tma0312

I work at a hospital about 40 mins outside of Boston and with two years experience I am making $31/hr. When I first moved to Mass and was trying for positions with a couple of agencies, I was looking at making around $40/hr plus a per diem pay for the contract; however, there were very few bites through any of the agencies. I lucked out and got a permanent position.

I agree with it being female dominated and having less respect as a profession. I mean, just look at the name "nursing." I don't know what pops into your head, but to me, it is a distinctly female activity. I wish I had a different title than nurse sometimes.

I'm so glad you loved it! I worked at UNC and I miss it sooooooooo much! Awesome awesome hospital.

The heat from the dryer will kill some bacteria and germs, so I don't worry about it. I'm not really a germophobe, either, though.

I was told at my job that "3-11 is the worst shift!" mainly for the same reasons posted by the first two posters; however, I have found it to be not the case. Our ratio is 1:3 ( we are stepdown) so the most admissions I can get is three. Not too shabby, considering I was used to alot more! At my old job, we were 1:5 tele unit and 1:3 with our stepdown pts (combined unit) and I would see all my patients go and get 5 admissions all before 5pm on day shift very frequently. And the acuity level was alot higher than at my current workplace. To me, day shift is the worst. Evenings are fantastic in terms of pace and workload.

We are required every other weekend; however, I am the newest one and never seem to get scheduled weekends. Alot of the other nurses who have been there like their weekend shift differential and we are also staffed by Baylor nurses who only work weekends. We are considering changing the requirement to every third weekend for regular staff. When our unit opened up, some of the nurses from other units were offered positions with no weekends in order to encourage them work there so it wasn't all newbie nurses. There are only a couple of those, though.

Took me about a week to break them in and it was hell. Since then, no problems whatsoever! I love mine! I should have done what Wooh said about not wearing them two shifts in a row. Makes total sense!

I had a doc chart once, "Pt complained his chest started hurting Sunday evening while watching football game. It must have been pre-season football as the NFL or college season has not yet begun." very good assessment, doctor.

I completely agree with OP! At my last job, I did half days, half nights every 6 weeks. Day shift was insanely busy and totally exhausting. Night shift was, well, easy as pie, even when the staffing wasn't great! And those night shift nurses were sooooo mean to the dayshift nurses when stuff didn't get done. I mean, seriously, I KNOW you are not doing anything important between the hours of 12am and 4am! I work that shift, too! I know how you all sit there at chat and gab and laugh so loud the patients complain! I just gave up and stopped caring whether or not they got angry at me for stuff not getting done. Our unit manager knew this was a problem and she even made night shift nurses work a few day shifts once to give them a taste of days. None of them could hack it! But of course, every facility is different. Some managers may not be so understanding.

But, getting to the point of your post, when I worked 12's, I didn't do much on my days off. I was too unmotivated! Now I've been doing alot of gardening! And lots of little projects around the house! And alot more traveling to visit people on my weekends and days off!

I thought 12's were great! Until I moved and got a job only working 8hour shifts, and boy does time FLY by now! I no longer dread going into work because I am so incredibly exhausted after working 13hours the day before. I can now function on my days off, too! Its amazing! I love my 8's and would never do three 12hr shifts again as long as I can help it!

I think most mothers understand that they will be taking care of their baby 24/7 when they go home, but seriously....one night of getting a break after giving birth? Is that such a crime? Will the baby be detrimentally affected by this for the rest of their life? No, I don't think so. And as for breastfeeding, its THEIR CHOICE. When it comes to patients who choose to refuse the way hospitals are providing care, I've given up making them feel guilty. It doesn't work. I educate them and move on. It is not our place to assert our own values on to other people.

I bed alarm everyone UNLESS I am 100% positive that they have no problems walking and are not tethered to a monitor / IV pole and are not taking narcotics. I also get bedside commodes for the ones who need quick access. I always give people gentle reminders that I'd rather clean up their pee in the bed than have them fall and get a broken hip. Usually that is all it takes for the oriented ones to call every time.

I would also recommend calling HR and reminding them of your application. It helped me get a few call backs. Alot of HR's are swamped with applications, so do what you can to get your name in their minds rather than on just a piece of paper!

took me about 5 months to get a job and it was not even full time :) but there was always opportunities to pick up shifts. I had 2 years experience and put out over 30 applications. I ended up moving before I got a job because I was moving regardless. More places called after they saw my address change since they knew then I would be available immediately. Good luck!

If nursing is such a calling, then where are the managers pulling overnight shifts to cover units when they are short staffed? And where are the managers every weekend and holiday when staff nurses are working? Since when does having a career and fulfilling a calling mean that we become married to our jobs and therefore put our work before our families? I love nursing, but I did not sign a contract anywhere stating I will now be available whenever they should so please. There must be boundaries set, otherwise someone will always try to take advantage of the person who is willing to help out. Working weekends may not be overworking for some, but when you are raising children, managing a household and then working on top of that, life becomes extremely stressful.

WHAT?? A contract to refund the cost of your orientation if you leave?? No way, no how, not ever would I do that! Maybe if it was a tuition reimbursement, I would, but a place of employment should be responsible for the cost of orientation, period. Has anyone else heard of this?

Know your drips, what is considered safe dosing, etc. I once had a resident accidentally order Dopamine at a dosage that was similar to that of Dobutamine. I looked at the order and questioned it and caught it before it was given. Like another poster said, these patients can go downhill fast so check in on them often. Always ask specifically if they are having or have had any recent chest pain and get an EKG asap, because sometimes they may be having minimal pain but are in fact having a STEMI. They don't tell you about the pain because they don't want to be "a bother." Refresh yourself on rhythms, too!

I think some new grad RN's are exceptional and can excel at an ICU or ED position if given proper training. Where I started, new grads in those units got 6 months minimum of orientation before they were reassessed to see if they needed longer, and sometimes they did, but they were not forced to resign if they needed longer. We had an awesome new grad program in which all new RN's were closely managed for 12 months following their start date. The support was amazing and we all felt extremely competent after finishing the program. But, since this is not your case, I would definitely try a slower pace environment where you can really work on just "being a nurse" without all the chaos of the ED. Being forced to resign once might be a fluke, but twice...it should make you reconsider your "best fit." Good luck!!

Thanks so much! One more question- do I have to put this employer on my resume for future positions? Thanks!

I recently relocated to another state and was able to secure a position before moving since the area of the country I am now living in is very tight on RN jobs. I felt extremely lucky and happy to not have to be unemployed for any length of time! However....I just got a call from a hospital literally down the street from me that wants to interview me for two different units. I just started my other job about two weeks ago. This hospital is almost an hour away during insane rush hour traffic since its a night time position. When I was interviewed for this position, they told me it would be a rotating position, which apparently is not the case since they have no need for any day nurses, only nights, so since I am new, I would be working straight nights. Which isn't a problem, but it is soooo far away. Not to mention, on this unit it is common practice for nurses to not get breaks. Why? Because there are only two nurses at any given time and the unit can take up to 10-12 pts. No secretary, and alot of times no aide. Its not exactly what I signed up for. If I get offered a position at the closer hospital, I am going to take it, no questions about it; however, how do I go about telling the first hospital I am leaving? Do I give two weeks? Would that not be pointless since I am still on orientation? Please help!

i would have to say (and i'm not sure if its been mentioned) PLEASE don't use the computers in the nursing station for your personal enjoyment! I have charting to do and monitors to watch. There is a doctor's workroom right down the hall for you to use.

i would start looking for a new job ASAP.

My question is really in relation to IV tubing, I suppose. The other day, I dc'd a nitro drip on my patient after titrating it down. I disconnected the tubing and flushed normal saline through the long IV pump tubing, so we could reuse the tubing (my hospital is on a waste-minimizing kick). But what do I do about the fluid that is still in the IVAD that is going into the patient? I didn't want to flush it quickly because of all the nitroglycerin sitting there. Am I supposed to rehook him back up to NS on the pump and run it slowly at approximately the same rate he was getting nitro at? Or can I pull back on the IVAD and waste what is in it and then flush? Or is it ok to flush the IVAD semi-quickly and just monitor his BP? Thanks for your input

i was a crammer, however, I never sacrificed my sleep. I would study all day, but be in bed by 930 or 10. If I felt up to it in the morning, I would do a quick review (emphasis on "review" - not learning new material.) My friends and I would get to school maybe an hour before the test and just throw knowledge around- it was always fun and relaxed and allowed us to clarify things we studied.