shadow hawk

Just for info I hear there is a new program in columbus. I think the school is called Boeher. The parent school is in Ravena and this one is a new branch in Columbus. It is a tech school. It is short by many months and many prereqs than either of the other schools.

In nursing we generally know the nurses from the other shifts. The nurse that always has work to pass on soon become a focus of why aren't they getting their work done. If they aren't able to keep up what can be done to help. That alway mean that people are looking at your time management abilities. If you are a nurse that always needs help from other nurses but is always too busy to lend a hand you pretty much can count that that help will stop. If you are a nurse that always wants to finish up but by finishing up you are keeping the nurse from starting their shift then that is a problem not a help. Give report and then return to what you need to finish up. Nursing is a team sport if there are players who won't help, talk to the supervisor or find a new team. The higher up will begin to wonder about the turn over and the I never give help nurse will find out life is not that great especially if the admission they did not recheck ends up costing money by a missed order. Two eyes are better than one and I always recheck a new admission and want the incoming nurse to check behind me.

Each area of nursing have their own unique challenges. I have worked in ICU and LTC. The ICU nurse looks down the the floor nurse. The LTC nurse looks down on the private duty nurse. Everyone thinks their job is harder, requires more skill etc. As a LTC nurse you don't have the bells and whistles that the hospital has. Access to stat lab draws, xrays or dream of dream a cardiac monitor. Your patient load is higher and between the paperwork and "the great med pass" you are generally pushed for time. Don't worry about what othe nurses think. Stupidity comes in all shapes and sizes. Do what feels right for you and feeds your soul. Read and keep current in all your skills, not just the skills you need right now. Hospital stays are shorter, not everyone can go home, the population is getting older and if you look around LTC is not just for old people anymore. The youngest I have right now is 33 the oldest is 103. Each present unique challenges and I hope I met them everyday. LTC means that the stay is longer than the hospital will allow. It does not always mean til death do us part.

I remember my testing well. First let me tell you that having the computer stop at 84 is probably a good sign. When it stops at a low number it means that you answered enough questions for the intangable formula to say you know enough or in the worse case you could not possiblely pass the thing if they asked you a million questions. I never heard of anyone failing with so few questions. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen, it just means I have never heard of it. There are other ways to find out earlier if you passed the test. Some states have a call number that charge you but tell you after 48 to 72 hours if you passed. Also you might want to look up your state board on the net where they list the licensed nurses. Your name should appear there even before you get your answer in the mail if you pased. A third option is a hospital or LTC setting has access to who is licensed and who isn't. Talk to them about a job and see if they will verify your license for you. Most important of all is relax. The test is over you and can't change it. Breath deep and enjoy the holidays. Very few nurses walk out the the test site confident that they passed. If you passed be ready to tell your war stories but also be prepared to be a new nurse and soon you will be complaining about how they treat a new nurse. If you failed don't give up. Your problem might be anxiety and to help that get a computer disc that have test questions. Practice them over and over. This will help with the computer test anxiety. Good luck.

I am 54. I retire the first time in my mid 40s. Stayed at home 3 months, House was cleaner than it ever was. I had baked enough cookies to supply the girl scouts for several years My former job had alot of world travel. I was sick of flying. Traveling was not something I wanted to do. Thought I would work agency a couple of days a week to get out of the house. Within in a month I was working 40 plus. Worked agency full time for 6 years (some travel, some contract and some daily). My agency was bought by another company. I didn't like what I had found out about them so went to work at a psych hospital. My background was emergency medicine so it was a new challenge. I work 12 night shifts. Love it most of the time. Don't want management. I'll let the younger ones who know all the answers fight that battle. Been there, done that. Don't think I will every retire again. As long at the hosptial keeps standing and the checks don't bounce I will keep this job for a while longer. On my days off, I sometimes work for agency, just to keep my other skills current. It keeps me in touch with what other places are doing and paying. I know nurses in their 70s still working. Some have to and that is sad, others work because they want to.

Well. 51 is a little late to start planning for retirement but here are some suggestions. First I think you must plan on working at least part time for the rest of your life. Next you need to look at your work options. If you can't physically keep up in the unit you are in, you are doing nobody a favor. You need to start now looking for a job that you can physically do. There are a number of options. Home health care as a intake nurse, insurance companies, doctor's offices, school nursing, industrial nursing, drug and etoh rehab. Look at jobs that have a retirement plan such as govt jobs, city, county, state, federal. Many of them have a retirement payment if you work for them for ten years, It will not be much but it is better than nothing and will at least pay your medical insurance premimum until you are 65. Make a financial plan and stick to it. Many companies offer this benefit with their 401Ks. Ok you knees are bad and you are out of shape. Lose weight and get in shape. If you want to be around the grandkids, make sure you stay around to be with them. I get the feeling that you want easy answers and the answers are easy the hard part is putting them into effect. Good luck

I think right now nursing in Columbus is interesting. Agency is not paying enough to make as many nurses work full time for them as in the past. Other employers are paying more so nurses are taking the full time jobs. More and more employers are willing to allow the nurses to create their schedules. Employers that have in the past not bothered to figure out why nurses wouldn't work for them have now put effort into making the nursing staff happy. Columbus has a large number of immigrants who have become nurses not because of a great desire to become a nurse but a desire to earn more money for the least amount of education. 1 year of education = 20 dollars an hour. There is a 2 year waiting list for lpn school. Medication aides will start in less than a year and if people don't think that these employeers won't be happy to pay them half of what they are paying a lpn they are wrong. I actually like the idea of medication aides. Anyway there are a number of reasons that nursing is changing in Columbus. Some reasons are good some are not. Mostly I'll just wait and see.

It really depends on where you work at. Hospitals don't pay worth crap. LTC pays around 19 - 21 and hour. Dr's offices pay around 17.00 Dialysis around 19.00 - 21.00. Agency pays more but if you are a new graduate get experience before you try agency. Home Care is through an agency and pays around 24 - 26 a visit.