SnowStar4

I have experienced that high really sign on bonuses can be a sign of high turnover/ bad situations. I worked as an educator for a department that was basically all travellers because it was so toxic. Even travellers earning ridiculous amounts of money would leave within a week because it was so bad. It was 25k for two years experience. Another hospital nearby had a similar situation and bonus. They can't keep staff either. However, I took a position last year that had a 5k sign on bonus, and always offers it for experienced staff. In the OR training takes forever so experience is always valued. I couldn't be happier with the position. So I would say if it seems super high there's probably a catch, but a small bonus shouldn't worry you too much.

Detroit

Not introducing yourself to anyone, just showing up and stalking. Tell me your name, what level you are, and what you can do/any goals for the day. And certainly introduce yourself to the patient! Don't just walk in and start touching them.

My OR takes new grads, and they really like us to refer people. I would try to network as much as possible, and if you can get a hold of the contact info for nurse recruiters and call them. Other than that keep trying. You might have to take another job while looking and apply as an internal candidate. That never hurts!

Sometimes it comes out to plain old numbers. At my school you pretty much needed a straight 4.0 in the courses they looked at. I think I read that you had a 3.8 (forgive me if I forgot) which is an absolutely wonderful GPA, but if all of the other people had 4.0 there's nothing you can do. My shcool looked strictly at the required classes and entrance exam. Nothing else. The only way people could raise their rank was to retake courses and the exam to try to improve. You may be well rounded and I think that should count for something, but it doesn't always

From what I have seen it depends on the facility. I have seen it where the shift is split strictly by calender days, and also where a night shift counts as the day on which it starts. Best bet is to ask your HR person as TheCommuter suggested.

What need would a CRNA have to write a prescription?

I work in a very large OR that does pretty much every kind of surgery you can imagine, so I am never bored. I am always seeing interesing things that keep me going. The stuff I see amazes me. Are you in a really small OR, or always in the same service? Maybe moving on to a larger urban OR could be an option in the future.

I would just ask them next time you see them! Also, I would want to know what was going on in case of an emergency.

We had an autistic kid with a photographic memory that joined our school in middle school. They wanted to mainstream him as much as possible (awesome since this was quite a while ago and the only autistic person any of us had heard of). On the first day they gave him a copy of the yearbook and he memorized it right there. He knew every person in the school by their picture, what they did, their class, etc. It was amazing! Sometimes I still run into him and he still knows it all! For him it was a gift as it made him quite popular despite his condition.

Had a PCT (one trained and certified even) tell me that "it's going to be nice to have all the blood from her period go into the catheter bag so we don't have to clean it up" upon hearing that a patient was getting a Foley. I had to explain about the two different holes....she had no idea! And this was a person that was technically technically allowed to insert catheters! So scary!

I know it's frustrating. I work in a unit that cannot keep new employees more than a year. They treat people very badly and so they leave in droves. The older employees that are staying resent the new people because they hate constantly training people just for them to leave. I understand that is rough on them....but don't take it out on me! Every single day they ask when I am going to leave, where I plan on working, etc. It's so annoying.

I use the Dr Scholls inserts with athletic shoes and they work well for me. They are expensive for inserts, but they give you your money back if you are not satisfied. It took a couple days to get used to them but then my foot pain was gone!

I had a formal sit-down in the in the educators' office because "people can not tell when I'm thinking when they look at me". I guess it's my fault their ESP is off :)

Same here.