PhillyKidRN

I was in a similar situation as you. I work in an pediatric ED and I kinda like my job but not very much. I decided to look for a job outside of acute care and in the family practice setting since that what I am truly interested in (just starting a FNP program myself). I know the ED gives me better experience, but it's more stressful and less flexible. So I work 24 hours in the ED and per diem at the family practice center. Is it possible for you to find an acute care job that's per diem rather than full time? This way you can still do the job you prefer (the community one) but you're still getting acute care experience. Just a thought. Take care, Suzanne

I work in an ER and I have had 2 kinds come in after having been smothered by their parents in bed. The one was an overly tired mother who was breastfeeding her infant and she fell asleep and rolled over on the baby. The other was kind of a similar story where dad was feedign the child and lai him down in bed b/c he didn't want to get up and put him in the crib and he ended up rolling over and smothering the kid. I have never had a child personally, but I can't imagine that potentially killing your baby is worth the risk. However, my suggestion to you would be that it is your friend's family and you can only share with them your opinion and that's it. They're going to make the decision they want to make anyway and in that case we should just hope that nothing bad happens!

I LOVE night shift. When I started working a year ago I was on an evening/night rotation in the ER. I hated evening shift and the #1 reason is because there are bosses there during the day and I'm totally against the things they do. They're really awful. The dynamics between the staff itself is fantastic on nights. We often have "themed nights," for example Italian night where everyone brings in an italian dish and we eat around 1-2am. We have so much fun and we are all pretty chill and relazed and help out each other where the day staff in my observations tend to be more cliques and not so helpful. I love night shift and really have no interest in going back to day or evening shift at the place I'm at now. I suppose other places could be different, but night shift is the best in the ED!!

Hi all, I currently work in a pediatric ER, however I will be going back to school in September for my Family Nurse Practitioner MSN. I thought it would be wise to get some adult and OB experience so I found a family practice center that does basically everything so that I can be around working with adults and all that again. I will do direct pt care, but also I will be required to do some Telephone Triage... does anyone do this?? Can anyone tell me what it's like?? I'll be able to answer any peds question anyone might have, but I'm rusty on the adult stuff. Any suggestions on how to brush up other than rereading my med-surg book!! lol. Thanks.

I think everyone has a different opinion on this topic. I am actually applying to grad school at this time to start an FNP program either in the summer or fall. I graduated with my BSN in May 06 and have been working in the ER (level 1 trauma center) of a children's hospital since. I have been told by some people that it's better to wait and get a few years of experienceas an RN before going back to school, but I have a few different trains of thought as to why I should start sooner than later: 1. I did well in undergrad, graduating at the top of my class, therefore I'm not as concerned with "not getting it" in grad school. In fact, while I was in undergrad, I helped our lab coordinator with her advanced statistics and research methods courses for her MSN program. Since that's where I'll be starting off with the core courses, I am hoping I'll be fine that way. 2. By the time I start the core courses I will have a full year of experience under my belt. 3. By the time I get to clinical courses, I will have had 2 full years experience as an RN. 4. The program I am looking into would have me finishing in June-ish of 2010. This means that when I graduate I will have had 4 full years experience as an RN under my belt. 5. I'm afraid that if I wait too long to go back to school, I will lose the adult knowledge I learned in undergrad. Because I'm working at a children's hospital, I am learning a TON about peds, but nothing about adults. I have been reading and what-not so I don't lose the adult knowledge I have, but I'm afraid if I wait too long to go to grad school, I'll really forget stuff about adults. I don't know if any of my thoughts help you in what you're looking for in your question, but hopefully there's something useful in it! Good luck to you! Take care

Hi all, Merry Christmas! While I have a minute off of work I decided to write in with a new question. I will be starting in an FNP program this coming fall. My issue is that there are two potential colleges I could attend; Drexel or Univ of Pennsylvania, as I will continue to work and take classes. By the time I start I will have one year experience as an RN at Children's hosp of Phila. in the ED. Drexel is about a quarter of the price, considering I get a price break if I go to Drexel b/c of the hospital I work for. However, Univ of Penn. is an Ivy League school. I have never been one to buy into the philosophy of paying a ton of money for a name, but would I be more desirable as an FNP if I graduate from Penn vs. Drexel, assuming all other factors such as grades and what-not remain equal between the two schools? Anyone have any experience of not being employed or not being as well paid d/t the school you graduated from? Thanks for any input you are willing to share~ Suzanne

I just graduated from a BSN program and started working in a pediatric ER. I know 100% sure I want to go back for my master's an an NP and I am like 90% sure I want to be a FNP. I am looking to go to UPenn or Drexel and I know it's going to take me several yesrs to get through the program b/c I plan to continue working full time as long as I can. Being that I am focusing on peds now, I am also thinking that I want to go back to school ASAP (like next fall). I will have 1 year of experience but I wont be so far removed from adult diseases that it will be too difficult. Any thoughts on this? Obviously experience is great, but I'm worried that if I do the FNP program and wait too long It'll be more difficult. Thanks for the suggestions.....

Hi all... just wanting some feedback and opinions on a situation going on for me right now. I was offered a position as an RN in a hospital back in January. Shortly after I took the position, my brother informed me that he would be getting married on August 18 (next Friday). I called and told my nurse recruiter of the conflict and he told me he would note it, and that it shouldn't be a problem getting the day off, just to tell my unit when I started working. So I started last week working but the first 2 weeks are just Kaplan review courses for the NCLEX exam. It was a huge process trying to get past the nursing education coordinator who told me yesterday that I would be suspended for 2 weeks if I missed the half day computer class on Friday the 18th. I sent an email today to my unit's orientation coordinator explaining the situation and what the nursing ediucation person told me. I got a response from my unit asking me to call the coordinator today and then also I got an e-mail from the nursing education lady diplomatically saying I was lying and she didn't tell me I would be suspended. She then proceeded to send this email CC to ALL of my unit manager. Now mind you, I have yet to step foot on the unit to this point. So all this being said, when I talked to my unit today, I told her I am learning that this is a huge hassle for everyone and I would just go to the class and miss the wedding. She said no, that it wasn't a problem b/c I'm only on orientation, but I would have to make up that class and that I may miss some hours on the unit until I can make up the computer class. SO my question is, at this point, should I just forget about my brother's wedding and go to class that day? I mean I want a smooth transition and even though the unit coordinator told me this was in no way a negative reflection on me since I had told the as soon as i was hired that I had the wedding, i still feel really guilty. Any input?

I recently graduated from a BSN program and have begun looking into nurse practitioner programs trying to decide which road to take. Right now I am working in a pediatric ER in Philly and I know I don't ever want to get out of working with kids. The thing I am questioning is whether or not I want to get my Masters as a family nurse practitioner or as a pediatric nurse practitioner. Philly has lots of different opportunities for pediatric nurse practitioners (sub-specialties). I just think in a few years I am going to want to be working with adults as well. What are the job opportunities like for FNPs? Is this an area that's growing in popularity or not? What does the job entail exactly? I went to school in Northeast Ohio and there are no FNP programs there therefore I didn't even know this was an option. I know if I were to stay here at the hospital where I'm at, I would have no problem getting a job as a peds NP, but I am really thinking I want to go the FNP route? I'd love to be a part of any of UPenn's NP programs? Anyone who has gone through there? Is it worth the $$ or is Drexel just as good? Any insight here would be appreciated.!!!! Thanks everyone!

I worked in long term care as an CNA and it was awful. I started off working day shifts, but the other aides were sticking me with 16 patients to have up, washed, and dressed before 8 AM. They would get really upset with me when I wouldn't have everyone done by breakfast. So I switched to night shift. During nights there was only 1 other aide working so we split the floor (22 patients each). This was way too many patients. I would finish one set of round in time to start the next set. I ended up quitting there after 6 months b/c I felt I wasn't respected by my coworkers and I was beign put in situations where I was being set up to fail despite multiple meetings with upper management about the situation. I switched to a rehab hospital and that was much better. Depending on the census, each aide would have maybe 11 patients max, but the RNs and LPNs were more than willing to help out. It was a much better environment. I found that the CNA:pt ratio isn't nearly as important as the willingness of everyone to work together. Good Luck and be willing to be a change agent in your institution if you aren't happy.

I recently graduated from a BSN program and have begun looking into nurse practitioner programs trying to decide which road to take. Right now I am working in a pediatric ER in Philly and I know I don't ever want to get out of working with kids. The thing I am questioning is whether or not I want to get my Masters as a family nurse practitioner or as a pediatric nurse practitioner. Philly has lots of different opportunities for pediatric nurse practitioners (sub-specialties). I just think in a few years I am going to want to be working with adults as well. What are the job opportunities like for FNPs? Is this an area that's growing in popularity or not? What does the job entail exactly? I went to school in Northeast Ohio and there are no FNP programs there therefore I didn't even know this was an option. I know if I were to stay here at the hospital where I'm at, I would have no problem getting a job as a peds NP, but I am really thinking I want to go the FNP route? I'd love to be a part of any of UPenn's NP programs? Anyone who has gone through there? Is it worth the $$ or is Drexel just as good? Any insight here would be appreciated.!!!! Thanks everyone!

I actually had a really unique thing happen to me when I was interviewing for staff nurse positions. I like med/surg, but I need something with more stress and more action because I function my best when I am under stress and pressure. So I requested an interview in the ER of a hospital that was actually like 5 hours away from home. I figured I wanted a shot at landing a position there and if they refused because I had no experience then I would take something closer to home. This hospital uses the clinical ladder system where level 4s run the show on the units. For most applicants, one interview with one level four is sufficient to either offer or not offer the candidate a position. For me, I had 2 different interviews in the same day and they were both really positive about my starting in the ER despite not having any ER experience. I maintained my position with the nurse recruiter as well as the level 4s and told them I was thrilled to have the opportunity to interview for a position, but I did not want to interview for any other unit. I told them I need to be in the ER and that's all I wanted to interview for. I ended up being offered a position after they talked with several of my nursing instructors and other people. Before I accepted the position I talked to both of the level 4s and I explained to them that I wanted then to be 100% sure I was an acceptable candidate for the position. They both told me they weren't looking for proof that I could cut it in the ER, they were looking for something from anyone they talked to saying I couldn't hack it. They said I was a strong candidate and they were confident that I could be successful. So what does this all mean.... well, I have started in the ER and I am getting along just great. I had a rough first day trying to get used to the environment and how things worked, but I am adjusted to the enviornment and I am doing well. I am able to manage my section of patients with minimal help from my preceptor. I would encourage you, if you feel like you understood the ER when you rotated through and you enjoyed it, pursue your hospital further if you haven't already taken another position. Otherwise, maybe interview with another hospital and only be willing to do an intervew in the ER. You could explain to them that you had expereicne there in school and did well, and all you are asing for is an opportuinity to meet with the manager and be given a chance at obtaining a position there. Good luck in your job search! This is such an exciting time!