NiteQwill

Being an officer means being a leader. A freshly minted O-3 is not any more "SEASONED" than a O-2 with 4 years under their belt. Remember, you are a military officer FIRST and a nurse SECOND. And to think that your nursing experience somehow puts you above the military experience of those who have been in longer will lead you to a very broad eye opener when joining the ranks. Remember, a salute is an acknowledgement of a higher rank, not respect for one. Back to the topic at hand: Get the policy in writing, don't sign anything unless you're happy with it.

No, it was a full-time MSN/FNP program. I also worked full-time in the ED.

California State University, Long Beach

Just took the AANPCP FNP exam this morning and PASSED! What a relief! Studied for about 3-4 weeks ranging from 4-6 hours a day. I had a study partner. We quizzed each other back and fourth on EVERY subject, set goals on what to study that day, and drilled common disease evaluations and treatments until we could recite it verbatim. A few days before the test, I did NOTHING study related. I ran errands, housework, jumped out of planes (I'm a skydiver outside of nursing), exercised, etc. This was to clear my head. And I think it helped. During the test I found myself reading the questions and already answering them before looking at the answer choices. I finished the exam in 1.5 hours. I attended Amelie Hollier's review course and found it the most helpful! It was worth EVERY cent. She basically walks you through the basic, to **EXAM** pearls, etc. Books included Holler's syllabus, Barkley Syllabus + CDs (about 50% - I used it to supplement any info not in Hollier's syllabus - CDs I only listened to while driving - on repeat), APEA Questions (did ALL of them - including the Adult and FNP exams), Liek (great resource - did ALL the questions at the back - there are some errors in the book, so unless you know what you're looking for, be careful). I also did the APEA Predictor Exam 1 week prior and scored a 75% (passing is 65-68%). Very excited! Hope my post helps others.

Not being flexible is the worst thing one can have working in an ER. Remember, things will get done, it's just a matter of when and how you prioritize (the person with a CVA/MI is more important than the person screaming in pain because there is a screwdriver sticking out their hand... you are not ignoring the issue, just prioritizing). You will have to sometimes multitask AND help other coworkers with their tasks. The ER is a sink or float environment, getting your tasks turned upside down is a natural occurrence... you will just have to learn how to take the hits and keep rolling. FWIW, I have never seen any cardiac nurse [who transfered to the ER] stay longer than a few months simply because the rigor and a set plan does not exist. Routine DOES NOT exist in the ER.

You also have a very different homogenous population than us in the United States. When a small population of people are responsible for a majority of crime, the problem is not guns, it's socioeconomics. Comparisons alike, your country also has a much higher violent crime rate compared to the US. Since deleting guns from our culture is near impossible (and Constitutionally protected), until every criminal stops carrying their guns, I won't stop carrying mine.

I have a CCW/CHL and carry where possibly, legally. Although I don't carry at work, if given the opportunity, I would. As an ED nurse and sometimes working in triage, things have often ended in armed police response... 15-20 minutes later. I can't imagine an active shooter situation, the police would be there after the fact. I believe individual safety is an individual responsibility.

And where exactly do we have the money to fund Obamacare? Oh yeah, print more money...

BS, don't listen to these other posters. Your time with your family is irreplaceable, if you feel you need to break your contract to spend more time with your little one... Do it! All these folks saying you should fulfill your contract have probably never had children. I'm sorry, but no job will ever come before family.

You can try Jack Griswold of Heart 2 Heart. Cheap, fast, and friendly service. He usually travels around the OC area.

To answer your questions :) During the interview, I presented myself as a person who would contribute to patient and team success, strive for patient safety, and provide a continued learning experience for myself and staff. I talked about my experience of working in the ER/ED (I have 9 years military experience as an Army medic and overseas ER trauma experience). As far as resume, other than experience, I believe it was just the way I presented it. It was simple, short, and straight to the point. More often that not, resumes are cluttered with too much writing, small font, and don't present "experience and accomplishments" very well. It wasn't the first time I wrote a resume, so that was a plus. Most folks don't get past the first several lines in the resume, so make those lines count! No grades, no GPA, no volunteering (although, military experience is volunteering in itself, haha) on the resume. Although those items could easily be placed on the resume, I've always asked myself "why?" It's easier to present your success, contribution to work ethic and experiences in a few short words than show a synopsis of your performance using numbers or letters. But that's just me. Listed my school (a SoCal CSU), honors achieved, and hospital clinical hours (on a second sheet). Tell me about it. I'm sure the Fire Dept. wouldn't be too pleased at the amount of people in that one hall, hahaha! Standing in that tele line was tough... I jumped out and went to the Stroke line...

Graduated August, NCLEX September & passed. Went to the Hoag Hospital's new grad seminar last week and handed my resume to the ED/ER director. Smiled and briefly introduced myself and why I should work in the ED/ER. Over 700 applicants, I thought no chance! Next day, called in for an interview (with 9 other applicants). Interviewed yesterday, hired today! I'm humbled by this experience. I was expecting the worse after graduation (unemployment) but it all played out well. Thanks to allnurses.com for all the info and help.

Are you saying that deployment are "an inconvenience?" I can't read into what you wrote, whether you are being serious or sarcastic. If the former, I would say that it is a disservice to those who serve outside the wire with absolutely NO AMENITIES for you to complain about a "4 month deployment." Try 16+ months, living outside the wire, getting shot at/blown up, 23+ days of no showers/toilets/fresh clothes, and a medical responsibility of 25 Soldiers with a medic bag barely enough to treat 6-8 Soldiers. ...an Army Combat Medic for 8 years... Hooah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No deployment? OK -- don't count on it lololololol And if you do deploy what could you face? Well let's see -- giggling to myself How do you like living in a tent with 8-10 other people? Your bed might be a cot with a sleeping bag. Your closet -- a piece of parachute cord strung between tent posts. Oh your tent will not have heat or ac. If you are lucky you will have a couple of light bulbs. At night the creepy crawlies come out -- mice -- rats -- snakes -- and you'd be amazed how scorpions can walk along the underside of the tent roof. Don't worry -- only the black ones are poisonous -- or maybe it was the red ones lololololol Your bathroom? How about a screened latrine -- 3 holes -- hopefully with toilet seats -- located far away from your tent -- a long walk in the middle if the night with a flashlight. You soon learn sitting and concentrating is not done in private. When the weather gets warm, the flies swarm out from the 55 gallon drum that is your sewage collection system when you lift the toilet seat cover. You learn to lift the seat cover -- check to see if the drum is there -- it might have been removed to be stir and burned. If it isn't there you will need to find another latrine. Your shower? Try a GP Large tent with a bunch of shower stalls off the side. The tent will give you some privacy but you will undress/dress in front of your peers (same sex). If you are lucky there will be a wooden bench along one side to put your clothes -- if not you will hang them on the shower stall and hope they don't get wet. Your shower stall will be a small wooden cubby with a wooden slat floor. The water is filled in the containers above at least once a day -- maybe a couple of times a day -- from a water truck. Pick the wrong time of day to get your shower and you will be talking to the guy filling the water lololol If your hospital has a heater to go into the water truck -- you might find warm/tepid shower water. Most times tho -- unless you are there just as they have filled the containers -- IF you find water -- it will be cold. You will use a tent peg to control the lever that allows water thru the shower head. Wet down -- turn off the shower -- soap up -- turn on the shower -- rinse off. No long showers!!!!!!!!!! If you run out of water -- well -- hopefully you will find a shower stall with water in it. Where do you eat? Hummmmm -- you don't eat in your tent!!! It draws the creepy crawlies!!!! You will eat in a mess tent. Meals are served at specific times -- if you are on duty, it will be MRE's. Hopefully your mess SGT's are good with rehydrating pork chops -- cooking chicken 400 ways -- and know to soak the lettuce and other fresh veggies -- bought on the economy -- in chlorine water. If not -- or if the refrig truck transporting your frozen food was turned off and then back on in route to your hospital -- you will be visiting the latrines frequently. Oh the mess tent will be crowded -- but there will be more flies than people lolololol Now for your hospital. See that open area away from your living quarters? See those conex's? That's your hospital!!!!!!!!!!!! You will build it -- and they will come. If you don't know how to put up a DEPMED hospital -- you will learn -- and you will get good at it. Forget about manicures -- forget about makeup. You will sweat like a pig even if its just above freezing. Oh forgot to tell you -- until your ER -- Pre-op -- and at least 1 of your OR ISO's is up and running -- you won't have tents to sleep in or showers. Just a little incentive to make sure when the first wounded come across your threshold you will be ready. Sounds unbelievable? It couldn't happen to you? Take it from someone who spent 4 months up in the desert -- it happens! And our job didn't finish when the war was over -- then we started treating EPW's. It was not unusual to treat 300 each evening in the ER. And after they stopped coming in droves -- then we treated civilian emergencies. Eventually we pulled down our hospital -- and put it back into the conex's -- and some went home -- and others remained doing other jobs in country.

Love running. I have tapered off a bit since I started swimming. Ran a marathon back in 2003, would love to do it again. Triathlon in the near future, hopefully.

I chose nursing because skydiving is not exactly a cheap hobby I have to fund my addiction somehow... Jokes aside I became a nurse because it was the next logical step from what I already do (medic/EMT in the Army and OT Asst in the civilian world) and although I get paid more as a COTA than a new grad, you cannot beat the stability and flexibility of the nursing field.