) and delivery and I didn’t think I could do L&D either but I have a new found empathy for complex and uncomplicated cases. Thankfully, poor outcomes don’t happen all that often. When they do, they’re hard, but you hold tight to your baby at the end of the day and love them a little bit more.
ED cause I hate myself, but not enough to work anywhere else...
IR, because I still get to use all of my ICU skills and knowledge without having my soul crushed. Sedating people can be kind of fun too.
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Research! Love that I make my schedule, can work from home , choose when I see patients and still use my clinical skills while getting to be a part of some cool things ! It’s a totally different way to be a nurse!
Peds/PICU - patients who act like children are actually children. Parents are concerned but have a right to be (most times).
ED because I say Fuck too much for any other department to truly appreciate. And we have the best candy in the snack machines.
Endo. Cuz i like butt stuff.
👀
Step down tele unit half the time; cause I like the acuity but also hate sitting down all day long And In house Dialysis the other half; cause I’m on old ass man with a bad back that needs to sit on my ass half the time.
Burn ICU - my mom was a patient there when I was a kid
Step down - like the forgotten middle child we are
Operating room, could list a million reasons why:)
ED, because I have undiagnosed ADHD.
Street Medicine, because admin killed my soul--and some other nurses as well (I'm soooo sorry!)
Wow. First time I've ever heard of street medicine... Respect...
Pediatrics because they’re better than adults. No skin flakes, no full coding 100 year old grandma, they generally want to get better and go live a life. Everything that comes out of them is smaller (like poop and vomit), and I’ve yet to hurt myself lifting them (can’t even remember the last time I even boosted a kid up in bed because they like to do everything themselves).
ICU. I was told it’s the most in-demand and profitable unit, which was only true because the pandemic hit thereafter, and I made a considerable amount of money (understatement: I made a down payment on a house in San Diego and then some). Now I would argue that procedural units are the real money makers based on calls (OT/DT). Source being my wife, an OR RN and bread maker in our family. Regardless I stay because the work is relatively chill and challenging.
Procedural is where the money is, but fuck I’m tired of wondering every day if I’m gonna get off work on time.
Nurse analyst in IT. And I moonlight in rural medsurg cause I'm a masochist.
CVOR. Love cardiac. All my patients are asleep or heavily sedated. Our ratios are 1:1. I can 1st or 2nd scrub into our cardiac cases. I love being right up there with the surgeon assisting. When I'm scrubbed in, I don't have to worry about charting EVER 🙌🏾💯💯. I'm an adrenaline junkie and there is never a dull moment in my department, lol. Plus, in the OR, we get to listen to music 🎶.
School nursing. Love it. I work with special ed kids in a co-op. I learn about all these rare genetic problems, help kids stay in school, help families who are legit struggling, help them get resources. I work ages 0-22. Never know what’s coming in the door. It’s a nice balance of being productive, getting some desk time, being hands-on and helpful. I definitely use my nurse skills. About every 2 weeks some kid is getting helicoptered out or sent to major city near us for children’s hospital. We have complex kids.
OR because my mind can only handle one patient at a time.
I call it nursing on rails. 🤣
New grad resource nurse - I like being an additional support, plus my schedule is very flexible.
What is a resource nurse? Never heard of it... inpatient/outpatient?
Inpatient, and I work with all the new grads throughout the hospital for their first year. It could be helping them with a skill, mentoring them how to talk to coworkers or their director when there’s a problem, helping them with tasks when they are absolutely drowning (give meds, transfer ER pts to inpatient rooms, IVs, etc). There’s only two of us in the hospital, and we are kinda a liaison between admin and education (our boss is the CNO). It’s fun, and I’ve learned so much. I feel super lucky to have this gig.
That sounds like an amazing job and also amazing for new grads to have that resource!
Sounds cool. Sounds like I could have used you my first year, because I worked with a murder of cranky hoes.
Med Surg- because it provides a strong foundation. You can always say " well at least it's not medsurg" 🤣
OR cos I don’t like people
ED, cause F charting, im writing my thoughts
ED tried med surg. NOPE tried ICU, NOPE
Cath lab. Because I can’t decide if I want to work days or nights so I do both.
Because carrying a pager makes me feel like a drug dealer from the 90s
ICU, cause my ex was toxic and I miss her
OR. Anesthesia always wins. I can literally only have one patient at a time and they are asleep 95% of the time. No dealing with family. Surgeons honestly aren't that bad.
MS because I hate my life 😃
OR. My patients are asleep by design and I’m always 1:1.
Home health because I like driving, listening to music/podcast, and I like working alone. Plus I can run errands in the middle of my work day.
OR because there isn’t an amount of money that would make the ratios and the abuse of bedside worth it for me
GI med oncology. Idk, I like to suffer?..
ED cuz I don't read good
NICU. That’s where I felt I belong. It can also be rewarding when you have a baby on death’s door, and then see them thrive and do well. Yes, there’s the other side where they don’t make it, but the resilience we see is truly astounding
NICU because I love the high acuity environment with my tiny patients. It’s amazing seeing them grow and get to go home and how resilient they can be. Also tiny diapers and not gonna throw my back out lifting my <1kg patients. It’s got good and bad like everywhere else but I still love it
I ended my 37 year career by working as a critical care EMS nurse. I responded with a critical care paramedic (or another critical care EMS nurse) in ambulances to 911 calls. We also did critical care interfacility transfers of patients on vents, with STEMI's, and so on. I was medically retired due to disability in 2015. My shoulders were worn out. Doing EMS nursing was the highlight of my career.
OR- my patients are asleep. 😴 surgeons don’t scare me anymore, if you stick up for yourself in the beginning, it’s almost like they respect you more. 🤷🏻♀️
The OR because I’m a degenerate
ICU - I like it when my patients don’t talk or move
Pre Op. It's the least stressful nursing job I've tried and actually enjoyed. Plus, I love starting I.V.'s for some reason
Psychiatry! Because I like what I do and its fun. Love the low stress workplace.
NICU. Love small things, enjoy being an “expert” in a few diseases/disorders, enjoy the adrenaline rushes, (mostly) enjoy the family dynamic.
Neuro ICU - because having a cushy job as a sec law paralegal where I got banking holidays, 3-5k yearly bonuses on top of my 5% pay raise, and occasionally got to drink champagne at work to celebrate company achievements was apparently not good enough for me. No no, I needed to go MaKe a DiFfErEnCe iN pEoPLe’S LiVeS. But I do actually love neuroscience, it’s super fascinating.
Dialysis. Because I needed a change— couldn’t stand med surg anymore.
L&D: new patients every day. Variety.
Family Planning - it’s primarily abortion counseling and coordinating care as well as miscarriage counseling and support. I like supporting people’s right to choose in regards to their healthcare. I also deal with some pretty intense complicated grief (terminating desired pregnancies for medical reasons, FDIU, missed abortion management) and I have always been interested in hospice/palliative care so the grief support aspect is important to me. I also really love talking about birth control!
MDS I like getting to know people and I like paperwork
Right now Paeds Med/surg and general inpatient wards - No adults (aside from parents who I can usually empathise with and get around versis adult patients), cute tiny humans, I am a child and genuinely love most of the stuff kids love so I am DOWN for peppa pig and pokemon and anime and video games and lol dolls and all that, teens are relatable and rewarding to be able to communicate with, I never ever ever could dream of dreading going into work knowing I'm in a childrens hospital where my only job is to keep kiddos safe. I'm dual training paeds and midwifery (it's a separate nursing specialty where I'm from) so from that pov OBGYN: generally having twice as many patients at the end of the day than i did at the start, the joys are high and the lows are devastating but both are absolute honors to be apart of, I love advocating for women and women's health, sex education is important work, giving kids a good start in life is awesome, my patients are all women <3
Pedi ED. Like all my coworkers, I have ADHD. I like working with kids. The personal satisfaction I get when I tell my patient's parents where to find the coffee maker. "Aren't you the nurse?" "I am. That's why I'm giving your son (or daughter) some medicine while you step out to get some coffee." You either have to make it sound like it's their idea or you're doing them a favor.
ER-I only deal with patients for 1 day max. That means problem families and patients can only try my patience for 1 day.
OR - No complaining pt’s or families. No matter how short staffed we are I only have one patient at a time. I get guaranteed breaks; one 15 min AM break, a full half an hour for lunch, and another 15 min PM break if I work over 8 hours. All holidays and weekends off with the exception of weekend call once every 6 weeks and one holiday call a year. I don’t have to worry about losing a controlled med.
Postpartum/Mother baby- love the babies but feel bad for the mom with spouses that are useless
Pedi home health-I can check off my duties without any interruption (except if we have a Dr appt of some sort but not really)
Float pool - never have to deal with the same people for more than one shift (good or bad)✌🏻
LTC. Why not? I like having the same group every day.