momoneypls

I've come off a couple of travel assignments, and in both I found the staff pretty brutal. It's like bullying and hazing all rolled into one. I think that's why we earn the $ is because we have to tolerate unprofessional, insensitive nonsense from coworkers. Good luck and I hope you find a better fit.

By OB you mean L/D, right? By training in this field you are considered a professionally skilled nurse. No one else can just step in and deliver a baby in crisis and tend to the mother as well. I did some float time in L/D and that was some highly specialized stuff. A lot can go wrong in a delivery as you will see. This can mirror some of the severe events that occur in an ICU. ICU recruiters will recognize this talent if they know enough about how the L/D works. When interviewing, you will be able to provide many examples of how you worked as a team to rescue a mother and baby in distress. Many ICU recruiters want L/D experience because those nurses can handle the pregnant ICU patients. As long as you don't mention anything about being in OB because you " wanted to work with cute babies," you'll be fine. ?

oooh, tele for sure

What you are feeling is very common for a new nurse, so please don't give up yet! Part of finding your niche in this profession is discovering what you don't like or want; that is what eventually leads to discovering the area where you will truly thrive. Nursing feels a lot like running like a chicken with your head cut off; after awhile though you make peace with it. It becomes insignificant background noise as you discover the importance of what you do and the positive impact it can have on others. My first bedside job was many years ago as an acute care oncology nurse, and I swear those patients could sense my fear and they would not mince words--they wanted an experienced nurse. I cried on my way home from work a lot and felt like I would never get it to where I felt I had accomplished something worthwhile on my shift. I leaned a lot on others and felt super stupid because I could not do things on my own. It took a full year on that floor for me to feel confident enough to consider myself somewhat of an asset. After that, I was able to isolate the things that I really liked about nursing and things I couldn't stand. That helped me along the way to where I am now. I love ER nursing and I discovered this by doing pretty much everything else along the way. It has made me better as a nurse and given me a pretty thick skin, too. You do you, but seriously, reconsider staying in nursing. Maybe LTC is not for you so try out something else. Consider your temperament also: ER nurses are ADD and do 60 things at once without finishing one thing at a time; ICU nurses are the opposite and complete each task one at a time in a very organized fashion. Cardiology means you deal with a lot of type A patients and docs, Ortho is a lot of chill docs and pain meds, ambulation for patients. Neuro is nebulous and confusing (to me and a lot of patients) but can be very rewarding when you see recovery. L/D is like ER because when it goes bad, it goes really fast. L/D and mother baby got the most code gray calls--very Maury Povich/Jerry Springer type stuff. Med surge is turn and burn with a lot of admits and discharges with drains and pain pumps. Your type A nurses tend to do day shift, your type B nurses are night shift and I think more friendly and team-oriented. Good luck and thanks for reading my super long commentary:)

Is this not a thread regarding healthcare workers who are upset that they have to take a vaccine that may prevent the spread of covid-- begun by yourself? This deviation from the topic at hand feels like a forced diversion; comparing a disease that you will likely contract and spread to everyone around you and possibly result in their death is not the same as someone with an eating disorder or metabolic problem they choose not to address being a burden on the system. Being a burden and exhaustive PIA to treat constantly is not the same as knowing what you are electing to do is a serious threat to those around you.

these behaviors are not contagious and imminently dangerous to those who come to you for help

Travel nurse! That's what I did! I cannot stand my current area of CA and their anti vax bs. Come to sunny CA and get some $$$. Anywhere in Los Angeles county is good. If you miss the anti vax stuff a little, come down my way in OC, everyone has it. See you soon:}

As most people know, children are snot-laden vectors of nasty diseases. No one can superspread like a group of kids, NO ONE. Not to mention having to teach 30 of them at once, it is a daily health hazard. Now, with people unwilling to vaccinate themselves or their older children, teachers have to deal with this mess? Um, no. Give them the money. You people know your kids and you know it's right. 1K is a pittance but at least it's a start. Be nice, suggest more.

"So, I'm not allowed to give any advice regarding whether you decide to vaccinate your child or not." "My close friend left her nice ER job to go to San Diego Rady to treat all of the covid positive children there, such a shame their parents cannot visit because they aren't vaccinated. They get to FaceTime though, although sometimes it's hard because the children are intubated but it's important that they hear the voices of their parents. My friend is making massive money though, because the burnout from the heartbreak has proven too much for the initial staff and they are gone." "Yep, never heard of a child getting mortally sick on a vaccine, but Covid? If you ever want to wonder how it affects children, log onto a travel nurse website and see how much they offer for a pediatric ICU nurse." There.

If you are treating patients and you are not vaccinated and they are not vaccinated, you might be unwittingly spreading Covid to them and everyone else you come into contact with. The vaccine does not kill you, but Covid does. What does this say about you as a healthcare provider? Can you really provide a reason why someone cannot get a vaccine for Covid? There are epipens at injection sites, and for every crappy reaction, there is a person recovering from Covid who has a DVT, PE, or autonomic dysfunction for the rest of her life. Really: at this point, with the Delta variant infecting the vaccinated, there is no reason. None. Your patient might be room temp IQ, but that's not contagious...or is it?

I am feeling this topic and feeling it hard. I work for a facility in California in an ER which doesn't go on diversion when we are a packed house. Night shift is 90 percent new grad and 10 percent experienced. I live in an area where the vaccine is mostly frowned upon (Huntington Beach, CA) and in my county most people are not vaccinated. I have such a hard time coming from a travel position in LA and seeing how people respected the damage covid does as a disease to OC again where people are just, meh, I don't want the vaccine. I have to dig deep to find compassion for the man waiting outside, breathing in gasps, telling me he wants his hydroxychloroquine and that "this is all ***, Covid is a myth". I told him to kiss his wife and tell her he loves her before he got a bed, because he was going to be immediately intubated. His sats were in the 60s and he still managed this rant. My young lady last night just wanted a test and some cough syrup because she had to pick up pizza for her kids at home. When I asked her if she had been vaccinated she was appalled, "absolutely not". Not indeed. During her rant she maxed out at 80% which was cool because I couldn't stand another minute of it. She got bipap then the tube. Kids did not get pizza. I find it so hard to care for these people. For whatever reason they don't vaccinate, they know they can spread this to someone and kill them. And they are totally OK with this. I feel like I live in a society of sociopaths. I'm kinda on board with insurance companies not paying for covid related illnesses if a person is not vaxxed. After all, it is "their right" to not vax, then insurance should have the ''right " to decline all bills related to covid. yep, I'm that bitter. So are all the other nurses...hence, the exodus

The wife certainly had reason to do what she did to protect herself and her loved one. It was likely upsetting to the nurse too but I'm hoping that he or she can understand the context.

I worked in a vaccine clinic, a really big one run by Kaiser. A lot of our patients who had really severe symptoms actually had covid not long before; some didn't even know about it. A little later, a lot of patients were told to wait 90 days after known covid infection precisely to avoid being hammered so hard by both shots. Maybe this is what happened to you? It would have been nice to actually test people first before vaccinating them, but I'm just talking silly talk.

I would ask how you feel about contracting Covid and then giving it to those patients you're caring for. Many cancer patients are unable to generate a high enough titer of vaccine to offer protection; our oncologists actually have them taper off immunosuppressives like prednisone and decadron one week before vaccination in the hopes that it may offer full benefits. A lot of kids are also getting super sick this time around so this is something to think about. I understand the hesitancy...to a degree. I did it to protect those I care for at work and at home, and in my community. If you just bite the bullet and do it, things will be a lot easier, and you will be doing those around you a favor. We need nurses with a lot of experience like yourself and it would be a shame to lose you over something like this. ps: it's kind of an ugly subject but you would be amazed at what your employer can compel you to do. And, HIPAA applies to patients only. My body, my choice refers to something that will affect your body personally and not that of someone else (spreading disease). Good luck to you, and I hope you find resolution, no matter what it may be.

This looks like a golden opportunity to try travel nursing. You can use your NJ address to make additional $$ as a traveler, get a contract in Jacksonville or nearby, and have a chance to "sample" your hospital before committing. Once you have found a place you like, leave your agency and apply, making sure of course that your institution is willing to hire you in. Also, a lot of hospitals don't start hiring until first or second quarter; by this time (4th quarter) they are usually over budget. This is why they hire travelers; they don't have to supply benefits and it comes out of a different budget kitty. Good luck!