jcarew

Hi, I have lived in Indianapolis all my life. The best areas are the outer suburbs especially Carmel, Fishers, hendricks County (newly built up) or south to greenwood and southport. The best schools are up north though in Hancock county (Fishers and parts of Carmel). I am currently working as a SNE in the ER at St Vincents (large non for profit catholic hospital). Methodist is probably the biggest hospital in indy and would be a great place for critical care patients. Our "public" hospital is Wishard, not really the best place to work. There is also several locations of Community Hospitals, St Frances Hospitals, IU Hosptial in Indy, Riley Childrens hospital and many other small ones. Hope this helps a little. Jenny

:chuckle :chuckle I had to laugh...sorry. I work in a large private catholic hospital in a good area of my city. Translation - money talks. If you pm i will tell you the exact location. Its an awesome place to work. Before I started nursing school I knew I wanted to work there. Its a shame, in my opinion, that all hospitals can't meet the same standards. This is not a nursing problem its an insurance/admin problem. Just my opinion.

Hello, I am a SNE in the ER. I will graduate May of 07. I really am hooked on ER. Now that I have read these posts though I am beginning to wonder if I should stay until graduation. What is your advice? Should I stay and get a year as a SNE in ER and then apply for a position there or should I try to go to Med/surg, etc. before applying to the ED? If I go to another floor, how long before I should apply back to the ED? Thanks!

Hi, New SNE in ER. Our hospital is trying to get Magnet status so there is a big push to overstaff nurses. I worked last Monday and for about half of the day we had 0-1 patients. Also, the docs see the patient within 30 minutes of getting a room. I was also amazed at how quickly admits are done. Some patients were admitted upstairs within 2 hours of arrival (non critical). Only pt complaint that I heard was a guy that had to wait 6 hours for the plastic surgeon to stitch his face. As a patient myself, I am happy with a quick trip to the ER forget the tv lol.

Hi and welcome, I am a second year ASN student and will turn 40 this year. I have a 16 year old disabled son and daughters 13 and 8. Oh and I am divorced. Trust me, you can do it. There are alot of us older nursing students out there. Just remember that the first semester is usually the hardest and can be overwhelmin,g but it does get better. Good luck to you!

Hi, The hospital I work at is moving towards Magnet status. They call it nursing at a higher level. I don't know all the specifics, but it has to do mostly with nursing. For example, a magnet hospital has a RN for every patient (no lpns or lpn is with an RN on a team). There are very few if any CNA's on the floor. The patient to nurse ratio is low. Like maybe 4-6 pts per RN. There are other criteria. Maybe someone is more knowlegeable in this area can answer. Jenny

Just wanted to add something to my last post. In our hospital (and many magnet hospitals) the nurse to patient ratio is low. Yesterday in the ER we had 4 rooms assigned to us and at any on time we only had 2 patients. The most I seen any nurse have at once was 4. Therefore, there is the extra time to wipe buts and give continuity of care.....each pt has one nurse for everything and they seem to like that.

Hi, I just started as a student nurse extern in the ER. I believe that ICU or ER would be the best depts. These two have a variety of patients. Especially ER, from colds, MI, car accidents, to cancer. I am hoping the wide variety will prepare me for my last year in school and with the NCLEX.

Hello, I am a student nurse extern and know that we have to wipe butts sometimes. However, we should realize that the current flow is to the magnet status hospitals. For example our school is weeding out LPN program because most of our hospitals will no hire LPN's. Currently the hospitals are moving toward only RN's giving direct care, which means we will be wiping a lot more butts in the future :) Btw the hospital I work at has no CNA's and only a few LPN's. Within 5 years they hope to have only RN's on the floor.

Hi, I took the NET 3 years ago. Know your percentages and fractions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Read as many technical medical books and get used to the terms and style. That is my best advice. I took the test without knowing and didn't know what to study but still passed so don't fret too much

HI, Ivy Tech Indy w00t w00t!!!

HI, Here is a simple answer. The scrub nurse is sterile and assists the surgeon with all items and duties that require sterile hands. The circulating nurse is not sterile. So all duties once the surgery has started that require non-sterilie hands she completes (paperwork, documentation, running getting supplies, etc.) The circulating nurse does usually prep the patient which includes sterile technique, but other than that it is just simply sterile vs non-sterile during surgery.

Hi, Welcome! I am 39 years old and a second year ASN student. I understand the feeling. I started a summer externship and only 3 out of 33 of us were over 25. I have found though that the younger nurses were good kids and had no trouble after a short time "fitting in". Keep on trudging, it does get better!!!!!!!! Jenny

hi, I am a second year ASN student. I agree that the public schools have many more applicants than spots for students. I believe it is due to so many more poor students like myself not having the money to go to private colleges. However, this just means it takes longer to get in. If you are a good student you will eventually be accepted. However, if money isn't a problem, there are many private colleges that will allow you to go right in with little or no waiting lists. Jenny

Hello, I am 39 years old and will graduate next year with an ASN. I am currently working as a student nurse extern in the ER. That is my background. First, I understand what you were saying about being bored. I too switched jobs frequently, because it drove me crazy. Nursing is nothing like that. Each day is very different and it is much more a team environment. It is difficult to get bored. Even you do get bored with a current assignment there are soooooooooooooooo many areas to go into that I cannot see ever getting bored with nursing. I personally don't know anything about being a school nurse. I have heard though that it is better to get some hospital and/or clinic experience under your belt before going solo as a school nurse. That would be something to consider, because it may take a few years after you graduate before you could be a school nurse. Then again that's just what I have heard. Either way good luck and God bless! Jenny