BSNin2008

I'm ready to give up on nursing too. Three years in and I haven't found my 'niche' yet. In the current economy, it's hard to change your specialty as the competition is so fierce. You need experience to even get a call back. I can't get hired because I don't have experience. I can't get experience because I can't get hired. Repeat. It's so frustrating! As a student, I was so excited to become a nurse. Now I'm just depressed.

It's true. As a new grad in Long Island I was on a med-surg/tele unit. I had 8 patients on day shift, every one of them on a monitor. These were post-op CABG, cath, vascular, etc.; after they left ICU or step-down, of course. It was totally overwhelming but NY does not have a nurse-patient ratio.

Wow, congrats to you and thanks for answering my questions. I have a good feeeling about this and I am really hoping to hear back from them. I know it will take awhile but I've learned alot of patience in this economy. Good luck on your new job and keep us posted!

Yes, I love the patient or family who tells me, "well, that's your job", whether it is getting them on the commode, cleaning their dirty diapers, calling the pharmacy for their refills, etc., etc. Or, "well, you are supposed to come every day to xyz, you're the nurse!". What they are not getting is exactly what RN1263 said, they are choosing NOT to be in a facility and along with that comes responsibility to self-care. Our job is to teach, monitor, reassess, and change POC PRN. Unfortunately, many people think we are going to come and do hospital care in the home. If you need hospital care, then go to the hospital, your home is not set up for that.

KNEAL, did I understand you correctly and CA no longer has furlough days for RN's? That would be awesome news! I applied to 4 positions today, all in So. Cal. How are you liking it so far?

I moved back to CA a year ago, and the job market out here stinks! I was fortunate to get a position when I moved back, although it's not in a field I want to work. At this point I'm just happy to have a job. Good luck to you both. I think with critical care experience you will find something eventually.

Thanks for the replies. I apologize for not being more clear; I have been an RN for a year and a half and in HH for just a few months. I was wondering if a few months was too soon to know if I was going to like this or not but I think hmarieD anwered my question. Thanks again.

Hi everyone, I am new to Home Health and not loving it. In fact, I don't like it at all. I am a new RN; working for a year and a half. I relocated, and with the economy the way it is I took the first job offer I got, which was HH. I just don't feel I have enough experience to be an "independant practitioner". I get very nervous being on my own with no support team like in the hospital. I am also having a hard time getting used to providing nursing care in someone's home, charting in my car, etc. Is this something I am going to get used to in time or should I cut my losses earlier rather than later? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Catheters are not always used in surgery, example, a TURB or a TURP, to name just a few. MD's always write orders to "have patient void OCTOR" in those cases. Also, I agree with all the other reasons why one should void before surgery. And lastly..... can't we be nice to each other here? We are all we have.

I hear you on this one. I am new to the OR and cannot believe the attitudes I've encountered. It makes me wonder if I've made a huge mistake in going to the OR. There are some great nurses in my OR; about half I would say. The other half are rude, arrogant, and just plain mean. As if it wasn't stressful enough trying to learn a new specialty, I feel like I'm walking on eggshells every day in dealing with these people. I've considered quitting the hospital and going into home health, but in this economy, I don't want to end up unemployed. It's really unfortunate that the old adage, "nurses eat their young", is true in my OR. At this point I guess I stay and just pray it gets better.

Thanks for all the feecback on cenitmeter vs. sontimeter. I had no idea that 'sontimeter' was actually considered correct. I thought it was just a NY thing! lol

Well, here in NY many of my professors pronounced 'centimeter' as 'sonameter'. What is up with that??

No, I'm not going to apply for a temp license as I don't plan on moving for a few more months. I will be out in CA in a few weeks so I am going to do the LiveScan for fingerprints out there. Once everything is sent in I will start looking for a job. My mom who lives out there talked to an RN who works at Kaiser and she said that with a year experience I should be able to get something. I hope she's right! All I read on here is how people can't find jobs.... very scary! Good luck to you!

Just curious as to where RN's are making 130,000 a year with 2 years experience. Is that with a ton of overtime?

I am also moving from NY to CA. I'm currently working on endorsement, and once application is all squared away I'll start sending my resume out. The taxes and cost of living in the NYC area are out of control and having grown up in SoCal, I am returning after 9 years in NY. I am so excited, but nervous I won't be able to find a job as I only have 1 year experience; in med-surg/tele. Any advice on where to apply in the Inland Empire would be greatly appreciated!