06CaliforniaRN

I was a bedside nurse for a little less than 2 years, and just recently made the switch to Research Nursing. Bedside nursing and research nursing both leave something to be desired. That being said, even with the drawbacks of my new job, I don't regret my decision one bit. I also worried if I would be limiting future career opportunities (should I move to an area with little to no research going on, or just decide I want to get back into bedside). But after doing some browsing here, I noticed there were numerous threads about individuals who had left the nursing profession altogether and then returned 5+, 9+ years down the road. Then you take a refresher course if needed (although you will likely maintain your licensure as a research RN), go through orientation, and get back in the saddle. If you end up hating it, you leave. If anything you will gained additional skills above and beyond the bedside skills you already have. All IMO. Good luck!

I work at the east Baltimore campus but from what I know Bayview has a full range of services/units. By no means is it a rehab facility or "sub acute". It is the adult burn center for Maryland, has a long-standing OR residency for nurses, etc. Definitely study their website a little bit to find out more about their services if you are interviewing there.

So I just hit the 4 month mark of being unemployed since graduating nursing school. With 100s of applications submitted and what seems like even more of rejections, I started to let myself consider non-nursing jobs. With a burst of bravery, I decided to call the nurse manager of the unit I was waitlisted on, I left her a message expressing that I was still very interested in the unit and was curious to know my position on the waitlist. I tried to sound as natural and calm as possible...but probably said "uh" every 3rd word. She called me back today...and said that a position became available yesterday (the day I called) and asked if I was interested. I believe my response was "more than...I mean...I'm more than interested, if I can say that." I'm awaiting the official e-mail offer from HR so I can start chipping away at all the paperwork. Somehow I'm hoping to get everything together and be living in Baltimore in less than a month (I'm currently in California). So ucfRN, your prayers must have worked. And to everyone else...don't give up. Know your worth and believe in yourself as someone worth investing in. Cheers to 2012!

Morg- Congrats on the interview offer! Depending on if you do "share time" or not in the ER you will need to bring scrubs and proper shoes. As far as what else to bring? On the Hopkins nursing site they give some basic instructions, in my experience whatever they tell you to bring is all you will essentially need http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/nursing/jobs/interview_preparation/rn_lpn/rn_newgraduate.html I believe you will need 2 letters of recommendation from clinical instructors since you are a new graduate. I'd advise having any questions you may have for the nurse manager written down, and bringing a small pad of paper may be useful if you want to jot down notes. Good luck!

I'm a new grad myself, but one of the nurses I worked with said she started out in home health and found it to be very valuable. In her own words..."Let's just say by the time I got a hospital RN job I was able to put in an NG tube with one hand on a toddler" And if you think about it, it's true, you can become great at a lot of fundamental skills in home health, which will make hospital nursing an easier transition. It obviously doesn't amount to starting in hospital nursing with a variety of patients; HOWEVER, you could always get the home health job, and if you are able to get a hospital job down the road, you can still pick up a shift a week of home health (you wouldn't have to bail on them), I know a couple fellow classmates that have gone this route Good luck!

My interview got postponed til next month:\ Good luck to everyone else who is beginning the process of applying and setting up interviews!

It took about 2 weeks for me to hear back after I submitted my primary interest e-mail, and my interview is next week.

Scarlettanager- I had a similar issue when I got my primary interest e-mail. I couldn't remember what type of pediatric unit I applied for. I told them my main interest was in ped's med-surg, followed by critical care. Turns out I had applied for a PICU job, but they offered me a ped's med-surg interview. so my advice is: be honest

Congrats!!! And thanks for the time-frame, I feel better now:)

understandable. I only had a couple 1-day rotations to the ICU and ED. But my classmate had that or less and got offered a job in the PICU.

I've been biting my nails lately, so maybe someone can calm my nerves over this. I got the "primary interest" e-mail from JHH on Friday in response to my application for a peds position (which I couldn't remember if it was med-surg or PICU :\ ). Anyways. I said my primary interest was in pediatrics, with sub-interests in med-surg and critical care. With secondary interest in periop. The reason I'm stressing is because retrospectively I realize "critical care" is broad in the sense that it really covers PICU, NICU, ED, and so on... Not to say that I'm not interested in any of those, because I am, but I'm stressing thinking that I should have been more specific. Did anyone else put "critical care" rather than ICU as one of their primary interests? Where did you get an interview? I'm on my second business day of waiting for a reply...any insight as to how long I should expect to wait?

I want to say it took about 2 weeks for me to get my transcript evaluation. I thought I'd have a problem with my nutrition class and my human development since my nutrition class was only 3 credits and the human development class wasn't in the psych department. The accepted both though. However, they did not accept my sociology, but I can understand that since it was an upper level sociology class that was more specific. Hope that helps!

Awesome. I think I am going to take it through American Public University, their course dates work the best for me. Good luck with your ethics course!

uscdg: will drexel accept Excelsior credits? I know it's kind of a unique program, that's why I'm wondering. I came across it (it looks great), but even on their website they mention that not all programs accept their credit. bridget marie: what is CCP?

Can someone please recommend a good (average intensity) online ethics class to take? I need to drop the one I'm in now, it's awful, plain and simple. I need to take it this summer (I'm attending the ACE program in the fall). Thanks.