sweetlilme910

Hi I have always had an interest in travel nursing and then I found out I was pregnant! Now that my little one is here and is 3 months old, I have thought about doing travel nursing within the next few months. I want to travel to get a taste of what is out there, to see if we want to live somewhere other than our home state when we do settle down. I love the idea of going on an adventure and at the same time, getting paid while doing it. Has anyone traveled with a baby before? I would like to try this before she gets too old, as I don't want to have to worry about her transitioning from school to school...at that point I would want to live somewhere permanent. Also we are living with family right now so we don't have a commitment to a mortgage/rent or anything. I have about 2 years hospital experience (rehab and med/surg). I am going to bring my fiance with me (and hopefully my dog if allowed) and he would be a stay at home dad so finding childcare would not be a concern. My big question is this: has anyone traveled with a baby? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Thanks

i agree with the above statement. i worked LTC/rehab for a year before moving to the hospital setting. you will be overworked but will learn A LOT. it was a great first job. you get exposed to many different types of meds, many types of conditions, and you are able to get great prioritization skills. but you must remember that your lisence is on the line so no shortcuts, thats one of the reason i left LTC, just too much to do in too little time and you are held accountable 100% and its so stressful and you are usually short staffed. well stick with it for a year and then you can get a job in the hospital setting...fewer hours and you can boost your med/surg skills. i am on a med/surg unit now. GOOD LUCK!!!!

it's good that you are trying to/concerned about finding a job now and not waiting. are you planning on taking your nclex soon after graduation? i would recommend so. i couldn't find a job right away after nursing school and i have 2 bachelor degrees! i graduated in december and applied all over the state for a few months. i think getting your foot in the door working as a CNA before/during nursing school, getting a good preceptorship, or getting in with someone at the hospital (via family, friends, research) are ways to get your foot in the door. you can do that if you are lucky! if not, you may have to do what i did and that was take a job in LTC. i got my job in may which was about 5 months after graduating nursing school, took the nclex in february. i worked LTC for about a year and i must say that it was a great first job. i learned med basics, assessment basics, prioritization skills, pain management, wound care/prevention, and saw a WIDE range of patients. so if you can't find a job in the hospital you might try there. and i wasn't on the actual LTC side, i was on the rehab side, my facility had a "transitional care unit" for patients who still needed wound care, IV ABT, or some sort of rehab after being discharged from the hosptial. some rehab facilities even take trach patients so i mean it's not like you are losing your skills! you are actually learning great skills, handling 20 patients or so. and we still had our experience with IVs and PICCs and all that. i am now working on a med/surg unit but i had that one year RN exerience at the LTC setting which i think helped. i don't recommend going med/surg as a new grad actually unless you have a great long intense new grad program because it's very overwhelming! even for me! well i wish you the best of luck and keep applying and being persistant. you may also want to think about volunteering as a nurse to beef up your resume to make you stand out from the other applications and/or join some nursing clubs or organizations or get advanced certifications such as ACLS! GOOD LUCK!

Hi everyone! I got accepted into Nursing School and start in May. I am nervous and excited about starting but am curious about what to expect. Do you think there will be clinicals? What can I review now so I won't be so overwhelmed my first semester? Also, what can I expect out of clinicals? What are some of your experiences? Are their labs where we work with dummys AND time in the hospital/LTC? I don't really understand how that works. Do you have any tips for someone just starting nursing school? Also, about how much would you say nursing school cost you? I will be going for my accelerated BSN (which will be about 5 semesters of study in a year and a half). If anyone could help with any or all of those questions, that would be great....thank you so much!!