Career Exploration

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Dear Friends,

I am a student at Ivy Tech State College in Indianapolis, Indiana. I am currently enrolled in the R.N. program with my sights set on becoming an R.N. I've already taken all of the pre-requisite classes and am waiting to be accepted into the actual nursing program. There are questions from a career exploration that I need to have answered by someone affiliated with nursing and I would really appreciate it if someone from your organization could answer them for me. Thank you in advance.

1. What type of training is most desired in a new employee?

2. Briefly describe the typical duty day:

3. What is the entry and average wage?

4. What are the advancement opportunities?

5. What general benefits do you offer?

6. How many openings do you anticipate within the next two years?

7. What are the positive and negative aspects of this occupation?

Again, thank you.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Note: Depending on how many answers you need this might not be the best forum to ask.

1. What type of training is most desired in a new employee?Employers require the RN license from the state of Florida. They will hire new grads if they've graduated from an accredited school and are eligible to sit for the RN exam.

2. Briefly describe the typical duty day:Very difficult to do. I work in trauma med-surg caring for a variety of patients. I take report, then begin to do assessments and priortize care based on needs. I provide medications, treatments such as IV therapy and dressing changes. Care planning, discharge planning, admission data intake. Ongoing medicating (lots of narcotic pain meds given for trauma patients), basically making sure every need from nutition, pyschosocial, to personal hygiene is being met.

3. What is the entry and average wage?In varies by region. Here a new grad RN starts out at 19.20/hr but after passing the exam and becoming and RN gets a raise. Otherwises salaries are based on experience and longevity with the organization. I've been there 14 years and currently make $29.00/hr

4. What are the advancement opportunities?One can advance to a charge nurse, manager, educator, case manager, home health coordinator, unit manager, director and vice president

5. What general benefits do you offer?25 days off a year to start to use as vacation or sick time. After the first year the opporunity to cash in 100 hours of personal time into cash, tuition reimbursement up to $2200, insurance which we help pay to include life, medical, dental, vision, short and long term disability, savings and retirement plan (that we must contribute to),

6. How many openings do you anticipate within the next two years?I've heard that there is an 80-85% retention rate, so 15-20% of positions become open, but I don't know the number

7. What are the positive and negative aspects of this occupation?Positives are the job satisfaction of helping someone to maximize their potential wellness after a trauma. Also, it's a nice middle income with stability, even during tough economic times and job security. Negatives are the economics of cutting health care costs by cutting RN staff and keeping RN to patient ratios high. (There are many others if you read the board, but this is the biggie for me

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Post moved to more appropriate Forum.

Suebird3 :p

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