chivon101

Find a program that does provisional acceptance. Apply for the MSN in Education which requires all the same prereq, most include advanced Patho, Pharm and health assessment. Do well and apply post graduate. You are only taking an extra 3 courses for the education track, in most schools. The education track is usually easy to get into and has extra seats because no one wants to teach any more. Some programs may let you change midway through the track.

Unfortunately, this sounds typical unless the hospital is unionized. Ive worked several places.. As staff and as a traveler. Ive worked in California, New York and Texas.....some have more resources in one area but may be lacking in another. I always tell people same s***, different state.

Sounds interesting and extremely unsafe. So no, this is not a typical freestanding ER. So my comments are meant for typical free standing ER that always transfer out to a facility that is equipped to care for patients requiring a higher level of care. I've never heard of situations where you can't transfer out, at least to the ED unless they are on divert. County level 1 facilities in which Ive worked, accepted everything. Even if no impatient beds they were still sent to an ER with more resources and specialist who could still see them while in the ED. That seems to be skating a little too close to an EMTALA violation.

You are not usually medicating with things like insulin and heparin at a freestanding ER..... You transfer out. That's how. Narc is completed at shift change with two nurses. You need to be strong to be able to manage and not freak out but I never said it was safe.

Most jobs will not hire you as per diem without at least a 1-2 years of nursing experience. You should be confident in your skills and ability to manage acutely ill patients before working somewhere. When hired per diem, they expect you to have the knowledge and skill base to hit the ground running. Only asking for guidance when it comes to specific hospital policies. In my opinion hiring someone per diem in a acute ICU with only 6 months experience is like hiring a new graduate nurse. Especially if the per diem hospital has higher acuity patients than you are currently caring for.

TNCC is not just for the purpose of your resume. Honestly a person having TNCC on their resume compared to one doesn't really would mean very little to management because they usually give you 6 months to obtain it. It is a great course for those who will be managing trauma patients. Most emergency departments that are trauma centers require it. It teaches the ABCs of assessing and treating trauma patients if you working in an area with limited resources. The courses teaches some valuable information about different kinds of shock and treatment as well. For ER nurses it's one of your standard certs you need to work just like BLS, ACLS and PALS.

What are the requirements to go PRN? I work ER and one of facilities I've worked in you had to have at least 2 years experience before they let you go PRN. If you health is suffering, the last thing you want is to lose your health benefits. Is part time with benefits not an option?

Presby Dallas is now a level 2 trauma center and fairly busy. I work for the central staffing office as part time. Essential I'm float pool for the entire system but only float to ERs. I work when I want just as long as I get my 24 hrs hours in. In my experience Baylor pays low compared to other hospitals and I worked at parkland for 3 yrs as staff and 2 prn. I love and miss parkland but for a seasoned nurse, I'm not sure you want the headache. The HCAs use a charting system called meditech which drove me insane. I've been a nurse for 8 years, did some traveling and local seasonal contracts and the in the Dallas area THR was the best place to work. If you are seasoned I would look into the central staffing office. That's if you like flexibility. They offer a higher rate, you have to cross train at least 3 facilities but you can pick up shifts wherever you want and receive the same benefits as if you worked at one facility.

I know some some schools in Texas offer a fresh start program. It eliminates your entire records if it's older than 10years. That means nothing you have taken will count towards the new degree and you will have to begin from stretch. If you obtained a degree previously then you do not quality. I'm not sure if all schools are the same or if they all offer this program.

I have worked in a two different Level 1 facilities that utilizes trauma nurses also called TNCs. Trauma nurse clinicians. At one facility, they work the traumas bays only, working up their own patients. They rarely floated to help out the busy ED nurses and most times the title "went to their heads". We were often debating on the level of trauma and which side would take care of the patient. When they were not with trauma patients, they are responsible for the case management part of the visit. They would follow the care of the patients from admission to discharge. At another level 1 facility, the TNCs only did the case management part, never working bedside. At this facility there were 3 nurses assigned to the critical care rooms that cared for both medical and trauma patients when they arrived. When they did not have patients they would float and help. It really depends on the facility. I think having them separate tends to create a problem for nurses when they leave, because others facilities will assume you have level 1 trauma experience because you worked the ER at one. All nurses working at a leveled facility should have TNCC and/or ATCN. I for one think ATCN is a better course and more realistic. You also need the other certifications needed for the ER.....ACLS, PALS, ENPC, BLS. At the first facility I worked at, they also required CEN or CCRN within 6 months to a year of getting the position. Im sure they will also start to require the Trauma Certified Registered Nurse (TCRN) that rolled out the beginning of the year.

Most times..... It's simply part of the order set!!! No reason. It's just built into the order set for those that use electronic charting.

Hey there! Which THR Presby are you considering? You have Denton, Dallas, Plano, Allen, Ft. Worth just to name a few. The system is large. We also have a few part physician owned facilities that does their own hiring. What kind of nurse are you?

In Texas as a nurse you are not allowed to push propofol but the ED docs use it all the time for procedural sedation. In California I was able to push it for for procedural sedation. We use it all day, everyday for reductions of broken bones and shoulder dislocations. It's not that bad and has a short half life. Sometimes we use ketamine but mostly propofol. We also use it for intubated patients especially those with head injuries. It's preferred where I work due to the short half life, neurologist can turn it off to assess the patient.

Its no different than going away for college as an 18 year old minus the dormitory. I'm sure a vast majority of us have done this. Have your parents or someone go with you to find a place to stay. Many places have apartments set up for students, where you share a living room and have 3 other roommates. They are usually not affiliated with the school. Search the area. And you'll make friends. Many of us meet our lifelong friends while in college.