need some advice re:an oppotunity...

[nurse nina]

hello everyone,

i need some advice concerning a nursing opportunity at my work that has been offered to me.

my background: i am a lvn that graduated in 2008. after many months of searching and being rejected, i accepted a job as a med. tech at an assisted living community in 2009. i have been there for 7 months giving medications and helping out with wound treatments, and slowly losing my skills and knowledge from school

recently, the nurse position has become available and has been offered to me. my question is: should i take it? the obvious answer is "yes, of course! this is what you have been waiting for!" but from what i have seen, you do not learn much from the position. the nurse who is leaving is an rn and has said that her skills have declined since taking the position. she hated the job and dreaded coming in everyday. and there is a lot of pressure on you because you are the only nurse for the entire facility! you do assessments, basic wound care, and paperwork but everyone turns to you in an emergency and expects so much from you.

i feel pressured to accept the position and i am not confident in my skills. i have been out of school for 2 years and i do not have experience. they are turning to me because i have an active license and seniority. this position should go to someone with more experience but they are giving it to me! what should i do???

thanks for any advice.

[guest2210]

Hi...I've been an LPN for 28 years. My last floor nursing job was in an assisted living facility. You do need to have very accurate and honed assessment skills for such a facility. It is like a mini-ER-you are on call during your shift and never know what is going to happen. Remember the motto- "When in doubt, ship them out". If you assess a situation where you feel the resident needs to go to the hospital, send them. Better to be safe than sorry in any situation. I also worked with a new LPN in the same facility-she was, however, a care associate there prior to her finishing school. If that is the only nursing job you can find in your area, you can still learn alot from your residents. When they say something like-I don't feel right-that should be a red flag to you to just question them further-have you felt like this before? when? make sure they are as descriptive as possible. Check their chart for past histories of ailments-could it be something associated with a past illness? Is it a side effect of a new medication? an interaction with something else they are taking.

I wish you good luck and much success. PM me if you would like.

Barb

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I would take this job if I were you. If you are a licensed nurse, you might as well work as one. It makes no sense to pass up this opportunity because there are other people who would snap this nursing job up in a New York minute.

Sorry, but you're a licensed person who is currently working as a medication tech. You are being paid well below what your license is worth, and will continue to undervalue yourself if you remain employed with your workplace as a medication tech. I assume that the nursing position would entail a significant raise in your current pay rate.

Your current workplace is getting a good money-saving deal right now by employing a med tech who is really a licensed nurse, because they still get to pay you as a med tech. You may not realize it at this time, but you are bringing your knowledge of pharmacology, meds, assessment, and other nursing skills to the table when you work for these people as a med tech.

[Peds_Nurse]

Take the Job! Don't listen to the nurse who is leaving, why is she leaving anyway? You're a licensed nurse and they are taking advantage of you as a med tech, paying you lower wages while using your nursing knowledge and skills.

Of course it will be a change and might be a harder, more responsibility position, but as nurses, we already accepted the fact that we can be responsible for our patients and our staff.

Good luck!

[caliotter3]

I would take the job. You can't sit back and expect to get experience handed to you. You have to seek out your job opportunities. Take the job and continue to search for another. You will be in a better position to accept a more appropriate job by listing the nursing job on your resume ahead of the med tech position. In reality, this would be your first job fully utilizing your LVN title. Don't let it slip away.

[nurse nina]

thank you so much for the responses. i have been very stressed out lately at work and taken advantage of because of my license but they still pay me at the medication tech. wage. also, i have been having some problems with the other med.techs. who don't respect me and say lies about me behind my back. i have co-workers who have heard them talk about me.

the r.n. is leaving because she has just been hired as a hospice nurse. she is excited to be actually utilizing her hands-on skills as opposed to mostly question and answer assessments and loads of paperwork.

hopefully, my confidence will come back. thanks again!