Guest27531

CP1983, Thank you for your response. I, too, am certified and I found the course very interesting. I was wondering, in particular, about the usefulness of the instrument and how those who need one done find staff who are certified.

I think you will do fine in school. It won't take you long to get back in the hang of studying, particularly since you are so motivated. But you need to prepare yourself emotionally for a very difficult profession. You will not be coddled and you will need to be strong within yourself. So, if you really want to be a nurse, stop thinking about whether or not you can do it. Classes will be easy. Then the hard part begins. I did it as a single parent so I know it can be done. I wish you the best!

You may be "clueless" now but if they really need you and you want to go the "administration" route this may be a doorway. Medicaid/Medicare regulations are learnable and so is budgeting. If you are not in a big city and it is a small nursing home it may work for you.

It sounds like a very difficult transition! Here are my thoughts (for what they are worth): 1. How much does the nursing home need you? Are you located in an area where they are having problems finding people to even apply for the job? 2. How big (or small) is the nursing home? 3. If you have no budgeting experience is the nursing home able to wait until you learn how to make budgeting decisions? 4. Will you be able to do the resource calculations to decide whether to accept a new resident? 5. Are you prepared to live a professional life where you must be more concerned about regulations (state and federal) than most nurses need to be? 6. Are you prepared to have a 24/7 job responsibility? I wish you the best of luck and hope you get replys from current or former nursing home DONs to give you some advice based on actual experience with that function!

I haven't posted on AllNurses for a very long time but I did not know where else to turn to ask for New York State-specific information. (The PRI is only used in NY). I would love to hear from case managers, nursing home nurses, home care nurses and anyone else who would like to talk to me realistically about the PRI. In particular, I am interested in the following: 1. Since it is so out-of-date is it still useful to you? 2. Do you have trouble finding certified PRI nurses to do the assessment for you? 3. How do you find someone to do the assessment for you? 4. Do you use paper or do you have the assessment in a computer? Thank you to anyone who has anything at all to say about this topic.

The usefulness of Nursing Theory in nursing practice is like Philosophy in life...most people don't realize they are living their lives (i.e. Practicing) by it but they are. The more we realize there is the possibility to actually know the reason we are doing something (or not doing something) the better our life (practice). I'm glad you are enjoying it...it should be interesting!!

Congratulations!! thank you so much for returning to tell what happened. I don't look on this site much but I had this one tagged so when you posted it popped up. Just keep on going...you are getting to your goal and you will find a job you like. Some are dreadful but nursing, itself, is wonderful. I feel blessed to have been able to have a wonderful career in nursing. I have has many jobs and seen many changes in health care but the changes keep on coming. Currently, my hospital is going through a hostile take-over and I'm seeing that those who can be flexible and can go with the flow are surviving and even thriving. Those who try to hold in to old ways are having melt downs... Your experiences and opportunities will be different than mine but if you can see it all as an adventure and think if all the physical activities as exercise (I wear a pedometer to remind myself) you will thrive. Congratulations!!

I used to work for VNS (1.5 years full time and 10 additional years contract). I loved it and decided that I would return to work for them Per Diem when I retired. So, 1.5 years ago, I retired from full time employment (too young for real retirement, however). I applied to work for VNS and received no response. I went to a job fair and asked them about it. The recruiter was very nice, looked at her list and indicated that the position I wanted was not available. She also apologized that they cannot get back to those who are not chosen because there are simply too many applications and showed me a pile of resumes nearly 6 inches thick and the job fair had only been open for 1 hour. I watched the Web site weekly and have applied two additional times and heard nothing. I understand that they have many applications for each position but it is still difficult not to hear anything. So, I understand your concern. I advise you to keep your resume posted through their Web site and keep applying for the position you want whenever it appears, however, I do believe that you would not be a desirable candidate for Per Diem or Part Time (at least if I were the recruiter) as you do not have the home care experience that would be desired for Per Diem or Part Time. I highly recommend applying for a Full Time position with them, working for a year and then change your status to Per Diem or Part Time. It may be the only way to get your foot in the door with them. I wish you the best of luck!

I'm certain that many people will give you tips that will help you get organized. My days of caring for the whole family are past, so I will address a couple of other aspects that will also give you additional energy and the ability to cope with the enormous responsibilities you face: 1. Talk to your husband about sharing some of the household responsibilities. Ask him what he can do to contribute to the functioning of the household and care of the children. Once you see how he responds, you can take it from there. Hopefully, he is supportive of you returning to work and will find at least a few ways he can help. 2. Have a set schedule for everything. Once you start "living" the schedule, it will take increasingly less energy to get through the tasks of daily living. 3. Don't forget to laugh. Make it a point to laugh! That is, purposely find things to laugh about. There is a very important physiological reason that Laughter Yoga is catching on. Laughter will boost your immune system and keep your energies flowing. 4. This is the most important: At the beginning of each new activity, take a minute to "ground and center" yourself. There are multiple techniques for doing this but the simplest, quickest and most practical way for nurses is to physically stop, take a few deep breaths, feel your feet on the floor and open your listening. This is one of the basic techiques of Holistic Nursing and can be used in ALL nursing (and home) situations. It takes less than one minute and it will change your world!

You are in a difficult position. You say you were "almost graduated" when you were dismissed. That seems like a real problem to me. Although I do wonder what class you failed, it is hard to imagine failing any class and still being allowed to graduate, so I cannot fault your school. In your interview, you need to be completely honest about your short-comings and not blame the school at all but apart from that I can't say I have any words of wisdom. I do wonder whether you should consider another career as testing will continue throughout your nursing career. Some people just don't test well and it is better to change careers now than to be dismissed from full-time employment which will follow you for life.

These days it seems to take weeks between each step! In my experience, the best move is to end the call with an inquiry about the next step and when you should expect to hear from someone. It has been several months now...so, how long did it take before you heard from someone? or did you have to call them first?

Although Beth Israel and St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital are both part of Continuum Health Partners, the nurses are covered under separate contracts. St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital are NYSNA while BI nurses are not NYSNA. Not actually certain but think BI nurses may be 1199. Salary would be "comparable" but not exactly the same.

getting a bsn is essential these days if you expect to work in the hospital. don't even think about not completing your program if you intend to have a career as a nurse. now, getting to another point you raise - "was told my high confidence level comes across as being unteachable". you absolutely need to work on that. a "high confidence level" is usually not a good thing for a new nurse (or a nurse in a new specialty) so you need to look at what your problem is here. if you take your bsn education seriously, it will help you overcome your arrogance. i believe i am qualified to speak on this matter as i had a similar "high confidence level" after graduating from an old-fashioned diploma school at st. vincent's hospital school of nursing. it was 3 full years of nursing (including summers) and when i graduated i had experience in almost everything and could comfortably be in charge of any unit in the hospital. i did a bsn degree "because it was the right thing to do" but i planned on writing articles about how much more i learned in my diploma program. i was wrong. the education is on a different level and i did learn a lot in my bsn program. i hope you will, too.

Absolutely right! You do not need a doctor's order to do an EKG for chest pain and, as described previously, one would wonder about an RN who did not do one stat but this is a good example for you to use to talk to your Nurse Manager about how "standing" orders vs "verbal" orders vs "prudent action" are handled at your institution. Excellent new nurse question.

I think you are on the right track and I advise you to continue doing everything you can to get into hospital nursing. Your salary may or may not be higher right away but I'm certain that it would pay off in the long run. You mentioned that you are pregnant so be really careful about your health insurance. If you are covered by your husband then it won't be a problem but if you are covered by your employer you should stay where you are for now. Also consider whether you have maternity leave where you are now as it is common for those benefits not to kick in until you have passed a 3-month probation. I wish you the best of luck!