Bearcat-RN

I will be relocating to Jacksonville, FL in July or August of this year due to my SO's job. I graduated in December of 2019 and have been working in a MICU ever since. While I enjoy the ICU, I think I definitely want to try something different at my new job. I'm interested in working in a procedural area like Cath Lab, possibly OR. I'm also really interested in the PACU. I actually did my preceptorship during nursing school in the PACU and really enjoyed it. I know these are three different specialties and all have their pros/cons, I would just like to hear from some people who work in these fields and get their two cents. I'm also slightly worried about my experience. By the time I move I'll have close to 1.5 years of ICU experience and my CCRN. I work at a smaller hospital, so while I'm familiar with drips, hypothermia protocol, CRRT, etc., we get no real cardiac stuff. So while I'm interested in the Cath Lab, I'm worried my lack of cardiac experience would make the transition tough. I know this post is pretty scattered, but if anyone has any input on these nursing specialties, or the Jacksonville, FL job market I would greatly appreciate it!

Of course you should really try to not call in. If you're sick, you're sick. What can you do. However, you even said yourself that you could have sucked it up a couple of those times and gone in. Even if your manager doesn't say something, think about your coworkers on the unit. With you calling off, extra work is likely being displaced onto them. Do it often enough, they will notice and will likely not be too fond of you...

I'm only about 6 months into my nursing career, so not a veteran by any means, but I was in your shoes a short while ago so I thought I would chime in. It sounds like you're starting out on a challenging floor. The most important piece of advice I can offer is NEVER be afraid to ask questions. I'm in the ICU, and I ask questions all the time. Trust me, it's way better to ask a lot of questions than to try and guess yourself through something that you aren't sure about. Some other things that come to mind: -I personally wouldn't worry too much about reviewing stuff before you start on the unit. Give it a couple weeks to see what the common diagnoses on your unit are, meds you come across frequently, etc. If you come across something and you know nothing about it, google it. But as far as studying ahead of time, I wouldn't worry about it. -Don't expect too much right away. I'm not sure what kind of orientation you get, but start off with very limited expectations -Celebrate the small accomplishments. The first time you hang IV meds and program the pump alone, the first time a family member compliments you, the first time you give report. It's daunting starting out as a brand new nurse, and if you think about everything you don't know, you'll never feel like you're getting anywhere. Celebrating the small accomplishments is a good way to acknowledge your progress and prove to yourself that you are getting there. -Lastly, coming off of orientation and being on your own is terrifying. I am very fresh out of orientation, so I am still in that phase of being uneasy and nervous heading into work. As you progress through orientation, your preceptors should be backing off and letting you run the show. I found that what helped me the most once I was officially on my own, was to not think "oh my god, I'm on my own and all by myself". I go into work with the mindset that I am still in orientation, and my preceptor (whether they are actually there or not) is on the other end of the unit if I need them. Meaning, I treat it like it's any other day, and if I need help or get lost, I can always ask for help. So much emphasis is put on "being on your own", when really you are never "on your own". Yes you will be the primary nurse responsible for patients, but there are always people on the unit who can help you. Good luck, you can do it.

Is this a joke? The only thing "jinxing" you is your lack of work ethic. Not saying that you deserved the s*** show at the nursing home or the creepy preceptor at the psych facility, but leaving after the first day because you have to orient on days? Ridiculous. At some point you have to look in the mirror and determine if you are the problem, not everyone else.

I agree with the above posters who say you should keep your answer short and sweet. However, if the interviewer keeps pushing and absolutely NEEDS more info, be very careful with how you explain the situation. I would still stay as general as possible. Maybe something like, "I am a recent graduate who is very eager to learn and am looking for an opportunity that is more conducive with that".

I would say if you have to question whether or not it is appropriate to post, it most likely isn't. The biggest suggestion I have is do not mention your employer/hospital by name. You'd be surprised how big, yet small this site is.

Cincinnati metro area, new grad: -$24.71/hr base pay -$4/hr night differential The system I work for has the lowest starting pay in the area, but some of the best benefits

I just recently finished my new grad orientation, so I feel as though I can relate to a lot of what you are talking about. That being said, It seems like most of the issues you pointed out were your own perceptions, not necessarily problems brought to you by your preceptor or manager. Every new grad feels like they can't keep up in the beginning. Between the time I finished my role transition, graduated, took the boards, and actually started on the unit, I felt like I had forgotten everything I learned in clinical and was starting over from scratch. It's actually comical to think back to my first month or so on the unit and how little I knew. How little I STILL know. And trust me, nobody is comparing you to the 8 year vet of the unit and expecting you to be on their level- except maybe you. We are our own harshest critics. It may be easy for me to sit here and say this because I was lucky enough to find a unit very supportive of new grads, with some great preceptors. I think if you do decide to give it another go, you really need to set some realistic expectations moving forward, and try not to compare yourself to other nurses on the unit- especially the experienced ones.

This is great advice. Im a new grad in a medical ICU. I was lucky enough to get a 6 month orientation, and just recently finished orientation and am officially on my own. Writing out the hours and what you have to do during each helps a ton. It makes it so much easier when you can see it all written out, and I find I'm less likely to miss a lab or med if I have a checklist to follow. The other thing I've learned early on is if you have time to get something done, do it right then and there. It's really easy to want to relax a little bit during the shift, socialize for a few minutes with coworkers if the unit is a little slow, but use this time wisely. There have been multiple shifts where I am running around nonstop for the last 2 hours of the shift trying to get caught up before report. Make sure your charting is caught up, look ahead and see if there are any dressing changes you can do, tubing that needs to be changed, baths that need to get done. I've found that I would much rather have time to relax and take it a little easy during the last hour of the shift than be running around trying to play catch up before giving report.

I was at a bar, looked over and saw a group of people standing around an unresponsive man. Did CPR for about 5 minutes until EMS arrived. The bar gave me and my friends a free tab for the night ?

When I read this to begin, I was expecting so much worse. Like others have said, I'm sure you are thinking about this way more than anyone else ?

If you need more time, don't hesitate to ask for it. Switching specialties is a major adjustment, and just because you have previous experience doesn't mean you should be short-changed with orientation.

Not a med error. Could you have called the doc or pharmacy to get something else ordered? Yeah, but you gave the med as ordered, so nothing to report.

I have been a nurse for about 6 months now, but still remember the stress that came with clinical. I didn't always have the greatest attitude towards clinical. I always felt like us students were in the way and a burden upon the nurse to which we were assigned. This always made me feel uncomfortable, and quite honestly made me dread clinical some days. Looking back on it now, I wish I would have cared a little less. Yes, you probably are going to be in the way, and yes, some nurses probably would rather not have a student with them. And that's okay. The important thing to remember is that all nurses have had to go through clinical, so no matter how uncomfortable you feel, they were once in the same exact position. So try not to take anything too personally. Additionally, I would suggest seeking out skills as much as possible. If your patient for that day doesn't have a lot going on, or if your nurse isn't too receptive to having a student, ask your instructor about what else is going on in the unit. I'm sure there is always a patient who needs a dressing changed or is going to a test that you could observe.

I definitely agree with whoever suggested PA school. If becoming a practitioner is your end goal, that may be a more direct/cost efficient route (although PA school is definitely not cheap). But I would definitely not suggest taking out 175,000 in loans. I did an accelerated BSN program and took out $50,000 in loans and am kicking myself for it. The interest adds up and it will take me a while to pay it off. Should have just gone to community college for an ADN. Also, do not by any means bank on a loan forgiveness program to bail you out. I had that mindset when I was going through school, but there are so many stipulations involved with those that it's usually never an option. Not to mention that government funded loan forgiveness programs are not guaranteed, and can be cancelled.

Nursing is a tough profession, and you need to have tough skin. If your instructor truly was giving you a hard time and singled you out, then that is simply not okay. However, it has happened, and now it is up to you to decide how you respond. You have gotten some good advice. If you are positive you want to continue with nursing, apply to every nursing school that you can reasonably drive to and attend. What do you have to lose? If you get an interview or they ask about you failing out, be honest- but don't blame the school and your instructors. If you make a bunch of excuses, that will not go over well with the new school. Explain to them that your first semester was challenging and it obviously didn't go the way you had hoped, but you have learned from all of this and are ready to try again and have a plan for success. But at some point you need to take some ownership. Just because the advice is not what you wanted to hear, doesn't mean it isn't good advice.

PCA stands for Patient Care Assistant, sometimes called a CNA or Patient Care Tech. This is a job you can get while in nursing school that will give you direct, hands-on patient care experience. You will work with nurses directly and get a much better idea of what they do on a daily basis. If they know you are in nursing school, some may be generous enough to take extra time to explain things to you or pull you in the room if they are doing something cool and want to show you. As far as getting into your ABSN program, do some research and be proactive. See what pre-req courses they require for admission and make sure you get all of those knocked out. In the future, after you are done with nursing school and begin working as a nurse, you can start to think about how to prepare for CRNA school. CRNA schools are very selective with admission, some even have wait lists that are years long. I believe you need to have your CCRN certification either before admission or prior to beginning the CRNA program. I don't think you can even take the CCRN exam until after you have worked in critical care for 2 years or so, so you're looking at at least a year or two before applying to CRNA programs after becoming a critical care nurse.

Nothing about the ICU is "easy", even landing the job. I went through and ABSN program and was fortunate enough to land a position in an ICU a couple months before I even graduated. Hiring a new grad into the ICU is a major investment/risk for mangers, and you have to be able to sell yourself as a worthy investment. As far as how likely it would be for you to land a job right out of nursing school, that entirely depends on where you live, what the job market is like there, whether hospitals in your area hire new grads into critical care roles, and how well you interview. I worked as a PCA in an ICU while in nursing school and this was a great way to get exposure to the unit, become comfortable around critical patients, and even just learn what some of the equipment does and what different lingo means, etc. Not to try and shoot you down or anything, but I would have to agree with the previous poster who said that it doesn't really seem like you have a realistic/thorough understanding of what a CRNA does and what the job entails. My advice would be to get a job as a PCA in a hospital if you haven't already. It doesn't have to be an ICU, just something to get your foot in the door and something to add to your resume. When the time comes to start applying to jobs, apply to ICU positions, but don't limit yourself. Many ICU nurses start out in med/surg or telemetry and transition to ICU later on. I'm only about 5 months into my nursing career, and I started in the ICU. I love my job and have a supportive team, but there are times where I think it would have been very beneficial to start out on a med/surg or tele unit rather than immediately jumping into ICU.

I’m sure it seems impossible now, but you will land that first nursing job. I would suggest reaching out to some of the individuals who have interviewed you and seeing what their reasons were for passing on you. They may or may not tell you, but its definitely worth a shot. Another suggestion I have is to use your connections. If you are an internal transfer, ask a nurse or manager who you trust and knows your strengths reach out to other managers/HR and put in a good word for you. I live in a pretty big city with over 10 hospitals in a 15 mile radius, and its amazing how tight-knit the nursing community is. A good reference could be the difference maker. Good luck and do not give up. Your struggle now will make your future successes that much better.

I am a BRAND new nurse, so I’m not sure how much I have to offer on this post, but I am a millennial so... You’re right when you talk about teaching styles. I found that many of my classmates, and myself, typically benefited from the professors or clinical instructors who were “less blunt”. However, I feel like your approach is just way off base. First thing I would say is when you post and ask for advice, you are putting yourself out there. There are thousands of nurses on this site with their own backgrounds, experiences and beliefs, and it is important to realize that you are quite literally asking for their opinions. As an unbiased third party, I can maybe see how Ruby’s post got under your skin or aggravated you. However, sometimes what you want to hear and what you need to hear are two different things. It doesn’t take nursing experience to know that. Nursing is a second career for me, and I have had multiple jobs where I have felt similarly to how you do. I also feel like I am someone who is pretty easy to get along with, but I think it’s important to acknowledge that it is not their job or responsibility to make you feel comfortable. Yes, it would be great if they did and would make it a much more pleasurable experience, but they are there to do their job, not necessarily make friends. I’m not going to knock you for having three different jobs in 15 months, but you truly haven’t allowed yourself to get settled in anywhere completely. I would just suggest to give it some time, and allow the friendships and relationships to grow organically. It’ll happen. I know I am not telling you anything that hasn’t already been said, I just thought maybe hearing it from a new nurse and someone similar to you in terms of age would maybe help a bit. Best of luck.

Feeling awful like you do is normal. Sounds like an honest mistake, and that you are going to take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again. As long as you don’t become a repeat offender (had one of those in our cohort), you’ll be fine and soon you will forget this ever happened. Good luck!

I mainly used UWorld and passed in 75 questions the first time. As others have already said, make sure you are reading the rationales and truly understand why you got the question right or wrong. I didn’t make any flash cards or write anything down, just not my personal style. One problem I had was I would do so many questions (like 300+ per day) that my brain started to feel fried and it seemed like it was becoming counterproductive. I think 75 or so per day is a perfect amount. Also, I paid the extra money for the self assessment and thought it was well worth the money as it gives you an idea of where you stand. Good luck!