kf15

To expand I'd say that "we" alive today did not create the behemoth corporate America so much as our predecessors, who empowered their formation hru their political & economic choices. Political forces molded the environment we labor in, this was set in motion decades ago. So when I hear a very old patient complain bitterly about how "impersonal" healthcare feels, I sometimes ask them what they did in their life to help it NOT become this way.

Extremely well said! I will add that RNs are shown disrespect by the both the corporations AND the patients. Until I read this article I had NO IDEA that a nurse had ever done a "backrub".

The intelligent rule of thumb here is to present a rather benign appearance at work b/c appearance matters, and b/c people form 1st impressions quickly. I suppose anyone is entitled to their publicly visible tattoo just as others are entitled to feel how they feel about it. Culture and standards do not change quickly. Personally I feel the workplace is filled w/ more than enough drama, squabbling, corporate rules & human political conflicts than to add tattoo self expression into it. I do not think it wise to enter a professional field such as healthcare which has enormous exposure to the older generations and not expect pushback from those who dislike tattoos. Anyone who feels "hated" by the disapproving reactions of strangers is probably too thin skinned to have gotten a visible tattoo in the 1st place. That's enough for this topic. :poop:

As a rule of thumb anyone who goes immediately into Hitler and the Holocaust is a billion miles outside the converstation. It's not really worth my time elaborating on my post, but I CLEARLY said my dislike of tattoos was personal and is how I feel. Where do you get "hate" from? Certainly not me.

I'm in dialysis, I don't now about the formal corporate policy but personally I dislike tattoos especially on females. Yesterday 1 of the guys who has them all over his arms & legs said "they're becoming acceptable" & I said no, not really, they're just more common and they accepted by younger people. I told him not to forget that mgmt will be filled for another 20 years w/ people like myself from a generation whose 1st thought is still gonna be "prison." I do not find them flattering on anyone and especially feel they're ugly in ANY form on a girl. Therefore I'll always look twice at dirty ink on someone and wonder why they did that? Yeah I know... "self expression."

Economics. It is one of the last fields in this country that cannot be outsourced, which makes it valuable to get into. I wasted 4 yrs of my life earning an Engineering degree only to be told that my work is being done overseas for 1/2 the price. Life in this country has changed drastically and American labor is hated by corporations b/c of its cost. I learned very quickly to follow the demand. Of course I want to "help people"- myself, b/c noone else will!

WOW!, a stunningly gross misunderstanding of both the Affordable Care Act and supply/demand. Again, as I said, everyone should KNOW what will happen, so I suggest some quality/factual research!

Well said. Elections have consequences, so if you vote, be sure you KNOW how your candidate will move healthcare- will it be forward, or more into corporate control?

It's not about a negative view of pts, it's about being a professional in a field where most of the dictates come from insurance accountants and lawyers, and being an advocate means less (to HR) than being in compliance and "proper documentation." I know there are plenty of RNs who make these mistakes, and I can bet it's a result of exhaustion and pt overload. No excuse, but probable cause. The only solution is to decrease the burden on RNs but that ain't gonna happen, b/c that reduces corporate profits. Now you would probably think I'm a bitter RN to work around but you'd be wrong, these are my PERSONAL feelings and I keep them to myself, I do a great job and educate pts all the time. It is from interracting w/ pts and educating them that I see their ambivilance and lack of interest in their own health. Granted this may just reflect my socioeconomic area, but the people I deal with are more concerned w/ what's on TV and their next meal than w/ my quality teaching, even if it is their own health. Sounds like you found a good fit tho, helping people who wanna be helped must be great... I wouldn't know tho.

Yeah probably so. I absolutely know that the reason hospitals will demand BSNs is to drive RN and all wages DOWN, and b/c they ultimately work hand in hand w/ the ed. business. The relentless political push to privatize all education will continue, and ultimately you will see these sectors sort of blend- where the schools and hospitals and other corporations actually set the standards, and the consumers (students) simply follow their rules. Really, it's already like that. The icing on the cake of course is that the schools will continue to churn out students, and the hospitals will continue to refuse to hire them b/c of "inexperience." That is the main reason I refused to work for hospitals.

Hospitals are single focused on generating maximum profit and care far too much about "customer satisfaction." Patients are "customers" who have been given the consumer power to criticize RNs and other highly qualified, hard working staff, usually for crap like failing to wait on them hand and foot. Most patients are medically ignorant and have come to see the hospital as yet another place in America where they are waited on and can expect "good service." God forbid if they are spoken to firmly and denied something that could harm them; mgmt will always take their sides, the good RNs resent this, and yet another field has become dumbed down.

Let me offer some real world advice- if you consider yourself in school to work and learn and graduate, then pass Nclex, then do yourself a HUGE favor and be friendly w/ the girls but don't expect much support from them. Maybe you can find 1 or 2 who are very serious student, but the majority will be text messaging and Facebooking thru the class, then gossiping about their miserable boyfriends afterwards. They're very insular and will really only share w/ other girls, and they're like that in the workplace too, so be smart and stick w/ the winners.

Well that feeling came from their rude and dismissive treatment of me as I was awaiting word of my acceptance status as a student. I had literally MOVED out to AZ to switch fields into nursing and was working w/ that school and was awaiting my status, as THEY PROMISED ME, so this was a Pima timeline and they were past it- over the course of an ENTIRE WEEK I had contacted every single intake person then worked up the chain until I had politely and patiently personally left VMs for everyone on staff (noone was ever there!). So I drove to Apollo and had a great interview and was basically accepted on the spot due to my high intake performance and proven academic record. So to this day I resent PMI and their rude and unprofessional staff and philosophy of treating incoming students as cattle; keep them waiting until they feel like choosing their favorite one. Believe it or not they called like 2 months later saying a spot was open- I enjoyed sharing my feelings w/ them and slamming the phone down!

This will sum it up- shoot for A's but expect B's most of the time; the most imp thing to do is actually LEARN deeply the material w/ an eye on integrating it into a "big picture" for nclex later...... I was "outscored" by many fellow students who worried themselves physically SICK, but I had a relatively easy time prepping and passing nclex.

Well if that's your goal then you know what you have to do to prepare, so I wish you well! Personally this type of idiotic testing is just about my biggest pet peeve in modern life- high pressure, rapid fire testing of students in no way, shape or form determines the slightest level of qualifification for a registered nurse. I earned a BS Engineering degree several years before I went towards nursing, and had to refresh on the basic math b/c it's the First skill to be forgotten, in spite of doing 5 3 levels of math past calculus 3. I guess Pima is more interested in bringing on students who can control their anxiety and blood pressure instead of motivated, intellegent students who can critically think, which is what nursing requires.

Natkat thanks for that informative reply; I've been told to get a few "shadows" in at some dialysis facilities to get an inside glimpse at the culture, you know the real inside story of how that facility runs. Currently I work in "corrections" which is a great job for a recent grad (4/09) but quite unchallenging/unfulfilling, I'm a science guy and loved the complexities of physiology during school, so yearn to get into more involved work. Question- if you were to ever leave the dialysis field, what areas would you consider? What skills have you learned working there?

Can I ask if you had medical surgical or Icu exp like is so broadly touted on this forum? I'm out in AZ and am coming up on completing my 1st yr of work exp but it's light on this type of experience. Nowadays it's virtually impossible to get into a hosp to get the exp that everyone demands, plus it's almost become a seasonal type of work since out here the old people leave when summer comes, the census drops, and they fire everyone!! That's why I took the job I have now, it is virtually guaranteed fulltime work and the pay is at the top for a new grad.....BUT....... I hate nights and am not getting longterm career-building exp, so am ultimately not satisfied, really just making good $$.

Well yeah that's what I've said several times, in response to people posting about "poor reputation" and their places "won't hire from that school." Please. Every nursing school graduates its fair share of embarassments. Anyone who can move thru a 2 yr nusring pgm then sit for the Nclex within 1 month of graduation, AND pass 1st time like me and 99% of my class that just finished, is worthy of hiring for an entry level RN job. When asked during my interviews which school I atteneded it was out of curiosity and nothing else......again the hosp is hiring the person and their skills/abilities, the name of the school on the diploma is not high on their list.

I find it hard to believe that a school's reputation is more important during hiring than the totality of the Rn graduate sitting in the chair. While Apollo may have a less than stellar rep in the Phx area, my potential initial employer and I were too busy during our interview discussing my skills and experience and what I could do for them, than what school I had attended in order to get to, and pass, Nclex. Besides you'd be amazed at how many people don't even care where you went, it's easy enough to tell the intelligence and competence level of the grad by speaking w/ them, and not by those who taught the classes. The pgm there has become seriously overpriced, as have all private 2 yr schools, so I got mine quite "cheaper" but I got into the market just before the hiring crash, so I have to say that it was well worth the $$ to not still be sitting on wait lists..... I've heard that most CCs now reqire CNA before you can get into the Rn pgm, so yet another span of time tossed onto the wait list. Personally I would not waste my time on a BSN if I planned to stay in AZ; but w/ employment outlook dropping still, 1 has to weigh spending more $$ vs waiting to get into the field, where experience is far more imp than anything.

Totally depends on the nature of the ER hiring you, will they in fact orient you and help you get up to speed in a fast paced work area, or will they toss you onto the floor like most places, and expect you to be productive on day 1? I was into that area until I did a lot of research, then did my internship in an ER, and for me it amounted to doing 20 IV's per day and performing endless rapid-fire assmts of ppl who were anything but "emergencies". Lots of sniffles and idiotic self-diagnoses, and drunks and old pple who fell.

I was told it was part of the new MC regs, that incoming RNs that want to train for dialysis must have 1 yr or exp working as an RN..... this does not concern charge RNs or whatever, just incoming so I guess only those of us looking to get into this field are hitting this wall. Great, just 1 more obstacle for a new grad in a country slumped over in a depression. : (

I would love that, if you could look into it a little more to see if Medicare has such a rqmt. Again the woman said that Fresenius cannot begin to train me to be a dialysis RN until I have close to 1 yr of work experience behind me. Any follow up would be great, thanks much.

partying and fun, 2 words I have not heard or used in several yrs.....good to hear that everyone makes it thru eventually, now to find work in what is left of this country.

Wow Innv that is good news to hear you say that; I live in AZ and was just told by a local clinic that they cannot begin to train me b/c I am a new grad and do not have ~1yr of RN work under my belt. They said it is a Medicare reqmt, not theirs, did you hear the same?

Very glad to see this question being addressed, I asked the same qstn few months ago and noone ever replied. I am a recent 2 yr RN grad in AZ and stopped by my local Fresenius clinic, it's very small and the nurse mgr spoke to me for a long time, answered many qstns, was very helpful and really nice. I watched her interract w/ some staff and got a small sense of the workplace culture. She told me that b/c of Medicare changes last yr or so, they could not begin to train me until I had almost 1 yr of RN work behind me. I felt that she would send me to training tomm but could not, I'm really mad about this work requirement and I suppose that all dialysis co's that take Medicare will say the same. I was kinda planning on this training but will have to wait many months now, and hope that I have RN work in the meantime, now that the country is in this ugly depression.