shinyblackcar

What? HOW?

Okay, I have heard a hundred times that nursing is so great because there are so many different areas you can go into and you can try different specialties until you find the one that's right for you, etc. Well, I have a question: HOW THE HECK DO YOU SWITCH SPECIALTIES SO EASILY? Every job listing says "3-5 years experience required" or even just "1 year experience IN THIS SPECIALTY required." You can't get that experience if you're working full time in another specialty! You can't even get it by working per diem because they won't hire you for per diem work without experience IN THAT SPECIALTY. I just don't understand this. Can someone PLEASE enlighten me??? I can't even get an interview for a job IN MY SPECIALTY. :\ I am getting so discouraged. I'm starting to think I don't want to be a nurse at all anymore. Then again, there are no other jobs in any other field right now either. I don't know if all of this is because of where I am geographically but THERE ARE NO JOBS, even for people with experience. I went to a job fair and I honestly do not understand why they have those things when even an RN with experience can't get a phone call for an interview. WHO EXACTLY ARE THEY LOOKING FOR?

I agree with the above poster. I work in pediatric hem/onc and I love it, but I'm new to the specialty (did general peds before) and probably just not burnt out yet! :\

I was in the same boat as all of you when I graduated in 2008. I went to job fairs in NY and NJ and no one wanted to hire new grads. I agree it was very discouraging and frustrating. I had to move away from everything/everyone I know and have been working in Maryland for the past year. But now that I have a year under my belt, more hospitals were willing to talk to me, and I just got a job in NJ and will be moving back after only being away for a year. So there is hope! You may have to take some detours to get what you want. I wish you all the best of luck! Trust me, I really do know how frustrating it is. Be persistent! Don't let anyone forget about you. :)

What are the daily duties of your job? head-to-toe assessments, vital signs, medication administration, maintaining IVs, collecting stool/urine samples, urinary catheterization (indwelling Foleys as well as straight caths), wound care, skin care, neurological assessments, baths/linen changes, changing diapers, feeding babies, dropping NG tubes, teaching parents, maintaining epidurals, pain management, EKGs, assisting with lumbar punctures and other procedures, communicating with physicians/surgeons/NPs/PAs/residents/child life specialists/social workers/case managers/other nurses What hours do you work? i work mostly 12 hour shifts, rotating between days (7a-7:30p) and nights (7p-7:30a) but sometimes work other odd shifts like 11a-11:30p Did you have to take any special courses/classes to be in the line of nursing that you are in? just the BLS for Healthcare Providers course offered by the American Heart Assocation. then i took specific pediatric classes as part of my orientation at my job. What does your day consist of as a nurse? i think i pretty much covered that in the first question! but if you want an example of a shift from start to finish... first i get report from the previous nurse, check my orders, check charts, check emergency equipment in pts' rooms. then i introduce myself to family, do head-to-toe assessment, get set of vital signs, give meds. we usually do vital signs every 4 hours on our patients. if my patient has an IV infusing i check that every hour. try to catch docs on rounds so that i know the plan for my patients. i may have to bring a patient to x-ray or ultrasound and have another nurse cover my other patients while i'm gone. i may have a baby with no family visiting so i'll have to feed him/her throughout the day/night. i may be dealing with difficult families or trying to ease their fears or simply playing waitress for them. i may have to hold a child down while the phlebotomist attempts to take blood. if my kid has an NG tube i check placement every 4 hours and before meds/feeds. if pt has GT, i do GT care. if pt is in traction i'm doing neurovascular checks. if pt has a PCA, i'm checking that every 4 hours. etc etc etc! Who do you work with on a daily basis? other nurses, doctors/surgeons (from interns up to attendings, but mostly work one-on-one with the interns and residents and only see attendings in passing, if at all), social workers, case managers, PAs, NPs, child life specialists, interpreters, respiratory therapists, occupational/physical therapists Do you work with the same team of people everyday? it varies. the team of doctors i'm working with depends on what services my patients are on (cardiology, pulmonary, neuro, heme, urology, GI, etc.) Who do you communicate with on a daily basis? all of the people mentioned above, plus patients and their families How do you keep the communication open with those that you work with everyday? we always ask if there's anything we can do to help each other out. we just recognize that we're all having a hectic crazy day most of the time! How do you and the others that you work with keep the communication open between each other? same as above How does the communication differ with a patient and a patient's family? i work on a floor with patients up to pre-school age, so for the most part the communication with the patients is very calming, soothing, easing their fears, playing games, or for the real little ones just plain old baby talk! with the families, you're doing more of the teaching and explaining things and making sure they understand what is going on and answering their questions. How do you communicate with your patient when the patient is a child? again, i work mostly with babies, so i don't really have to talk them into taking their medicine or explain procedures to them, but when i do have an older child, i always tell them what i am doing before i do it and use terms they can understand, and basically try to scare them as little as possible! even when i have a kid that probably doesn't understand half of what i'm saying, i'll talk to them and sometimes i think it's more to ease the parents' anxiety than the child's. :) How do you communicate with the patient's parents? i always try to put myself in their place, explain things to them on their level, and try to make them feel as comfortable and taken care of as i possibly can.

I'm a pediatric floor nurse and we have to chart q2h. If pt has IV running continuously we have to chart q1 (just initial box that says we checked their IV)... but an actual note at least q2 for all pts.

me too, layna. meeeeeeeee too.

Hopkins!

Right scrub top pocket: pens, Sharpie, organization sheet for my shift, alcohol pads Left scrub top pocket: Calculator, lip gloss I don't use my pants pockets. :)

Same here. 99% of my shifts are 12s but even the shorter ones (like when I'm picking up hours for someone or doing a switch or something) are completely draining. I get home and feel like I have put everything I have into my work and all I can do is pass out in my bed lol. My social life, needless to say, has gone down the drain.

Have confidence in your abilities, and with time and experience you will shine.

How do you like working at Children's? I'm not too far away in Baltimore! Edit: Woops, sorry, just noticed you didn't start yet. Best of luck to you! And to the OP, first of all congratulations on getting your dream job! I work on a pediatric floor too, and I love it. I am just starting my second month on orientation. Every hospital does it differently, but we had lots of classes in the beginning, including cardiac, resp, renal, GU, burns, skills labs, etc. No tests though. :)

This week I dropped my first NG tube and changed my first ostomy bag! Ah, it's the little things.... :)

Oh wow, that is awesome!!! Newborn nursery will be so great! Congrats!

Thank you for that incredible response, Ayvah. I'm going to show this to my friend who yesterday said to me, "If I were a nurse, I would never think."