ErinJane

I am in the same situation. I am hoping that seeking extra certifications will help. I am going to get my ACLS certification. Also, I am trying to make connection and build a network that can assist in my finding a job. Overall though, I am just kicking ass at my current job and keeping my mind open to any opportunities that come.

Anyone out there feel like they are losing their skills while searching for a nursing job? I have a good (if not very looked down upon) position at a pizza place which more than pays enough for me to live on, but I feel like I am going to be rusty if I don't get a job soon. What are you doing to keep yourself in touch which nursing? Reading? Practicing? Studying?

This guy sounds like a misogynist of the highest degree. In general I think dating can be managed in nursing school as long as expectations are clarified from the beginning. I have been in the same situation where the guy was overly pushy, demanding and made me feel guilty for not wanting to spend every moment with him. Don't do it. Just my two cents. Good luck though!

I just got off back to back twelve hour nights for my preceptorship :). To adjust I go to bed at my regular time the night before but set my alarm for 2 or 3 am. Then I make myself stay awake until about 9-10 am then go back to bed until 4 or 5 pm depending on how long it will take me to get ready. Eat a large meal (such as a normal dinner) right before you head to the hospital. Remind yourself to eat something at about midnight or 1 am. Also, if you find yourself getting sleepy walk around the floor or start researching conditions that your pts. have. Nights are an excellent time to get experience with cares since usually anyone of the floor will let you attempt anything on their pts because they have the time to assist/observe. Also, I've notice (I'm my experience) night shift nurses are very laid back. Good luck!

The only time I cried in school was a day when I was running a fever (I didn't realize it when I went into clinicals) and was running on 3 hours of sleep. I had a pt. who was asking me to help him kill himself and I kept trying to distract him but all he would do was cry and I was exhausted. I finally broke down at the nurses station and my instructor sent me home. Then I had to have pts. with mental health dxs for the rest of my time in that clinical just to prove I could handle it.

They are trying to say "puss-like". But instead they are writing about a kitty cat... or a profane name for a body part... ha.

Don't get the wrong impression, alot of the RNs I've worked with wouldn't get mad if you said that, but they might still want to teach you their way. As long as they aren't causing real or potential harm to the pt. the way they perform the procedure I would just watch and take notes. Honestly, short cuts can be your best friend on the floor. Just take notes and then determine how you are going to perform the procedures when you get out there.

I think nurses are just people. We aren't angels or more loving than the average person. I think we are competent professional who specialize in providing cares and performing assessments which advance the health of our pts. You don't really have to be soft or nurturing, but I do think you have to be quite empathetic.

I graduate in four weeks (!). I haven't inserted a catheter, and I've only done one IV on a pt ( I had done 3 or 4 on other students). According to most of the people I know in the nursing field think that nursing school gives you the basic tools, but you learn a lot of things after school. I don't think your school is failing you at all, but I do agree that it is frustrating.

I love the men I work with in my preceptorship. I am on the neuro floor at nights and my preceptor and about 2/5ths of the staff are men. I think it helps balance everything out.

Our preceptorship is only 5 weeks (or 90 hours). I'm pretty nervous about it. Plus 12 hour shifts are going to kick my butt.

We have ceil blue tops with the logo sewn on and navy blue pants. I've had the same top for all 3 years but I've had to get 3 different sets of pants because they fade. We can have a navy jacket but I just prefer to wear a navy tee under my scrub top. Shoes have to be all black or all white with matching socks, hair back, and no jewelry (except wedding rings). But I'm starting my preceptorship this week and I think they will be a lot less strict since we are one on one with a nurse and not around our instructors. Plus I am doing night shifts.

I have to make time to go out with friends once a week or I would go stir crazy. Those 5-8 hours of no-nursing, dancing, drinking, flirting and relaxing get me through my whole week. I only work 12-20 hours a week though. The rest of my time (or a good portion of it) goes into studying.

I hope that things work out for you OP, but the nursing program you are in isn't going to adapt. I think we all have suffered and been impossibly frustrated with our programs, but you have to hang in there or get out. In orientation they told us that we are theirs until we graduate and I think the ones who took that to heart have had an easier time. They will make it hard and frustrating sometimes. But none of those things you mention seem abusive. Our doors were locked at class start in some of my nursing classes and if you showed up late you missed the lecture. I think this makes sense. If you were late once you could always catch up but if you were perpetually late you had no chance of passing. And as another poster stated, being late to the floor can cause serious problems. Just my two cents.

My school is planning one but it's being organized by the students. I am not going through commencement because it's hours and hours and hours long. Buying the stuff through the school is insanely expensive though. Fifty to one hundred and fifty for a pin? No thanks. Then they want to charge for pics for a wall photo of the graduates. I also plan on declining the nightingale pledge. I am mainly doing it for family so they can celebrate. Oh, and I like a good reason to party.