Book of Nurses 2013: Lorie

Lorie Brown runs a Web site called Empowered Nurses where she aims to help nurses protect their licenses, so they can do their jobs with confidence, focus on serving their patients, and regain the joy in the profession they love. She also provides nurses a forum to exchange ideas and change the practice of nursing for the better. When I graduated from nursing school and took my California Boards, I was invited to interviews at seven different hospitals, each with a different job offer. At each, I would be allowed to pick where and on what unit I wanted to work. I chose to work on a medical/surgical unit in Santa Monica, California. I recall early at my first job that a patient on the floor coded. While the more experienced nurses responded to the code, I was assigned to watching the other patients on the floor. One nurse came out of the code room and asked me to get some items from central supply. I agreed and immediately went to the phone to call central supply and ask them to deliver the necessary equipment. The voice at the other end of the phone said, “We don’t deliver!” I was in shock. I couldn’t believe that this patient’s life was at stake and necessary lifesaving equipment could not be brought up to the floor to help this patient. Evidently, I was unpleasant and undiplomatic in the exchange and the next day I found myself in the head nurse’s office. She talked to me about my attitude and the manner of my phone conversation with central supply. I couldn’...
Source: impactEDnurse - Category: Nurses Authors: Tags: ectopics Source Type: blogs