jcsinging

Hi all! I am about to move to the Gulf Coast of Florida from NJ. I am an LPN and will be looking for work soon after moving. Can anyone tell me, do hospitals in Florida hire LPNs? Also, what is the average hourly I should be asking for? Any help would be appreciated!

I am working on my RN degree via The College Network. (Tip - do NOT use the College Network) I failed Anatomy and Physiology II four times. To say the least, I was discouraged. The College Network told me I would now have to take Excelsior College's A&P exam. Excelsior is where my degree will come from. I was scared. I started over. Stopped using TCNs lame materials. Bought myself a used textbook and devised an entirely new way to study, which involved following Excelsior's outline of what you are expected to know,the quiet room at the library, a lot of note taking, chapter by chapter. I then typed those notes into Google Drive in outline form. I took Excelsior's test and got a A! I feel that I failed TCNs test for a reason. It wasn't really teaching me what I need to know. I learned SO MUCH MORE by forcing myself to grind through. In the end, I got an A!!!!!!! I succeeded on an immensely higher level than TCN was even asking. I now use this method for all my studying. PLease don't give up. Chemistry is DIFFICULT! You are not stupid. Do you hear me? You are NOT stupid! This course is difficult. Try try again!

Thanks everyone! I do really appreciate all of your input. I would love to vent to all of you about the flawed administration... but it would be, first of all, unprofessional, and secondly, one of you could BE the D.O.N. where I work! So not wise all around. Thanks to all! I'm going to sit tight for now, keep my head down and remember I am there as an advocate for my clients. I will also be putting feelers out for possibilities at the same time. Jumping ship isn't an option in today's economy.

Don't really want to go into great detail about it on line. I feel I've already said too much and could get myself into trouble. Suffice it to say that I'm considering leaving the facility but am unsure if this would be a smart move at this point. I realize that this stuff happens everywhere to some degree.

I am a relatively new nurse. I have 1 1/2 years of experience where I have learned an amazing amount. I love my job, I love my clients, but the D.O.N. is making all of our lives miserable. It's almost like she goes out of her way to make the working environment as difficult and ridiculous as possible. I have stayed 'out of the fray' for most of the time I have been working there, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to not allow frustration with the administration to seep into the working environment. My clients are amazing and wonderful and I love them, but I am considering looking elsewhere for work. Am I being rash in my judgement? Should I stick it out? I cannot see there being any change in administration any time soon.

Please try not to feel discouraged. I graduated a year ago. I've been working for 9 months and I learned an amazing amount of skills in this time. I will consider myself 'still learning' for quite some time. Don't be so hard on yourself. Nursing is tough, but it is so very rewarding. Try to remember you JUST graduated. You'll look back in a couple weeks and realize how far you have come in a short time. The beginning was the hardest time for me too. Keep on pushing forward. It does get better.

I started 6 months ago at a state facility for the mentally challenged. We did some clinicals there and I must say that I never would have thought to go there or even known this place existed if we hadn't. I LOVE working there. The clients (residents) are wonderful people who I am very pleased to have gotten to know. Certainly, there are some challenging behaviors, but everyone is someone's favorite. I have learned a staggering amount of nursing working in the medically fragile areas. I am gaining in confidence and still soaking in knowledge like a sponge. The pay is better than I would have received in a nursing home and it is managed very well. (this facility is one of the best in the country). They have a scholarship program for schooling that can't be beat. Anyone can apply for it. I oriented for a month before I was 'cut loose' on the population and there were numerous classes to attend on policy and procedure. Consider looking into different areas than just nursing homes. I've heard some horror stories about nursing homes...

I just graduated LPN school. From what I have seen, CNAs are very very very important. In my clinicals in the long term care industry, the CNA was THE most important member in the health care chain. The residents loved and depended on their CNA for continuity and knowledge unique to their care. Do NOT let anyone look down on you. They can say whatever they want, but it can't have any effect on you unless you allow it. Only allow the good, ignore the ignorant. As to the salary... unfortunately for you, education is the only way to increase the CNA salary. LPN was appealing to me because it gave me hands on patient care (which I love) and not so much BS that the RN has to deal with. .....just my own personal observations . Keep on keepin on...

LPNs being phased out is like an urban legend. Someone should put it on snopes.com as being untrue. That myth has been thrown about forever! ....and also - LPNs ARE nurses!! You research different programs and make a decision based on which program fits your needs. Not based on LPNs being "phased out".:angryfire

YOU GO GIRL! CONGRATULATIONS! FEELS EXCELLENT DOESN'T IT???:balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons:

I am in NJ and attended a vocational tech school. The program was excellent and the teachers were amazing! One of them I consider a life long friend. They pushed us hard and demanded everything from us. It was hard, but now that I'm through, I appreciate them so much! Yay Pat and Sally! ( I can call them by their first names now... I"m not a student anymore):balloons:

do NOT quit because of jerks around you. Muddle through and learn everything you possibly can. I was very fortunate that I had a few people that I really clicked with in my class. but you cannot possibly get along with everyone! Not even at work.

How long is it normally between when you first find out you passed, to getting a licensing number for an employer to verify your license? My friend already got hers, my mailbox was empty (aside from bills:trout:) again today... grrrrrr

This may be a silly question... I'm due to start my first job where I'll be in orientation for about a month. (This is a facility for MR clients - long term). I'm a little worried about being bored just following someone around for a month. What is orientation like? Do you actually work? Does the time go slow or fast?

I also heard a lot of the "why are you wasting your time going for your LPN?". This, while I'm in school. But it didn't really make me mad. I see the RN doing less patient care and more paperwork and politics. I would rather work with the patient. I got into all of this (at a later age) to help people. I didn't get into it for the money. Well - my husband is excited about the money that I will be making. In school, the instructors (who were amazing!) always stressed to us that if we were in it for the money, then we should quit now because that is the wrong reason to be in healthcare. Also, this thing about LPNs being phased out of healthcare, has been around forever. I believe it is a cyclical thing. I read an article a few months ago about hospitals returning to hiring LPNs... So don't listen to anyone grumbling at you about your life.