mariesmist

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll speak to my manager when I get back to work. The NA says it's only every so often she needs to catch that bus because while she usually has a ride home, that ride is sometimes not available. I haven't been keeping track how frequently. It just feels like it's more often than once every 3 months. I guess I was really wondering if this was something I could handle on my own.

So I'm a relatively new nurse, been at my facility for a little over 2 years. Not too sure of myself still and not too keen on managing people. The charge nurse role rotates among the nurses on a nightly basis, and I've been CN about 3-4 times a month in the last 6 months. There's no difference in patient load or pay, but the CN is responsible for assigning admissions and is the go-to person for problems that night. There's one nursing assistant that has asked me if she can leave early, about 15 minutes, at least four times in the last 2 months. The first two times I said ok, as long as your work is done and your fellow nursing assistants are willing to cover you. The third time another nursing assistant complained to me that it's not fair that she "constantly" gets to leave early. So the last time she asked I said yes just because it was busy and I didn't want to deal with it but I found out the reason why is that she wants to catch an earlier bus home. I thought about it later and wrote an email to her stating I will not be letting her leave early as her shift ends at midnight and if she needs to be home at a certain time she will have to find alternative transportation. Once in a while is fine but not on a regular basis. She approached me after that and said she only asks to leave early once every 3 months and no one says anything when she doesn't have time to take a break or cuts her break short because the other nursing assts are late to work. If she takes the next bus, she has to wait 40 minutes. I don't know what to do. I don't know how often she's asking the other CNs to leave early; she says "everyone else" lets her leave early. Is this something that should be brought up with my manager? Just this past month during evaluations my manager told me as a nurse I need to supervise the NAs, no matter that they're older than me, been there longer than me, etc. What's the next step if I want to be be diplomatic but keep good relationships? If one NA is already complaining about her leaving early, I don't want it reach my manager's ears and then be held accountable as to why I let it happen. Thoughts?

i agree with previous posters about being patient and accepting.. im fairly new, been a nurse for a little over 2 years now and still appreciate my more senior coworkers (both RN and NA) answering my questions or providing input. the example about the new nurse's question about what position the bed should be in reminds of an incident from nursing school - we were in clinicals on a neuro unit, and had been assigned patients and were providing AM care. one patient had a shunt that and drained according to gravity (sorry forgot what it's called) and either the student forgot or the primary nurse hadn't mentioned it, but the student raised the bed to wash the patient. of course patient started complaining of a headache and the primary nurse rushed in to put the bed back down. i don't think the primary nurse would've thought that was a stupid question. and if the student asked the same question in the next clinical area, that primary nurse may think the student is dumb but a 'stupid' question is better than no question. tangent, but bed position isn't to be taken for granted either - HOB elevated for aspiration precautions, lowered for pt with perineal sutures, etc.

I've been on a gyn and breast onc med/surg unit for about 2 years. I am chemo certified, so I can hang many chemos. We also have chemo nurses that administer vesicants. Hospital guidelines determine which chemos a floor nurse can give. Day nurses generally have 5-7 patients, night nurses have 7-10. We have both postops and medicine patients. Heavy most times because they are very sick or dying, and some times because 99% of our patients are women (lots of emotional support for anxiety and depression).

we've been using vocera for about 2 years now... our system doesn't really allow us to accept or not accept calls. it works like a nextel walkie talkie. if you're logged onto the network, you get an intro sound and "you have a call from so and so". it is the caller's responsibility to ask whether the recipient is able to talk. if you're in the room with a patient, you can still take the call since it is our floor etiquette to just say bed #### needs whatever rather than name the patient. it's been pretty useful, for example if you're in a room and you need help from a specific person you can just call them right there. or to call people who walk around the hospital you just say "call supervisor" or "call IV team" or "call respiratory therapy". the frustration occurs when vocera doesn't understand or misunderstands you and starts calling random people.

i'd also like to add that nurses don't really have income growth unless they change jobs. there are no bonuses or many perks from 'clients'. the starting salary is high, but after that we only get yearly raises of 3-5% which only barely keeps up with inflation. i might feel differently in a few years when i'm making the same as i am now while business friends get promoted and pay hikes.

i am satisfied with my pay, and i believe i am fairly compensated for having a 4 year degree and the level of stress involved. my coworkers also seem to rarely complain about pay. i am single and working in one of the higher paying markets, so i'm sure that skews my view. i'm not sure i'd feel the same were i working for $20/h or less like in some parts of the US. money seems to only become an issue if i make it one - in nyc where a 750 sq foot 1-bedroom apt on the UES costs close to three quarters of a million dollars, it's hard not to compare what i have to what other people have. i do believe other service professions like teachers and policemen are underpaid because maybe they have been less vociferous than nurses?

A new grad CAN save over 1000/month. I save about 1500 a month total. I live and work in NYC. I live below my means. I max out my 403b (no match) and IRA (targeted retirement fund and mutual fund). I have a chunk in the stock market, this year with a 19% return so far (thanks APPLE!!). I manage to squeeze in at least two trips a year. The only thing is that I still rent but that'll probably change next year. If I was motivated only by money, I'd live with my parents but whatever, I'm 27. I work 1-2 overtime shifts a months and I still have somewhat of a social life. Kids will change the plan, but I'm undecided about them and off in the horizon somewhere. Thinking about changing to a hospital that matches, but I happen to like my employer now. It isn't perfect, plans change, high risk is acceptable, and nurses can be financially savvy once they get over the initial feeling of being overwhelmed by numbers. I won't say it can be done until I'm comfortably retired, and it won't be by 30, but I believe I'm on my way.

yes i feel like the OP is being unrealistic and i was the first to say so. but after reading some responses after me, i agree it is commendable for a 21 year old to be thinking about retirement and to start with a loosely sketched plan. i sure didn't have a clue at 21. i just wanted to add that there is so much more to life than retiring early. i've only been nursing 18 months and there have been so many moments i've had with patients that were funny, touching, sad, etc. moments that i probably would've missed or not appreciated were i working 60 hour weeks because i was stressed or angry or rushing. not only that, but to me living is also about the vacations, fine food, and yes the occasional splurge on material things. i dont feel like the OP's plan accounts for these things either during the working years or in the retirement years. what would you do with all that down time if you couldn't afford to spend much on going away, having some sushi, or buying gifts for yourself or others? not that having money is the only determinant for being happy, but it really really would help.

sorry to burst your bubble but you'll probably need a lot more than that to retire. assuming you die around 75, you'll need about 45 years of income, minus inflation and increasing healthcare costs. even without inflation, $66,000/year X 45 years is about $3 million...?

Wow you sound like where I was 4 years ago. I also graduated from a pricey private college with a BS in Human Development, didn't want to go into social work or psych either, and had about $15,000 in gov't and private loans. I just want to say that I took an even slower route to an RN than you but I am completely satisfied with my decision to forgo the masters at that point. I worked a year or so in hospital administration, then went to a city college for pre reqs and my BSN/RN. I did not have any further debt upon completing my second degree due to a combination of merit scholarships, low cost tuition, and a part time job. I feel that am now in a much better financial position to pursue my NP or MSN should I choose to do so. But you know, I've decided that I'm happy being a staff nurse for now and I'll probably go for my NP sometime in the future. Work would reimburse tuition fees, and I like that I'd feel more comfortable in an advanced practice position with floor nursing experience. Oh and I'd like to add that's it's pretty ironic that I'm still slowly paying off the gov't loans from my first degree with what I earn from my second degree. Good luck!

sloan does have a pension plan. it's not much though, from what i understand of the formula they use. they also have a 403b plan, and they do not match. you're also not eligible for either of these until after one year of employment. and no, no bonus for BSN.

you need to have 2-5 years experience to work at the outpatient centers. before getting an BSN and RN i worked at the outpatient center in administration, and i never saw a new grad hired. but who knows, you can try.

yes you are right. there is no differential for a bsn v. asn. sloan offers two retirement plans, a pension plan where you're not vested until your 5th year as an employee and an optional voluntary tax-deferred contribution plan that sloan does not match, and you're not eligible to contribute until your second year as an employee. as far as benefits, on top of the salary, each job category gets a specific amount the employee can spend for health benefits. during orientation, you get a price list for each of the benefits offered, and you can choose to spend all of your allotted benefits money or more and have whatever you spend be tax free. if you don't spend all your allotted money, you recieve the difference in your paycheck but taxed. hope this helps.

I'm glad I came across this thread. I am also on my second month on an oncology floor. I feel info-overloaded and so lost. I don't seem to be putting the whole picture of the patient together, and I think of things that I did wrong or should've done for a patient after the shift is over and while trying to get some sleep before my next shift! My preceptors are excellent though at keeping me on track and, most of the times pointing out what I did wrong. I hate this learning curve!!

hi im graduating from hunter this year and i think it's a pretty good program. most of the profs are really good and really care about the students. i think every nursing program has its weaknesses, but clinical skill preparation is not hunter's weakness. in the end, you get what you put in. i think i learned a lot and while no program will prepare you completely for the real world, hunter does try hard. i also think going to a private school for nursing is a waste of money. i got scholarships that pretty much made my education free, and i already got a couple of job offers. PM any specific questions you have!

yup. 26.78 base, 2.33 evening diff, 4.66 night diff.

Hi, I'm graduating from Hunter's nursing program this June. It is pretty rigorous, but I don't feel it was too difficult. It's definitely a competitive program to get into, because you are competing against many good students. They accept about 80 students, I think. My class now has 70 or so. My GPA and NLN were both much higher than what you hear about as the minimum to get in. I'd say you need at least a 3.1 and 120+ on the NLN. Good luck!

Columbia University has a program for students with a non-nursing BS. They also have a program called Entry to Practice (ETP) where you earn a BSN the first year, and the second year you earn a MS/NP. http://www.nursing.hs.columbia.edu/programs/etp.html I'm not sure what other schools have this. It's pretty expensive though, and they don't recommend that you have a job the first year.

Thanks for the reply! The shoes I have in mind have about 2" heel. I also remembered that the nurse managers and case managers were all pretty well dressed in the hospital I did my externship at.

Hi I'm new here! I'm sure this question has been covered somewhere in this forum, but I can't find it. What is appropriate attire for an interview for a new grad? I live in NYC and the nurses at the hospitals that I am interested in wear colored scrubs or white uniforms. Nursing spectrum says pantsuits are not suitable??! I have a black pantssuit that I love. And are pointy toe slingbacks too non-traditional for a conservative field? Thanks!