New Student, Need some survey questions answered by an RN. Help please!

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello all! I'm a new student nurse and one of our first assignments is to interview a practicing RN. With school, my job and 2 kids, I don't have time to go to a hospital or clinic to find a nurse to ask in person. Plus I'm sure they'd be too busy to stop and talk. If someone would please reply with their answers that'd be really helpful!

1.) What is your educational background?

2.) How did you decide on your area of nursing?

3.) Was it hard to find work in this area, and how did you go about it?

4.) Do you ever have students work with you?

5.) Can I contact you later if I have more questions?

Your answers can be as long or as short as you like. Thank you!

Specializes in Med/Surg.

1.) what is your educational background?

i have a bsn and one class shy of having a bs in psych

2.) how did you decide on your area of nursing?

i worked there for my leadership and management (last rotation) of nursing school, figured it would be an easy transition.

3.) was it hard to find work in this area, and how did you go about it?

it wasn't anything like what i hear of people going through today, thankfully i was able to use the connections i had made in school to help me.

4.) do you ever have students work with you?

only once, but its because i work nights. i usually orient the new grads who will be working on nights though.

5.) can i contact you later if i have more questions?

absolutely!

your answers can be as long or as short as you like. thank you!

Thanks so much! :D

Specializes in Cardiac, Acute Stroke Unit, Surgical.

don't know if my answer is helpful or not since i am an australian nurse but here it is:

1.) what is your educational background?

i am "hospital trained". i have a "certificate of general nursing" and a post graduate certificate in critical care nursing - cardiac

2.) how did you decide on your area of nursing?

i always loved cardiac nusing even as a student. i worked for many years as an rn on surgical wards and even though i enjoyed that i was always drawn to the cardiac patients. i worked for a few months in coronary care and now i work in a general medical ward (with a lot of cardiac patients) and the cardiac catheter laboratory.

3.) was it hard to find work in this area, and how did you go about it?

i moved to this town 6 years ago on a short term contract to childrens ward. i wasn't very good with the parents but i did learn a lot. at the end of the contract, i was offered a job in the general medical ward and with some trpidation i took it.......remember most of my post grad experience was surgical......... i have never looked back! i have really enjoyed speciallising in cardiac nursing, and after completing my graduate certificate, i began to work part time in the cath lab and cardiac rehab.

4.) do you ever have students work with you?

we have students on the ward several times a year. there are usually about 20-30 students in the hospital with 1 or 2 educators so on the ward they are allocated to work with a nurse. so "yes" i do have students work with me from time to time. i do work quite a few nights so i don;t always see the students. i am a cns so i am also involved in orientating new staff to the unit.

5.) can i contact you later if i have more questions?

yes you can contact me if you need to.

your answers can be as long or as short as you like. thank you!

Specializes in neuro/ortho med surge 4.

1.) What is your educational background? I have an ADN from a community college. Graduated in 2008.

2.) How did you decide on your area of nursing? When I graduated I worked in LTC for 5 months. It was hard to get a job in a hospital as a new grad so I kept applying for any and all hospital positions. I now work on a neuro/ortho floor. We are primarily hips, knees and back pain but see all types of bone injuries. Our neuro consists of strokes, detoxers, and change in mental status patients. We also have pneumonia, abdominal pain, etc. I really just took whatever med surge position I could get as a new grad. I originally had no idea of what area I wanted to work in when I graduated. I knew med-surge was the way for me to go to sharpen my skills.

3.) Was it hard to find work in this area, and how did you go about it?

In 2008 it was hard to get a hospital based position. It appears to be even harder now for new grads. Perserverance pays off.

4.) Do you ever have students work with you? Yes. Quite a bit. I am happy the new school year is upon us. I will be having students on my unit tomorrow evening. I love working with students. I especially like first semester students. They are usually really nervous and I like to put them at ease. I remember all too well the nerves of being a student.

5.) Can I contact you later if I have more questions? Definitely.

Good luck with your education. Nursing is a great profession!!!

Specializes in Acute Care Cardiac, Education, Prof Practice.

1.) What is your educational background? I am an ADN-RN currently pursuing my ADN Bridge to MSN in Clinical Education.

2.) How did you decide on your area of nursing? I never thought of anywhere other than a hospital to get started.

3.) Was it hard to find work in this area, and how did you go about it? I was hired in 2007 and did not have any difficulty getting hired. I was, however, told I was one of the last ADN's our Magnet facility would be hiring.

4.) Do you ever have students work with you? I precept new grads, usually in their second and third rotations. (Our hospital has a one year new grad program consisting of three twelve week rotations.)

5.) Can I contact you later if I have more questions? Sure, just send me a PM and I can give you my email.

Specializes in Critical Care, Nsg QA.

1.) What is your educational background?

Bachelor in Business Administration, BSN, expecting MSN in December 2010

2.) How did you decide on your area of nursing?

The hospital I work in as a nurse tech (after 1 year of nursing school) was offering GN to critical care internship. I viewed it as more training before going out on my own in critical care.

3.) Was it hard to find work in this area, and how did you go about it?

It was a new program for GNs (this was in 1985) during a critical care nursing shortage. I submitted my school transcript and was accepted into a class of about 15 - 20 students - all of us were fresh out of school. We obtained our RN license during our GN orientation, and once that was completed, we started classes in critical care.

4.) Do you ever have students work with you?

No, but I precepted many new nurses that had gone through the same program as me.

5.) Can I contact you later if I have more questions?

Sure. Use PM.

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