waitaminute

I'm specifically curious about Kaiser Zion in San Diego... I guess it's just hard for me to fathom. I've only worked at one hospital and I don't really see the assignments getting shifted around to accommodate for acuity. I've carried 3 unstable unit players on a 5 pt assignment before. Where I'm at, IF you're lucky enough to have a float nurse to help, it's usually just a brief thing for an IV or meds, but you're still the primary nurse. They don't really reassign. Is that standard? The idea of only having a 3 pt assignment seems like a walk in the park compared to what I'm used to, so much so that I'm having a hard time believing it's real. I guess I'm just hoping that somewhere out there someone is reading this that has experience with Kaiser in San Diego and is kind enough to share their experience.

Mayo offers a new grad program a few times a year. A few of my friends got in straight out of nursing school. It's very competitive, but they seem to love it. Another one of my friends got in at Banner as a new grad. From what I recall, they gave him 2 months or so of orientation and I want to say the starting pay was $26-$28 range for days as of a year ago. From the way he described it, the staff on his floor was very supportive and kind. I would recommend avoiding Abrazo, I'm under the impression the nurses there are not too happy. Let me know if you have other questions. I know the valley really, REALLY well.

So I tried posting this in the CA forum, but didn't get a single response. I was reading that Kaiser EDs in CA have a 1:3 ratio in place and am curious if it's honored. From my understanding, the patient assignment decreases from there if you have ICU pts. I'm trying to understand how they honor that if you're super busy and one of your 3 becomes a unit player. Do they actually remove a pt from your assignment and give it to another nurse?! Do they just have a float cover your other people until you get the ICU pt up to the unit? What's the deal?

Hey there! I'm an ED nurse in a large level 1 teaching hospital. I've been doing this for 2.5 years and started here as a new grad. I really enjoyed it at first, but after awhile the newness wore off and I began to notice a lot of things that I do not like. Everything from heavy patient assignments (no laws here for ED ratios) to cliques that run the department to favoritism for cross-training to physical exhaustion beyond what I would consider reasonable for work to constantly dreading having to go in to a lack of professionalism to (what feels like) constant verbal abuse from patients. I could go on and on. I can keep up with my assignments and get a lot of compliments from my patients on my bedside manner. I have never been written up and my one and only performance review was good. I hate it though and feel like it is a toxic environment. I have absolutely no desire to go to a floor and do bedside nursing there. I've contemplated going to the ICU, but the thought of it doesn't excite me and I'm worried it would just be a temporary bandaid for a wound that will not heal. I still believe in nursing and my original reason for joining this profession - to help people, save lives, and make a difference. I've considered that it could just be the hospital that I'm at and have considered going to another ED. One of the big hurdles I'm finding is that many hospitals require rotating day/night shifts, something I'm unwilling to do (I'm unwilling to work nights, period). Combine that with 5-6 patient assignments with no consideration for acuity and it's left me feeling trapped. I even went as far as to get my California nursing license because at least there they have ED ratio laws. With all of this in mind, I have a great deal of respect for research and went as far as to get a part-time job with a CRO doing in-home IP administration, lab draws, and source documentation. It doesn't even feel like work compared to the ED, but it's very limited on hours and is not something my CRO offers full-time. I've been doing this alongside of my ED job for almost a year now and love it. It's so easy and pays so well that I question if this is really considered research nursing. I do not sign subjects up for trials, I'm simply contacted when there is a new trial in my area that is in need of my services and my CRO sends me training material that I complete remotely. I never step foot in a hospital. Would any experienced research nurses mind comparing and contrasting research nursing to bedside nursing? I do not want my BSN to go to waste. I'd like to find something away from the hospital setting that I can still apply my skills to, something that has comparable pay, a better schedule, less catty attitudes/more professionalism, and doesn't have the attitude that being verbally (or physically) assaulted just comes with the job. I'm passionate about research and while in nursing school, the research courses were my favorite. I'm one of those people that do not live to work, I work to live. With the way things have been for me in the ED, I find that I take so much stress home with me that it is interfering with my quality of life. I feel angry and I'm desperately searching for a better way. Also, where would I look to find research jobs that are not hospital based? CROs? Pharm companies? Any guidance is much appreciated.