bad habits...checking the obituaries
I am a nurse, 52 y/o, I check the obits daily.
Nothing wrong with that. It's an AGE thing most of the time.
When you get up around my age, and start noticing people in your age group dying, it just becomes a habit to check the obits daily.
NOT a BAD habit, just something people do.

Okay, so I am a young duck, not yet thirty, and I check the obits. So I don't see anything wrong with that.

I too agree with Kayla about slacking in the nursing field. However I will say right now that there are some AMAZING nurses out there who truely love and are good at what they do. I am a student nurse, and I KNOW that we are taught the ways per the book, not the real world. However, I have seen some scary things in the clinical, and precepting settings. Just this week, I saw someone DC a foley, wearing no gloves, take the foley place it in the garbage go to the pt. in the same room to perform a head to toe assessment. Never stopping to wash hands or glove up. EWW. Another nurse started an IV with no gloves. I understand that you can "feel" the vein better, and old school; however the nurse needs to protect herself better. I've seen some other practices that I hope I never get into the habit of performing when it comes to med administration and other things as well.

Agreed that there are a lot of lazy nurses. I too think that something should be done regaurding these situations. These nurses need to realize that they are dealing with others lives, and family's. Maybe they should take a look at their practice and consider trying a new area, or a different shift.

SLACKING OFF
YOU WILL NEVER EVER GO WRONG IF YOU USE STANDARD OF CARE--DO WHAT YOU WERE TAUGHT WAS CORRECT AND DO IT WELL AND DO NOT VARY. THERE WILL BE SITUATIONS THAT COME UP WHERE YOU HAVE TO ACT FAST AND THAT BOX OF GLOVES IS ACROSS THE ROOM--WHEN THAT HAPPENS I SAY A SILENT PRAYER AND DO WHAT MUST BE DONE. JUST DON'T GET INTO THE HABIT OF COMPROMISING YOUR STANDARDS AND TAKING SHORT CUTS WHICH YOU KNOW TO BE WRONG.
NURSING IS AN ART FORM AND THE TRULY GOOD AND GREAT NURSES HAVE A GIFT THAT NO AMT OF BOOK LEARNING CAN GIVE YOU.
ALWAYS PUT YOURSELF IN THAT PT'S BED--TRAT YOUR PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES AS YOU WOULD WANT TO BE TRATED. THE PATIENT IS IN CHARGE. BE FLEXIBLE.
JUST DO WHAT YOU KNOW IS CORRECT AND BE AN EXAMPLE TO OTHERS.
RELAX--YOU WILL FIND YOUR WAY--BE THE BEST THAT YOU CAN BE --YOU CANNOT CHG THE OTHERS, BUT MAYBE THEY CAN AND WILL LEARN SOMETHING BY OBSERVING YOUR GOOD EXAMPLE!
BETH

Sorry but I check the obits too. I can't help it. I do agree about bad habits however, i just don't think obit checking is a bad habit. Anyway, yes I see nurses doing things like pre-popping pills, not checking I.D. bands and so on and so forth. It is frustrating and is not good for continuity of care. You're right, everyone needs to take responsibility and do things right, after all lives may depend on it!