Nursing — The Caffeinated RN

All Things Nursing!

What is my background?

I am an RN with my ADN and graduated from Milwaukee Area Technical College in May of 2016.

I started my nursing career working bedside on a 24 bed orthopedic surgery/ortho trauma unit. I was there for 1 year then transferred to Observation, which is basically not quite inpatient not quite outpatient, with 12 beds and lots of patient turnover. At the time, Observation was a “sister unit” to the ED, which was where I wanted to work. I asked to be cross-trained to the ED because the departments used to share staff. Once I finished cross-training, the manager of the ED asked if I wanted to transfer to the ED since that was my end goal and I accepted that transfer. I then spent 5 years working in the ED/Trauma at a level 1 trauma center.

COVID hit and I was having a really hard time mentally handling all of the horrific things I saw and started looking for a new area to work in. A former coworker from the ED was at the time managing the Interventional Cardiology department (Cath lab) at another local hospital and encouraged me to apply, which is where I have been working since August 2021. I stayed PRN in the ED until June of 2022 when I decided that I needed a full break from emergency medicine.

I have worked night shift since the start of my nursing career. When I was on Ortho, I worked 7/70, which is 7 10-hour shifts in a row but then I would get a week off. In Obs and then when I started in the ED I was a 0.9 and did 12 hour shifts. After I had been in the ED for 2 years I switched to a .875 and did 10 hour shifts from 1915-0515. I would do 7 shifts per pay period, so 3 shifts one week and 4 shifts the other week. Now that I am in the Cath lab, I work weekday night shift with no weekends or call requirement.

Are professional organizations worth it?

Absolutely, professional organizations are 100% worth the cost of membership. They offer networking, education/CEUs, opportunities for conference attendance, opportunities for publication, specialty-related periodicals, and more.

Some professional organizations I recommend:

American Nurse Association (ANA)

Emergency Nurse Association (ENA)

Society of Trauma Nurses (STN)

American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN)

Association of Cardiovascular Professionals (ACVP)

Why do you like working night shift?

I have worked nights since I started as a nurse. Mostly this was out of necessity, since a lot of new nurses generally start on nights. But I worked with a really great group of staff and the differential wasn’t that bad either ;) (That is, until that hospital changed from a 15% night shift differential tot a flat $3, that was not nice.) I’ve always been more of a night owl in general and I feel like the teamwork and camaraderie on nights is just different. This is something that has been true in every department I’ve worked in as a nurse.

Also, no management, no higher-ups walking around, less other departments to coordinate with. Although this also means in some regards less resources so it all depends on personal comfort level.

If you are looking for more night shift resources, check out Ashley Small, who is @that.nightshift.nurse - she has lots of great content including a free Night Shift Nurse Network for nightshifters to connect and a mentorship platform as well.

Who are your favorite nurses to follow on social media?

There are so many awesome nurses out there doing great things for the nursing profession! Some of my favorites are: