Paleobug

Thanks caliotter3. I did happen to ask about personal safety during the initial interview and the manager said that she fully understands my concern. She said to just leave if I don't feel safe and to get ask for a police escort if I need to. She did also say that she felt threatened once during her nine years doing home health and she left the situation before anything bad happened to her. Other than that, she said she enjoyed doing home health vs working in a hospital.

Hi, I haven't posted on this site for a while. I've been a med/surg nurse for 4 years in a hospital. I've always been interested in doing home health. I wouldn't mind the driving or the paperwork involved. The working climate at my hospital has become increasingly hostile do to managment coming down on the nurses because of the hospitals' HCAP scores. I've been offered offered a job as a home health RN working weekends fulltime on call. It seems that it would be less stressful than working on a med/surg. My concern is that I am a little leary going into peoples' homes and not knowing if there could be potential danger from someone living there. I have heard a few stories from talking to other nurses that it can happen but generally doesn't happen. Thanks for any feedback.

I did the adopt a student program with VHS. They paid my tuition and other expenses for nursing school. It really helped me out a lot. I've been working at Spring Valley since last November, and it has been a very positive experience. However, I wouldn't recommend working at Valley hospital. I've heard too many negative things about them. I also heard that St. Rose has a similar program.

After 5 months working as a nurse in med/surg, I want to work where the patient's don't give you a hard time.

I've noticed at my hospital when we transfer patients to the ICU floor. The nurses there seem to be rather snobbish and unapproachable with the med/surg nurses. I've heard interesting things about them if they happen to float on our floor. The med/surg nurses on our floor have said that these same nurses who snubbed us, can't seem to handle a 6 or 7 patient load.

Nursing school is so much different than working in the real world as a nurse. I was so glad when it was finally over. I was also fortunate enough to go to work on a floor where there is much teamwork and no "nurse eating". The most terrible time that I went through during school was during my preceptorship. I was put with a nurse who shouldn't have been with students. She expected that my level of skill be that of an experienced nurse. I ended up switching preceptors, so the witch wouldn't fail me.

I didn't get one because the hospital chain that I went to work for paid my school expenses. I can say that I so far, I am very pleased with my facility despite the obligation of 2 years of work.

Before I graduated last May, I already had a job lined up. In my state, upon graduation, you're issued a temporary license for three months. However, I couldn't start working until I passed NCLEX and got my license. So, after I graduated, I prepared for NCLEX, finally passed, and went to work. Most places will give you a 3 months preceptorship with another nurse.

I've been working on a med/surg floor since Nov. I think that it is a good foundation before going into any type of specialty. There's a lot of variety. My patient load is usually about 6.

I also got my own insurance even though my employer says that they cover the nurse in any lawsuits where the nurse is named. All it takes to get sued over is things like having an elderly patient that gets out of bed, falls and is injured. The nurse will get blamed. Mine is included in my homeowners policy.

I work for the Valley Health System because of my scholarship commitment. It depends on which Valley Health System hospital that you work for. I heard that Valley Hospital is the worst because their nurse to patient ratio is bad, and they were trying to go on strike. I've always heard great things about St. Rose's 2 hospitals. UMC is in the middle of a major money handling scandal involving the CEO.

You finally did it girl! I knew your day would come. Congratulations!

I graduated last May, and I started working last month on a med/surg floor. So far, the management is supportive and most of the other nurses are too. I have a great preceptor. That makes a big difference. I have to do 2 years with this hospital because they paid my nursing school tuition and other fees. I don't know if I want to stay with this type of nursing, but it is a good foundation.

I started a month ago in Vegas. My starting salary is 23.38/hr. There is also shift differentials. If you work nights, it's an extra $2.00, weekends is an extra $1.00. If you work all three weekend days, you get paid for 40 hours. I wouldn't advise working at Valley or Desert Springs. The nurses there were trying to strike, and I've heard terrible things from agency nurses who have worked at Valley.

Don't give up.