prairiecat

I have been working nites for 2 years now. I am no spring chicken and I have always been a nite person. My problem is I cannot sleep at nite anymore. Awake and sleepy all day, but go to bed and I am awake all nite. It can be 36 hours before I get to sleep. Needless to say it drives me crazy. Ambien helped until I developed angioedema whenever I took it. Worked last nite (Thursday), came home slept from 10 am till 3 pm.(Fri.) Now it is 4 am (Sat.) and I am still wide awake and I have a full day of activities ahead and company. Hopefully I will sleep tonight after the busy day, if not I will sleep all day Sunday. My body is whacked. My BP is high and I am gaining weight. The sleep problems were not bad when I was young, they seem to come with age Also, our shift differential is not much and the ratio at nite is now up to 7 patients per nurse. Time for a new job I think!

Let me ask; would YOU, a nurse enter the hospital being very ill, or requiring a serious surgery and have confidence that you would be taken care of properly. My mother was in the hosp. in NJ (she was an RN) and was very ill with cancer. She would not let me leave her side for fear they would kill her as unorganized and chaotic as the place was. I think, rather I know I would want one of my trusted friends/colleagues with me. How about you?

:madface:Amen, you said it all. Being female is such a disadvantage in almost all instances. Nursing was/is predominantly a female occupation and therefore commands less respect than ANY other male dominated occupation. The pay is better than in the past, but still I believe would be better if more men were in the field. Nursing and teaching have a lot in common. I was a teacher and left education for nursing at too old an age in my opinion, as nursing is an exhausting job to begin at 56 years of age. But I do enjoy it very much. That being said, the commonalities in the two professions exist in my opinion because both were predominantly female occupations. the disrespect I encountered from both male supervisors, coworkers, and students while teaching was literally sickening. Yes, I had good years and good supervisors, and great students, but I also encountered some that caused me tremendous anxiety. I believe that most all of this occurred because I was female and that made me a bit inferior. I do see some of this in nursing and the male nurses are cut a bit more slack so to speak. Because I am older I do not tolerate indiscretions from my patients. Families on the other hand can be a problem. Let's say I am becoming a master at placating them. To sum it up: if there is indeed a thing called reincarnation I am coming back as a man, big and strong let there be no doubt about it. LOL

Amen, you said it all. Being female is such a disadvantage in almost all instances. Nursing was/is predominantly a female occupation and therefore commands less respect than ANY other male dominated occupation. The pay is better than in the past, but still I believe would be better if more men were in the field. Nursing and teaching have a lot in common. I was a teacher and left education for nursing at too old an age in my opinion, as nursing is an exhausting job to begin at 56 years of age. But I do enjoy it very much. That being said, the commonalities in the two professions exist in my opinion because both were predominantly female occupations. the disrespect I encountered from both male supervisors, coworkers, and students while teaching was literally sickening. Yes, I had good years and good supervisors, and great students, but I also encountered some that caused me tremendous anxiety. I believe that most all of this occurred because I was female and that made me a bit inferior. I do see some of this in nursing and the male nurses are cut a bit more slack so to speak. Because I am older I do not tolerate indiscretions from my patients. Families on the other hand can be a problem. Let's say I am becoming a master at placating them. To sum it up: if there is indeed a thing called reincarnation I am coming back as a man, big and strong let there be no doubt about it. LOL

Still looking? Try Hill City Kansas. I am serious.

:yeah:Big HOORAY!!!!!!!! Received my license in the mail. I am awful old to be a new RN (56) but will give it my best shot! The "trick" worked for me. Good luck to everyone and study hard. My suggestion is to do Kaplan questions until you are crosseyed. They read exactly like the questions on the real test.

You all have convinced me. Thank you for the info. and encouraging words. As the site will NOT let me re register I am going to put my worry away and anxiously await my PASSING letter in the mail. Praise the Lord and may I now clean my house that has accumulated 2 1/2 years of dust and dirt. Thank you all again and good luck and prayers for all of you still waiting.

I tested in Kansas.

Do Thurs. and Fri. test takers have to wit for Mon.? Anybody know?????

I had like 15 pharm questions out of the 75 I took before it deemed me "DUMB" and shut off. A bunch of the pharm came at the very end so I feel real discouraged about passing. They wanted real obscure side effects to both common and not so common meds. No OB meds, no psych meds which I knew! Just all the ones I had NO idea about. What an awful experience to say nothing for my self esteem as I face the the days ahead......... Hurry Mon. or Tues. so I might know. I swear if I failed I will spend 8hrs./day the next 30 days memorizing the drug book. Oh I hope not........... I studied so hard for this test, did Kaplan, and put my whole life on hold. I was a "A" student thru nursing school and now I feel dumb as a post!

Gentimicin is another that is on there and know every side effect and nursing action.

Add plavix and Biaxin to that list.

I may have flunked this test yesterday cuz of the dumb med questions. If I did I will spend the next 30 days 8hrs./day memorizing my drug book. I was asked about meds and some real obscure side effects. Was doing great and all of a sudden the last 10 questions were pharm and I think I missed them all and then the blue screen of death. It's only time and money right? I will be the first of my class to fail if I indeed did fail. So far 60% have passed. I studied sooo hard, took Kaplan and put my whole llife on hold to study while my buddies never even did a practice question and they passed. I pray I passed. So. my advice, memorize the drug book if you have the time.

Chelsea, I tested yesterday and this morning I get the same response that you did. How you guys have to wait so long is cruel and unusual punishment. Good luck to you and I hope you hear really soon!!! Prairiecat

I have the same question. I received the same response. What ever are we to do? The wait is killing me. No one seems to be answering your quiestion. Help! Hey, Best of luck to you and I hope you passed. What has me really freaked out is that I was bombarded with pharm questions I knew nothing about from like #65 to 73. And at 75 it went BLIP! Blue screen of death? Oh dear I am a wreck LOL.