SparkleRN

[h=1]you have 500ml of d5w with 25,000u heparin added[/h][color=#333333]the drop factor is 60gtt/min. what should the flow rate be if the patient is to receive 800 units of heparin? i have no idea how to set this question up.

Aww, thanks for the response! I guess I just want confirmation that I'm not doomed if I take a job with less skills...that I have time to make up for it over the years. I would be happy at the Medspa...sure it's not my life's dream - but it would give me the time and money to pursue other fulfilling interests that I have. I love my surgery job...just want to be paid the going rate! Also, do you think the job market will ever open up? I've almost given up hope here in the Bay Area...I can't imagine hospitals wanting to hire anyone without acute care experience...plus there are so many stinking nurses here! Is there a chance in 5 years I could even get a hospital job?

Hello all, thanks for the help. So, I'm a newer nurse that got screwed by the "nursing shortage" and wasn't able to secure a hospital job after graduation. I'm now two years into my career with a plastic surgeon. My job is great, I inject botox, perform laser treatments and circulate in the OR. I'm happy where I'm at and doing what I'm doing, however the pay stinks. I make $30 in the CA Bay Area - which is a meager living. Recently, I was offered a job at another MedSpa for $50 an hour plus commission 3 ten hour shifts per week plus health insurance and tips. I'm really tempted to take it for the money. The spa is not as organized or "medical" as the surgeon I work for, and I would be giving up operating room skills. However, I don't see myself ever making more than $35 an hour with the surgeon and we all know that money talks. So, do I trade skills for money? Do I work my 3 tens and then try to get some per diem clinical work to still be marketable as a nurse? Or do I plod along getting great experience with a surgeon and wait until another high paying surgery job comes along? Hospitals won't touch me and I can't say that I'd even want to go that route with all the drama and bs that comes with it. I'd love to get involved in women's health on some level...perhaps working less while making more I could explore this option? What would you do? Sorry to be so candid and forthcoming with numbers, but I really need real time advice. $50/hr is big money and would surely change my life and help me out of debt. I'm 30 years old and early in my career...do I have time to get experience over the years? I want to buy a house and have a family...I want to travel. Please help!

Get a part-time job and for sure go back for your BSN. Work in a nursing home or at a surgery center part-time...anything to build up some experience and maintain your skills. Not to mention make some extra cash....

Hello All, I am currently working for a plastic surgeon and LOVE my job. I circulate in the OR as well as perform botox and filler injections, laser hair removal and other laser treatments. The problem is I get paid very little for an RN and my benefits are not nearly what they would be elsewhere (no paid holidays, no vacation, etc.) Recently I was offered a position with American Laser Centers - it is an excellent position with full benefits, and exceptionally high pay. I would be doing the same things, minus the OR circulation. This is a corporate environment, so it would be different than the mom and pop feel of my current job and I have read some very negative reviews online of ALC's business tactics. I am contemplating whether or not it would be a wise decision to leave a place with an excellent reputation for a place with a ho hum reputation and a lot less individual support. Also, I would be letting go of my surgical skills and don't know about this serving my career in the long term. However, the money and benefits are fantastic and would drastically change my quality of life. Any advice? I am desperately trying to find a nurse who has worked for ALC and can share some of their experience. Please PM me if necessary. Thank you for any advice!

BSN FIRST! Take it from a new grad...you won't get hired with an ASN. If you would like to be employed, by all means get your BSN and don't bother with a two year program. Read all the new nursing threads and you will see. ASN's are not in demand!

Plastic surgeons hire RN's all the time to do lasers/injections and to scrub and circulate. The pay isn't nearly as much as a hospital, but the environment is clean, no one is sick...no one is yelling at you. Regular hours and great aesthetic perks!

Absolutely I have considered moving and have applied out of state, yet hospitals are consistently unwilling to hire an ASN - even with a bachelor's in another field. I've been to 7 years of school...all of them worthless in a nurse managers eyes.

Hi Cobee - I am in your same position, and in the Bay Area as well. I recently took a new grad position at a cosmetic surgery center and I absolutely love my job. I am also confused about my future and not making enough money (at least not as much as in the hospital), however there are a lot of perks to consider. No nights, weekends, holidays...no sick people, fun office environment, aesthetic perks...it could be a real career move. Try and work your way into the OR just to have a back up if you ever have to go back to the hospital. In addition, after a few years of providing great service, your surgeon could probably help you find a more advanced job if you wanted to move on. PM me some time if you want to chat more about your situation, I'd like to have a new grad friend who understands this setting. Also, keep in mind that you could be a real entrepreneur and open your own cosmetic facility some day....you are only as limited as you let yourself believe :)

I am a recent graduate fortunate enough to have found a job with a plastic surgeon. I love my job, however I am concerned about my future and want to make sure that I have options for advancement as this job doesn't pay very well and I want to potentially expand my horizons. I hold a Bachelor's of Arts and an ASN. The hospitals in my area will not hire ASN's regardless of already being bachelor's educated. I don't want to waste my time getting a 2nd bachelor's degree and am considering getting an MSN. Most of the hospital nursing jobs I applied to said I would need my Master's just to get a job in Med/Surg, things are that competitive in Northern California and it's easy to see why when new hospital nurses start at about 90k. So...I need help from some experienced nurses...should I get a generic MSN that will enable me to enter the hospital setting as a new grad? Should I go for my FNP and stay in the clinical setting in Aesthetics? I don't know for sure what I want to do in nursing, I just want to know that I have options available to me and job security as there is an extreme surplus of nurses and not the shortage we were all scared into. What path would give me the most opportunity and be the most "in demand"? I am finding that nursing is not a secure or in demand job at all. When you need a master's for an entry level position something is upside-down. My other option would be to really push the OR aspect of my job as I work in the operating room frequently. Perhaps if I became an OR certified nurse or something this would enable me to enter a hospital setting above the new grad level. Please help...what would you do as a new nurse when "new grad" is a four letter word as far as hospitals are concerned... (sorry, I meant "new nurse needs new path in my title")

Thanks everyone! Just wanted to get some perspective. I'm really happy about my decision - everyone is friendly and I feel very relaxed. I agree that OR experience will really be to my benefit. Maybe it will be my 20 year career, who knows? And I definitely agree that it will benefit me more than unemployment! Thank you all for your well wishes and advice. And for whoever asked about the pay, it is 65k to start but I live in a pretty expensive area. New grads in the hospital start at about 72k here (and the market is flooded as a result). Hang in there fellow new grads - your day will come!!!

Hi everyone - after 9 months of looking for a job as a new grad, I just landed an excellent opportunity with a plastic surgeon. My job would be several different types of lasers, injections (botox and fillers), and OR circulation and some scrubbing and recovery. I can't pass it up in this economy and I think I would be a great fit for this position. I am wondering if it will really limit me down the road, I still don't really know what kind of nurse I want to be, I originally thought I wanted to work in L&D, but I don't know. I really would prefer the 3 day per week schedule that the hospital offers (and overtime pay), on the other hand this is no nights/weekends/holidays. Do you think this job will limit my options down the road? Or is any experience good experience? It's not acute care, but I figure it will open me up to the world of surgery centers, fertility clinics, maybe even home health. Do you think I will ever have a chance of working in a hospital again? Don't know that I would want to, I just want to know that I have that option if I need it. Regardless I'm taking the job and I'm super excited!

Absolutely WAIT IT OUT. There are no RN jobs right now, period. I would HATE to be $127K in debt with no job prospects. Don't bother. Wait it out until the economy picks up and go the cheap route. You'll be thankful you did. Spend some time on the graduate nurse forum and see for yourself how hard it is for a new grad RN to get a job right now and you'll have your answer.

Ha! It's true. Tell your worst enemies to go to nursing school if you want to see them crash and burn. After 8 months of searching for a job, I am starting to smolder and the flame is going out. I hope it will be worth it someday, but I can't guarantee it. Good luck to all of us.

I know there are a million threads on this, however I've been searching for hours and none answers my questions specifically. I have an ADN and BA. Most hospitals want a BSN and I need a job. I've thought about just doing an RN-MSN, however all of these people are saying most jobs still require a BSN even if you have an MSN - which is just plain ridiculous in my opinion. Basically, I want to do a BSN entirlely online and in ONE SEMESTER. Seriously, I already have a BA, I've taken all my science classes, statistics, psych, all my nursing and clinical courses for the ADN it shouldn't be more than 3 classes to get the BSN. Does anyone know of an ONLINE school where you can get your BSN in one semester if you are already an RN with a bachelors? I can't find any, they all seem to want more time and money from me. Thanks! OR: Should I not waste my time with the BSN and just go direct into an MSN program. I want to be an FNP someday in a clinic setting. Don't really want to work in a hospital my whole life.

They want you to work for free for 6 months with no guarantee of a job offer. This is outrageous! VOLUNTEER NEW GRAD RN PROGRAM Catholic Healthcare West Sacramento, CA

Take the job - you will have more pressure if you don't take it and you bills start piling up. You can do it - it will pay off in the end and ultimately get you to where you need to be. Good Luck!

I totally feel your pain! I cried on and off for two hours today after getting a similar rejection. I have a BSN, and I was actually told I should start working on a master's so that I could be more competitive. I got off the phone just screaming and crying. More and more jobs I'm seeing say "BSN required, MSN preferred." Imagine - an MSN to work nights in some crappy hospital. I'm already 50k in debt, almost homeless and desperate as can be. I don't know what to tell you other than you are absolutely not alone. I wrote to my state senators last week, maybe you should try. Someone needs to start listening to us.

I would absolutely NOT go to nursing school if I were in your position. There are NO jobs for new grads. I graduated with honors in Dec. 2009 with a BSN, excellent GPA, references, ACLS, etc. I have gotten one interview and no job...it's been almost 7 months of unemployment and I'm living in poverty. If you see this for your future, then go to nursing school. If you want a better life for yourself, do something else! Also, I've applied in several states and am currently licensed in 3 different states and still no job. There are thousands of applicants for very few positions. There is no nursing shortage and there never was one. And forget getting into a specialty like peds. You might be lucky to get nights at a nursing home for $10 an hour. Beware!

Hello Everyone - Like many of you, I am fed up with not having a job and tired of being poor. I'm also tired of being treated like dirt by nursing recruiters because I mention the words "new" and "grad" in the same sentence. Here is a link to the senate website where you can write to your state senators regarding the "nursing shortage" and the surplus of nursing graduates. I just wrote two letters to my senators to enlighten them to our situation. The more people that draw awareness to our situation, the more hope we have of getting new training programs and assistance for these very difficult times. U.S. Senate - click on the right hand side to find your state senator. I know that some states are harder hit than others, but if you are hurting and would like more awareness to our plight, please take 5 minutes and shoot off an email to your officials. We have nothing more to lose.

Hi - I am in your same boat. Just lost my house to foreclosure, have mounting student loan and credit card debt and no light at the end of the tunnel. And my mom died this year! My boyfriend went to nursing school with me, now we are both hopeless with a temporary place to live. In 3 months we will be homeless, and of course we don't have health insurance. I have tried to apply for other jobs, but like you said - once they find out you are an RN they close the door. I'm considering looking for jobs where there is high turnover and they don't care as much - like bartending, waitressing, hostessing...I think even Starbucks gives you full benefits. You might just have to lie and say you don't have any education and you have been travelling or going to community college part-time for the last two years to explain your resume. The crappy part about this is that working for $8-10 an hour will do nothing for me. It won't pay my debt, won't get me a decent place to live, won't solve any of my problems. I might as well apply for welfare while continuing to look for a job full time. Here is a link to an article with "hope" for new grads that includes links to government benefit sights. You might be eligible for a lot more benefits because you have a kid, including food stamps which really can help in these tough times. Unemployed New Graduate RN's â€" Resources, Help, and Information I've also been writing to various nursing organizations that keep harping about the nursing "shortage" and telling them to give it a rest already. Writing to your local and state government might help, too. I'm going to try sending some emails to make our leaders address this situation, not that it will make any difference, but at least I tried.

Hey, hang in there. I'm living in total poverty as well, I just applied for food stamps (seriously). Networking can only take you so far...I knew the Director of Nursing personally at a local hospital and even after a successful interview I still did not get the job (I was competing against 2,000 people). I've looked at adult daycares, home health, called every single person I know - it is useless. California stinks for jobs right now. I've applied as a medical assistant, an LVN, a receptionist. Once they find out your're an RN, they hang up on you because they know you'll leave the first chance you get. I've had my resume professionally done, have a bachelor's degree and excellent gpa and references - I've even taken public speaking courses to excel at my interviews. I'm thinking about joining the Navy Nurse Corps...I can't go on living like this. Totally wish I hadn't wasted my time on this career. Hooray for the nursing shortage!

Hey, thanks for posting this thread. I'm a new grad in the same boat. No job in the states, I love to travel and don't have any obligations...I'd love to get my start in another country. Funny that we're recruiting foreign nurses to fill positions here, but US citizens are being forced to look abroad for opportunities. I was in Australia and NZ last year and they were actively recruiting nurses...don't know about new grads, though.

I saw that same ad! I'm losing my mind over this nonsense. I just want a job!!

Hi - I don't have any advice for you, but am in the same boat. I'm a new grad who can't find a job and have been thinking about going back to school for my NP, but I won't have any nursing experience either. I'm interested in what people have to say...I'll be following this thread and thanks for posting the question! I've seen some jobs for NP's no experience but mostly in clinics and doctors offices...which is fine by me!