dancingdoula

I was sent home halfway through a shift and put on strict bed rest by my midwife at 28 weeks due to strong contractions that would not subside unless I was laying down. Three weeks later my midwife wrote a VERY SPECIFIC note about what activities I was allowed to do (including being on my feet for no more than 15 minutes per hour) and I tried to get a temporary position in the administration office doing filing, reconciling PIXIS meds etc... but there were already too many other RNs on "lite duty" so they had nothing for me and I was forced to go out on LOA. If you have complications and have to go out early, you still qualify for state disability. It's a pay cut and takes a good 6 weeks to get your first check, but I will be paid by the state until my child is 12 weeks old. The biggest bummer is I will lose health insurance after being out the first 12 weeks and have to pay COBRA for the end of my leave but the health of myself and my child is far more important than any temporary financial difficulties. Now at 36 weeks I'm going a bit batty sitting around all the time but the end and that perfect prize are near. As a NICU nurse I can tell you first hand it's way better to go out early and take it easy instead of pushing through and winding up with your precious little one as a patient! Good luck to you!

I'm about to be a very bad patient. I'm due to give birth to my second child in the next 6 weeks. Had planned a midwife assisted home birth (yes, even as an NICU nurse I still think it's the best way!) but due to complications I'm being forced to deliver with an OB in the hospital. Trouble is, I don't believe their reasons for calling me high risk are legit... anyway, I just hope they don't call security and call me "combative" just because I'm educated and opinionated!!! The doc at least is a bit forewarned, I just feel sorry for the nurses who have to put up with my demands!

I work in NICU so not a lot of heavy lifting there;) As far as contact... it depends on the bug. No H1N1 or CMV patients but MRSA or VRE are fine if you use your precautions correctly. I'd just be careful and sit as much as you possibly can (LOL) I just had to go out at only 28 weeks because my uterus would go into spasm just from being on my feet too much (3 12 hour shifts in a row did it:( ) Now I'm on strict bed rest... it's not worth it to put your baby at risk! Take the easy way whenever possible!!!

I got the flu shot once and was sick for 5 months afterward. Of course it is an inactive virus but it can still deplete your immune system... I got EVERYTHING else. I had a new virus every 2 weeks! I got the flu last year and was sick for 2 weeks period. I think I'd rather take my chances!

My facility recently opened a whole unit dedicated for this purpose. We have 14 rooms that are currently being utilized and another 6 or so that will be available soon. Unfortunately, not enough parents use this resource:(

"Infants who received donor human milk were three times less likely to develop NEC (RR 0.34; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.12 to 0.99), and four times less likely to have confirmed NEC (RR 0.25; 95% CI 0.06 to 0.98) than infants who received formula milk." http://fn.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/88/1/F11 I'm still looking for the 79% stat I read, I may have to ask the lactation consultant at work. Why on earth is donor milk illegal in NYC??? At the facility where I'm from in the Bay Area we had a milk bank on site and the docs would just write an order for it as if it were a med. There was unfortunately a short supply so only the littlest peanuts without their own Mommy's milk would get it. Parents just sign a consent form like they would for blood products. Sadly, the facility I'm at now is pretty backwards on the BF thing, I'm trying to help change that. The benefits of donor milk so far out weigh the risks! I'd much rather give donor milk than say, amphoterrible!!!

I have read studies that state that formula fed babies are 79% more likely to develop NEC than EBM fed babies. With those kind of statistics, why can't we mandate that EBM be used for our at risk population??? I know, you can't force a woman to pump but using donor milk and persuading more mommies seems like a no brainer.

Obviously, from my user name, I was (am?) a doula before I became an RN. Every nurse I worked with as a doula was happy to have me there because I approached them in a non threatening way,( brought them doughnuts even;), and took a lot of the burden from them in managing the laboring mother's pain. I always viewed my role as supporter and advocate, only educating my clients, not making decisions for them. I tried to stay out of the way of the medical team and never had any conflicts. There was one doc who didn't like me much because I advocated for my client but the nurses where always supportive. I suppose if you get someone in there who has her own agenda there could be problems but I would assume that is a rare instance. As a NICU nurse I don't get to work with doulas but I'm sure someday I'll return to my first love of L&D!!!

I'm at a hospital in Central CA. Base rate $27.52 + $4.50 night diff + $2 weekend diff... oh, and this is the new grad rate, hoping to get a bump in a couple of months!! Oh, and this is NICU.

I'm so sorry to hear your plight. My heart goes out to you!!! I know you are a strong woman because you are a nurse. Don't give up!!!

What's the rationale your hospital gives? I've heard we have a new policy in our NICU that all babies get it, especially if mom's Hep status is unknown, but since I work nights I never have had to. I also hear they're trying to make it policy that we don't have to have consent from the parents for ANY vax which makes me pretty uncomfortable.

I know this thread is a bit old but I just wanted to say that your words have helped me a bit. I am a new graduate nurse, 2 months into orientation in the NICU. I found out yesterday that our 11 week pregnancy is not viable. I'm going for a D&C tomorrow. Since I'm new, I don't feel like I can afford to take any more time off after the procedure so I'll be going for a 12 hour night shift the night following the D&C. I'm in a new town where I don't know anyone at a new job and I'm really heartbroken. Just knowing there are other nurses who have gone through the same thing helps a little. Thank you. Shannon

There is a direct entry school in Seattle where you apprentice with a midwife and travel to Seattle for one week a month for classes. Everyone I know who has gone this route went there. Not sure about the religious thing. I do, however, highly recommend going the CNM route as Suzanne mentioned above. I wanted to be a midwife for most of my life and was urged by several direct entry nurses to just to the RN path since they all went back to school after years of midwifing to get that certificate. It gives you more autonomy to practice more places, more credibility, and in my experience, more skills for when something goes wrong. Good luck!

I'm not sure if you're asking me or not but, no job yet. I whined to my mentor and she sicked the director of our nursing program on the local CHW. Their new grad program is full but they said they might consider bringing me in outside of the normal time because of my L&D and NICU experience (I've been a Doula for 7 years and did my preceptorship in a level III NICU). I just finally decided to relax about the finding a job thing and focus on the NCLEX since I test in a little over 2 weeks from now. There will be plenty of time to stress about a job then and my husband has assured me we won't be evicted for at least another month:eek: I have been discouraged from starting in LTC because new grads tend to get stuck there since you don't get acute care experience. I suppose if it comes down to it I could start in a SNF and just work until I can get into a new grad program this summer. It seems really unprofessional, I know, but I gotta keep a roof over my toddler's head! I'm just trying to take it one day at a time, pass the NCLEX, and then hopefully I'll get lucky!

I'm in the same boat as you. I've been applying everywhere in and out of state and can't even get an interview. The closest I got was a telephone interview for one position with 156 applicants! I need to provide for my family but have the same reservations about LTC. I wonder if even sub-acute rehab might be a bit better but it's still not acute care experience which is what the hospitals seem to want you to have when applying for SNII positions down the road. I've been told to come back in mid-April by multiple hospitals who say there might be something available in June but they're just too impacted with new grads right now. Would it be totally unprofessional to take a LTC position for 4 months until an acute care position came up for a new grad?

Renting for at least the next 2 years. Yes, the bay area is impacted. I did get an interview here for a position that had 156 applicants but I'm still waiting to hear. I'm still looking here first just because the cost and stress of moving to another area compounds the decrease in pay scale... I apologize if I sound like a snob, it just occured to me that I'm coming off that way. I just want to find a decent community to raise my family in, a job I love with awesome pay, in place I can afford to live comfortably. I'm probably just fantasizing about my own utopia but if it exists, I'll find it!!! Thanks for your input everybody!:cheers:

Thanks for your input guys... The phone interview went well and they want to do another one next week with the hiring manager but the pay is lousy. They're offering $24 per hour for new grads plus a 17% night shift diff. Problem is that for a similar position 20 minutes from me, I would be making about $90,000 per year compared to $50,000 per year at TMC. Even with the cost of living/housing index it wouldn't be a smart move... so long as I can find SOMETHING here... but even LTC starts new grads out at $32 base pay. I just don't understand why in so many place throughout the country they are willing to pay ridiculous sign on bonuses but the hourly rate sucks. Hospitals wouldn't be so desperate for nurses if they would all just pay us what we're worth! Not to mention institute mandatory staffing ratios like we have here in Cali. You nurses who work without these ratios are amazing, true heros!

Hi there! I just graduated here in the San Francisco Bay Area and I'm having a tough time finding work. The market is saturated with new grads and I'm picky...I want NICU or L&D...so I'm working with a head hunter. She's got me a phone interview with the recruiter from Tucson Medical Center for a new grad position in the NICU. They're offering a pretty sweet relocation package but I'm more concerned about the day in and out. New grads in my area are starting out at $45 base pay with another 15% diff! I know the cost of living would be better in AZ but I'm trying to figure out if the drop in pay would be worth it. If we move out of state my hubby would have to try and find work until he established residency before he can go back to school for his teaching credential without paying out of state fees. Any input or advice would be appreciated! I have the telephone interview this afternoon!:innerconf

Hi! I graduated December 21st and will test February 26th. I just finished the Kaplan review yesterday and unfortunately I waited too long to PM Suzanne so she can't help me. I just barely passed my rediness test from Kaplan so I'm glad I've got 5 more weeks to study! I think I'll review all the Kaplan stuff possible, then at least do the first step of Suzanne's plan. I've also heard good things about Frye's 3300 nclex bullets so I'll try that too. Any other advice??? My school didn't do HESI or ATI or anything to help us pass, really irritating! I just wish I could focus exclusively on the NCLEX instead of being distracted by the fact that I can't find a job!!! Oh well, one day at a time, eh?:innerconf

I graduated December 21st. I'm taking Kaplan now and plan to test in February. I'm not in a rush since I've been looking/researching jobs since last June and still haven't even gotten an interview. Half of my class have already gotten positions but they are almost all in Telemetry. I'm hoping for NICU or L&D or anything in those general areas but every position I apply for has 1)already been filled or 2)never existed in the first place and was posted by mistake!!! That's happened 3 times! I'm almost ready to take a job in a SNF just to pay the bills until an acute position comes along. I was told for years that when I graduated I'd be beating the recruiters off with sticks but that couldn't be farther from the truth! I live in the Santa Cruz area and have applied in 5 counties!!!! It took me 10 years with multiple set-backs to get this far and I'm starting to wonder if it was worth it! Sorry about the rant, it's just been a very emotional reality check!

I agree that the professional style take a long time to break in and I highly recommend trying on the exact pair you're going to buy first. I tried on a pair in the wrong color and special ordered a pair of the same size in white and they didn't fit as well. Since they are hand made there is some variation from pair to pair. I'd go for one of the the mary jane styles if you can. As a plus sized girl myself I found the Danskos to be WAY better than anything else I've tried! Good luck!

I worked in 3 Club Med villages as a massage therapist and choreographer in the mid 90's. At my first village, the RN was my roomate and buddy. She only made $800 USD per month while room and board were covered. I would only recommend this for the very young though because you are on for 24 hours, then off 24 hours and during your "off" time you are required to hang out and entertain the guests and unless you get the guests to buy your drinks for you, that comes out of your paycheck! It's really a 24/7 job. No one does it for the money but it was a good experience for me as a 19 year old! :mchmrdnc: I had friends who worked a cruise line and I think it would be a better gig since you are payed more and not expected to "fraternize" with the guests but then you're stuck in a tiny room at sea for months at a time...

I'm 32 and will graduate in 6 weeks!!! I was a deep tissue massage therapist for 14 years and I'm ready for a change!

I'm sure it depends on the state you're in. I completed my first year of my ADN program and then had a baby 3 weeks before I was supposed to return for my second year. I chose to take time off to stay at home even though my school would not hold a spot for me. I essentially had to wait for someone to drop out of 3rd semester in order for me to get in so I inquired about sitting for the LVN exam so I would at least not lose everything I'd worked so hard for in case I didn't get back in to the RN program. The director told me I could not sit for the exam unless I had a minimum of 5 years experience on the floor as a CNA before nursing school.:angryfire I did not have the experience but fortunately my school got a grant and let me back in 18 months later. I now graduate in December! Yipee!!! This is in Calfornia, BTW

I don't know if Kaplan Review does LVN or not but I would think so. They do review for NCLEX-RN and many other test prep courses for other fields. There is a Kaplan Review center in San Jose and probably more around the Bay. Just google them for their website. Good Luck!!! :)