dannibee

I think of Vocera as a source of amusement. I think it's hilarious when you ask it to log in someone and it says it's logging in someone with a completely different name! I look at it as a way to break up the seriousness that comes with our very busy cardiovascular interventional unit. :)

I use Nurse Mates compression socks that are 15-20mm/Hg. I like that they make my legs feel good after working long 12 hour shifts. They are around $13 a pair at Uniform Advantage. I see the Therafirm stockings on Amazon for around $16. Maybe I'll check them out also.

I love Butter Soft scrubs!

Congratulations!!!

Kudos to the OP for being so financially conscientious! It's a good idea to start looking at these things early. I have about 40K worth of student loan debt right now that I used to get my BS in Health Science and my ADN. My parents couldn't afford to pay for my school but I can guarantee my kids won't have to pay for theirs. :) I did what I had to do to get that RN behind my name and I think the debt is worth it. I am estimating that I'll be done paying off my loans in about 3.5 years or earlier. Not too shabby in my opinion. I plan on getting my NP license within the next 4 years and I'll pay for that without the help of student loans. Good luck to you with whatever you decide.

Well said!

I was going to apply for that one but it's too far of a commute for me. I live in Sac. Good luck to you though. :)

HIPPA is no joke. She should have known better. I don't post anything about my job on Facebook. Tough lesson for her.

It couldn't hurt to try. A couple of my classmates have tried to find jobs as non-licensed personnel to get their foot in the door at a hospital but have been turned down because they have an RN license. Good luck with your job search. :)

Good luck. The market is extremely saturated right now with new nurses. I'm a new grad that just graduated in May of this year. I've worked at a well known hospital system in the Sacramento area for the past 4 years but I haven't been placed into an RN position with them yet. I was able to snag an on-call position at a SNF. So I will continue to stay working at my hospital until an RN position becomes available and I'll just keep the SNF job for extra money. I would suggest you make a VERY good impression at wherever you do your final semester of clinicals. The place I did mine doesn't hire new grads so I'm out of luck with that one. SNFs seem to hire new grads pretty readily. Also, if you see a comany is giving a job fair that's only for "experienced nurses," go to it anyway. I have a friend that went to one of these and got hired on the spot. If you see a job you think you're qualified for, apply for it no matter what. It may take awhile but you will get hired somewere. Like I said before, good luck. :)

I got an on-call position at a nursing home.

It doesn't matter if I consider it experience but it does matter if HR does. I am fortunate to be working right now in an eICU as a secretary and I still get to see a lot and learn a lot while I'm waiting for an RN position. I actually get to use my nursing education at my job and I get paid for it. I understand your point that doing something is better than nothing. I agree with that. Bottom line is this: volunteering doesn't put food on your table, clothes on your back, or a roof over your head. In tough economic times like these it's almost essential for people to be employed and it's unfortunate that educated nurses are being asked to put in work at a hospital for free.

Congratulations to you!!!!

If this works for you then do it! Most of us who went to nursing school and graduated did NOT go to school to end up volunteering afterwards. I don't know about you but I put a lot of hard work into getting my license and for this company to even suggest that I work for free is obsurd! I live in the same area as this hospital and I even had my clinicals there. How would it look if I was volunteering (with no direct patient care) at that hospital and the class under me gets to do almost total patient care and they're still students at that same hospital. Plus some of my classmates have gotten hired at this hospital (through a new grad program that only had about 10 spots for 700 applicants) so I would feel pretty stupid volunteering my time there when they are getting paid to do the REAL job of an RN. The whole set up is bad. Plus, I also don't see how this qualifies as "experience" when you can't even touch the patient. I have 5 years experience as a CNA and I think that contained more direct patient care than this volunteer opportunity does. It's pretty insane and unfortunately there were a lot of applicants from what I've heard.

I have a 4.5 year old and a 17 month old and they keep me busy but I'm still bored. Hmm...