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!

Just remember it's amazing that you're/we're ALL doing this. A, sharing these intimate thoughts, B, working in a field where you have to curb your own thoughts (a lot of the time) to care for someone else. It's really an accomplishment. I am an RN, I have a terrible time doing nights. I can stay til 1230/1am or something but I can't through the 1a-6a hours knowing than I am responsible to care for others and make sure things are okay and what happens in an emergency if I am not at my best, etc. I am on a medsurg floor (been here over 3 years) and I want to make a switch to ICU or cardiac care or PACU or just something! I would like to get off of my floor, I feel I am not moving forward career-wise. I want to learn more, but what do you do when all these positions want you to work nights or day/night rotations? Does anyone have any suggestions on what to say to recruiters and interviewing managers please? Thanks.

I have about 5-6 binders full of paperwork from orientation, other classwork, various inservices. What do you recommend I keep? I would like to get rid of all of it! I know educating the RNs will change so it's not worth holding on to all these papers. As far as paperwork that came along when I was hired, how much and what do you save? Thanks so much! (I did a search and couldn't find anything similar to what I am asking here.)

Thanks for the thoughts. I am also on the fence about taking a travel assignment or moving permanently. I am looking at DC specifically b/c my family is there. I am concerned about getting placed on a bad assignment or in a weaker hospital. I have worked in a hospital for 3+ yrs with computerized charting and am trying to get prepared that the travel hosp will only have paper. Anyway. Thanks for the thoughts, everyone!

THanks so much for the info!

I recommend Kaplan. See if you can speak with one of the NCLEX teachers, they know what's up and may even share with you some old questions.------

Thanks everyone for writing back. I still haven't received my scrubs from Jasco and I called them again (I placed the order on 2/21). I spoke with a manager who said she would look into it and get back to me but I have not heard from her. She didn't offer any kind of discount for my trouble. Bye!

Thanks for letting me know!

I posted the other day about some problems I had with Jasco. I can't find that post. I called Jasco again today because my order is STILL not here. I am so mad because now I have to go buy more scrubs so that I don't have to keep wearing a mix of the 2 tops and 3 pants that I have. I would have driven up to Vernon Hills MYSELF to pick up this order. Beware if you purchase from Jasco. I purposefully bought more than $90 so I could qualify for the free shipping and they took advantage of me because that "free shipping" has taken 9 days so far (counting Mon-Sat). I called the other day and the cust. svc. rep. who answered the phone got an attitude with me. I had to plead w/her to be transferred to her manager. The Mgr. told me some line about processing time that's not included in the shipping time. How come the shipping time is quoted as 3-5 days? -- Because they don't add in the processing time! How was I to know they tack on 1-3 days for processing if I didn't ask? Plus, the free shipping means US Postal Service and that means it'll take more time. (Way to go, Jasco, sacrificing happy customers because they don't want to pay higher shipping rates on customers who purchase enough to qualify for free shipping.) My order was placed: 2/21/07 My order shipped from Vernon Hills, IL (I live on the north side of Chicago): 2/28 My order was "mailed" at the USPS (picked up by the USPS): 3/3 Arrival: ???? It's really too bad that I have had this poor experience with them. Don't they realize I'll tell the new RNs I work with -- not to mention the ppl on allnurses.com -- that this has happened to me? I just wish I had found this post earlier because I didn't know all these other people had had such terrible experiences with Jasco. **No offense to the USPS. I am happy with their service.

I have been doing some research and decided on Jasco Uniforms jascouniform.com . I just found out though, that they have a processing time which doesn't count in the shipping time for each order. You might want to check that out when you do your own research. I didn't know that shipping didn't include that. I don't know if other companies work like that but Jasco admitted they don't post that on the website -- they say they're in the process of changing it now. I wouldn't have known that unless I asked. Let me know if you have questions. Good luck.