Mathew is a Registered Nurse with Aurora Health Care in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While the role of a Registered Nurse is typically the front-line of patient care, Mathew is also a Charge Nurse in his unit, helping to create schedules, alleviate coworkers’ concerns, and give medical care to some of the more serious cases that walk in the door.
Transcript
My name is Matthew Tilson, currently a registered nurse at Aurora Saint Luke's. Just graduated for a FNP, so I'll be transitioning to a nurse practitioner role. So registered nurse is more bedside, you take care of the patient on a daily basis. You'll be with that patient the most out of any, kind of say, profession. Both medical, like a doctor, or a nurse practitioner. Nurse practitioner takes it to the next step, you're kind of a mid level provider. You see those patients maybe 10, 15 minutes. Kind of like a physician. You write scripts, you're able to diagnose, also write, plan, and care, so just taking nursing to the next level. So throughout a shift you're responsible for wound care, any medications, IV, oral, or IM. You have to do an assessment, so you have to assess your patient every day, every shift. You're responsible for charting, unfortunately that's the worst part, but you have to document what you do or it hasn't been done. So first thing you want to do is gather a report, you want to find out as much about that patient as you can before they arrive. So that could be from ER, or emergency room, ICU, or home. Then, once that patient arrives, you want to make sure they're settled, introduce yourself, and kind of figure out the game plan from there. If there's orders, then you'll act upon those orders. If there's no orders, then you continue with brief history. Both medical, social, and then you'll do your physical exam. Currently in my role now, I'm usually a charge nurse, so I'd be managing a team to 12 to 15 people, just doing daily, like, routine stuff, including making assignments. You still usually have one to two patients yourself. Those patients are usually more critical, usually on a vent, usually just coming out of the unit or ICU, and then you have to troubleshoot any issues that arise on the unit. You can work a 12 hour shift at Luke's, we don't do 10 hour shifts, but Freighter does 10 hour shifts, so you'd work, it's called 7-70, so you'd work 70 hours one week, and then off the next week, so seven 10 hour days. Where at Luke's we do 3-12's, so 36 hours, you get paid for full time. Still get full time benefits, where if you're part time you can work anything from one day a week to four days a week, it's entirely up to you.
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