bbedit

Thanks for the info, everyone. I was just exposed yesterday (Friday) due to the clear ineptitude of the charge nurse who didn't notify anyone that a patient was carrying a warning that she received radiation one day before (Thursday). The patient had some kind of radiation therapy AND has beads (?) in her liver which emit radiation. I encourage you to file an incident report about what happened in IR. My hospital only processes these types of things if filed as incident reports. Can anyone comment on the amount of radiation I received from this woman with the radiation therapy on Thursday and the beads in her liver? Thanks.

I have bipolar disorder and I would love to disclose it but I don't, I'm too nervous it will mark me for life. To all of you with BPD, you can do it! You can make it work. Oh, I've been a nurse for about 7 years.

Hi all Just checking back again about working nights while having bipolar disorder. I want to take the next step and get trained into the ICU, ER, or even the OR but I know that in the hospitals I've looked at, they don't hire you for day shifts for these jobs. Does anyone have any suggestions for someone who really needs to have a consistent work schedule and preferably the fewest night shifts as possible -- someone who wants to get trained into the ICU and other positions where they train on nights only? Thanks

I am in the middle of working with the travel company _Nurses Rx_ which is under the umbrella of companies of AMNHealthcare. I am glad you posted this because I want to let everyone know that Nurses Rx neglected to inform me that my start date was pushed back by 2 weeks. I moved to Washington DC in preparation for my job that was to start 11/27 and I was called less than a day before. My recruiter told me less than 24 hours from my scheduled start time that I wouldn't be starting when I thought I was. My recruiter said that he called me twice the week before but I never got a message. He didn't send an email and admitted that he should have. I want to let everyone know that this is pretty tough -- to have moved, and then to be told I won't be working. So I would recommend to you to have your ducks in a row and hold your recruiter to his/her word. If s/he says you're starting on a certain day, then make sure s/he emails you with updates that you're still supposed start. Hold him/her to what s/he said to you because in the end, it doesn't seem to matter to my recruiter that I am staying in my relatives' basement not working. Actually, I've been told my recruiter makes money if I get placed so who knows what happened with that! I just hope that what happened to me doesn't happen to anyone else. Please message me with questions, I'd be glad to help.

I am an RN with bipolar disorder. I am lucky that I have it managed pretty well. I quit my job to travel (NOT travel RN -- just regular travel!) 6 mos ago and am back, and am looking for a new job. I have 5 yrs' experience on a med/surg floor, I was charge RN, I precepted new RNs and students, served on committees, and the like. I am now looking for a job in critical care, I feel that's where I need to go next. The problem is that all I have found is that critical care floors take you for nights only. And it's really hard to get off of nights. Can anyone provide any tips as to how to get hired into an ICU for example on day shift? Or how to get hired into critical care units with minimizing night shifts? Thanks a lot. *Hi all, I posted under another thread about a year ago and I have more questions. Not sure if I should post here or where I posted last year. I hope I didn't mess up anything.

New grad, in my understanding, means anyone who graduated from nursing school, and it's their 1st job as a nurse. It doesn't discriminate if you have an associate's or bachelor's degree -- just that it's your first job as a nurse. I hate to come back with this but I am still having the worst time trying to get into ICU/critical care in general. I don't do well on nights and most of these jobs for 1st-timers in critical care want you to work nights. Does anyone know of any units hiring for days in ICU or other critical care please? Or has anyone traveled and gotten trained in critical care as a traveler? Thanks a lot!

I saw this post is from 2/2011 but I thought I would write anyway. Maybe you can get a 2nd opinion? It sounds terrible what you've been going through with not being able to keep a job AND your family not understanding. Hang in there! There's NAMI = Natl Alliance on Mental Illness http://www.nami.org and they may be able to provide some resources for your family to learn about your illness.

I want to go into the ICU but at my hospital, you have to work nights in the ICU to start with. I don't do nights well. Can anyone suggest a way to get ICU experience without having to do nights? Even the cardiac unit on my floor hires on to nights first. Thanks. (I've been on a med/surg floor for 4.5 yrs.)

What's sub-acute please?

I am having job performance issues (according to my boss) which are likely due to a number of reasons. My boss says my voice is too loud and she can hear me down the hall when I am in a room talking to a patient. I don't know how she hears my voice coming from a room that I wasn't in, yet I am blamed for being in that room. My boss says that some family members have complained about me and I know that I am the person who you can read what I am thinking on my face, so I can't hide anything. In private my boss tells me that I have a lot of confidence and sometimes these family members can be put off by that. I feel very burned out and frustrated because at the same time as the above, my boss also tells us to answer other people's call lights because we're getting audited for how long the call light is on. And you know, I also go into other people's rooms to stop IVs beeping or SCD machines from beeping. The other part of my frustration is that I feel I do a very good job for my patients. I get a lot of positive feedback from my patients but it seems my boss doesn't see that or hear it. Sometimes it seems that my boss doesn't know anything good I've done unless I tell her -- because I can't count on my coworkers to say anything positive to my boss about me, although I know they've told me I've done something good or I've helped them in some way. I also feel very stuck in this job because I've applied to other positions in the hospital system but have only gotten calls back just once. I don't know what these other managers know about me when I apply. Also, I don't do well working nights so that limits me from going to the ICU, etc. Also, OR wants experience yet they've hired a new grad (yes!). Any suggestions? I've been looking for a new job for a while and hiring has been tight due to the economy plus these other units don't want to take on someone they have to train, it seems. Thanks for your suggestions.

I hear what you and the commenters are saying. I work day 12s usually -- and some 8s -- and I still feel isolated because I can't go out and meet my friends til really late because it takes so long to get around where I work and live. I have thought about this for a while. It seems when we're fresh out of school, we need to set up social outlets/networks/groups and it's hard because we're in the start of our careers so we're stuck working the odd shifts -- nights, usually. I feel your pain and just wanted to add a little bit. Hang in there.

Gosh thanks to all the previous replies. I feel similar to the original posting person. Except I have somehow stayed on my med-surg, really more surg, floor for nearly 4 years! I've tried to go other places but international opportunities want me to have worked for 2 and 3 yrs so I stayed. My question to you all is how do I get in the OR or the ER or PACU? Those jobs at my hosp tend not to be posted. I've even emailed the manager for the OR and she isn't hiring. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

I applied to MSF after working on a med-surg floor (primarily surg) for about 3 years at an academic teaching hospital and got rejected. I think they want me to go on my own to another country, maybe on a medical mission or 7-10 days trip before MSF will consider me. Just wanted to send out the heads up!

I just got called in to my manager's office so she could tell me I have 5 sick calls. If I get a 6th, then I get a LEVEL I warning. I asked her when the sick calls were made. She told me since 5/10/2010 I have called in sick 5 times. Which means 5 times in 8 months. Which is 2% of the days. What gives?! Why is it that the ones who need to stay home with their runny noses, coughs, and sore throats, why is it that we have to continue to come to work b/c we'll get warnings and Level I write-ups? Can someone please shed some light on this? Thanks! Oh, and BTW, probably 75% of my floor (20 RNs and around 35 PCTs) all have accelerated warnings or Level Is or Level IIs.

I think I'll keep all the official employment stuff -- I should have posted that above. I am getting bogged down with all the in-service info, education updates, etc. Thanks for the reply!