turtletyme

To briefly answer your question. Is is different than working in a civilan hospital. The benefits are good and the pay is usually better... but there are still the same problems as anywhere else mainly short staffing and in the hospital I work there are no weekend options or nursing pool.Personally,I would find someone in that facility that you are looking into and just ask them questions. Hope this helps.

Shawna your not alone. I feel the same way. I have been a nurse for a year now. I struggle with time management. I am always staying over finishing up work. I am really sick of it. I have tried different ways to organize and get finished on time, but I can't seem to make it work. I have only worked with medical surgical patients, because that seems to be the only place that really wants new grads and most people say this is a good place to start. Personally, it has just beat my self esteem to pieces. I feel like I should have some kind of system by now and it should be working.Staffing is not good, but I look at the other nurses and they are leaving on time, so what is my problem?I have tried to save myself by looking into other areas of the hospital, but the area I feel I would really like... it is hard to get on.. it almost like these positions are already spoken for before they are posted. I am looking into primary care clinic. I hope that I can get this job and see that surely nursing can't be this bad.Really, I had do idea that nursing meant putting your license on the line daily, really, really short staffing, being responsible for everything. It is so unrealistic, that is crazy. I feel defeated before I even start my shift.Please tell me that it is not this bad in other areas of nursing!!! I have dreamed of being a nurse most of my life and have given my everything to get through school... and this is what I get.My heart is shattered. Now, I feel stuck in a job that I feel I am not capable of doing, in debt and my dreams shattered. Tell me if this is staffing in most places. 2-3 RN's, 1-2 aides, 0-1 lpn(passes meds) sometimes another rn to pass meds or maybe a lpn-VERY RARE, the lpn passing meds usually will have 14 patients then the rest we have to pass meds on our pt's that are left. Our floor has 28 patients at all times, if we discharge someone then to follow is an admission or we are always moving beds to make room for someone else.Lpn's in our hospital cannot do pushes, assessments, central lines. Everything we do is on computer,sometimes I feel this can slow things down. Most of the pt's are elderly men, confused,alot of substance abuse. So, tell me is this typical for medical surgical and is it like this in most areas of nursing.If so, I cannot cope. Please give me some tips for making this work. If others can do it I should but nobody really has the time to guide me and tell me where I am needing to improve. Everyone has said it will get better.. I have not seen any improvement just working my butt off to get the necessary things done and hoping that I have charted everything to cover me.NO time to really put your whole heart into it. I am not really that type of person. I was taught if your going to do something do it right the first time or don' t do it at all. Well, thanks for listening. I have to work tonight my shift is 3-11 and 8 hour shifts. I am dreading it. I have already looked at the schedule and the staffing looks terrible.

Sorry, I have been busy. I have moved to Arkansas since my last post.I am happier here...my family is here. I am working in a federal hospital the pay is better, nurses are nicer but the nurse load is crazy. I want to stick with this job but I do have my eyes open to switching to another area when I can.

I work 4-midnight on a med-surgical tele floor and usually have 7-10 patients.We may have 1 or 2 aides to work with 28 patients. Another RN and LPN to pass meds. A unit clerk until 7.Here lately, I have been doing med passes as well as patient care. I have been a nurse for a year and it is very overwhelming. It seems this is the norm in most hospitals. I love taking care of people but not when I feel I can't do it safely because lack of staff. A few of the other older nurses have said you just have to deal with it. Not sure how to take that.In school they talked about protecting your license and let the supervisor know when you need help. I have found out this often falls on deaf ears. If this is the norm I need to know how other people make it through without risking their license and juggling all the mess.

Thanks for the info.

The nine dimensions are:practice, quality of care, performance,education/career development, collegiality,ethics,collaboration,research, and resource utilization. Once you answer each of these in a paragraph or more this is suppose to help the VA figure out at what level your salary will start. The more examples that I can provide the better it will be. I read somewhere the nine dimensions were established by the Nurse Professional Standards Boards .

I am a new nurse and just got hired with the VA pending my nine dimensions of nursing. I am not familar with this at all and need some help. I have tried to look on the internet for help and have not had much luck. Where do I start? I am getting really frustrated. Please somebody!!!!!!!

I just got hired with the VA. I have 7 months of RN experience. I am not quite sure how to plug in my on the job training into the nine dimensions. If this is the scale they use for my pay, I need some examples so that I don't undersell myself. I do have lots of CNA experience, would that count?

My husband and I are moving back to Arkansas. :roll I was raised in LR. We will live in NW Ar. Unfortunely, I do not know much about this area and the hospitals. I am a new grad and would like to work in a place that would be supportive. Need some input. Does anybody know where we could maybe rent a place with enough acreage for 2 horses? I will be calling the HOGS soon!!!!!!! :monkeydance:

I have been a diabetic for 22 years and now on the insulin pump. I am a new nurse. I just want to know how others manage their diabetes and work as a nurse. I have found it to be very hard and challenging. I was hired to work on a women's unit, instead it is a catch all unit. I say this because they remodeled and made all private rooms(our unit is the only one in the hospital with private rooms). We have alot of nursing home patients as well as the ones that are not expected to live long. I work nights with one other nurse and maybe an aide if we are lucky. Anyway, this is killing my health. I am wondering if I should have become a nurse if this is how nursing is going to be. I love taking care of people but not at my health's expense. I know for a fact, medical surgical is not my cup of tea it never was in school. I need to find a job that will help me to heal again. I have worked hard to get my BSN degree and I am so hurt that my first job has been a disappointment.

Not sure, but I have heard that Memphis area has union nurses, could this be the reason for making more money. I live in Paris and make 17.00. I have heard this about Nashville too. If this is the case we all need to ban together and go union.

Thanks for all the great advise. I am a new nurse and have been working in med surge for a couple of months now. I am having trouble keeping myself organized. I need some suggestions. I start out organized then it goes downhill from there. I feel as slow as a turtle because I Do look things up and therefore I am thinking maybe this slows me down. Every time I work I run my legs off. Then before I know it, it is time to give report and I have not had the time to really look at the patient's history and be as thorough as I would like to be. Something else that is new for me is the computer charting. I did not learn this in school, so this has been kinda rough.I guess I feel new at too many things and it is frustrating me.Where do I start? I am on the nightshift and that is better, but people still get sick in the night as well as you get admissions too. Does anyone else have some suggestions?

Thanks for all of this good information!

Thanks everyone for your support.:thankya:

This may seem unreal but I took all 265. I know I passed by God's grace , because it was very long. I did take 1 bathroom break but the rest was just sitting in my chair and closing my eyes and stretching.I have read all kinds of post that said they had passed at 70. I was kinda nervous but did my best not to freak out. So, I want to encourage others that as long as the computer is on, then your in the game. I am so thankful for everyone's encouragement. This site has been a blessing to me.