2 CRITICAL QUESTIONS TO ASK DURING NURSING ORIENTATION

New nurses begin orientation with some excitement yet a lot of apprehension. You finally get to take care of patients without getting everything okayed by your instructor!! Yay!!  However, many nurses are apprehensive and ask themselves questions like, “Will I make it? Am I good enough? Was I meant to be a nurse? Will I have a good preceptor or a bad one? Will I fit in? Will I be successful or not?” This internal conversation can sometimes cause unnecessary added stress on new nurses. After all, we know that some nurses don't have a successful orientation.

To stop the negative dialogue about making it and begin orientation fully prepared to succeed, you need to understand that… your success depends on the quality of feedback you receive throughout orientation.

NEW NURSE GRAD AND STILL CAN’T FIND A JOB? CAST AND FOLLOW!

Last year my daughter was frustrated because she couldn’t find a job.  My daughter is not a nurse (I wish she was!). She is a phys-ed and health teacher and was trying to secure her first full-time job teaching kids. She was frustrated because, according to her, she’s “applied for a gazillion jobs” but nobody was calling her back!

 

If you’re a new grad, this probably sounds familiar.

TIP FOR NEW NURSES: HYPERKALEMIA: UNDERSTANDING TREATMENT OPTIONS

Potassium acts as an irritant at the neuromuscular junction. Too much and your cells get irritated; not enough and your cells get sluggish. Your heart demands a normal potassium level for its electrical conduction system to work. Too much and you’ll see a peaked T wave; too little and you’ll see ventricular arrhythmias! So, hyperkalemia is a bad thing for your patient’s heart and needs to be treated immediately!

There are so many different ways to treat hyperkalemia, but how do you know what treatment is best and in which situation?

To treat hyperkalemia effectively, you must understand why a patient gets hyperkalemic in the first place and how each treatment option works.

TIPS FOR NEW NURSES: BEWARE OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA SIRENS

Social media is everywhere. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Diggs, Google+, etc…heck, you can’t even watch a television show without being bombarded by their social media marketing plugs. Almost everybody has at least a Facebook Page – schools, health care organizations and even the mom and pop shops are utilizing it to market their business. 95% of all students use Facebook and are on the site multiple times a day! It’s great isn’t it? You get to see what’s happening with your friends and family, check out the latest and greatest products and offers from the companies you like, learn something and even get a good laugh (or cry) from a great video post.  It’s mesmerizing and alluring. But be warned. Like the Sirens in Greek mythology who lured nearby sailors through music to their ultimate death, social media can derail your career as a nurse before it even starts – if you’re not careful.

TIPS FOR NEW NURSES: TOP 3 STRATEGIES TO PROTECT YOUR NURSING LICENSE

I’ll never forget the moment when my first nursing license came in the mail. I swear I stared at it for hours! I was never so proud of anything I had done up to that point. However, reality hit me when I started working in an acute care hospital.  I realized that I no longer had the safety blanket of my instructor to protect me - I was on my own as a professional RN and I was scared to death! After all, I worked really hard to get my license but I wasn't sure what to do to protect it.

We’ve all read the horror stories about nurses who lost their licenses and want to make sure that doesn't happen to us! 

NEW NURSE SUCCESS! RESUME DOS AND DONT'S

May is the time of year when many nursing students graduate from school. Congratulations!! However, don't celebrate too long - it's time to land your first job. The key to getting hired is to start with an excellent resume.  You'd be surprised how unprofessional some resumes look! To weed through their pile of resumes, an experienced recruiter can quickly scan a gazillion resumes looking for the ones they can put into their "no" pile.

Follow these dos and don’ts to make sure your resume gets into their "yes" pile:

TIPS FOR NEW NURSES: ACE THAT INTERVIEW

How exciting! You’ve built and written your resume, applied for RN positions, and now you’ve landed your first interview. Getting an interview means you’ve at least appeared qualified on paper. Now it’s time to knock their socks off in person. How? By preparing.

I’ve interviewed a gazillion new and experienced nurses and know how intimidating they can be for the candidate. After all, a stranger is basically judging you and making a decision about your future. However, careful planning and preparation can help you appear confident, competent and win over almost any interviewer.