Lily79

When I worked in Texas, I worked med/surg, and we would usually have a 1:9 ratio on nights. Days was usually 1:7. It was insane. I'm in Michigan now as a float nurse. On med/surg floors I have had anywhere from 2-7 patients, or between 5-8 with an LPN. On the stress unit, I have half of the patients on the unit. At max this is 9, but it's not bad. In ICU, it never exceeds 2, if a patient is on multiple drips or a fresh vent, they are a 1:1. Rehab is usually 5, sometimes up to 8 but not bad AT ALL.

Ignore the BP and don't call me again unless she's coding. I just said "Alright, I'll just chart that verbatim." and hung up.

I remember as a new grad walking around the unit singing "Everyone knows I'm in over my head, over my head..." Then after leaving Covenant Health System (Lubbock, TX)... "Happiness is Lubbock, TX in my rearview mirror..."

Please avoid Covenant like the plague! I graduated from Covenant SON and feel like I got an amazing education there (great clinical training too!) However - I made the mistake of hiring on at Covenant. I worked med/surg and would routinely have between 8-10 patients, usually with no nurse aid. I worked as a tech there during school and should have seen bad things coming once becoming a nurse, but somehow I just never did. UMC is amazing and very nurse-friendly. Even if you work your way through school as a tech at Covenant, DO NOT HIRE ON WITH THEM AS A NURSE!

This is so funny because I was just talking to a coworker the other day about this. She is from Colorado, and they called them "buffalo caps" there. I'm in Michigan now, and when someone was talking about a saline lock, I never knew what they were saying. I'm from Texas and we called them INTs there.

We receive $2/hr while on call, and time and a half if called in.