lex06

In March, our cardiac PCU turned into the covid unit. They take only positive patients and even double up rooms (they've never done this before as they're a unit with only private rooms). The regular PCU takes PUIs. My unit (respiratory med surg) takes any med surg PUIs or positives. The cardiac PCU has been purely COVID since March and nurses can get floated there from any floor. Their manager quit. The unit's normal staff is burnt out from COVID. My unit has half COVID/PUIs and half regular med surg, so it helps a little with burnout if you don't always get the COVID patients. We also get hazard pay if providing direct care to COVID/PUIs which helps a little. Nurses on every unit should be prepared every day to potentially float to a COVID floor.

I work on med surg with similar COVID experience. We have converted twice to a full COVID unit. Once COVID census got low, we mixed COVID and regular med surg patients. For example, rooms 1-8 were COVID rooms and 9-15 non-COVID. We don't have hallways. When nurses came on shift, they were assigned to either COVID or regular. Never mixed. The regular patients did not know we had COVID patients on the floor as well... not sure if that's quite ethical. We currently have no COVID positive patients but we do accept PUIs. Usually only have 1 PUI at a time.

Sorry to hear. It's definitely a factor. JPS hires mostly internal and they get a lot of applications. The cardiac PCU hires some external but the other PCU was all internal for my cohort. Good luck and don't give up!

Have you ever worked at JPS? What area are you looking to apply for? I'm asking because JPS hires mostly internal employees for residency although hundreds of people apply. I actually didn't work here before residency but out of the 28 students in my class, only 7 of us didn't work at JPS before residency. You have to write a small essay and they will send you the requirements once they receive your application. After that they will either invite you for an interview with the manager of the top 3 units you want to work for or they will decline your application. You go to a room with all the managers sitting at tables and they have a paper to ask questions. They all ask the same questions so you'll have your answers down after the first manager interview. Some managers will invite you for an interview with RNs on the unit on the spot or the recruiter will call you later and invite you for an interview. The floor that offered me a position was very chill and really didn't ask me much other than what id do if I walked into a patient's room and they weren't breathing. The residency program itself is very structured and its class only for the first few weeks so you can do ACLS, ekg training, learn equipment, hospital policies etc. The instructors are great and so helpful any time you have an issue whether it's about a preceptor, something you're struggling with on the unit, anything. Then you have to go once a week for a bit then every three weeks for a year until you graduate. Anyway if you have questions about specific areas or anything else I can probably help! ?

We just got an email yesterday saying we should be restarting residency class in June. We’re supposed to do a huge EBP project for the second half of residency but they cancelled it for my cohort. I was surprised by that! Also yeah I got cancelled for the first time last week. We had 7 patients at the start of night shift and my unit holds 19

Yeah we haven’t had residency for quite some time due to COVID! Our census is also low right now so we have been canceling nurses and that usually never happens. If you already work here you know we typically have a difficult patient population? just make sure you advocate for yourself if you feel like your preceptor isn’t right for you or if you need more guidance!! The residency educators are so good about that. They care a lot about how we are transitioning into the role. It makes it easier?

CONGRATS! I'm in JPS residency program right now. Started last July. If you have any questions let me know!

I struggle with the beginning of the shift too! I feel like I'm drowning until 11 PM but I'm working on finding the right routine for me. I've noticed everyone starts their shifts differently. Some people do a few assessments while waiting for the time to give 9 PM meds then do some assessments and pass meds then circle back. Some people do all their assessments and then meds after. We just have to figure out what works best for us! On my floor, we have to take vital signs within 10 min of the patient arriving to the floor. I know it's hard when it's everything is coming up due, but the nurses on my floor always try to help. Maybe it's something you can implement. If a new patient comes, multiple nurses and the tech will go to the room and ask you what can they do, what can they grab for you, help transfer them to the bed, etc. It helps tremendously to have a team there and no matter how long you've been a nurse, it is still hard getting a new admit when you have a billion other things to do. Teamwork is key!! I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine, you know? lol

I'm also a new grad three months into orientation. Are you working days or nights? I've found that once I transitioned from days to nights after orienting on days for two months, I am able to time manage better. The perfect time to reflect, learn, read doctor's notes, etc is in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep/have less meds to give.

Had a 101 year old patient that was slightly confused. Her son brought in a picture from her 101st birthday party where an Elvis impersonator came. Anytime someone new walked into her to room, she would say "Elvis came to my birthday party a few weeks ago. He kissed me on the cheek and I haven't washed it since!"

Yeah you should try that!

MNBear, so sorry I didn't check the site for a few days and missed your question! Hope your interview went well! For anyone else wondering, they asked about 5-6 behavioral questions. Nothing too hard! EKB10796, my friend is having the exact same experience with that recruiter as you. He emailed her asking when she is available to speak with him on the phone. After she answered, he never replied and never called her. Very confusing. I have been in contact with a different recruiter and the experience has been completely different. She called me randomly, asked a few questions, and set up my interview right then. I hope you got in touch with him!

I interviewed on Monday and they didn't ask for anything except my resume. It was for the OR so there were 3 OR nurses and the OR educator there. Manager didn't even come.

Mine is in Ft Worth

I have no idea, sorry!