ahsweeney

You have 4 yrs of med-surg experience - use that to your benefit. There are tons of other positions that you can investigate and your nursing experience is key. There are other departments within the facility. Go talk to HR and see what is available. Talk to other nurses in other departments that you are curious about. Look into research, health coach, insurance, parish nursing, flight/trauma, forensics, education,legal consult, occupational health. I worked on a med/surg floor for 2 yrs and transferred off that floor as fast as I could down to PACU. I loved that department and was there for 8 yrs until we adopted our 2nd baby. I have gone back to nursing and am at an in-patient hospice center. If things aren't a good fit - move on ..... there are so many options. I wish you luck.

What a beautiful article. I work in an in-patient hospice center. I am constantly surprised as to how much I love working there. My goal is to not only give my patients care and peace, but also support the families. I have been privileged to support these families in the most difficult and intimate time they have had to go through.

Congrats on your new position. I have been PRN at an inpatient Hospice for a year now, and have had to bounce back and forth between all three shifts. I try to take a nap around 9pm for about 30 mins. It gives me a short time to rest and get my head ready for work (the kids are in bed at that point). After the nap, I get up take a shower and go to work.... just like I would if I was working 7a - 3p. Oh, don't forget the caffeine!!!!

I work at an acute care hospice facility, so my situation will be different from those out in the field. We are a 16-bed inpatient center and we utlilize LPNs. There is always an RN on also to pronounce. The LPNs do everything except pronounce.

You need to remember that the nursing boards test for minimum competency. There were students in my class (way back in '94) who took ACLS thinking it would help them with the boards. NOPE!!! If you paid attention in class and can use some common sense, you should do fine. I took the Kaplan review class, and would come home in tears thinking I was the biggest dope in the world. I pass my first time. Take it slow and don't read into the questions what isn't there!!!

OK - here come my general questions. I live in GA and my youngest just started kindergarten. I left the hospital when she was born, so haven't worked in a (paid) professional capacity in 5 yrs. I've volunteered to be the nurse for the cub scout camp, I'm the 'health officer' for our cub scout pack, and have been the 'go-to' person at our church's VBS sessions. I am now ready to start back - doing something. I need something that will allow me to have school vacations off, so I've been looking into school nursing. At our elementary school the clinic is run by a regular staff member - not a nurse - who has taken a 1 day training seminar At the end of last year's school year, I applied to the county as a 'clinic sub'. I figured that would get my foot in the door, get familiar with the administration and the system. During my interview (with the assistant principal and the Cluster Nurse) I found out that the Cluster Nurse IS THE ONLY NURSE for the whole cluster - 1 high school, 2 middle schools and 4 or 5 elementary schools!!! I about choked!!! I thought she managed a staff of 3 or 4 other nurses!! Is this normal or is each state/school district different? YIKES! No wonder there is such a huge turn-over with school nurses.

I worked a few years back with a complete jerk in the PACU. We were on call together on Thanksgiving evening. A head bleed was in the OR. "Mr Wonderful" went back into the OR, as the surgery was starting to ask the surgeon just how long this case would take. When the doc told him "a couple-a, three hours", he left me alone in the PACU stating that he was going home to have Thanksgiving with his wife. I told him I did not agree with his leaving. He looked at me and left. About 1 hr later, I get a call from the OR that they were closing the patient - there was not much that could be done for the patient. I called "Mr. Wonderful" at home, on his cell. He did not return my calls. I kept calling him back and each message I left on his answering machine was getting more and more frustrated - and my language deteriorated - terribly!! Thankfully the CRNA that brought the patient in to me stayed with me so I wouldn't have to recover this guy alone. I was so furious that I typed up a letter explaining the situation and left it in the OR manager's box. Do you know that "Mr Wonderful" brought in a tape of my voice mail message (the last one - not the previous ones)- and I got in trouble -not him for leaving the building and not being available when on call. I was dumbfounded and told the OR manager so. There are all types of dopes that we have to work with. Just document, document, document!!! I may have gotten 'spoken' to about what my message, but my letter was in his personnal file. PS: "Mr. Wonderful" left the nursing profession and is now a minister in North Georgia! I kid you not!!!! I thought he would be too selfish to go into that profession.

Way back when, while on the med-surg floor, I had a patient 'circling the drain'. She needed to go the the unit - quickly. I called her surgeon at 11:15pm (which I didn't think was that bad) and was promptly chewed out by him for having the gall to call him. I had to listen to him complain about the babies who were sick and not sleeping - hence he & wifey weren't sleeping. I very calmly told him "If you don't want these phone calls you should have gone into dermatology. You are her surgeon and she is failing fast. I need orders from you to transfer her to the unit - now!" That brat didn't speak to me for a week!!! The charge nurse almost swallowed her teeth when I said that - but I was ticked.

Quickbeam - I'm with you. I think I've opened my textbooks maybe 3 or 4 times since graduation. I did keep the pathophys. and the maternal child texts. I figure most of what I would need will be available on the internet - and will be more up to date that what I've got. I thought there was a company or someone who would collect them for nursing schools in poor nations. Thanks for the responses.

Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do with my 15 yr old text books (besides using them to build forts for my kids!). We cleaned out bookcases today and I've got a pile. Was going to throw them out, but didn't know if there was another use for them. Thanks

Thank you ladies for these great ideas. My friend did the presentation and had the kids looking for good veins on another kid's arms. Appreciate your help.

Was wondering if anyone had any ideas for props, activities, etc for a middle-school career day. I have been asked by a neighbor to help her with her talk on nursing. She did this last year, and said the kids were not interested at all. She figured this year she would tell stories about when she worked (she was in L&D, I was in PACU). Other than a couple of stethascopes and a reflex hammer we are lost. Oh yeah, we will be doing this on Friday - 3 days away!!! Thank you in advance for any ideas!!!!!

I chose all colors including white - I get very washed out in white or pale colors. I've had people come up to me and suggest that I get a physical 'cuz I get so pale, especially in the winter. The hospital I used to work at had different colors for each floor. We were Med-Surg. and had to wear teal and white. I loved that combo. I then transfered to PACU, and wore the OR scrubs - which were royal blue.

4. If you are a volunteer, and it is your first day, and you utter the "Q" word, you will have objects thrown at you. happy initiation! - Oh My Word!!! I remember the first time I ever uttered the "Q" word. I was about thrown out of the unit. I was working as a nursing tech in the ER during nursing school. That was the first of many lessons that I learned (many not taught in the classroom,) but were extremely helpful when I started practicing. I've been loving this post. Keep it going!!!!!

How about nursing informatics as an option.