Okay, who *loves* their job, and why?

[Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN]

....and GO!!!!

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

I do. It's fast, hectic, unpredictable, chaotic yet in control, great co-workers (mostly), great docs/pas (mostly), lots of standing orders & only a few miles from my house. The ER environment fits my personality and I love my job.

[gettingbsn2msn, MSN, RN]

I loved my job but they let me go 2 weeks ago. I will never fall in love with a job or coworkers again. I also will never trust the hosptital environment again either. I went in on Friday to see if I could get my pto. They had new nurses lined up for orientation. They let me go at the drop of a hat. I am still trying to get my pto time that they owe me. I am scared I will never see it. Moral of story: use pto up as fast as you can accumulate it. I will follow up if I get my pto. Its about 200 hours.

[loriangel14, RN]

Love the people, love my patients, love the work.We laugh a lot, care about each other and I get to learn new things every day.

[Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN]

That sounds awful. I'm sorry to hear about that. Fortunately for me, I am a union member, and it takes an act of congress for my facility to fire anyone (which is both good and bad). Best of luck to you in your future endeavors.

[Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN]

loriangel, what type of unit do you work in?

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

:yelclap: me, me, i do. i am a certified nurse life care planner and certified case manager, and also do legal nurse consulting. i am older'n dirt and certainly too old to work double shifts in the icu or in-hospital case mgmt anymore, but so far i still have all my wits about me, can research anything, and know enough to identify problems in medical records quickly. (i had one attorney tell me that you can identify medical malpractice pretty easily if you come across something in a record that makes you sit up and say, "holy $#*!" i don't explain it that way, but he's close to right :))

i work out of a home office (think: comfortable clothes, flexible hours, no commute, kitty on my lap) most of the time, travel to see patients for nursing assessments to look at the effects that injury or illness has had in their lives, and use the nursing process and nursing diagnosis to prepare reports used in legal cases, mostly, looking at needs for life expectancy and associated costs. i have seen patients in places from hawaii to maine, texas to michigan, and a lot of stops in between. i never in my life expected to be doing this, but it's a gas. and the best part of it is, nobody but a nurse could be doing it!

[loriangel14, RN]

loriangel, what type of unit do you work in?

I have a part time line on a Complex Continuing Care Unit in a hospital. That means we get stable med-surg, palliative, rehab(lots of hips) and seniors waiting for nursing home placement.I also pick up on the med surg wing( lots of appys, hystos and other small procedures post op) and sometimes on the cardiac wing which has some telemetry patients.

[AJPV]

(i had one attorney tell me that you can identify medical malpractice pretty easily if you come across something in a record that makes you sit up and say, "holy $#*!" i don't explain it that way, but he's close to right :))

grntea: it would be great if you could say that in court! :)

[gc1010]

I loved my job but they let me go 2 weeks ago. I will never fall in love with a job or coworkers again. I also will never trust the hosptital environment again either. I went in on Friday to see if I could get my pto. They had new nurses lined up for orientation. They let me go at the drop of a hat. I am still trying to get my pto time that they owe me. I am scared I will never see it. Moral of story: use pto up as fast as you can accumulate it. I will follow up if I get my pto. Its about 200 hours.

That PTO is your legal right. I don't know what state you live in but many state labor laws require that if you terminate an employee you have to have their final check available in 24 hours. That includes any balance for credits earned. From the moment you found out you've lost your job the clock is ticking. Just check your states labor laws regarding the issue and see if this is applicable. There are heavy fines if they are holding your money!

So I am technically against using your PTO as quickly as possible becasue you may be injured outside of work and need time to recover. I worked for a place for 5-6 years maybe only using one or two days and had to take several weeks I had accumulated.

Usually management wants you to take PTO and has PTO accumulation limits because it is a debt. That is the way it looks in the books. So, don't even think about letting them slide on your money. They are stealing from you! Check the laws and file a complaint even if they do give you your money. If you need help looking for the law I am usually pretty handy with those kinds of things.

[lilirishgirl67]

I'm a 20 year veteran to nursing but a newbie to correctional nursing and love it! Where else can you have ER, hospital, chronic care and even geriatrics all in one place? The patients are a challenge but I have yet to be bored nor do I dread going to work. Corrections is definitely not a place for green nurses but a great change for a seasoned nurse. So glad I made the change.

[Hospice Nurse LPN, BSN, RN]

I do! I work home hospice in LTC/AFL facilities. I love teaching families, pts, and staff members. I like the fact that I have time to spend w/ each family and don't feel rushed to get the next task done. It is a blessing to help pts accept death and greet it w/o fear, pain, etc. I work w/ some awesome nurses, CNA's, NP's, and docs. I also like the fact that I'm not caged in 4 walls for an 8-12 hr. shift. :redbeathe