Fairly new nurse in Chicago

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Brief background, I graduated in 2013 with my BSN, and it was my second career (I'm in my 30's) My first job was so awful I almost quit nursing. My second one is 100% better but I still question my career and future goals basically every day.

The point of this post...I don't have a lot of RN friends to talk to and non RNs can't imagine my work/social life. I work nights and feel fairly socially isolated. There are so many great people that post and give advice on this site, I figured it wouldn't hurt to reach out. I want more people to talk to, about nursing or whatever. We don't have to meet in person, we don't have to be best friends. But I think it would be useful for all of us to have someone to share experiences with that understand where we're coming from. So....yeah. This seems desperate and I might regret it when I wake up tomorrow afternoon but oh well :). Get in touch if you want a new friend, virtual or otherwise, or just a sounding board. I give great advice though I never take my own.

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Hey! I'm also a new nurse in Chicago (second degree), only a few months actually. I just started on nights and am definitely starting to understand the social isolation aspect. What kind of unit are you on?

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Also a nurse in Chicago! Luckily I work days. It's so important to have nurse friends to talk with about work!!!!

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I'll attempt to figure out how to send y'all private replies :)

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I've been a nurse for over 10 years, now I'm a nurse practitioner. I'm fairly new to Chicago and I love what I'm doing. Where I work, you couldn't pay me enough to go back to working as a RN. I loved being a RN when I lived in Michigan. The best hospital I ever worked at was there and I would go back in a heart beat. But not where I currently work. The nurses don't really get days off and they are constantly being floated and have high nurse to patient ratios. I think it's all about where you work and also what shift. Nights really suck, unless you're a night owl. Again, it's all about where you work and the relationships you have with your fellow nurses.With that being said, glad I became a nurse practitioner!

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Thanks for sharing APN! Unfortunately I have no interest in being an NP (or really a bedside nurse much longer) so I can't make the same escape as you. What's funny is I AM a night owl. I have no issue staying up all night and sleeping during the day, but it's messing with my head

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Specializes in pediatrics; PICU; NICU.

Hi, Juli! I'm not in Chicago but in the south suburbs. I'd love to connect with other nurses in the Chicago area. I work private duty home care so I don't really have coworkers I can get together with. We rarely even see each other. I've worked nights since 1975 so I guess I qualify as a night owl, too! Even on my nights off I never sleep through the night.

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Holy cow that's a long time! I'm barely sieving at less than 2 years

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Hello APN2014! I graduated from an accelerated BSN two months ago. I have been looking for someone with your background for a while. Couple years ago, I worked as a CNA at a long term care facility and fell in love with wound care. During nursing school I was able to shadow a nurse practitioner at a surgical and wound care center and I was like this is it. I asked the NP about the career path but I was left with just more questions than answers.

I am applying to a new RN residency and I still can't make my mind about what are the units I should include in my application to start my path in the right place and continue to grow until I reach my goal. Would you give me some advice about the career path in general and also which units are more favorable for my goal? This is what they offer and I can apply for different ones: OR, PACU, PCU, Med/Surg, CCU, Rehab, ER, and float pool. Any other unit or setting more favorable considering the fact that I am new to nursing? I will appreciate any words of wisdom and sorry this is such a long post. Thank you.

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Hey there - we kinda connected when we were both graduating and searching for jobs but haven't chatted since - feel free to message or email (if you still have it!). Otherwise I will PM you it. I'm definitely up for chatting and am happy to listen to you vent if needed too;)

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