JTwin

Try this site: Epic | Excite Health Partners EMRjobs.com might be another helpful one. You have a great background for it, with 8 years of clinical experience, but the big advantage is the 3 years using Epic. While I have clinical experience and training/implementation experience, there are a lot of positions out there that look for experience with a specific system (Cerner, Allscripts, NextGen, etc.).

Wow. I've been out of the field for 2 years now, just got laid off from a job training EHR software. I worked as an RN for 2.5 years before that - had a back injury 6 months into the job and pushed through the pain for the next 2 years until it was non-stop excruciating. I'm glad I found this thread before starting to send out applications. (I hope this isn't too off-topic, but what got me thinking about going back to nursing instead of finding another training job was a Vipassana meditation course I just completed. Through this technique, I was able to observe extreme pain objectively without reacting - and if the back problem persists and I can use the technique to get through it then there's no reason not to go back! ) Has anyone taken an RN refresher course? I know it's not required with an active license and just 2 years out of the field, but without recent work experience, recent course experience would be the next best thing, right?

To Calder, as KelRN216 said, working as a CNA will help you learn prioritization and time management skills, which are crucial to success as an RN. I worked as a tech while I was in nursing school and it was so helpful! I had exposure to the hospital setting and routine, learned how to handle difficult or disoriented patients, and was able to learn a lot of things from the nurses I worked with. I recently got out of nursing, after working as an RN for 2.5 years. I injured my back less than 6 months into it and pushed through the pain until I could hardly lift my arms at the end of the shift and was seeing a chiropractor once or twice a week. I miss patient care, but I don't regret my decision to become a nurse - or to leave it. I won't miss the pain, the constant stress (even on my days off), the hospital politics, having to spend more time with the charts than the patients, and 12 hours on my feet with no food, water, or breaks.

I worked night shift and a lot of us had a PRN for insomnia. As for meds taken at work, I think it depends on the person and how it affects them... when your sympathetic nervous system is in overdrive, that can't be good for your patient, either. It's a high stress job, for sure, and coping strategies should always be utilized (in addition to meds, if not on their own). What made the decision for me was a back injury that got progressively worse over the course of 2 years, to the point where I could hardly lift my arms by the end of the shift without excruciating pain. When the pain got to a 9 or 10, I actually thought I was having cardiac issues and went to my doctor and had an EKG done. I was having sharp, cold chest pains, couldn't breathe, couldn't think -- panic attack symptoms. Not from stress alone, but a fight-or-flight response to the pain. It was impossible to continue safe care at that point without a low dose of a benzodiazepine, and safer to push through the pain and treat the body's response to it than medicating with narcotics. I know my case isn't quite the same, but I believe someone with a severe enough response to stress to justify the use of benzos is in the same boat. An anxiolytic would sedate someone who doesn't need it, but for someone who does, it takes them back down to baseline where they're in a much better position to provide level-headed patient care. If anxiety problem is caused by the job then the person should find another job... but that's much easier said than done. (For the record, I've gotten out of nursing and recently started a job as a trainer in the use of electronic health records. For the first time in almost 2 years, I can go an entire day without pain, wake up less than three times per night, and have no need anymore for benzodiazepines. While I'll miss patient care, I won't miss the hospital politics and unreasonable stress from things like understaffing, putting "customer service" before "providing healthcare treatment", and unrealistic expectations from management.)

Hi :) I completed a female to male transition before I started nursing school and had no difficulty whatsoever, though I imagine it would be more difficult to be going through transition during school. In fundamentals, there were some comments about TGs when we discovered in the lab that the genitalia on the mannequins were interchangeable, but nothing mean -- just speculation on what it would be like to discover that a patient doesn't have the parts you expected to see. I also gave a presentation in the psych clinical on cultural considerations in the treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender patients (GLB in the first half and transgender in the second half of it), and it was received very well. What's funny is that no one assumed that any of that applied to me! By the end of the program, two people did know -- one because we were both assigned to the ER the day I stopped by medical records to get a copy of mine from the hysterectomy, and she wanted to wait with me instead of going ahead on the way back from lunch. She was very confused at first when she saw what procedure the report of operation was about, but accepted it and it didn't change anything. Another found out when she was talking to her brother's girlfriend, who was a friend of my brother (who'd said that he had two sisters) and while she had a lot of questions, she was also very accepting. Oh, and there was another who initially thought I was going from male to female because I was growing my hair out and was "nice and polite"! I think that nurses are, overall, a much more accepting group than most, and more likely to see it as a medical issue for which one is undergoing medical treatment than a psychological disorder. Even those whose religion makes it difficult to accept learn to put aside personal religious beliefs in the treatment of patients whose beliefs are different, and while it may complicate patient interaction until transition is complete, I should hope that your program judges you more on your performance than your medical history. Good luck!

Hi. I'm a transgender nursing student about to graduate in 2 weeks and I completed my transition (female to male) before I began school. Three of my classmates know -- one had a feeling because she'd known a few transguys before me, one found out from her brother's friend who knew my brother, and one found out becase she was with me when I got my medical records of the operation from the hospital one clinical day. None have had any issue with it. The only problem I run into from having started with a female body is being short (5'2") and bigger eyes than the average guy, which makes me look really young and patients are always telling me I look 16 on a good day! However, it has never been an issue with classmates, employers, co-workers, or patients.

Hi, and congratulations =) I am currently in their upper division program and I got the acceptance packet 2 or 3 days before the intent to enroll form was due! Then I had a week to get the TB test and immunizations out of the way -- I got the TB test and shots done the very next morning and had it read first thing the following morning before getting on a plane! The scariest part was the varicella titer, because if it came back negative, I'd have had to get those vaccines ($70+) and there was no way that was going to happen before orientation. Apparently, they do this to every incoming class. I would call the admissions office with questions. They will allow it, as long as you bring proof of enrollment to orientation. The cheapest, most frequently offered CPR/BLS course I could find is the one offered at St. Joseph's for $35 to $38. I think they have one every week, or every other week. You can find the info and register at their website (http://www.sjbhealth.org/body.cfm?id=617). Good luck =)

There's a great site about these experiences and what can be learned from them: http://www.near-death.com.

Oh, crap. I do have AHA CPR certification -- that's the card I lost! I wasn't able to find a place that teaches it w/them so I signed up for this Red Cross class... Has anyone asked to see your card, or do they take your word for it? Thanks for the warning! =)

I took AP1 last semester. This semester, I had 3 prereqs left (nutrition, microbio, and AP2) so I'm taking them all together and doing fine... but it was a Hell of a lot easier to understand microbio, having already gone over cell components, functions, and basic chem in AP1. After the first few chapters, though, the two classes don't have as much in common (except for the chapters about the immune system). The immune system is on next week's microbio exam, and 3 weeks later it will be on the AP2 exam, so taking microbio at the same time (or before) AP is actually to my advantage.

Same orientation date. I didn't even get my forms in the mail until today!!! I dropped the intent to enroll form at the office an hour ago, went to SHS to get the TB test and was told Thursday is the only day they can't do them u_u. So I'm going in tomorrow morning for that, and I've got a Red Cross CPR course scheduled for the day before orientation (I'm certified, but I lost my card). It's gonna be a fun week... .

I start USF upper division this summer. =D

Are you taking the prerequisites at the same school? If not, make sure they will be accepted at SUNY. Most (all?) will require you be accepted to the school before applying to a specific college within it. If you're already in, you might want to contact an advisor from their nursing school and ask what else is required (immunizations, CPR certification, when to apply, how to apply, average GPA of those admitted, etc.). Good luck =)

I haven't seen any of it in person, but I don't have a problem with the thought of any of it or the sight on TV or a website... but I really don't like the idea of sticking things up where I can't see them. IVs, needles, catheters, ears, noses... The only thing worse is eye injuries. I see someone so much as touch their eye or rub their eyelid the wrong way, my eyes start watering.

I agree with your point, but I'm not sure that this was the situation. The OP said that until the instructor said something, none of the students had known he was transgender, so not including him wasn't about that fact.