mandasueRN

There are a ton of non-bedside jobs in the government healthcare systems, both in the VA and the DoD. You'll find all kinds of healthcare's administration jobs, case management jobs, etc throughout. Also don't forget that nurses work for the CDC, FEMA, CMS, USDA, FDA.....and so on. Check out usajobs.gov as the OP stated. Type in "0610" in the search bar-that's the job series # for nurses. You'll find hundreds of nursing jobs there all over the world, bedside and non-bedside. Best of luck.

Also, the VA's EHR is called VistA. OP is correct, it's only used at the VA. DoD currently has their own systems. The VA will eventually implement a version of the Cerner product developed for DoD known as MHS Genesis. It will be another 10+ years before it's fully deployed.

You are incorrect about VA employee benefits-as a VA employee, you are eligible for the Federal Employees Retirement System, known as FERS. Like other government employees, you get a pension after working the required # of years. You are also eligible to participate in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), which is a 401K. The government matches up to 5%. Pay is difficult to predict in the VA system, as it isn't as clear as the GS pay scale, but it is generally competitive with civilian hospitals. You will never get retirement benefits working in the civilian sector like you will working in federal service-but you will also have to be willing to put up with a lot of BS sometimes in order to make it to retirement.

Our ED recently had a patient with a bad outcome after mis-triage. One of the things administration wants us to do to prevent such an event from happening again is to develop a written triage hand-off tool. I have never worked in an ED with any sort of formal triage hand-off. The off going triage nurse always briefs the on coming triage nurse about patients waiting--like who needs to come back first, if any patients are already in X-ray, etc. Does anyone out there formally document triage hand-off at shift change? If so, how do you do it? I think our administration is being unrealistic!

I was wondering how many of you work in ED's that no longer use Demerol for pain mangement? If you do not use Demerol currently, what happened to take it out of your ED? The reason I am asking is I am currently working in an ED that uses a lot of Demerol for pain. I personally HATE giving the drug--pt's get sick (even when it is given with an anti-emetic), they become verrrry sleepy, etc. We have had more adverse reactions to Demerol in the past few weeks than I can count. I would like to approach our nurse manager and the physician's group about taking it out of our pyxis, but I want to have evidence to back up my request. I have tried searching the net for any scholarly-type articles about the subject, but can't find any. Anybody have any suggestions?

if you are looking for civillian jobs for the department of the army, go to the army civillian jobsite at www.cpol.army.mil. there are actually a few postings for jobs at fort benning right now--just go to the employment link and then click "search for jobs." you can limit your search to the state of georgia and also limit by occupational series, which for nursing is "0610." also, if you want to check into contract jobs, spectrum healthcare resources does a lot of staffing for the army facillites you can search their website at http://www.shrusa.com. good luck in your job search!

I worked at a 110 bed level I ED in Georgia that sees 120,000 patients a year. They say they are the busiest ED east of the Mississippi River.

I hope all of you guys hang in there and I have faith that this issue will be resolved in the state of Georgia. I'm a successfull 2006 EC graduate and I will be writting Gov. Purdue to thank him for his support of the college. I know that all EC alumni feel the same way--even though I am not in the terrible position that you guys are, this is an attack on ALL Excelsior graduates, because this affects our reputation. Hang in there!:redpinkhe

Medic, I totally understand what you are talking about. I'm having to leave my new job of three months because my husband transferred 2 1/2 hours away from where we live now. I am totally bummed about it because it has been the first place that I actually enjoyed working! The staff was great, really worked together as a team and made it a joy to come to work everyday. Those kinds of environments are few and far between , so when you find one, you really hate to leave. I can only hope that I can find a job in an ED as great as the one I had!

The extern program is for nursing students in their final semesters of clinicals. It is a program designed to allow you to recieve hands on and classroom experience in the hospital before you graduate and take the NCLEX. I believe at Grady you rotate through different areas, but I could be wrong. The RN Residency is for new grad nurses, and involves classroom time along with a preceptorship in your area. For the ER, it is 6 months. The length varies in other areas.

I was not an employee when I was hired for the RN Residency back in 2007. It is possible that things have changed. Like the other poster said, Grady has a new CEO right now, and he is cutting things right and left. I don't see how the residency could be affected, because they actually recieved a grant to pay for the program. What department are you looking for? It could just be that they have already started the residency class for that particular speciality and the recruiter was telling you that you could extern until then. If you extern there, I would say you have a very good chance of getting a residency spot. Grady is hurting for nurses, don't let that recruiter tell you otherwise. Some departments have a 30% RN vacancy rate, and the CEO has stated that he wants agency nurses out by January. Grady is a great place to learn, but an absolute headache to work for.

Grady is around $22/hr for new grads and yes they have a RN residency program--that is until they decide to change things, which they are doing a lot of here lately.

Did you find all the info you needed? I worked at a trauma center and saw FAST exams done on a daily basis, I can help explain it further if needed.

Benefits are not important, because the job my husband will be taking will be at Ft. Gordon--he will be civil service. I'm just looking for a good hospital that is good to its nurses. Of course, I could be looking for the impossible! How is pay comparable to the metro ATL area?

Anybody got any good information on the hospital in Aiken? My husband has been offered a job at Fort Gordon in Augusta, and we are looking for the best places to live around there. I am an ER RN with two years of level I trauma center experience. Does anyone know what the pay is like there and if they are offering a sign on bonus? Thanks!

My husband was recently offered a job in Augusta--we currently live in the Atlanta metro area. I work in the ED and I was wondering if anybody here had any good info on Augusta area hospitals. I have two years of level I trauma center experience, but I'm not set on working for a trauma center. I know of the major hospitals there, MCG, Doctor's Hosptial, University Hospital--what I want to know is what hospitals do you recommend working for? Oh, and any info about which hospitals are offering a sign on bonus would be great to!

I've been looking through this forum, and I have found a lot of answers to some of my questions but I thought I would ask anyway. My husband recently was offered a job at Dewitt Army Hospital in Fort Belvoir. I know that Fort Belvoir is in Fairfax county and that Fairfax county is very, very expensive to live in, my question is where are the better places to live in the area.? I am a RN and my husband will be making a decent salary there, but I don't want to move somewhere with a very high cost of living. Also, what are some of the best hospitals to work for in that area? I have 2 years of experience as a trauma nurse at a level I trauma center here in the southeast and of course I want to work in the emergency department. Also, what is the pay scale for nurses in this area--I can tell you that nurses here where I live make around $22.00/hr base pay as a brand new graduate--does it compare up there? Thanks for you help--my husband is really interested in this job, but I am not so sure because I don't want to move somewhere where we can't afford to live.

Don't worry about it, many of us feel the same way. I graduated from EC in 2006 and I currently live and work in Georgia. I will defend my ADN from EC with my dying breath, but I am currently enrolled in an online BSN program from a "traditional school." I hate the way EC is being viewed by others right now and it will take much education to get people to realize that our degrees were not just handed to us.

Are you saying that Georgia would not license you now, even after obtaining 7 years of clinical experience in Florida? It was my understanding that this is only affecting new graduates, or am I mistaken?

I'm doing my BSN through Indiana Wesleyan University right now. It's a great program, the only complaints I have is that it is on the expensive side and it does take almost two years to complete because you only do one class at a time. I did not have to have statistics, which was great! They excepted alot of transfer credit without a problem, which was also great.

I live in Georgia and the state does not require contact hours for renewal, which I have issues with, but hey I have issues with alot of things they do. I am required to have at least 12 a year for my job. I have more than I can count, I probably have over 100 hours also over the last two years. Why wouldn't ACLS, PALS, etc count for con ed? You get contact hours for it? Is that something that is state specific?

I am a TNCC instructor and my best suggestion to you is to make sure that you read the book throughly and understand the TNP(Trauma Nurse Process) before you ever set foot in class. I just taught a class last week and the students that had the worst time were the ones who did not crack a book before coming to the first day of class. All of your courses, such as TNCC, ACLS, etc, are set up now for the adult learner--basically, it is understood that you will have the book prior to the class and will take the time to read and study on your own. You are expected to bring the knowledge you gain from studing with you to class. The TNP is the easy part if you just memorize the steps A through I. The new test for the current 6th edition of TNCC is a little harder in my opinion and requires more critical thinking than the previous edition--make sure you read the questions throughly before answering and pick the best answer. With preparation, you will do fine in TNCC.

Everyone seems so shocked that ER nurses can have this type of ratio, but unfortunately I think happens more than you think. While 15 patients is waaay to many for a new grad or even an experienced ER nurse, 7-8 patients is not uncommon in some large ERs. The level one ER I work in has typical ratios of 1:7, with 2-3 usually being monitored rooms and the rest being hall spots. Critical care rooms are typically 1:4 and trauma is 1:2. Yes, it is not safe and it is very stressful, but it isn't unusual in large hospitals.

I am so glad to hear another ER nurse say that! I can't tell you how many times I have seen inexperienced ER nurses say, "I can't get a line on so and so, they just don't have good veins," and its because they've been trying to stick an 18 gauge in someone with crappy venous access. I'm sorry, but contrary to popular ER nurse belief, not every patient has veins that can tolerate an 18 gauge and like Maisy said, I would much rather have a 20 gauge than no IV at all.

If I had to guess, this is just their ignorant position. Every EC nurse I have ever worked with has, IMO been above average. I think the misconception is that we take a few online tests and are handed a diploma. When you explain exactly what EC entails to someone who doesn't know, they are usually like, "wow," because they then see the hard work and dedication it takes to do this program. All of us who graduated from EC have years of extensive clinical experience as Paramedics, LPNs, etc. For most of us, EC was the only option we had to obtain our nursing degree, I know it was for me at the time. I live in Georgia now, but I am originally from Alabama, where the BON will not license a new grad EC nurse, but they will once you have a year or two of experience under you belt. In most cases when the boards make decisions like this, there are ways around it and there will be a way around this decision if it is not overturned.