Dawn_M_74

Hello all! Well, in May I am going up to Warren, Maine to interview for a full-time RN position at Maine State Prison. I'm very excited since I've been working LTC since I got out of nursing school. The pay is good & the benefits are pretty great too (way better than what I'm getting here in western KY). I was just wondering if anyone here knew anything about the prison itself? I'm very excited but I won't get my hopes up too high until I actually go up there & see the place. I've been reading all the comments here about correctional nursing & it definitely sounds like a good career. Thanks for all the info. Hopefully, this will be a place where I will finally find my calling. LTC is not where I want to be. I've always wanted to be a trauma nurse & you do get some of that in the prison. Except you send them out asap! Anyway. wish me luck! Take care, Dawn

That's all I need to know. I'll let the recruiter know that I pass! Take care all! Dawn

Hello all, I'm a new RN (less than 6 months experience) & I have been considering a move to Dumas AR to work at Delta Memorial Hospital. I know it is a very small hospital which I feel would be a good fit for a newbie like me. I understand that it is a small rural area which is fine with me. I would like any info that any of you may have on Dumas & the surrounding area as well as the hospital. I know that Pine Bluff is about 40 mins away so I would be fine with living in an area half-way between Dumas & Pine Bluff. I would like to know the good, the bad, & the ugly about the area. I live in a small rural area & have lived in small towns all my life so another small town doesn't really bother me. I just need a change from western KY & I understand that Pine Bluff has a pretty decent 4-yr college. Thanks!!! Dawn

Thanks for the info. Were the ratios bad? Dawn

Hello all, I'm a new grad RN that has been offered a position at Chambersburg hospital in Chambersburg, PA. They have an 18 month new grad program where you spend 1 day per week in a classroom & 2 days on the floor with a preceptor. The pay is much better than here in western KY & the hospital sounds like a decent place to work. I also like the looks of the town & the surrounding area. However, I wanna know the good, the bad, & the ugly from people who actually live & work in the area & any nurses who work at the Chambersburg hospital. I know that it snows alot there but I love snow & cold weather so that's not an issue for me. I'm also looking at places to live in the area. I'm coming with my mother, 3 dogs, & a cat in tow so I need a place with some space & a fenced in back yard. Any neighborhoods that I should avoid? I don't mind living outside of town & driving 20 miles or so to work if I have to. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all!! Dawn

Well, here's the latest....my director attempted to move me back to the floor I hated. I told her "no way" & that I would go to another department but not that floor. So she said either I go back or I'm fired...so I ended up quitting. Another new grad RN who went to school with me had the same experience & she also quit. I went over my director's head & the hospital's HR people said that they didn't have any other positions open for me...yet on their website they have 3 pages of openings! This same hospital also has been running ads in our local newspaper. I have come to believe that it's not me. The hospital is just a very poor place to work. Anyway, I've been looking on-line for hospitals that have new grad programs & I've heard from some that I am really interested in. Take care, Dawn

The latest: Well, I'm on a different floor. It is a general medical, oncology, & peds floor. I am MUCH, MUCH happier now. I have a wonderful preceptor & the staff on this floor are really wonderful. Most of them are seasoned RNs/LPNs & they have been very kind & have offered me help & encouragement, so things are looking up for me. Thanks to everyone who commented!! Take care, Dawn

My Gosh how I relate to this post! I am a new nurse (just graduated in May; passed NCLEX in July) & I feel so dumb 99% of the time. I feel like I don't know what to do during certain situations (like when a pt asks me about certain medical procedures/tests or brand new meds that I haven't heard of & forgot to look up before I take the med to the pt:banghead:) & that I just don't have enough time to get everything done during my shift (7a-7p). I'm very fortunate that the floor I'm on now has lots of supportive RNs/LPNs who know that I'm a brand new nurse & they really go out of their way to help me out. I can ask just about any of them anything so I'm very blessed. I know it's gonna take at least a year before I start to feel comfortable as a nurse....I just try to remember that fact whenever I feel overwhelmed &/or dumb(which is most of the time). Take care, Dawn

Howdy! I'm in western, KY. I live in Metropolis, IL but work at Lourdes hospital in Paducah, KY. I just graduated in May of this year & passed my NCLEX in July. I'm still on orientation at Lourdes. I started on the 5th floor which is a surgical floor & hated it! Now I'm on 4th which is a general medical, oncology, & peds floor. I'm am MUCH happier now. Take care, Dawn

UPDATE: Well, I went to my manager & she said not to panic that if I need another week or two that was fine but that it was normal to feel overwhelmed. I told her I knew that but I wasn't learning anything because my preceptor had no time to teach me anything. She just kinda blew me off. The hospital policy dictates that you must be in a position for a minimum of 6 months before you can transfer so I am looking for another job somewhere else. I'm considering going to LTC just so I can have some time to learn some of the basics. As far as staffing goes, there are 2 major hospitals in my small town area & they both suffer from extreme staffing issues. Both hospitals allow for 6 weeks orientation with 1 week of that spent in the classroom. I'll let everyone know what happens. Thanks to everyone who replied. I appreciate the comments & advice. Take care, Dawn

Hello all, I need your help & your advice. I just started a 7a-7p position at a hospital close to my home; it is a very busy vascular & general surgery floor. I have been there for about 2 1/2 weeks. Our orientation is 6 weeks total w/1 week in the classroom so I'm actually only orientated on the floor for 5 weeks. My preceptor seems to think that she can show me something once & that I should be able to do it & she is often so busy that she doesn't show me anything at all. She didn't even show me the basics like where the time clock is, or where the schedule is, when it comes out, etc.! She says that I should know how to set up IVs & IVPBs yet she hasn't shown me what tubing to use or anything. She does it so fast that I still don't get it. On Monday we had 9 patients & 2 of them had just come back from surgery. One had an endoarterectomey (or something like that) with a vein patch. The surgical nurse said that he had 'slight' fluid overload (this guy had a history of COPD). When I went in & assessed him his lungs they sounded wet. I told my preceptor & she said to keep an eye on him but then the 2nd patient came up & he was receiving a blood transfusion & she sent me off to assess him. She never showed me what paperwork I need to get from the surgical nurse when patients come up from surgery...she has never shown me how to admit a pt to our floor....or how to d/c a patient....or how to do a blood transfusion. When I went back & reassessed our COPD guy he was wheezing! She went in & looked at him & said "You're wheezing like crazy!" & that's it. Her idea of a patient assessment is to listen to their lungs & that's it. She doesn't even ask them if they are in pain or how they are feeling. Often, she only sees the pt once when she starts the shift & then not again until right before the shift ends. I have no idea how to read the doctors orders or how or when to call the doctor. She has never shown me where supplies are & what I need for each procedure. All she says is "go in the equipment room & find me ____" but I often don't know what she means or even where to begin my search. She hasn't shown me anything. I feel so overwhelmed & very stupid! I only have about 2 weeks left in my orientation & I am nowhere near able to deal with 9 patients. The avg on this floor is 7-8 but can be as high as 11. When we had 9 pts the other day, there were 21 pts total on our floor w/only 2 RNs & 1 LPN (not counting me ). HELP....am I just feeling overwhelmed because I'm a new RN or is this just a bad situation? I want to become a good nurse & I want to take excellent care of my pts but I don't feel that I can do that when I have no idea what to do & where to do it & I feel that we have too many pts per nurse to really give good care. What do you think I should do? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Love to all, Dawn