We have a new patient 40's/M in ICU who was admitted with a nec fascitis on lower ext, sepsis, CFH with an EF of 11% on multiple pressors. Patient and family decided to not do any surgery and focus on comfort care. Patient last wish is to stand up and hug his family. He has 3 kids and 1 is a toddler who have no idea that is the last time he can hug his dad. With muliple pressors running, we have to assist him (he is about 300 lbs) stand up and he lasted about a minute hugging his whole family and saying their goodbyes. Patient immediately died right after turning off the pressors and received ativan push. They just arrived in the US couple months ago and most likely they don't have much resources. I have been a nurse for 12 years and i feel shattered every time i experience this.

For me, it’s hanging secondary IV piggybacks when the primary line is tangled in three different pump channels for no apparent reason. It’s not hard, it’s not dangerous, but untangling 8 feet of tubing at 03:00 while a pump beeps at me makes me want to roll my cart into the nearest elevator shaft.

What's that one trivial task on your unit that just grates on your nerves every single time?

Today I was charge nurse on the unit and I was making the schedule when I had to send one the oncoming tech to a 1:1. This tech had picked up and we have a policy that any pickups get floated before staffed personnel. I had asked the other two techs on the floor if they would have rather floated to the 1:1, they both said no.

When the tech came in I said "Hey, your going to be going to room X". When she gets really smug and says I just floated early today, why am I being floated again?" I said well it's the policy that incentives staff get floated before staffed people. I showed her the actual policy in person. When she starts making all kinds of threats. Like, I'm never going to be picking up anymore, I shouldn't have to do this. I replied, I dont know what to tell you, if you dont want to float than dont pick up an extra shift.

She storms off all anger and its taking me time to calm down. I didn't want her to just bump the other techs because that's unfair to them. By now, it was past the time when she was supposed to be at the 1:1, so i didn't think much of it. Mean while my friend came up to me who had heard the argument. I asked my friend, I said do you think I should let the director know what happened?

I asked because in nursing it's so common to enforce the rules and have the tables get turned on you, so I was a little paranoid about having a meeting about this. Before I know it all I hear is "I know your not talking about me!" and she starts yelling, saying things like "You would never say that to my face," and "your too scared to tell me that to my face".

Turns out she was just sitting in the back room on her phone and had never relieved the 1:1. I replied im not scared. She storms off. I basically tell this to management. Would you have done anything different?

Today I had a “med error”. Basically my patient had one time doses of 2mg Valium and .5 dilaudid prior that were to be given 30 min before going to MRI. I get a call from ultrasound that they are ready for him. For whatever reason I assumed they meant for his MRI, not ultrasound. I went ahead and gave the patient his meds and then called back to let them know they have to kick in. Ultrasound lady was clearly confused and that’s when realized he was getting an ultrasound not an MRI😭 I then called MRI to see when his MRI was scheduled and it wasnt until 6pm, if was 1pm at that point. Told my charge nurse immediately and she wasn’t worried at all and said that he would just be “extra calm.” I let the doctors know and they also didn’t really seem to care. The patient also barely had a reaction to either drug and voiced concern that it wasn’t gonna work for the MRI, I also shared this with the doctor at this point. Being new and insecure, I’m convincing myself that everyone is just choosing to not tell me that I messed up and are just being nice :(

“As nursing educators and leaders, however, our responsibility extends beyond ensuring that students can demonstrate competencies. We must also create learning experiences that cultivate inquiry, reflection, critical thinking, and a commitment to lifelong learning.” ~~ Julie Durand

When I saw this I thought about my first clinical day. After we passed breakfast trays our instructor herded us into the floor stock room like a mother hen with eight chicks. She took down a big jar of long sterile applicators, like big q-tips, and said, “How would you take one of these out without contaminating the rest of them?”!

We hadn’t had that mercilessly drilled into us in learning lab, so we had no ready answer. Shuffling feet. Looking at floor. Finally one timid answer: “Pick it up with sterile forceps?”

Mrs. Vartanian said firmly, “Good. Who can think of another way?”

Another way? There can be another way, and we can think about it? Nobody in learning lab ever gave us any alternatives- it was the one way or the highway.

”Put on a sterile glove and pull it out?” “Tip the jar and grab the one that sticks out first?”

The actual point wasn’t how to do this little activity. It was to teach us that if we had a good rationale (the how) backed by research (sterile technique) we could figure things out by our own assessments.

That one lesson changed me forever. It determined how I looked at my practice for the rest of my professional life. Best instructor evah.

What epiphany did you have as a student?

I’m a new grad working critical care unit and I hate it so much. And I don’t think it’s the unit I hate I think I hate nursing. I did really well in clinical so much I actually really enjoyed it and was very lucky to get a job after grad. But I’ve been working the floor 3/4 months now and I hate it. I dread going to work, I feel like I’m constantly making mistakes, and I just want to cry every day because I feel so stupid and feel worthless. I invested so much into this career, finically and emotionally that I can’t quit but I don’t know how to keep going. I feel like a failure. How do I keep going

Sitting on my couch, still in scrubs, staring at the wall. My mind keeps replaying whether I signed off on a lab or if I remembered to put the telemetry monitor back on charger. I know I did but I’m sitting here second guessing every detail anyway.

Takes forever to actually decompress on drive home days.

Killing the people saving you seems like a healthy decision/choice... 😢

I also keep a pocket with pen, sharpie, flushes, etc. but I wanna know what’s in your pocket to personally get YOU through the shift? The little packrat items. I emptied my pockets tonight and it made me wonder what others accumulate in theirs. (Side note, that pill is an excedrin of my own possession)

I work on a unit where learned helplessness is BOOMING. A lot of patients will walk over the nurses (try to) and management obviously always takes their side. I have this one seasoned nurse who is lovely to the nurses but will put patients in their fucking place. Sorry, I love it. She’s never rude to the unproblematic patients, but when we have a call bell happy patient, hold my urinal even though I have no UE weakness and hold everything else just fine, or the typical entitled patients, she will rip them a new one. I’m sorry but a lot of these patients need to either be put in their place or behave, she is the one who will do that or make it happen. Anyone else have a coworker like this? (She has been reported numerous times but she’s an excellent nurse and has 20+ years under her belt) 🤣

Edit: rude was a poor word choice. Sorry about that. I would say maybe abrasive or assertive.

UGH. I pulled the ordered amount of Lomotil (IYKYK) during a hemorrhage emergency, but after counting, I closed the bin before I was able to return the rest of the sleeve. I realized afterward and planned to resolve it with my charge nurse. Thankfully, the bleeding was controlled, and we ended up not needing it.

Afterward, I was helping care for a baby who needed prompt intervention for low blood sugar. I got caught up in patient care, missed my breaks, and completely forgot the meds were still in my scrub jacket when I put it in the dirty linen hamper.

I’ve already reported it to management, but they weren’t sure how to resolve it and reached out to pharmacy. This has never happened to me before, and I’m nervous about getting in trouble.

Also… I hate that Lomotil is a controlled substance. IT’S AN ANTI-DIARRHEA MED w atropine…

Is there a market for ANTI-DIARRHEALS? Or ATROPINE?!!

Am I freaking out over nothing? I don’t want to get fired or written up… omg.

Hey yall!

What are some things you’d want to tell a new grad nurse in the ED? Any tips, pearls, tricks, hacks you’ve picked up over the years. About anything and everything; serious and unserious.

Guys, I need to vent because this thing is making me feel really bad.

I'm a new nurse and I recently started working in the ward. Obviously I still have a lot to learn and, when I have doubts or I'm not sure about something, I ask my colleagues for help. I do it precisely because I don't want to make mistakes and I want to be sure to do things the right way, especially for the safety of patients.

The problem is that my colleagues have always told me that, if I have difficulties or questions, I have to ask without problems. And in fact that's what I do.

A week ago, however, a colleague told me that other colleagues talk about me behind my back and that someone would have said:

"A person who is not ready to work, should not be destined for this department.." (its a med-surg ward)

Honestly, I felt terrible about it.

So what should I do? If I ask for help, does it mean I'm not ready to work? If instead I don't ask and I make a mistake because I wasn't sure about something, would it be better?

That is, it is always said that a new nurse should ask questions, ask for help when he has doubts and not be ashamed of not knowing everything. But then, when you really do it, are you judged?

I'm not saying I'm perfect, absolutely. I know very well that I still have a lot to learn and that I don't have the experience of those who have been working for years. But I've just entered this world, I'm trying to settle in, learn the routines of the department and become more and more independent.

I'm committed and I really want to become a good nurse. I haven't studied for all these years so as not to take my work seriously.

What makes me feel bad is that no one has ever come to talk to me directly to tell me if there is something wrong with my work or what I should improve. Instead, apparently, they talk about it behind my back, even going so far as to say that I shouldn't be in this department.

If I make a mistake or there is something I need to improve, tell me quietly. I am here to learn and I accept constructive criticism.

But you can't tell me to ask for help when I have doubts and then judge me because I do it.

Already working as a new nurse is stressful, especially when you try to do everything right and you are afraid of making mistakes. Knowing that maybe colleagues judge you while you are simply trying to learn makes you even more anxious and leads you to doubt yourself.

I would like to understand if it is something that happens often when you are a new nurse or if I was simply unlucky with the environment in which I find myself.

You nurses who have been working for years, how was your experience at the beginning? Have you ever felt judged by colleagues just because you needed help?

I'm not looking for someone to tell me that I'm right. I would just like to understand if it is normal to live these situations at the beginning or if I am doing something wrong.

Hi guys I’m a pretty new grad almost a year on this unit and I’m genuinely constantly anxious even when I’m at home and idk what to do. They’re so strict on my unit, you make one mistake and they’re putting you on education plans and bringing you in for meetings. Just seeing my manager makes my heart drop, I always feel like crying. If I’m not crying about how mean and abusive my patients are to me I’m crying about being scared of making a mistake. I just don’t know if this is normal? Often I have nightmares of work and I wake up with my heart racing. People on my unit are getting fired left and right and it just makes me so scared. And the thing is I’m very competent, and I always do my best but I feel like people are getting in trouble for stupid things 😭 idk should I talk to a doctor about it? I genuinely feel stressed and anxious all 5 days I’m off work, before, during, and after my shifts, then the entire night after my shift is done I can’t stop thinking about whether I missed an order, or forgot to document something. Does this feeling ever go away?

Patient's daughter hit her elbow on something and starts wincing in pain. She says "Oww I hit my funny bone!"

Patient says, "why do they call it the FUNNY bone when there's nothing funny about hitting it?!"

I said I didn't know, they never taught us that in nursing school. 🤷‍♀️

The American Nurses Association (ANA) recognized cannabis nursing as a specialty in 2023. In 2024, the ANA and American Cannabis Nurses Association (ACNA) published the specialty’s Scope and Standards of Practice. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) published guidelines on cannabis education and safe nursing practice in 2018.
ANA specialty recognition:
https://www.nursingworld.org/news/news-releases/2023/ana-officially-recognizes-cannabis-nursing-as-a-specialty-nursing-practice/
Cannabis Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice:
https://www.nursingworld.org/nurses-books/cannabis-nursing-scope-and-standards-of-practice/
NCSBN marijuana guidelines:
https://www.ncsbn.org/nursing-regulation/practice/marijuana-guidelines.page
A nurse-authored perspective on evidence-based policy, professional ethics, and nursing licensure:
Cadieux CS. Nurses and cannabis use: Ethical and legal concerns. Nursing. 2026 Aug 1;56(8):14-18.
https://www.ovid.com/jnls/nursing/fulltext/10.1097/nsg.0000000000000423\~nurses-and-cannabis-use-ethical-and-legal-concerns

Had a family member announce today that they were "calling their lawyer immediately" because we wouldn't give their alert and oriented family member a cup of water while they were strictly NPO for a procedure in two hours.

I just nodded and told them the patient rights advocate number is on the wall, but internally I’m so exhausted by this trend. It feels like every third shift someone threatens to sue over basic safety protocols or standard delay times in the ER.

Is it just my facility or has the general public gotten significantly more litigious and hostile toward floor staff over the last couple of years?

i’m not really good at saying how i feel. this is my first post, sorry. i’ve been a nurse a year now. i’ve worked med/surg and long term care. i hate both equally. i keep telling myself that it’ll get better and that i’m just a “baby nurse” so i haven’t really experienced the worse yet. however, i switched to night shift because i thought it would at least be some what better than days. i’m so wrong about that. i used to be a pct for years before finishing nursing school and deciding i wanted to advance my career. the pay is low. so i’m basically doing this for what? i hate dealing with family. i hate the disrespect from older nurses who want to eat their young, i hate dealing with doctors; and residents in long term care act like children. i feel like im not good enough for this career. i legit can not afford anything. and jobs want you with 33 years of experience, lol. i just want to feel fulfilled.. i know im good at what i do. i love the smile on people’s faces, but i literally feel like i have compassion fatigue from taking care of so many people and feeling like im not being properly took care of. and not respected as an LPN. i was asked after being questioned what i do for a living “oh what type of nurse are you, LPN OR RN?” both are valuable assets, only differences in scope of practice. i slowly feel myself just becoming a different person, this is really depressing.

I hate my job I hate bare bones staffing I hope the hospital closes

New grad here. As title states.

Is that weird for a facility that is psych-based?

Additionally, would like some advice about possibly hopping from this job. I’ve quit recently from a CNA job appx 4 months ago after getting my RN license. This is my first RN job (also based in Cali so yesss, was on that struggle bus on getting a job) but this place feels like it wants to rush us into becoming Charges. If I quit two months into this one, would it look bad for the next job I try (and hopefully) find? Or should I stick it out? I was looking into the prisons next.

We are always talking about the highest paying hospitals and hospitals with the best ratios and breaks but what about the shit hospitals? Let's name and shame the worst hospitals and their pay along with their crap benefits, shit ratios, and lack of breaks. Name the hospital it's state and it's pay along with what you most hate about it. Let's all trauma dump

I’ve now spent almost 7 years in emergency medicine this year with the bulk of it as a firefighter at a busy 911 system and a brief stint doing contract work for the fed. I’m now doing well in nursing school and working in an ED with plans to be an RN in an ED / ICU / flight nurse but I’ve hit a wall today after a hectic weekend.

How do you push past it? I know that emergency medicine is where my strengths are (not to sound conceited) and it’s what I enjoy but there’s times where I’m absolutely sick and tired of it. The family members who make shifts awful, the bs toe pain x 3 weeks, and then having to go home late after a shitshow comes in through the ems doors at 1920 on Sunday and like it never happened just to go back to class on a Monday to sit in lecture.

Don’t get me wrong I love getting to learn things that make me better at work and eventually as a nurse but it has me questioning if sticking to emergency medicine is worth my sanity and humanity. I worked in a family clinic for a month and I just couldn’t take it and it just has me feeling like I’ve put myself in a situation where the only thing I enjoy is also the source of my stress and has me becoming jaded and calloused.

It’s hard to be a “normal person” when I’ve spent so much of my life dealing with people actively trying to meet god and succeeding just to see people complain about trivial aspects of life and work when theyre safe and the people they care about are alive all while they draw huge checks with minimal stress while im staring at a career that takes advantage of the fact we just want to help people for a living and pay us peanuts.

I dunno how you guys do it and maybe it’s just me rambling like a madman but I’m curious as to how the ED / ICU people who have done it for a while have managed to survive