roosevelt127

I'm moving to Cali next year. I'm trying to decide whether to travel, get a FT staff position, etc. Specifically I'm interested in hearing from people who hold either 1. full time staff position PLUS a regular per diem position, or 2. full time staff position PLUS a per diem position through an agency. How much do you make per shift? Do you get killed at tax time? Right now I'm a full time ICU staffer at one hospital, and have in the past worked per diem shifts at another hospital in the city, where I pulled in about $400 for each per diem shift worked. Curious about how this compares to Cali Bay area per diem rates!!

Just wondering what the travelers out there who contract with FastStaff, RNNetwork, and CrossCountry think about their agencies. Are the honest? Is what's on the website true to what happens in real life? (housing, rates, bonuses, benefits, etc)? I'm thinking of starting to travel and these are the 3 agencies under the heaviest consideration in my book, so tell me what you like and don't like about your agencies!!!!!!!

is there a specific forum for RNs working in plastics/cosmetic surgery? any of you ladies (or gentlement) out there working in these areas (specifically I'm interested in hearing from those of you working in a plastic surgeon's private non-hospital based practice) I'm wondering if you can give me a ballpark of what salaries are like in this area? I'm currently in-hopsital, critical care but have become intersted in plastic surgery nursing lately so I'm just curious to know if the salaries are comparable?!

It seems as though you don't have much choice but to take the courses over...after all, you can't improve upon your GPA for classes that are already completed, so your only option for improving the science GPA would be to retake them wouldn't it? If you got Cs in your undergrad level courses, taking grad level courses that required a good understanding of the concepts from the lower level courses might not be the best avenue for improving your GPA. If you take the classes over when you have time to focus on them more fully and really grasp the concepts (something I'm doing myself over the next year for a class or two) you should improve your grades, GPA, understanding, and you'll make your application much more competitive!

Hey all, quick question not related to the thread but to the neuroanatomy thing...how many people took biochem and/or neurobio classes prior to starting their programs? I'm taking physics, chem, o-chem and stats, plus ccrn and retaking the GRE (DAMN them for only being good for 5 years!) over the next year before applying, but I am planning on taking both biochem and neurobio in the fall semester after/during applications. Did people who took these classes feel like they were in a happier place when they got to school? As well, do most interviews happen in the fall, or not until after the first of the year, for programs beginning in mid-to-late summer? (don't want to register for these classes in fall then end up being away for interviews and risk missing classes... thanks!

TWU acceptees... TWU is one of the school's I'm very interested in applying to and you all sound super excited to be going there, which is a good sign :) Please, do tell those of us who don't now more about this famous Professor (Dr?) Reinke?? Also...How DOES this whole thing with having a clinical site far from campus or even in another state work? Do you live on campus and commute to clinical (seems impossible if it's in another state?), or live near clinical and commute to campus..I'm completely confused about how all this works and any help/advice you could all give would be great!

I'm a lover of the danskos (see my post above) and just wanted to throw out there that I'm so surprised to hear that you and your coworkers have issues with smelly fee/shoes after wearing danskos!! I have never, EVER had a problem with the shoes OR my feet smelling terrible (I wear them with thin socks) after I wear them, and have never known anyone else to have this complaint either (and about 90% of the people I work with an 100% of my girlfriends who are all nurses as well wear them)...Different peoples' feet respond differently (some people sweat more and have generally more odorous feet regardless of what shoes they're wearing). Although most danskos aren't truly 'ventilated' shoes with cutouts anywhere on them to allow air in, even if you wear the 'professional' style (the one with a back) your heel comes out of the shoe with each step, which I find to be ventilation enough, and keeps my feet cool without a problem.

actually, I'm a WOman

Mac, Just a couple of quick clarifications...If you read my post carefully, you'll notice that in hopes of avoiding attemps to belittle my opinion, I prefaced what I said by saying that it was based on #1. my limited (people will obviously get this from the 2 years part and, like you, may believe my opinions aren't worth considering because I haven't worked at many different hospitals or in many different types of units) experience, and #2 my particular hospital. Before posting, I also edited out the sentence in my post that said I realize this is not the care everywhere or with every nurse - an oversight on my part which may cause some issues. Also lend focus to the part where I mentioned that education, clinical, and jobs are what you make of them, which you've emphasized by reminding everyone that people vary in attitude and aptitude regardless of where they work or what types of things they're exposed to. For everyone's comfort please realize I'm obviously very much aware of this, and realize that I'm indeed not blanketing any group of nurses except the ones with whom I directly work (the 'my hospital' comment was meant to clarify this) - simply an opinion (based on truths from a real unit) mixed with some venting about some (many, in fact) not so hot experiences with nurses on "my" side of the fence. Mac, I hope this makes you feel more comfortable with my post and helps others realize I didn't mean any harm.

From my experience (2yrs combined SICU/CCU, moderate acuity with the occasional super-sicky, exposure to PA caths, all types of vasoactive gtts, vents, the works) I would say you might want to get into an ICU for your own good. At my particular hospital, the general story is that ED nurses are either: 1. clueless about vents, vasoactive meds, PA caths (e.g. pt. with resp. failure/aspiration pneumonia in ED vented for hours waiting for bed is never suctioned b/c they don't know how; patients reaching my unit with BP 55/22 b/c all of their gtts are screwed up due to the fact that the [20 yrs experienced] nurse is completely clueless about how to use or titrate phenyl, levo, or dopamine and therefore took some MD orders very literally, rather than asking or admitting she didn't know how to titrate the drugs.) or 2. know how to use and do these things on a basic level but b/c of the nature of the unit don't have the time/opportunities to learn the finer points of drug titration, hemodynamic parameter interpretation (or shooting the swan #s for that matter), or do something as simple as have any sort of follow-through in any aspect of patient care, or doing a H&P. These are (from my understanding) some of the most important things CRNA programs are interested in you knowing before you start training, so it might be a good idea to get yourself into a unit where you can get the maximum number of opportunities to do these things and to have people who truly understand and can give you the tools to help you understand them well. That said, your education, clinicals, and job are what you make of them, nothing more. If you're the type who can use your ER experience to your learning advantage and seek out the types of cases you need to learn these things, by all means...it just might be hard in the ED b/c patients who are sick enough to need these kinds of interventions are usually rushed to the unit ASAP, which is where the lack of opportunity might catch you. Experiences and learning opportunities will bypass you to get the patient into the unit so drips can be started, intubations can be done, swans can be floated, etc., under much more controlled conditions and often with much more experienced physicians and nurses than is/are often the situation in potentially chaotic emergency rooms. Best of luck!!

Wait wait wait...you guys are already getting interviews at schools at which you'll be starting next year in 07 sum or fall semesters right? Jeez, just HOW early are people sending in apps? I'll be applying next summer for entrance in 08 to several schools. Most schools to which I'm applying have nov or dec deadlines...I was thinking I'd be all set if I sent everything in sept. 1 - is this not early enough??? If I need to send them at the beginning/mid summer I will. I know they all say "early application is recommended as there are limited seats" and other similar things, but do they really mean 6 months ahead of the deadline???

gotta love the propofol :) blows my mind.

Henry, I'm sure other people have stressed this, but you do realize you will very likely HAVE TO take chemistry (in some cases general, some cases organic, some cases biochem, and in some cases, ALL THREE), statistics, and physics on top of your nursing school requirements to meet the entrance requirements for CRNA schoool...the minimum requirements for your BSN won't be sufficient to get you into most CRNA schools (and as a side not if you tend to be a person who does the minimum to get by academically, reconsider both nursing school in general and CRNA school - this is not a profession in which you can get by with the bare minimum of effort, intelligence, common sense or skills, not to mention will power and a hell of a strong stomach). Check out the AANA website for a complete list of CRNA programs, the websites for which will list their requirements. True that some programs don't list any science prereqs, so in rare cases it may not be necessary to take these classes, but you may find anesthesia school a lot harder for it. My advice (as someone who's now doing refreshers/science prereqs in prep for applications next year): if you're sure you want to go straight for CRNA school after you get the required experience in nursing, take the time to complete the requirements for CRNA school now, and do well in them. You likely won't be able to do them during your requisite year in ICU as a nurse...you'll be busy taking a critical care course and doing several months of orientation, during which time for study not related to work may not be possible. This way you'll have your classes completed ahead of time and will have time to do the GRE and possibily CCRN after you get off orientation at work. All that said, remember that you might hate nursing school and decide the profession is far from what you're looking for...go to a movie or something, and enjoy the time before you start college. Take it from someone who's as neurotic as they come, stressing yourself out about something that's 6 years in the future may detract from your life in the time until you get there. Relax and push your neuroses to the back of your mind. You'll realize the things you're most interested in (CRNA may NOT be one of them) along the way and find ways to steer yourself on the right path to get where you want to be. :) Enjoy!

I couldn't agree more - isn't it always the way that we ignore the signs (um..HELLO, this guy has entered a young femals patient's room unnecessarily, and REPEATEDLY!) and resources (this man is listed on the database as highly likely to be a repeat offender!!) available to us and choose not to deal with the situation until it's too late. Disgusting. IMHO, sex offenders should lose their right to personal privacy specific to the matter at hand. Meaning obviously nobody needs to know anything about his medical condition, reason for being in the hospital, etc., but to maintain that a teenage girl whose room he has entered multiple times doesn't have the right to know what she's up against is insane. what if that girl was YOUR teenage daughter? What if that girl was YOU. The guy's neighbors have the right to know he's a known sex offender don't they? Well, this teenager is effectively his 'neighbor' in the hospital, is she not? I think you see where I'm going... either she (and other female patients on the unit) deserves to know so she can protect herself (i.e. she needs to realize it's not a good idea to talk about personal matters or even give her name to this guy b/c god knows what he might decide to do after he LEAVES the unit/hospital), or this guy needs an officer to monitor his behavior. Try the 'A Time to Kill' approach - get the security people, your NM, social work, whoever you need, around a table. Ask them if they have teenagers at home. Ask if they're daughters. They'll get the point. If it doesn't stir them into action by making them realize they might feel different about the situation if the safety of their own kids was at stake, they're beyond help and the situation will probably remain unresolved. Sad but true.

I don't know if you said anywhere in your post where you live? I'm amazed at the sound of what you've been going through...it's actually the only time I've ever heard a story of ANY nurse having such trouble finding a job. I graduated 2 years ago at 25 from an accelerated BS program and was hired directly into ICU. I did my integration clinical in my unit and when I asked my NM if I should give her or HR my resume if I wanted to apply, she took me into her office and hired me on the spot - she called HR and told them, after which they 'interviewed' me the next week (I wasn't even licenses yet but would be before I started in the unit) and by 'interview' I mean told me all the documents I had to turn in, scheduled my employee health stuff, etc. Every one of my girlfriends from school had basically the same experience...we all basically had jobs handed to us on silver platters (sometimes from multiple hospitals). I say this b/c it's a measure of how much most hospitals need nurses that they are, in many cities (we live in a big city), willing to take on brand new nurses and spend 6 or more months of paying 2 salaries for the word of one person (e.g. my preceptor and I both got paid full salary to do basically the work of one person). I agree with the person who said something very fish must be going on. If I was in your position I would go so far as to call the HR depts. and NMs in units you applied to, and if nothign comes of it, call your references personally and discuss with them the nature of the discussions they've had about you with hospitals that have called. If something is going on there you have to find out or you may continue to have this problem. Approach it to NMs as "i understand this might be an odd question but if something has caused one of my references to speak in a negative way about me, in order for me to fix any problem that might have existed, I have to know about it" kind of way, might help them open up a little?? yikes! keep us posted

I also started in ICU right out of nursing school - for, I believe, two main reasons: 1. My BS program was of the entry to practice (i.e. when accepted to the school you are accepted to the BS and MS programs together) variety so by default we are placed in units in the specialty area of our MS program (for me obviously acute care) for our integration clinical. And 2. Because I did my integration in my unit, the managers and seasoned nurses werea ble to get to know me over the three month period of my integration and see my potential as an ICU nurse, and be assured that I could handle both the volume of new information and technical skills that were required for the job. I also work nights (praying for that day position to open up soon so I can be there with attendings and when many procedures are done to increase my learning) - for 2 years now, and I do get paid more but suffer from the constant frustration of having patients managed by residents, lack of resources, lack of staff, etc. that someone mentioned. My biggest piece of advice: LOOK IT UP, and if you can't find the answer or integrate information straight from a book to the bedside (esp. with concepts like PA lines, and management of certain conditions), ASK. Don't screw around and pretend you know when you don't, b/c not only will you look like an ass, you'll have a poorer understanding and will be les respected by your colleagues because of it.

Yikes...I've emailed one of the schools I'll be applying to next year already in hopes that they could give me a general answer to this question, and they replied that I should wait until after acceptance to a school before applying for reciprocity in that state. Made sense considering I might apply to schools in as many as 5 states. However, If I need to be applying for reciprocity now I need to get on the ball - I'm also interested to know what other peoples' experiences are in this regard??? I got the impression from a few of the schools' websites that you need to make sure you're licensed in your school's state before the start of clinicals, which might mean it differs from school to school dependent up on the front-loaded or integrated status of the program, etc. I guess I may have to get in touch with all the schools and ask individually if my application will be processed without the state's license, eeks.

I'm also studying for CCRN (to be taken at the end of summer)! Personally, I find the Pass CCRN book to be pretty dense in terms of its information but good for making me aware of things I probably don't know enough about and should look up. I highly recommend that anyone studying for the exam buy the AACN's Essentials of Critical Care Nursing (published brand spanking new this year) - this is an excellent book that should be used as a text for critical care courses (wish I'd had it when taking mine!) in my opinion. It will also alert you to areas you need to study further. The book has chapters about basic pathophysiological considerations for all systems, advanced concepts for EKG, VC, resp and neuro, plus chapters like assessment, vent management, and ethical and legal considerations, AND good chapters on hemodynamics and pharmacology. The AACN has 2 question/answer books available, one short book of about 200 questions containing only correct answers and one containing three 200-question 'exams' with correct and incorrect answers/rationales. Laura Gasparas also has the Critical Care Certification Review with about 800 system-wise questions with correct and incorrect answers/rationales. (the aacn books can be ordered on the website, the laura gasparas book can be ordered on www.greatnurses.com) There are also two review sessions coming up soon (one in august in Las vegas I think, and one in sept. in Atlantic City) that are incorporated into three day long conferences. The drawback is that they're not cheap...$375 for the three conference days plus the cost of hotel (110-140/night depending on the location/session). I'm terrified about the exam though I've had friends who took it and thought the actual exam was easier than many of the practice questions and scored higher than they thought they would...anyone else have thoughts on this?

I've also encountered multiple docs (young surgeons/residents mostly, go figure!), including one whose opinion I particularly respect (he's an exceptional resident, personable, and as I recently found out, was actually a nurse for many years before medical school), who think CRNA is a great idea. Almost before the words had left my lips he was nodding and saying "oh definitely go for it, it's such a great life, and the OR is a great place to work." He also said the CRNAs he has worked with have been great, knowledgeable and love their lives. Obviously, some of the old school docs I encounter don't share his opinion, and some old and new docs will never, ever be able to get over thinking that we (nurses) are idiots who don't actually have to THINK to do our jobs (still gets my panties in a bunch thinking about it but in order to preserve my sanity I don't think about this on a regular basis!). I have also encountered many a medical student or doctor who advise me that if being a doctor is the ONLY think I could EVER imagine myself doing then go for it, but if there was ever a doubt (whether personal, academic, financial, whatever) in my mind I should run screaming for my life and never even think about it. There are plenty of nasty docs and others out there who don't think nurses should be able to administer anesthesia for various reasons. In order not to let it get to me, I just keep reminding myself that if there weren't plenty of poeple out there who need, want, and respect CRNAs and their abilities, there probably wouldn't be nearly 100 programs with 10x as many applicants as they can handle and (from what I've learned reading the forums) multitudes of job offers for every graduate, now would there?

just checking. that's what I thought, but some references I've seen to SRNAs made it seem like a licensed profession unto itself, and I thought perhaps it was something like being a RN without a BSN or some other type of certificate that qualified you for licensure as a CRNA without the MS. Thanks!

Ok everyone, forgive me, but for as much research as I've done on programs and as much as I've been reading these forums since I joined a few days ago, I realized (and only found any information relating to the Saskathchewan registered nurses association when I try to look it up online) that it might, as I've been thinking, mean STUDENTRNA...?? Someone made a comment about 'any SRNA who graduates from VCU's...and I've heard other comments including the term SRNA which make it seem like a licensed profession as opposed to a student status. So enlighten me guys, what does SRNA mean and if it's in fact a different type of degree than CRNA, how do you determine which programs offer which degrees (i.e. MSN v Master of science in nurse anesthesia studies, etc. - the wording of some programs is weird)

I guess I'm on the right track then b/c the schools on my list mainly accept applications between Sept. and January, with a couple of exceptions in either direction. I was planning to turn everything (save for 1 school) in Sept. 1 :) If I may ask, how many schools did you apply to? Best of luck and I hope you get into your number 1 choice school!

The anesthesia rankings in particular are from 2003, though some other nsg specialties and other types of grad rankings in this years Best Grad Schools are more recent. It does tell you how the rankings are done in the magazine...basically you guys are right...they're essentially ranked on the basis of peer review, and the magazine mentions nothing about pass rates, quality of education/clinicals, and certainly doesn't mention any kind of input by students in the ranking process (typical and intensely irritating!).

I think I'm in trouble them because I hate research (all about being a clinician) and plan on taking stats but not reserach before applying. Where research is concerned, I have to admit I will do the bare minimum. Hm I hope I won't be rejected from all the schools because of it.

WOW...your applications are in ALREADY! I thought I'd be jumping the gun (on all except a few that are due earlier than the others) by sending them all in my Sept. 1 next year...am I WAY off in thinking this? June seems ridiculously early to me but maybe I need to start changing my plans around a little and have them ready earlier??