StudyinginCT

I agree with NedRN. I am coming to the end of my 13 week assignment, my first, with Talemed. They are ranked #1 by highway hypodermics. I have been very pleased with my recruiter and my assignment. I traveled within driving distance for my first assignment and will be renewing. I found that there is a sharp learning curve for the hospital and culture and will enjoy staying there now that I feel I've found a groove. I took the stipend as I travel from home and use hotels rooms or air bnb when needed. I have found a culture amongst travelers "I won't get out of bed for less than..." decide what your salary basement is. These recruiters make money off of you. You're the commodity. Decide what you're worth. With 6 year experience, I'm worth $1500 after taxes and insurance....

#1 - that won't change. The patient population is what it is. Doesn't matter which town you go to - if it's in the middle of nowhere or the big city. The only thing that changes is the volume and the creativity in how people decide to f**k themselves up. #2 - Yes! Press Ganey! Have you met the *****? Super fun, right. You totally want to take her out for cocktails so she can tell you how you should have been faster responding to your bells or provided more warm blankets or more cranberry juice to your diabetic with belly pain. I know, she's such a gas. Don't worry - she's in PACU and Day Surgery and other places too! She doesn't just haunt the ER. #3 Health care is changing/has changed, will continue to do so until we die. So saddle up and hang on or jump ship, but it takes gifted people to do what we do and we will always be in short supply. If you can't take the heat,get out of the kitchen. We do important work with unnecessary ******** like lactics and blood cultures on afebrile patients. But we do it anyway. If there isn't a bigger reason for you to do this and you can't reconcile the ******** then yeah, go do something else. But beware, all nursing professions involve some degree of ********. So do all jobs for that matter.

This is all terribly disappointing news! I graduated in 2009. I made $27.50 to start in Hartford, CT. From what I have seen online, real estate prices in Utah are very comparable to prices in the greater Hartford area. I have since moved to northern rural NH where I can only find per diem work, but I work FT hours. My base is $26, plus I make a 20% differential per hour for being per diem. I am tired of the lack of predictability in my schedule, no ability for paid time off or education benefits, since I am considering going back to school for my masters/DNP. We have wanted to move to Utah for years since we are avid skiers and my husband works in the outdoor industry and many of those companies are located in and around SLC. Hearing that I will take such a massive pay cut is very disheartening. I was hoping to stay at or above my current salary. It is certainly a deterrent to moving there. Nursing is a physically and emotionally demanding job that is hazardous to your health. We take risks everyday caring for our patients with grave illnesses. To think that this work is rewarded at a rate I could make behind a bar in a resort town in beyond unfair. Perhaps we will have to wait until I become an NP or CRNA to move there. I don't know that we can afford to maintain our current lifestyle and manage our significant school debt without our current rate of pay.

It is a very difficult market. I would consider applying for a per diem position to get your foot in the door. I found that many hospitals did not consider outsiders for FT or PT positions. If you're able to take a per diem job without benefits, the threshold for hire definitely seems lower. I got 2 per diem offers from 2 different hospitals during the 2 months I waited for my license. I would also consider contacting Core Medical. The handle the majority of the travel assignments in NH. The pay from those gigs is generally in the $40/hr range. I live so far north that I could never make it work for anything they offered me. But that would be another route. Get going on that license!!! Remember, mine took 2 months! Would suck to get an offer and then have to wait forever (like I did) to actually work. The other thing is that the hospitals couldn't even technically offer me the job until I had a valid license, so all I had from them was a verbal offer, nothing in stone. Both hospitals were very patient while I sorted through the various licensing issues, but some employers may not be as patient. Particularly if they have a staffing need and others waiting to take the job with license in hand. The nice thing is that NH is part of the compact, so once you have a NH license, you can also work in Maine. Or any of the other 20 states. It's a valuable license to have.

Hi! I moved from CT to the White Mtns in August. I have cardiac critical care experience. I just got a FT job offer last week. Of course, up here there are far fewer options as far as hospitals are concerned when compared to the southern part of the state. Be prepared - you will take a major hit in pay. Even though I work in a rural critcal access hospital, my pay is comparable to friends of mine who are RN's in the seacoast region. Also, the licensing process can take forever. If you are positive that you will eventually move here, start the application process now. Get your fingerprints done and paperwork submitted. That way when you do receive an offer, you can accept without waiting for your license. It took 2 months for my license to come through.

You will have to do the pre-reqs in order to be accepted into any school of nursing, UConn, CC, or otherwise. Choose the school for you based upon the cost of tuition and length of time you want to spend getting the degree. I believe the CC system in CT now awards acceptance to qualified applicants based upon a lottery system due to high demand for spots.

I've been job searching in the Bay Area myself. I have 18 months experience in a large teaching hospital in Hartford, CT in Cardiac Step Down/Med-tele. I've found a few comparable positions @ Alta Bates and Kaiser systems. Am I going to face an uphill struggle if my husband gets a job out there? We can't afford to live in the Bay Area without 2 incomes, and I really don't want to stay behind and job hunt from CT. I guess I just figured I could find a job relatively easily given the number of hospitals. Unlike others, I am not willing to work in LTC or med/surg, I only want critical care and would prefer to move into the ICU RN role.

This is amazing to me. We are looking at relocating to the Bay Area from CT, and I make $28/hr with 18 months experience. I know the COL is high in the Bay Area, but holy cow. $51/hr??

Hey guess what - the Master's in Nursing is back! I figured, in typical UConn fashion that they would eventually realize they were shooting themselves in the foot and losing revenue if they got rid of it. Hope you all made it through the program and have the jobs of your dreams now!

which companies have you worked for pay for relocation and vehicle? My husband is unemployed and although he has been apply for 5-7 jobs per week, nothing yet. His unemployment benefits run out in December, so we are seriously considering the travel nurse thing to help us make ends meet and go live in someplace we like better than where we are now.

you're welcome. #3 - don't take anything personally. Most of the time - it ain't about you. I had a nursing prof who used to say "even if your patient kills you - don't take it personally."

2 things: 1.) Why don't you give your preceptor some feedback? Why don't you tell her/him this? S/he gives you feedback all the time, and it's important to let people know how you learn. What is beneficial, what is not. Let her/him know your rationale for your internal prioritization. You can learn some valuable stuff, and s/he'll know you are actually thinking about it instead of just doing things willy-nilly. It might just be a bonding experience. 2.) it's your third week. Chill. No one expects you to be an expert. They expect that you will suck and be barely competent at basic tasks. That's the definitions of "being green." It's very clear to me that you take this very seriously. Tasks are tasks - they take practice. You could probably train a monkey to start a line. If you put equally as much thought into your initial assessments and interventions, you will save lives. Eventually - you'll be able to start lines and put in foleys with your eyes closed. But being able to think on your feet and assess patients accurately, quickly, and get the orders the patient needs is what nursing is about. This is all from someone who is now 18 months into the job and has been in your shoes. I don't work in the ED now - I did before I graduated. But every nursing job has it's own tasks. And never forget they are just tasks. I've never learned to start an IV and I'm already an advanced beginner/competent nurse. If you weren't required to read it nursing school or haven't been reminded of it in your orientation, definitely check out Benner's Stages of Clinical Competence. Walk before you run.

I think you can also respond with "If I encountered a problem I didn't know how to address, I would make sure that I utilize the resources of my co-workers and ancillary staff to appropriately intervene." Pain is pain. The meds you give might be different, but the assessment skills of a human being (i.e. a NURSE) are the same and irreplacable. In every situation, there might be nuances you are not familiar with, but your process is still the same, even if the details are different. Every new job is new by definition. There is a learning curve. Acknowledging that you might not know the answer but have the skills and the resourcefulness to discern the appropriate interventions shows that you can be calm, cool, and collected when responding to patient needs. The saying is "you don't know what you don't know." Identifying that you don't know is just as beneficial as knowing. In an interview, asking about what kinds of resources nurses utilize in that same scenario will give you valuable information about how the floor is run and whether you want to be a part of that team. Remember - you are interviewing them just as thoroughly as they are interviewing you. You will be trained for your job. Don't forget that. Ask how you are trained and show your commitment to the process in the interview. Ask to shadow. Ask to shadow twice. Ask to be connected with a nurse who is relatively new and ask that nurse what her/his experience was like as an orientee. Hope that helps.

In general, I think it would a good idea to come up with a response as to how you handle stress. Working in critical care is stressful, and if you don't handle stress well it's likely not the place for you. I don't handle stress particularly well, I internalize a lot of stuff. I'm working on changing that. I wanted critical care, but didn't realize that I have a tough time managing my own stress level. The patients never see me sweat, my co-workers think I'm a gift during a code because I am calm, think critically, communicate and get **** done, but it all takes it toll on me. So think about how you would respond to a question about managing stress. In general, I think asking questions about the culture of the floor is a good idea. It shows that you are a team player and aren't some kind of ******, negative nurse who goes around spreading negativity. Ask about committees and shared governance and how much nurses get to participate in the way their unit is run. Ask about educational opportunities. By asking questions about bettering yourself, you show the manager that you can be more than just a staff nurse. That you want to be the best nurse you can be and participate in making your unit a better place for patients and nurses.

My first job out of nursing school was on a cardiac stepdown floor. My hospital had a nurse residency program and trained us well. We took AACN's ECCO, and did tons of classroom stuff in addition to our hours on the floor with our preceptor. After 5 months, I was on my own with an assignment. Nothing can really prepare you for the stress and sometimes palpable fear involved in managing your own assignment as a new nurse. I was so exhausted by the end of everyday for the first year that I couldn't have read a book if you paid me to. Nursing is physically and mentally exhausting. The best preparation is to engage with doctors, other nurses and your educators and ask questions. Ask away. Think critically. Get involved with helping other nurses who have critical patients who are tanking. Be the first person to show up when a patient codes. Get your hands dirty. Experience counts. You can read books all day long, but until you're standing at the bedside watching your patient go into flash pulmonary edema, you won't know what to do. Good luck!

This nurse sounds like a *****/jerk, honestly. You assess the site however you feel confident doing it. At the end of the day, you need to go home feeling as though you kept your patient safe and used your assessment skills to accurately and thoroughly check for complications. Why do all your patients have wedge dressings? Do you guys not use angioseals? Personally, I always poke my fingers underneath the wedge if I can. Lots of times a pt's....uhh...body habitus prevents one from getting underneath there. But then I just palpate around it, and rely on my vital signs, pt complaints, pedal pulses. Don't let someone else's criticism of your thorough assessment get to you. I had an EP lab nurse make a rude comment to me about pacer pads for transport once. She was like "well what good are the pacer pads in your bag?! You should put them on the patient!" Yeah, for our 3 minute trip to the EP lab with a stable patient. I'm totally gonna slap those pads on, *****.

I don't have a clue about any of the specific military stuff, but what if you talked with your physician about trying niacin as opposed to zocor? Since it's just a b vitamin maybe the army wouldn't care so much?? And if you are eating better and exercising more, I'd say serial lipid panels would be a good idea to see if you even have a need for the zocor in a year's time. Just my $.02 - FWIW.

Hi All! I am working on an application to the Civilian Medical Corps for nursing jobs in Germany, preference is Landstuhl. I have 2 years of experience working in cardiac telemetry, and I'll pretty much take any job they give me. But I do want to eventually do ICU or ER. And eventually eventually - CRNA. I have lots of questions: Are civilian nurses treated differently by their co-workers than military nurses? How easy is it to transfer from one department in the hospital to another once you have experience there? I understand appointments are made for 3 years. Does that mean you will work the job you are assigned to for 3 years or can you change units during that 3 years time? Would my 2 years of cardiac tele experience qualify me to push for an ICU job? I don't have the training to walk on the job to a busy trauma ICU. But I learn fast. Will they train me stateside for my job or on site @ Landstuhl if I am hired? A little background: I have wanted to join the Army or the Navy for nearly 10 years, but because I have Wolf Parkinson White Syndrome and therefore an abnormal EKG, I cannot pass the physical. The Civilian Medical Corps offers an awesome alternative, particularly because I do have a family now. It allows me to choose where I want to go but I still get to serve my country and be of service to the wounded and sick men and women who are in the military. I am having trouble expressing these idealistic reasons without sounding super dumb in my cover letter. Also, don't think it's a good idea to highlight my heart arrhythmia to a potential employer. Any advice on what kinds of things to highlight in my cover letter? I am keen on Germany from having spent a semester there in college and I think it's a great place to raise my son. My husband went to graduate school in Switzerland and has a fondness for Europe as well. We like adventures and this sounds great! We'd be living on only my salary, he'd stay at home until he also found a civilian job or was somehow able to obtain a work visa. Anyway, all feedback is much appreciated!

Hi Mona - I'm applying to the Civilian Medical Corps to work in the Army hospital in Landstuhl. In college, I spoke conversation German, spent a semester in Ulm. Now, my German is far too rusty to speak or write, but I imagine it will be like riding a bike should I get the job and have the opportunity to speak German again (though I imagine living on an Army base, it's difficult to speak anything other than English!). My goals are to get my son strong enough in German language skills that he can attend a regular German school and to polish my language skills enough so that I may be able to attend graduate school in Germany for anesthesia. My language skills are so awful that I am not able to figure out the key words to search for nursing schools in Germany. Specifically, I will be interested in Nurse Anesthesia training schools. Can you help me out a bit by giving me the key words so I can search properly on google? I can fumble my way through reading German to get the gist of things. Thanks!

I had the exact same feeling after I left my NCLEX. The trick worked for me. I took mine on 12/29, and passed. Test stopped @ 75 for me as well. I guess the deal is if you feel like you got them all wrong and got tons of hard questions, then you are testing far above the minimum passing level, and it all contributes to the feeling of failure. But really, it means you probably passed. You LIKED SATA? OMG, I hated my SATA. The choices were so random and obscure. God, I hated those. Almost ALL of my questions were SATA as well. It got very tiresome!

I just wanted to follow up to my previous post: I did indeed pass! I didn't study. Because that's the way I roll. I can overstudy, and then I overthink the question. If I know too many details, I start having a mental debate, and it all goes down hill from there. My University used ATI, so I did all of those practice tests and predictors, but I hadn't thought about nursing in 2 weeks when I took the test..... I did a one year post-bac intensive program, and my NCLEX date was 2 weeks after graduation. I thought the test was impossible, but apparently, (I've been told), this means it was because I was so far above the minimum passing level that I got super hard, random questions. I was never tested on maternity, so I figured that meant I had miserably failed another category. I had exactly 2 peds questions. All the meds on my test were things I'd never heard of. but I passed, and that's all that matters.

I think the timing on taking the NCLEX is a very individual decision. Everyone takes tests differently. It's a standardized test, and some are better than others at taking those and as such, have differing levels of confidence regarding NCLEX. UConn provided a test review/practice tool called ATI. It was pretty decent. You take ATI tests on the computer each semester, and they always count for a decent chunk of your semester grade. The question format is very similar to NCLEX. That was all I used to prepare. I am blessed with the ability to take standardized tests well. I did very well in the program. For me, I wanted to get it over with as fast as possible. I felt information flying out of my brain with each day that passed after the program ended. I got my ATT (authorization to test) on Mon Dec 28. I took the test the following day. I studied for about 6-8 hours on Monday. I was very confident walking into the test. Because the test is adaptive, it not only targets your weaknesses, it also gives you super hard questions if you get the easy and medium ones correct. Basically, the test passes you and ends when you have shown it that you meet it's competency level @ 95% confidence level. What this means to me, the test taker, is that I thought the test was obscure, random, and HARD. I was 100% positive I had failed, even though I got the minimum # of questions. There were whole content areas that I was not tested on. The test messes with your mind. But I passed. Apparently, if you get super hard questions that means you are testing far above the minimum passing level. You can know all of this going in (I did) and still take it and be positive you failed. My advice is, know your strengths, know your weaknesses. Figure out how you learn best, and trust your gut. In my opinion, the ability to take standardized tests is not at all correlated with intelligence. If you know what allows you to succeed, choose that path. I'm impulsive. I work well under pressure. I don't like to over study, because then I get overly analytical about the questions, think too much, and get them wrong. I knew I needed to take it immediately and get it over with. Others in my class are waiting until mid January. Others are taking a Kaplan course before scheduling their exam. I'm sorry that's so not-specific, but I think it's a really individual thing. best of luck to you!

Hello from a successful MbEIN 2009 Graduate! Passed NCLEX, had my first interview yesterday. Wanted to address the concerns about the MSN issue @ UConn. The person to talk to is Regina Cusson. MSN degrees will still be granted for Adult NP degrees and the Neonatal degree. The way they "get you" so to speak is that you must continue to take classes towards the DNP. You can take them one-at-atime or you can choose not to take classes and pay a continuous enrollment fee, similar to the way the BGS program works. You can of course choose to not take DNP classes, not pay the continuous enrollment fee and be dismissed from the university. You can also start back up again to get back in, but there are higher fees associated with getting reinstated. So basically, in english - you can get an MSN @ UConn. You do not have to get your DNP. They offer Adult NP, Acute Care NP and Neonatal NP, and all of the Clinical Nurse Leader tracks will still be available for terminal MSN degrees in all specialty areas. If you have other questions, don't hesitate to ask! Good luck to you all, it's quite a ride. Try to stay positive and support one another. Get all the sleep you can, now!! Those in Stamford have EXCELLENT instructors for clinical and classroom. Those in Waterbury have an excellent Med-surg professor!

you can buy the ATI stuff from ATI directly online and get access to the quizzes and comprehensive predictors. I don't know if it's cheaper than Kaplan or not. I looked and looked for a stat on ATI's website to see what their NCLEX pass rate was, and couldn't find a number only a "nearly all" of students pass kind of thing.

I suppose you are right now that I have my result - i did indeed pass. I didn't feel as though it "prepared" me because I thought the questions were so much more random and obscure, and I was totally unprepared for the test to be that way. I thought it would be much more about critical thinking than about random stuff. The nature of the test - adaptive - contributes to the feeling of failing miserably. It messes with your mind for sure. I thought I got the majority of the questions wrong. Perhaps the passing standard is lower than I'd imagine, or perhaps I guessed well.