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I had problems finding full time PERMANENT positions when I worked in Canada. When whomever it is on leave returns, you might be left trying to find another job. I had to work as a women's hospital float ( no benefits ), and then I worked in ICU 4 shifts a month. It was always unpredictable... so I left! ( not that that is an option for everyone... ) I feel your pain but regarless of the offer for work, any orientation of that length in a specialized area is unsafe. New grads on the med surg units here get at least 12 weeks of orientation... Longer for ICU, ER, L& D, NICU and even TELE... I don't know what the situation is as far as job availability in Canada is now, but when I left, so did many other nurses. In fact for a long time, many of the units here were staffed with only Candadian RN's; they had experienced the same problems I did regardless of which province they were from. Don't sell yourself short and put your license on da line. Good luck! Keep looking..

Dunno bout everyone else, but I do not wear anything but scrubs to work because I do not want to be wearing bodily fluids and such on my "usual" clothing. However, doesn't a badge with RN written on it and a professional introduction including " Hi my name is x, and I am an RN" indicate what your position is, scrubs or not? Maybe management needs to talk to those who wear sweats and sweatshirts to work? It would be addressed here right away...

Lil ol confused lady got upset at my staff and I cause we wouldn't let her get oob; she totally wigged and we had to restrain her x4. In a few minutes, she looked like she was straight out of the exorsist .. sat straight up flapping her tongue in the air and shaking her head from side to side and speaking in broken english and armanian ( spoke perfect english at start of shift and avss, blood sugar normal etc ) and proceeded to call me the blonde witch who was the leader of all the trolls in the dungeon. Was rather scary at the time...

I live in California. I think starting wage is 25-26 /hr. Not sure what it tops out at... I average 100 000 grandish and Im in the middle of the scale. Additional monetary incetives are given for an advanced degree, belonging to committees, doing research, recruiting nurses, and we have double overtime... Its nice. Keep in mind, cost of living is high in California..

Write everything he said as an order.

If the ER doc okay'd the drip to be run via the shunt and the admit doc knows, she may not have had any other choice. A PICC is necessary however, getting a STAT one placed may be difficult if there is no one to put one in ( we wouldn't get one until the next day ) . Why didn't the ER doc put in a central line? Doesnt' sound like she touched it anyways. From what I gathered, she left the lines as they were when the pt was transferred from ER. Doesn't sound like she was gonna pull anything out even though the MD ( I'm assuming the renal guy) told her to pull it and change over to the piv. I would have left the "setup" as it was and let the dialysis nurse deal with it in the am providing the MD's knew the situation. ( and charted by butt off ) He probably had crappy veins anyways and if he was critical enough to need a drip, then i'd rather have that access than running the risk of multiple piv's blowing and the pt crashing from not having the drip.

:kiss Lol... I agree whole heartedly.. Go ahead... stretch your ears. You can still conduct your care professionally and be seen as a professional while having tats, piercings etc. I have both piercings and tats and have learned that the " real world " is way different than nursing school and know also that I am respected as a professional... Nurses express their individuality by their choices of scrubs, clogs, crocs etc.. all the time.. Piercings and tats are just extensions of those expressions. Im not saying to throw it in anybody's face as piercings , earrings and tats can done and or shown tastefully and can be hidden, if you so choose, easily....

Hello, I graduated from an accelerated BSN program 4 years ago and you really don't need to put your entire life on hold to get through it. I thought it was great. Time management skills are a must but I was still able to work full time and managed to have a life outside of school. It was however, more expensive than other programs. If you have any questions about getting through it or whatever, feel free to PM me as well. I don't see any differences between what I was taught and studied as compared to what the nurses I work with were taught and studied... Good Luck.

ICU nurses and RT's.

Work nights and weekends. Take classes that the hospital pays you take. Also, check and see if there is a clinical ladder you can climb; some hospitals pay extra when you belong to committees, do research, do clinical rounds etc. Overtime helps alot, especially if its double time.. Also, ur manager may need help preparing when its JHACHO time; non productive hours add up 2 . (I wish the houses here were in that price range!!)

I precept alot, and there isn't really a whole lot that upsets or irritates me about new grads. I had an awful preceptor and an awful orientation in ICU so I try to be as patient as I possibly can with my orientees. Questions-- YESS! Ask as many as you want.. If ur not asking questions, I will start to wonder why. The " I'm an ICU nurse , Im better than you" attitude seems to be common amongst many ICU nurses where I have worked ( not to offend anyone- I work there too ) regardless of being a newbie or not... So, I don't think the "know it all" personalities are restricted to just new grads. The whole orientation process is to make one comfortable with the unit, skills, MD's, etc and at the end of it all, we ( preceptors) want you to succeed and -- bottom line, we want to make sure that ur safe. I've found that most nurses, new grands and seasoned RN's, who don't ask questions end up making some big mistakes...

I always felt like I was being treated like I was in high school when I was getting my BSN; you should be able to smoke if you want to. Perhaps smoking during the clinicals is pushing it and can be considered unprofessional if your school has a policy against it however, being told to refrain from smoking while on the way to school or afterwards-- not cool.. Unprofessional of your instructor to threaten to kick you out. I smoke and I can understand pt's not wanting a " smoky" nurse but, I make sure I don't smell like it and have never had anyone say that I do.. It's a free country. Hang in there.

Hello, I've done the float pool as well; you become very skilled at a number of different things. On a side note, has anyone heard of or worked at a hospital where floor nurses are floated to ICU, ER, and LD with either having one day or no days of orientation? That happens here regularly...

LIGHTEN UP! YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN UPSET AND OR FRUSTRATED KNOWING THAT THE PT YOU ARE MEDICATING IS AN ADDICT SEEKING ONLY "THE ADDED BENEFITS" ( AS ONE RN PUT IT) OF NARCOTICS? I'VE BEEN UPSET A NUMBER OF TIMES AND UNFORTUNATELY, WORK IN HOSPITAL WHERE ADDICTS ARE REPEATEDLY ADMITTED ( CARDIAC UNIT.. DRUGS= ARRTHYMIAS ETC ) . EVEN CAUGHT A PT DOING BLOW IN HER ROOM WITH HER BOYFRIEND ... RAZOR BLADE IN HAND AND ALL. FEELING ENRAGED IS SOMETIMES SIMPLY A NATURAL REACTION TO THESE KINDS OF EVENTS TRANSPIRING WAY TOO OFTEN!! IM SURE THE PT STILL GOT HIS HIGH SO IT STILL HELPED HIM AND IN THE END, IS HELPING THE RN WHO BEGAN THIS THREAD BECAUSE VENTING IS CATHARTIC ..

I Was Charge One Night On A Tele Floor And I Got A Call From A Cna Who Told Me To Come To One Of The Rooms . As I Walked In, I Saw That The Pt's , Their Beds, And The Walls Were Covered In Ants.( Not Funny At All... ) As It Turned Out, The Floor Was Full And I Had No Place To Move The Pts As They Were Critical Enough To Need Outlets For Machines, Drips Etc.. So The Halls Were Not An Option. So, My Staff And I Had To Clean Out Our Storage Room And We Had To Move The Pt's And Their Families Into It While The Room Was Fumigated... One Other Pt Decided To Take Off All Of Her Clothing, Tele Box, Iv Etc And Run Around In The Halls And Into Pt's Rooms. When Running Into The Rooms She Would Turn On The Lights , Wake Up The Sleeping Pt's And Shake Her Stuff... She Was Quick Too! It Took 5 Of Us To Tackle Her And Restrain Her.