Nurses in NYC

mario_ragucci · Feb 19, 2002

When I get my RN, then my BSN (2006) I will be looking to move back to NYC. Mario has seen enough of the world, and enough of AMerica, and will return home. Even though I haven't lived there since 1982, where ever I go, people know right away that I am from "somewhere." I need to be around people who are alive.

suki616 · Feb 19, 2002

thx Mario. I think when i get MY bsn perhaps in 2005/2006, I will do the same. NYC is my hometown. Just wonder how the nursing jobs are there.

:)

-jt · Feb 19, 2002

And its the accent or the name that gives them the clue? ; )

I once met a guy of Italian decent from New Orleans. I actually said "you mean they have Italians in the South????????"

Well, who knew? :)

As for the jobs, we have the same problems nurses all over the nation are facing but conditions & compensation are better in our unionized hospitals than the non-union ones - except maybe at Long Island Jewish Hospital in Queens, which is the only Magnet Hospital we have in this city & it practically has a waiting list of RNs who want jobs there.

You can do a search for job availabilities around the city on the New York State Nurses Association website & also see which hospitals are unionized by them. The majority of the hospitals in this city are unionized. Some have obtained contracts that prohibited mandatory ot and many have obtained contracts that specify staffing ratios & levels unit by unit.

Everybody is hiring & RNs can be selective...Jobs are available and have good salaries, pay, benefits, compensation for education, degree, experience, specialty certifications, tuition reimbursement, 4 - 5 weeks vacation, etc. No such thing as "low census days", or "call-offs" either.

http://www.NYSNA.org

-jt · Feb 19, 2002

the traffic getting to work in the AM. I get around that by working 12 hr shifts on weekends.

mario_ragucci · Feb 19, 2002

The name, yeah, the accent, maybe, but it's the socialization. Since NYC is the largest city in America, I take for granted that I had alot of people around me. In fact, I had the MOST people around me since NYC is largest. People are a natural resource.

For example, in Portland, OR, where I live now, the population density is alot less. People are people, where ever you go, but different people have different people skills. Like, I can tell here that people must have been drilled never to talk to strangers because they don't. In NYC, if you are at a bus stop, and you feel like talking to someone in a casual way, it's okay. Here, it's not polite to talk to people you don't know. It's a sterile environment, human-interaction-wize. A feather in my cultural cap, for sure, living here. People say you hafta be tough to live in NYC. You have to be tougher to live here, because, unless you are surrounded by people you totally know, your in isolation. I'm not complaining, because I look at it as human experience. When I do get back in NYC, and I happen to run across someone from Oregon, I'll know how to make them feel at home. I'll just pretend they are not there, and, if they speak to me, I'll make sure I ask them to repeat themself everytime, and ask them where they are from, and then act as if its a very removed place, not part of America.

I'm kidding (wink)

-jt · Feb 20, 2002

Oh I know exactly what you mean except I experienced it in CA. You know how when youre standing on line in the deli & people just start commenting to each other about whatever - you know - the usual chit chat? Well, I was in a store in San Fransico, waiting at the counter to pay for a Snapple, and glanced down at the newspaper on the stand. I casually commented to the person next to me about the headline.... & got no answer but did get stared at. I said a few words to the cashier about the neighborhood while I paid for the iced tea. She took the money without even acknowledging that she was spoken to. In LA, I was on line in a coffee shop & commented to the person next to me about the many unique choices of flavors - again no answer but they looked at me like I had 2 heads. I was beginning to get self-conscious & think maybe I was doing or saying something wrong but then I got confirmation that it wasnt me......

A guy who was waiting on the line next to mine in Kinkos in LA saw my familiar pink NY drivers license when I paid my bill & he excitedly came over to strike up a casual conversation. First thing he said was "Im from Queens - Ive been here 3 months & you dont know how good it is to finally be able to chit chat with someone! Nobody talks to each other in this city!"

And some people think NYers arent friendly. LOL.

Netty · Feb 20, 2002

Hi suki

:) First of all. there is a great demand for nurses in NYC, you can find work in a nursing home, hospitals, or clinics whether you are RN or LPN. I've seen sign-up-bonuses at some agencies for up to $5,000. You can work per diem or be hired outright. And to jt, a fellow member, I would like to say that a new york bus stop is not a sterile environment as far as human interaction is concerned. It's true, that New Yorkers are kinda cautious by nature, (or conditioning?) but now with diversity of our city and in some part due to the tragic events of Sept 11th, I think that we have become a warmer people as a whole. I've been living in "The Bronx" my whole life and have worked in all the boroughs with the exception of Staten Island, and I think that it has given enough experience to make such an assessment.

And as for the accent, I never knew we had one until I took a trip with my family to Virginia. There, at a restaurant, a waitress told me " You have a great ACCENT:confused: i was dumbfounded....Go figure

Netty

Netty:chuckle:roll

Jenny P · Feb 20, 2002

I am continually amazed by people who say *they* don't have accents, when every major newscaster in the country is trained to sound like the Mid-western "non-accent."

It's funny, but when I read all of your posts, no matter where you live, I imagine you sound like ME! And it was quite a surprise to meet JT last year and hear that she DIDN'T sound like me!!! ;)

mario_ragucci · Feb 20, 2002

Forgetaboutit - I gotta just add aphew more things, and I appreciate the validation. Back in NYC, unless things have changed, i know that when you pass other human beings on the street, in a hallway, going down a stairs...whatever, they look at each other. Not a stare, or expectation of anything, but a nonverbal communication with the eyes that says "hey-I know your there-whats up" I bugged out when i first moved here because people here do not acknowledge each other verbally, or non-verbally. But they're there.

For me, it's normal to make a glancing, positive eye contact when people walk toward me, forgetabout talking. So, what i do now, to keep my dignity, is to block out zombie people with my hands.

If they are not gonna make eye contact, I hold my hand up to my eyes and physically blot them out of my view. That way, they KNOW I am blotting them out, and I still get to communicate with another human being. I think of them as Medusa, and let them know that for sure I don't want to see them. Otherwise I might start to become a zombie too, like Dawn of the Dead, or something. Here, maybe 1:25 people will look at you, and maybe 1:250 will be able to communicate with their eyes. I'm not making fun of them; it's just my reaction to a zombie so I don't get no voodoo spell, i.e. start feeling weird.

Lastly, people say that Oregoneans don't have an accent, and that may be true, but they do have identifiable phrases that only people here say. For example, when you begin a conversation with a native here, it usually starts off with "whats that." "Whats that" is a way to signal for the other person to repeat themselves and to verify that, in fact, one to one communication has begun. Doesn't matter if you speak clearly and loud; folks are gonna say "whats that" by habit. I used to think it was me, and the sound of my voice, but I hear other people saying "whats that" to each other and they are natives. I can understand what a person said, from a greater distance away, but yet I'll hear the person being spoken to say "whats that." To preserve my dignity, if someone says "whats that" to me, I say "whats that" to them. You want confusion, you got it. I know I speak clearly and distinctly and I ain't repeating myself. Thats dumb. Okay, I'm finished

-jt · Feb 21, 2002

I agreed with that completely when Mario mentioned it. Did you maybe misread the statement? Please look at it again. Mario says that in NY if you want to talk to the person next to you even on the bus stop its ok but IN OTHER PLACES (not NY) it would be impolite as THEY seem to be "sterile environments as far as human interaction is concerned." I copied his comment & replied to it that I agreed & had had a similar experience.

NYers always were chatty like that - even before Sept 11 - but in other places people seem to have more of a personal space thing & keep to themselves more.

-jt · Feb 21, 2002

It's funny, but when I read all of your posts, no matter where you live, I imagine you sound like ME! And it was quite a surprise to meet JT last year and hear that she DIDN'T sound like me!!!>

An jus' wut eggsakly is dat sup-pose-ta mean??????

Accent?? Wut accent? Geeeezzz.......

ahhhhh..... fugggggedabodit

Mario, the thing with the non-verbal hello..... the look in the eye & a slight tilt back of the head with the chin up....... it means "howyadoin'" to someone you know & to someone you dont know its "I know youre there & it would be impolite to just walk past another human being & ignore them so heres my nod - have a nice day". Its the equivalent of the old days when a man would tip his hat or a woman would nod as they passed another person but I think we only do it if we and the other person are the only ones around & we feel forced to acknowledge their existence. I dont think we do it in a crowd - unless we see someone we know.

Id love to see the response of people you are passing while throwing your hands up to your eyes to block them from view. The way Im imagining that, its hilarious.