PennyLane

My agency knows me by name right away when I call. The founder and president of the company is an RN and knows me by name. They treat their employees with respect, listen to our concerns, and are just about the nicest people I've ever met. They know my preferred facilities and do everything possible to make me happy! Also I dictate which days and shifts I'm available, and the calendar is online. They offer competitive pay with benefits, offer free CPR and ACLS is reasonable. They have a huge Christmas party every year. I feel much more loyal to my agency than I did for the hospital I used to work for.

I'm an ER agency nurse, and I worked one tele shift to see what it was like. It's VERY different! The facility where I was working had computer charting, so that slowed me down a lot. And I had to figure out things like...where the MARs are kept, how to know when there's a new order on the chart, chart-checks, using a particular color pen to check things off, and many other little things that I was very unfamiliar with. I had to remember to check for my meds, because if they're not in your pt's bin or pyxis access, you can't get them! Many things that I'm used to having on-hand or doing a certain way in the ER were not done on this floor. It was a bit difficult for me. Luckily my pts were fairly stable and I made it through my 8 hours. By the end of the day I finally had all my am assessments done! Luckily I got my 10 meds in by 11, somehow. Good luck! You need to organize your day in a very different way from working in the ER where you basically go with the flow and take care of your pts as their conditions change. On the floor you have to organize ahead of time.

Hi! I'm a full-time agency nurse, mainly ER, but I also do some other areas from time-to-time. You can't beat the variety or the scheduling! Oh, and the money is nice too, but for me it's not everything. I'm sure you'll like it!!

Absolutely! I should know, I'm one of them. I put myself through nursing school with a mortgage and pets to take care of, and I survived just fine. I survived after graduating and starting to work, and things are even better now that I'm working for a local nursing agency. BTW I think Baltimore is a great place to live. Much cheaper than other East Coast cities, and lots of great restaurants, bars, arts, and only a 15-min drive to great hiking and swimming spots! We have a little bit of everything here. I used to live in Boston and it was soooo expensive. I'm grateful my mortgage is so cheap--cheaper than my rent was!

We have to start the some of the paperwork within 8 hours, and the complete database has to be finished in 24 hours. So if they're really boarding in the ER for days, yes, we do the MARs etc. But if they're only there for a few hours, I don't do it unless I really have the time. The most frustrating thing is filling out all the MARs, doing all the paperwork while you know your other patients need attending to, getting it all finished, and then--voila!--a bed has been assigned. :angryfire

I don't understand what you mean by knit items. As in a sweatshirt or cardigan sweater? How about a cotton shirt--is that considered a knit item?

I, too, switched from IT to nursing. I had to work some 3rd shifts in IT, years ago. I HATED it. Now I'm an RN working dayshift 7a-7p 3 shifts/week. I work in the ER and we have separate day and night staff. I was working 11a-11p for a while, but I told my manager I wanted to switch off, and luckily we had a new crew of nurses start after me that filled those slots.

I live with my long-term boyfriend. We share the cleaning 50/50. That way we can each have a few days of slacking off while the other one cleans up behind. Then vice-versa.

We're a busy community ED. 63,000 visits/year. Each RN has 3 assigned rooms, sometimes 4 if we're short-staffed. Ideally each tech has 6 rooms (works with 2 RNs). We will also put ppl in the hallway, but usually we have float or hallway RNs for these patients. The charge RN never has an assignment. We have 2 triage RNs, and an 8-bed Fast Track area with 2 RNs and one tech. It works OK except when you spend an hour in the room with a nrsg home patient covered with poop, pee, multiple decubs, trach, vent, etc etc etc, only to come out and find you have 2 other new patients and orders waiting in the rack. The other nightmare is finding all 3 patients up for discharge at the same time.

Prob 2 days or so. We've also had pts discharged from the ED. It depends on the time of year. It's also not unusual for psych patients to be in the ED for the weekend waiting for transfer to an inpt facility.

I love yoga. Luckily there are two yoga studios within walking distance of my house :) Lucky me. I'm trying Bikram Yoga (hot yoga) for the first time on Friday... I'm a little apprehensive b/c I don't always do well with heat, but I've heard great things about it...that you can go further in your stretches in the heat.

I have had this said to me. But never when a breach of duty and/or patient harm occurred. It has been over minor things...delays in seeing the MD, going to Xray, etc. Everyday things in a busy ER. People don't seem to realize we have to prioritize constantly. I haven't come up with a good response. It does put me on the defensive, though. People seem to think you can sue over anything nowadays, while in actuality there has to be a clear breach of duty, which injured a patient, etc.

I also have GI problems, but they are of the upper GI variety. I would strongly recommend acupuncture. That has helped me more than anything. I'm now down to about 1/2 of the meds I used to take, and I can now eat and drink the things that used to cause me pain.

I'd recommend areas around the JHU Homewood campus. You can take the shuttle from there. Charles Village and Hampden are safe and affordable.

Please spend some time following an RN in the field you want to work in. Shadow him/her for multiple shifts, if you can. Find out for sure! Although I know I won't be doing this forever, I DON'T regret becoming a nurse, or any of the course work that came with it. It's a great stepping-stone to other careers. I can go on to get a Master's in a variety of health-based or science-based areas. Acupuncture, for example, has been on my mind for the last year or so. Or I could take my license and work in a clinic, work with research studies, go into legal nursing, forensic nursing, etc. There are many possibilities.