HappyPediRN

Per someone who works there, new grads start out in and around $28/hour at MGH.

Hi there. The only place I am currently working in is pedi psych and they only have per diem available. Their core staff nurses have been there for years and there is only one nurse per shift. I'm very fortunate that the nurses are actually giving up their hours to me so I can have some. I've applied to subacute, LTAC, and LTC...I don't feel I'm above starting in any place.

No, unfortunately I can't swing the price of another apt...Not enough money.

Unless you live under a rock on another planet what you say is incorrect. Of course a medic can assess. If they couldn't then they would not know to intubate, stick in an IV, do an EKG, or push the correct drugs. I notice you're backpeddling from the attitude in your original post. Sucky attitude, by the way.

trauma perhaps what goes around will come around and someday when you're in need of emergency medical services, the EMS responder will remember your attitude and give you the treatment you feel they provide...ya know, unlicensed, uneducated, unprofessional treatment..."oh, you're having a heart attack? i'm sorry i can't do much, i'm just a medic. ya know, a lowly, glorified tech so your heart will just have to give out since assessing would be out of my scope of practice."

Rattie, I don't mean to be disrespectful but you're coming across as very abrasive. I certainly hope you don't present things so black and white when it comes to families because it comes off as stomach-turning. When a family's child is lying in an ICU attached to tubes and have no idea what's what and who's who, it's not so easy to just tell them "Your child is dead, we're removing him from the ventilator. Do you want to donate his organs?" Those are the last moments the family will ever have with that child, and their hopes and dreams of the future are now completely destroyed. Your frequent exposure to end-of-life matters and organ donation makes it easy for you to say death=death, turn off the monitors. As nurses we know this, but it's not about us. It's about the families and the patient. It's our job to educate but not to force it down their throats. We certainly don't want to give false hope but that has to be balanced with kindness and compassion to explain why the patient is never going to wake up. I would hope if my child is ever lying in an ICU the staff would grant me that respect. If they persist on having everything done, that's a different issue and certainly a situation for the ethics committee, but at least let them begin to process before you start turning off the ventilator. It must be extremely difficult to think rationally when you feel as though your heart has been ripped out. Above all else, the patient lying brain dead in that hospital bed may be a Gift of Life, but they are still a human being.

Kizzy your story has prompted me to take my own to the vet in the morning. He's 10 1/2 and I adopted him a year ago from my local MSPCA. He had a battery of issues including a UTI and stressgastroenteritis when I adopted him. At one point he could not hold anything down including water and he was put on Flagyl, the miracle drug. He had a repeat bout a few months later and now I think we are going on round three of problems. I caught him peeing in the corner today, he's thrown up a few times this week (which is not out of the norm for him) and for over a week he has been screaming at the door, crying out for no reason, appears starving and then takes two bites and keeps meowing, and will actually make a break for the door if we're not careful opening it. He's never tried anything like this before. He has never been an outdoor cat and I live in an enormous apartment complex so I'm not sure exactly where he thinks he's going. He just walks around sniffing. He's kind of quirky so I didn't put anything together but your post scared me so much I'm not taking any chances. He's starting to look miserable, too. I called the vet and we're off at 9 am tomorrow. Who knows, maybe sharing your story on here has saved the life of another kitty. I'll let you know tomorrow! and of course hoping to hear more happy news about Kizzy.

Now doesn't that just get your goat?

On the bright side, you have a job. You may hate it and it may get you sick, but at least it's paying the bills. I will happily spend a couple days vomiting if it means I can work anywhere at all. Wanna trade? I will take your stomach bug and you can take my debt haha. I hope you feel better.

I really it now and then for a pick-me-up. One of my favorite books ever.

This just happened to me too. I'm sorry. It really sucks.

Yes, Worcester is an option....but I have been on the phone weekly with St. V's and UMass and their next new grad program is in January...new grads have to go through the program, and I was told their techs/employees get first preference.

It is soooooo beyond the point of not being picky. If you look up the job opportunities on local hospital career pages you will see for yourself how few and far between nursing positions are. Here is a link to almost every hospital in MA: http://theagapecenter.com/Hospitals/Massachusetts.htm See for yourself. Look how old many of the positions are. Some of the positions at these hospitals have been posted for years and remain unfilled due to budget constraints, not available nurses constraints. These positions are for experienced nurses only, most requiring two non-negotiable years of nursing experience to be hired. Look how few med-surg positions there are. 300 applicants per nursing position is the average ratio here. Sometimes weeks pass without a single nursing position posted at some hospitals. It is so difficult to explain the situation to experienced nurses, especially those from out-of-state who just don't get it. The only shortage here is a created one. Most hospitals are unionized or pay above average wage and to make that happen nurses work short or have little ancillary support. Many hospitals around here have nurses doing their own ADLs with patients or run 1 CNA per floor. I wish it was about being picky but the reality is that many hospitals are not even running new grad programs this winter because there's such a supply of experienced nurses. I hope everyone who doubts the severity of the situation looks through the link I provided to see for themselves what the RN job availability is out here.

Yes, I called the HR department and was told it's only for December grads and as an FYI that there is a lot of internal interest.

I've applied everywhere but the Springfield area because it's just too far of a drive, I can't swing it no matter how many different ways I break it down. Relocation is not an option because my fiance's job is nontransferrable and he makes very good money...not to mention is basically the sole breadwinner. I feel very stuck.