Spotty44

From what I've experienced, the market is still pretty bad. I graduated in August of 2010 and it took me about 5 months to find a job. I finally found one in a SNF (not ideal, but it was a job). After 10 months of sticking it out in a SNF, I started applying elsewhere. I found it very difficult to get in with a major hospital system, even though I had close to 10 years of healthcare experience, plus a B.S. in a different field and currently working on an RN to BSN program. After some diligent searching though, I was able to find my dream job in outpatient orthopedics. I've been in my current position for almost 3 months now, and I LOVE it!

I'm a fairly new nurse (been practicing for a year), though I'm not completely new to the world of orthopedics. I have a B.S. degree in Kinesiology and spent 8 years working as a physical therapy aide before nursing school. My dream job was to work in outpatient orthopedics and after 10 months of sticking it out in a SNF, I finally landed a fantastic job working for an orthopedic surgeon in his office! I've been there for about a month now and am fitting in nicely. However, because I'm the only nurse in the office (it's a practice of 6 physicians and 3 PAs, but my physician is the only one that has a nurse....and it's a new position) and I've never really been exposed to this specific setting before, I can't help but wonder how what I do compares to other clinic ortho nurses out there. Any other outpatient ortho RNs willing to give me an idea of what their job responsibilities entail and what a typical day is like?

I'm a newer nurse (only been working for 5 months) and work in a skilled nursing facility. One of my patients is on hospice and nearing the end of life and this is my first experience with a hospice patient that is probably close to death. I know that apnea is common towards the end, but everything I've read and learned seems to imply that the apnea is consistent. Over the course of about 24 hours, the pt developed apnea only while sleeping, but when she is woken up her breathing is about 20/min (she is arousable, although drowsy and will respond verbally, but not appropriately, which is probably a combination of severe dementia, morphine, and probably hypoxia as well) . Is apnea only during sleep common at the end of life? I only work night shift, and I've known this patient since before she was put on hospice and she hasn't had a problem with sleep apnea in the past....

Thank you guys for your encouragement! I just wanted to pop back in to say that everything is JUST fine!! My second day of orientation felt much better, I've finished my 10 days of orientation and last night was my second night on my own, and I'm doing well! Still sometimes feel like I don't know anything, but my coworkers are very knowledgeable and willing to help.

And even then it's still not a piece of cake. I worked at prov while in school and heard they were giving prov scholars the run around when it came to placing them in jobs. I couldn't even be transferred to a nursing position after having worked there for three years. They're on a hiring freeze and focused on shuffling around existing nursing staff. 5.5 months after graduating, I finally found a job with another company.

After 5 and a half months of searching, I FINALLY found a job at a SNF. I've been super excited, even though it wasn't the job I was hoping for. I had my first night of orientation last night and, even though the staff seems great and supportive, I felt SUPER overwhelmed (and I'm not even on my own yet)! Most of my clinicals were in the med-surg area, and having 15-17 patients/shift is much different than having 4 patients! There's so much to do and keep track of and I feel slow because I don't know any of the residents. I came home feeling really anxious, when my husband asked me how my night was, I just wanted to cry. Of course, a contributing factor is that this is the first time I've ever worked nights, so I'm trying to get used to that as well. I didn't sleep well today because of my anxiety. I know I'm probably being too hard on myself, it was just my first night. I just feel like I need some encouragement that it will get better. I have 9 years of previous experience in the medical field and always performed extremely well in clinicals, so I know that I CAN do this.

Portland, OR. Took 5.5 months to secure a job I will be working in a small skilled nursing facility in Vancouver, WA. I work for a large hospital in Portland, and I couldn't even get hired there as a new grad. I interviewed at 4 places before the offer.

I've worked as an aide in physical therapy for 8 years, including all through nursing school. The biggest issue is that I went to "on-call" status when I started school. Obviously I wasn't expecting to have to search high and low for 5 months after getting my license (I was licensed 9/2010 and I'm still looking), so I'm still "on-call" trying to scrounge up what hours I can. I've cross trained to work in different areas so I've been getting 30-40 hours per week, but I don't have benefits. Lucky for me, a full time employee in an admin assistant position just left and they've approached me to see if I'd be willing to take it. They're willing to take me on full time, even though they know I could be leaving at any time. I I work for a major hospital in Portland, OR, and haven't even been able to get them to hire me as an RN. I've had 50+ applications with them and one interview, which I was passed over for an experienced RN (can't argue with that I guess, the nurse manager at least called me and told me that I interviewed well and encouraged me to keep trying). Outside my employer, I've had 100+ applications and two interviews. I'm starting an online RN to BSN program next month, so at least my looming student loans will go back into deferral, but I'm barely paying the bills right now!

I made flashcards for the most common drug suffixes and then read over the various classifications, paying attention to unique side effects and characteristics of drug classes. Honestly though, I find pharm overwhelming and it is one of my weaknesses. I'm usually only able to learn and retain certain side effects if the side effect is uniquely tied to the med. I just took (and passed) the NCLEX last week and I think that the flashcards I made helped; although I didn't have much pharm on my test (whew).

One of my classmates was actually informed about the "trick" from the guy at PearsonVue who checked her in for her test......so even they know about it...

State standards have probably changed since your mom graduated nursing school....that was almost 30 years ago! In fact, the difficulty of the NCLEX/passing standard has changed several times since then! Our school instituted an exit exam this year because the prior year students did HORRIBLE on the NCLEX and our program director got a little talking to by the state board of nursing. No nursing school wants to be put on probation because a sufficient number of students can't pass the NCLEX on the first try. If used properly (and I do know that there are some schools that don't use exit exams properly), I see no problem with an exit exam. In fact, I see only benefit. I want to be given the BEST chance to pass the NCLEX on the first try, if that means I need to take an exit exam or take part in a review course, then so be it. Our exit exam was in the form of the ATI predictor. We had to get a certain percentage in order to "pass". It was a slightly complex system, but our school wouldn't let us "fail" the class that the test was required for. We just had to do remediation until they would pass our name onto the board of nursing. None of us had to worry though, we all passed on the first try!

You can also check Craigslist in your area.....I found a full set that someone was giving away for FREE a few months ago!

That's a tricky situation. Even though medical marijuana is legalized in Oregon, employers can still fire an employee for testing positive (happened to my brother-in-law), and it can probably land you in hot water with your nursing school. I would think that even though you have a prescription for Marinol, you could still end up in trouble if you test positive because you can't prove that you *don't* smoke marijuana....testing positive is testing positive. Some clinical sites around here require a clean drug test before you can be a student there. I'm an Oregon student and my school only required a drug test if we were assigned to a clinical facility that required a test. Also, if under suspicion, they can require a random drug test at any time. Drug testing extends beyond just school, many hospitals in the area require a clean test before they will hire you and can require a random test as a requirement of employment. Especially if you're involved in an on the job accident. Honestly, I'd see if you can find an alternative to Marinol (although I'm sure you've probably tried everything). Until the laws are more concrete, you could risk getting kicked out of nursing school or not being able to get a job/getting fired....and the law won't be on your side unfortunately.

I'm going to be finishing my final clinical rotation next week and wanted to give my preceptor a small gift and a thank you card. Problem is, I have no clue what to get him. Obviously flowery baskets from bath and body works, etc are out because he's a guy. The only thing I can think of is a gift card to McDonalds (he stops by there EVERY morning for a cup of coffee)....it seems so impersonal to me, but would it be okay? He is also in the military and does triathlons. Also, there is another nurse on the floor who picked me up for a day when my preceptor called in sick. Would it be appropriate for me to get her a small gift and a thank you card? Just a thank you card? Any advice would be appreciated!