carluvscats

Hello JLK, I am a recent hire to the OR after 1 year of pediatric home health experience (upon passing boards). At my hospital, there is no "official" internship or residency program. The training/orientation is 6ish months long; all in the actual...

ChicagoNIT, I recently started in the OR after working 1 year in pediatric home health (no floor experience). From what I've seen so far, floor nursing has virtually nothing to do with OR (performance wise, that is). Several nurses I'm working with...

Merry Christmas from northwestern Iowa, in the middle of a blizzard!

So sorry............. sometimes life is just.... hard. Here's hoping you can embrace your singleness this Christmas (and all the possibilities it holds!) and find a measure of peace. (((((((((( hugs )))))))))).

Hi all, I just accepted a position as an OR nurse and wow, am I excited! A bit of background.... graduated May 2008, took boards Oct. 2008, started doing pediatric home health (by then the hospital jobs had dried up) in December 2008 and now here I ...

Thanks for the response. I have a sneaking suspicion that there are a ton of things I will be learning. :) It is all at once exciting and humbling! And, thanks for the tip about the shoes! I shall go shopping!

You may want to check out the first sticky under the First Year after Licensure under the general tab at the top. There seems to be some good leads. Good luck!

Doctors Without Borders has been around a long time. You may want to check out "Volunteer Nursing" under the specialty tab at the top; seems to be a lot of info there. Good luck!

For the long-term, it could work out well for you. I guess it just depends on how much stress and hardship you are willing to put up with in the short-term, for the sake of your dream. You say that your passion is education; there is a need for goo...

If your heart, as you say, is telling you that nursing is it, then stick with that! This profession is ever-evolving, and in 3 years the job market will probably loosen up considerably. Regarding working part-time: I graduated with a gal who had...

Check out the first sticky under "First Year after Licensure" (under the General tab). Good luck!

I am thankful for the 8 week old, 2 lb. baby kitty in my lap that we just adopted over the weekend. She and her sister were dumped off at the local Petsmart in September, and a local rescue group took them in, bottle fed and loved them, then put the...

My husband and his friends used to joke that one of them should name a future offspring "Excretia", to poke fun at all the nonsensical names of this day and age.

"A powerful positive influence can throw any negative wheels off balance. Gratitude and a positive 'tude are contagious; I'm infected amidst my own personal chaos!" Congratulations on the job and self-inflicted infection. :)

The unfortunate reality for all of us is that it is an employer's job market now, and it doesn't look as though it will change any time soon. Your wife will probably just be happy to get ANY job; I have heard that Florida is one of the harder hit ar...

I plugged a g-tube giving Prevacid one time. Thankfully, I was able to unclog it pretty easily with the little tool and some flushes. I learned from that point on to gently turn the syringe (up and down shaking motion) while giving the med. The co...

Non-smoker, registered Independent but leans right. Would prefer less government altogether.

No no no, a thousand times no, you are NOT too old to go back to school! If you are financially able, a BSN would probably be your best bet, but you can always go back for that after you pass boards with an ADN. Community colleges are typically ver...

Thank you. I have an OR interview next week and I think your article will be helpful. :)

OP, you might want to post in the NP section; there are a lot of qualified and helpful folks over there!

Leonurus, you might also want to check into pediatric home health. I do shift work and have in fact stayed with the same client since I started with the company (last December). I agree with the other posters, it is definitely hard to leave my work...

Awwwwwwwwww.......... thanks for sharing your story. I needed that today.

I think as long as you care for your patients as you would want to be cared for, you will be fine. You will not be performing abortions. You can tailor your career to suit your particular interests/passion; nursing offers a wide variety of specialt...

I work Tues-Thurs 7am-6pm and e/o weekend (3p-9p Sat. and 7:30a-2:30p Sun.). The pay, since I'm from the great state of Iowa, is the lowest (or near the bottom) in the country! No shift differentials, either. The agency I work for offers a "pseudo...

Congrats, Tammie, and may you find happiness once again at your new job!