scottib

OK....first of all there are many opportunities in Psych travel--after all you are only looking for one assignment right? recently I posted my profile on a travel nursing website --with PSYCH- as my specialty--I also posted my phone number and by the time I was finished and hit ok i recieved 3 phone calls within the first 10 mins --after 1 week i am up to 25 + from agencies wooing me--most have 10-15 assignments some less --but many to choose from--florida, alaska,montana nevada, texas, arizona -cali......all but hawaii pay varied by assignment--as well as housing--some paid mileage-all had health insurance and other perks --true med surg and icu may have many choices but honestly there seems to be more than enough to pick from --like I said one assignment at a time---all wanted at least one year liscenced experience --i have 25 years as an aide and recently was hired at my facility (state) to work as an Rn--all agencies said they would contact me with 10-12 months to see if I was ready....good luck and in Psych always watch your back!!!!

I just started my first RN job on a med /surg floor -- and in general its been going ok --but I can't stand it --orientation is good --slow -- (3 months team partner model) but i continually make dumb mistakes --by this I mean filling out the wrong paperwork --putting down the wrong lab values --forgetting mede times --triple checking iv drips and wondering if I am reall getting it right--the last thing I did was I went tohang a bag of zosyn--removed the old bag and some how --God only knows --I rehung the same bag again and threw out the good one (it was back primed with saline) --honestly the intensity of the job is killing me --but I really don't want to not have med surg experience but taking care of 6-7 patients is mind numbing for me --I'm beginning to think I have some sort of learning disability--but RN school was a breeze--but I am the guy who takes a list to the grocery store rereads the list several times and still forgets one thing!!!! I'm afraid I'm really gonna screw things up and hurt someone ---my dream has been to gain med/surg and go to the mission field -- but I can't do this pace or its going to kill me! (or I fear someone else) My background is Psych and I have already interviewed at my old Hospital and they really want me back--is there some way I can gain med surg experience at a slower pace? Volunteer work maybe __ any suggestions ---or have I just wasted a good portion of my life? :o :o

Well first of all don't panic (easier said then done) it seems you have done all you can do --I took my nclex just over a month ago and passed at 75 questions --I swear that I felt as if I failed and it took 2 days for me to convince myself that I may have passed and low and behold I did ! God gets all the glory for that one!!! Many of the questions seemed to be out of left field - I got no renal, cardiac , med calc questions--many ob questions and many that seemed so simple and stupid that they must have been trick ones.... what it came down to was my ability to reason through a situation in many of them --utilizing alot of critical reasoning that I had learned during school -- I had reviewed Saunders extensively but never felt I had learned enough and thats where the critical reasoning part comes in. take a deep breath and give it your best shot and remeber its a "perfect" world in NCLEX land --you always have the right equipment the right staff and the perfect hospital to work in. I'll be praying for you:saint: