AllAngelsRN

I have interviewed at 2 different CCL and I like both for different reasons. One lab (call it LAB1) will allow me to work 4 days/10 hr days and has little on call requirement (10 days per month) while their volume during the weekdays is 3 times the other lab. The other lab (call it LAB2) is 5 days a week and on call every other week. LAB2 does no elective angiograms therefore their workload sounds less. They do however, take pacers, TEE and Cardioversion pts. LAB1 does elective, primary and diagnostic. LAB1 has 2 rooms & with me going to have 3 full timers. Their on call is 1 RN and 2 techs- however they rarely get called in. When called in they pay min of 3 hrs but if you get called in again in the same on call period, you get regular pay. LAB2 does mostly diagnostic and few primary; it has 1 room & with me going to have 3 full timers. LAB2 always call in 4 people for any emergent PCI with 3 RNs - usually- and 1 tech however they get called in almost every week. When called in they pay min of 2 hours for every time you get called in. LAB2 pay is about $4,000/yr more but it's 5 days a week so I can't do per diem anywhere else. With LAB1 I can do per diem 1-2 days a week if I wanted to and make $10,000/yr extra. If you were me and have the ability to choose between the 2 labs which one would you pick and why? This is going to be my first CCL job so I appreciate any input you might have especially if you work in a CCL or know CCL very well. Thank you in advance for all your help.

Thank you Carolina Southpaw. Very insightful comment. I will follow your advice.

Woohooo Congrats. I hope you find it everything you ever wanted to be. Enjoy and remember there are no right or wrong choices and that we are never stuck. There is always a choice. Best of luck girlie. I am selling Core Concepts Anesthesia Review course for 2013 $100. It's a great guide and if I were you, I would start reading now at least the A&P parts of all the chapters. If interested PM me :)

The highest level of addiction and substance abuse is between CRNAs and Anesthesia providers not because it is easy for them to get drugs; remember all other docs/ NP can get their hands on heavy substances but the main reason that CRNAs and Anesthesiologists abuse drugs the most is because of the STRESS of the job. It is NOT worth it. One our first day of class at my CRNA school was the warning of substance abuse and the high level of suicide that is committed in this field. Google "Janet R. Stewart, CRNA, ARNP AANA President 1999 - 2000". Read her story and how she died from OD'ing on drugs. Think hard. Do your HW. I wish you all the very best.

wow the responses have been an eye-opener for me. I am going to be patient with myself as I just left CRNA school and felt like I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I will take my time to figure out what I am really passionate about and what are my strength and weakness before I make another leap. Having said that, I am going to try to get a charge nursing experience just to get a taste of it and see if it is a fit first then from there I will have a better picture of my strengths and weaknesses in the area of leadership. Thank you everyone for your input. The comments have allowed to look at this from a different angle and promoted growth in me.

Not yet. I just left CRNA school about 2 months ago. I am now trying different types of nursing other than ICU. Will keep ya posted! No matter what I said, please do what is right for you. Shadow CRNAs. Don't follow only the happy ones or the ones who entered it a looong time ago as times have changed and the nature of the job has changed as well. Look at all sides. Do your HW then do what is right for you and not based on what I said or other said.

Awesome! Can one volunteer as a per diem? This is my first time ever to work as a per diem so I am not sure about the rules and policies that govern per diem RNs. Any insights?

Awesome information friends! I appreciate your input. I am starting a few per diem jobs in the next few months. I want to see which ones I like the most. Once I settle I guess I will look for ways to advance. Thank you again for your feedback.

Hello all, I have the upmost respect for you and would value your input. I recently changed paths. I was in CRNA school but decided it wasn't worth it for me. So now, I feel like the world is wide open for me and I can do anything. I always have felt that my place would be in management/administration. I would like if you would kindly share with me your ways of climbing up the ladder and moving up. I only know ICU and only worked as a staff nurse. Never had the experience of being a charge nurse or anything else. How did you go about going from an RNs to a manager or a director? Thank you in advance for all your input.

Many think about the money only. They forget about the legal liability that CRNAs have to deal with. I was in CRNA school and didn't continue. It ages you and kills you in so many ways. CRNA school would be fine if it was done 25 yrs ago through apprenticeship rather than intense crazy school hours and nasty CRNAs/Anesthesiologist to precept you. No one knows about the physical labor that they do, the emotional BS that they have to put up with and then their future is not stable as more and more AA schools are being supported by MDAs. Think smart and wise. Go the Admin way, the Education way (become a professor), or the Psych nursing APN way. Don't waste your precious time on CRNA school. It's not as they say it is. Even when you graduate you still have to be running around, no food, from one patient to the other and taking on patients that your MDA wants to do even though you think the patient is not going to make it. Talk about the STRESS for the rest of your career life and the wonderful feeling of losing your license with each and every patient you touch. Whatever your choose, I wish you best of luck!

So finally I am here in my new position & settled doing fresh open hearts. I feel great and more confident in my skills and patient care than ever. Thanks to everyone who replied. I know that there is nothing that can erase the experience but writing what I have experienced and having you write me back words of wisdom was very therapeutic. After going to the new hospital and seeing how different nursing is, I know that I was working with bitter people who haven't really learned how to help others to grow. I remember the director of that unit was very close to me and she used to tell me that it is the "worst unit" that she has ever worked for. She knew her staff were just a bunch of angry beavers. I know that she didn't like that but had little control over changing that culture. It's good to see different and it was a good experience to learn from. I have no regrets :)

Thank you very much for your honest input. I posted this so I can LEARN from my mistakes. I am looking for constructive criticism like yours. I hear you and I wanted to be by my patient's side but I was asked to go chart. Leaving on time is very important to my hospital. They frown down on overtime. The nurses who were at my patient's side are capable nurses. I didn't worry that my patient's care was not going to be up to bar- that's what I meant by "I didn't care". The bottom line is that I was asked to leave the room and go chart because obviously my questions about the pt's history and what has happened P**sed them off and therefore I was "cast away"; what my reply should have been? I could have said "no I want to be by my pt's side" and caused some sort of friction or I could have just left and get told that I shouldn't have left..... I feel like damned if I do and damned if I don't.

Hello, I have been an ICU RN for 3 years. In the hospital I am at, I came to them with limited one year experience from a community hospital. My current hospital is a trauma hospital. They get all sorts of cases including fresh hearts and they teach the nurses many skills. I am giving you background about me and the hospital because, I feel a little unsure of self. When I joined them first, I didn't know jack S%#@ about much of the real ICU. So I had lots of times when I got corrected and got told off. It was alright for me to get this correction until I was able to stand on my 2 feet. Now 3 yrs in ICU and I still get told off by senior nurses. I got a rapid response the other day & the RRT and another senior nurse told me to step outside of the room to chart on MY patient while they get lines, BP stable blah blah blah.....so I did because I didn't wanted to cause any trouble besides, I was like if they want to do my work, let them- I didn't care. To make story short, I got a job at another hospital to do fresh open hearts; & today was one of my last few days at my current place, so I peaked my head into my supervisor's room and told her that I am excited about the opportunity but I am saddened to leave; she said well, just you must learn to act & stop over analyzing things especially in serious situations. I didn't know that she was hinting about that day with the RRT and that patient. So after probing, she told me that the RRT said that I didn't know how to handle the situation and that I was asking questions that were irrelevant about the case (like bolus amount) and that's why they sent me out the room to chart. I was taken by this because, this is not the first patient I had with such situation and many drips. I am capable of handling such patient. I worked with many septic patients in the past and in this hospital. She told me that I should have taken charge of my patient care and directed them to what needs to be done. I said that I didn't do that because, I didn't really care. If they want to do it, let them knock themselves out. I need an honest feedback on how to handle such situation? Was I wrong by letting them care for my patient? Should I have told them to step aside and stop helping me and that I can handle it- how could I have delivered such a message without causing any friction. I knew that I couldn't handle the patient on my own. He was going to die if I didn't have lots of help. There were 3 people in the room- not one. I can't see that one RN can handle such situation alone- I don't care who you are, when a patient comes with no lines, no foley and no OG, help is needed. Please tell me where I went wrong. I want to learn to avoid future mistakes. Thank you for your input in advance.

Hello everyone, I have been trying to prepare for the CCRN exam for a while now. I am not sure why I haven't been dedicated to take the test and always been not serious about studying it but claim that I have been studying A LOT lolz Anywho, I did the PASS CCRN and got low grade on the test (low 100's); does this indicate that I am not ready to take the actual thing? How do I know that I am ready for the test? Each test prep says something different; I invested in many resources like (David Woodruff, Laura Gasparis, AACN, and many other books and tapes) I still feel that I am lost and not ready to take it. How can I tell when I am ready? Thanks in advance to all for your input!

Hi I know this post is old but I hope someone still following on it. I have question about these catheters: Do you have to always have something infusing through them to keep them open. Can you hep lock one of their lumens or will you lose this lumen/port if it is hep locked? Thanks in advance for your input!