new to the site

weetziebat · Jul 13, 2004

Hi Lori

:balloons: Welcome to the site, and welcome to nursing. My first job as an RN was in the Coos Bay hospital. I'm still in Oregon but no longer on the coast. Still miss it though.

nurseLori · Jul 14, 2004

Thank you! How long ago did you work at Bay Area Hospital? I started as a nurse tech there while going to school, I don't work there anymore either, but I would like to if I had the time.

Hi Lori
:balloons: Welcome to the site, and welcome to nursing. My first job as an RN was in the Coos Bay hospital. I'm still in Oregon but no longer on the coast. Still miss it though.

weetziebat · Jul 14, 2004

I graduated in 1986 and worked at BAH on the postpartum/ nursery floor for 9 months after graduation. Left for two reasons - first was because I lived 30 miles away and, after working nights, I found myself, on several occasions, falling asleep at the wheel coming home :uhoh3: . The other reason was because I had precepted on postpartum and the charge nurse just couldn't seem to think of me as anything but a "student". After she sent another nurse in the double check vital signs on a postpartum patient with a fever, I decided it was time to leave.Were you an OR tech? I am glad I went to SWOCC.Think it was a great nursing program, and aside from the PP charge nurse, I thought Bay Area was a good place to work. By any chance is Mr. Shumach (sp?) still teaching A&P?? Never thought I'd survive those courses but he sure did get the stuff into my head. I still remember the Krebs cycle :rotfl:

nurseLori · Jul 15, 2004

No, that teacher retired a couple years before I took A&P, but a lot of people ask about him. They have gone through a couple teachers since, they like to fire people! I really liked the teacher I took A&P from as well.

I would be at BAH working, but I wasn't able to do the apprenticship program because I was planning my wedding. So to punish everyone who didn't get in to the apprenticship, they would only place them on graveyard. I had worked that shift for a year as a CNA, and worked my way up. On NOCS I was tired and sick all the time. They were giving other off the street people better shifts than I would have gotten. So I went to work at what used to be St.Catherines on the sub-acute unit. About 6 months later I was offered a great job at an assisted living facility, and here I am!

weetziebat · Jul 17, 2004

sounds typical of so many hospitals to punish nurses for not playing by their rules. sure planning for your wedding was a lot more fun anyway. don't think i'm familiar with the apprenticeship program. we spent the last six weeks of the final term "working" on a chosen unit. didn't have any options about it.

remember st. catherine's. we did our geriatric training there. was one of the better nursing homes that i've seen.

how do you like assisted living? are you a resident care manager or what? haven't had any experience in that field although it sounds pretty good, from what i've heard. do you work day shift now?

i worked nights for 13 years and loved it. finally got tired though of living like a vampire, especially trying to change around on days off. especially difficult because my husband worked days :uhoh3: but nights are more quiet and i liked having the opportunity to spend more time with my patients. one of the nice things in nursing - you can always find different options :)

nurseLori · Jul 17, 2004

the last part of the nursing program you precept on an assingned unit, following an rn, and then she follows you. i was on med/surg, and liked it a lot.

now they offer a program after graduating, the apprentice program. you basiclly do some more classes "what they didn't teach in school" and then you start out slow on the floor with one or two patients. you get paid for it all, and the pay is higher than normal beginning wage. you get to work days/eve only, and usually m-f. but each week you have an assignment, and you still have to report to a mentour all the time. they say right from the beginning "do not attempt to apply if you need any time off at all" so a honeymoon would have been out of the question, and possibly not able to get the day of my wedding off. you have to get a bunch of letters of reccomendation and jump through a lot of hoops. after just getting out of school, the pay and days sounded good, but it is very similar to "school continued"

anyways.......enough of that

i love my job in assisted living (alf) my official tittle is facility nurse, but other places call it theirs nurse consultants. i make sure the facility is in compliance with the state regs, oversee the cargiving staff, and "assist in managing the resident's health conditions"

i get aggrivated with the caregivers at times. coming from places where you always have cna's, most of these people are off the street, with no official training, doing way more than a cna or even a cma would be allowed to do.

most of it, i love!:)

sounds typical of so many hospitals to punish nurses for not playing by their rules. sure planning for your wedding was a lot more fun anyway. don't think i'm familiar with the apprenticeship program. we spent the last six weeks of the final term "working" on a chosen unit. didn't have any options about it.
remember st. catherine's. we did our geriatric training there. was one of the better nursing homes that i've seen.
how do you like assisted living? are you a resident care manager or what? haven't had any experience in that field although it sounds pretty good, from what i've heard. do you work day shift now?
i worked nights for 13 years and loved it. finally got tired though of living like a vampire, especially trying to change around on days off. especially difficult because my husband worked days but nights are more quiet and i liked having the opportunity to spend more time with my patients. one of the nice things in nursing - you can always find different options :)

Ari RN, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2004

Hi-Ya Lori: I'm not from Oregon but am from New York. Welcome to all nurses.

nurseLori · Jul 17, 2004

Thank you! I have a friend flying to new york today. She is a model. I have always wanted to go, the farthest east I have been is chicago. I love it there, in the summer or spring only, I am afraid of more than a foot of snow!

What type of nursing are you doing now? I am trying out LTC for a while. So far so good.....but every now and then I get some one who tries to make me feel like I am not " a real nurse " because I'm not at a hospital. I try not to let it bother me.

Hi-Ya Lori: I'm not from Oregon but am from New York. Welcome to all nurses.

Ari RN, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2004

Thank you! I have a friend flying to new york today. She is a model. I have always wanted to go, the farthest east I have been is chicago. I love it there, in the summer or spring only, I am afraid of more than a foot of snow!
What type of nursing are you doing now? I am trying out LTC for a while. So far so good.....but every now and then I get some one who tries to make me feel like I am not " a real nurse " because I'm not at a hospital. I try not to let it bother me.

Actually I just graduated and searching for a job. This whole job search is a pain in the behind. I really want to work in the ER or the OR, but will take any postion available. You mentioned that the farthest east you've been to is Chicago. I've never been to the west coast. I would like to go there one day.

Don't let them bother you because a nurse is a nurse anywhere.

weetziebat · Jul 18, 2004

lori - your being a facility nurse sounds just like what i do as, yes, a nurse consultant. do client assessments, monitor their healthcare needs and make sure they are up to date on appt's etc., oversee and train the caregivers, deal with insurance, and do all the paperwork to "prove" we are following state regs. only difference is that i work with clients who are developmentally disabled. what hours/days do you work? do your duties include any patient care? do you wear a uniform. i am just the nosiest person, huh?

didn't realize that alf's used caregivers rather than cna's. we do also but the ones i know are great - dedicated and hardworking. of course, we are also very well staffed, so that may make a difference.

ari - i'm here in oregon but was born and raised in nyc. haven't been back for a visit in years. its tough to get used to other places after the big apple but last time i was there i was almost run down by everyone walking so fast :chuckle like your new avatar, especially the "single and looking" part :rotfl:

nurseLori · Jul 19, 2004

they sound very similar. i do all the stuff you listed as well. what type of facility is it? i work m-f 8-5, :) and i can wear whatever i want. i usually just wear nice clothes, or with a nurses jacket, but every now and then i wear scrubs when i want to be comfy. i usually do not do any patient care, but i do assessments, i'll do a dressing change to see a wound's progress, or i talk with residents that have concerns. most of our caregivers have been doing it for a long time, and are very good, but every now and then they do something that surprises me, and the ones who have not been doing it a long time....i have to keep that in mind sometimes. btw, you aren't being nosy.:chuckle

lori - your being a facility nurse sounds just like what i do as, yes, a nurse consultant. do client assessments, monitor their healthcare needs and make sure they are up to date on appt's etc., oversee and train the caregivers, deal with insurance, and do all the paperwork to "prove" we are following state regs. only difference is that i work with clients who are developmentally disabled. what hours/days do you work? do your duties include any patient care? do you wear a uniform. i am just the nosiest person, huh?
didn't realize that alf's used caregivers rather than cna's. we do also but the ones i know are great - dedicated and hardworking. of course, we are also very well staffed, so that may make a difference.
ari - i'm here in oregon but was born and raised in nyc. haven't been back for a visit in years. its tough to get used to other places after the big apple but last time i was there i was almost run down by everyone walking so fast :chuckle like your new avatar, especially the "single and looking" part :rotfl: