Durable

Hi All, I'm three years into my nursing career and I feel stuck. This was my first job so I have no previous boss or job contacts to use for references. There are no managers at my current job who would not fire me or take serious umbrage if they received a call or letter revealing that I was looking for work elsewhere. I wasn't that close with my professors at nursing school, except 2. One is no longer there and besides, I haven't kept in touch with them and feel funny asking them if I can use them as a reference since I have not gone back to visit them. I have friends at work but is it possible to use coworkers for job references? There are possibly some clinical coordinator level staff who would do this for me but I am afraid it is a mistake to let anyone at work know I am looking to move on. I am stumped on who to use for references. Did this happen to anyone out there? What did you do to get what you needed to keep moving forward in your career? I very much appreciate anyone's thoughts on this subject.

I graduated in August of 2008 with a BSN and I'm jobless. New grads are backing up - This downturn got bad in Oct 2008 but now it's worse. Up until this spring nursing homes were hiring. Now they seem not to be. Hang in there everyone - things have to get better. I'm writing a letter and sending it to NYS and city elected officials. I have noticed there are plenty of nurse manager jobs and jobs requiring 3 - 5 years experience. If they can't hire and train new nurses where do they think all these experienced nurses will come from in the next decade? The shortage will come back with distastrous consequences. I don't think the industry as a whole realizes that they haven't handled new grad to first job transitions very well in the past and that needs to change. Anyhow, remember, you aren;t alone. There are a lot of waiting for a break in this economic tide. Hang in Nurses! - Durable

I am in the same situation. I think that nurse managers deal with their insecurities this way, by picking on a designated person. I think you should definitely talk to your boss and tell her you do not like the way you are treated and ask her what is the reason for it. If you don't she (and others) will continue to pick on you. I am looking for a new job for this reason. The rule where I work is to pick on or humiliate any body with credentials that threaten others like a BSN or pick on anyone who is a nice person, as opposed to an evil troll which most of the nurses there are encouraraged to be if they aren't already. Why are nurses so unfair and emotionally immature? I thought this was a profession but it works more like an army platoon.

I thought the hardest course by far was Med Surg 3. Patho was hard but we got a good teacher so it wasn't that bad. The Summer courses are short so those can be tough. A lot depends on who the teacher is. some are great and some are a drag but it should even out. - Durable

If it's the same as it was in 2007, I used every one of those books with the exception of the Leadership course - no exams in Leadership - just tons of papers, a group presentation (lots of group presentations in that program) and a clinical and mandatory class time. But in everyone of the other courses you will have to crack everyone of those books. The exam questions are often obsure - I had to read them with a fine tooth comb. In Patho, the study guide really helped me - it saved me actually cause I could not finish the indepth text book reading - that was a summer course and very quick. You dont really need the clinical handbooks they have in the bookstore. The pych course is the second summer. Hope this helps. Oh, and even for the Nursing Today course - you've got to study the book to pass the exams. Or I did anyway. And in Nursing Assessment - the exams are harder than you may think. Be prepared. I failed the midterm and had to break my behind to catch up! - Durable

Hi KDRose - Yes, what you described is perfect. It doesn't have to be medical - include exactly what you wrote here in your application essay. This is very good even for your resume after you graduate. - you have a wide range and all of it is community minded and helping others less fortunate - giving to the community - you sound like a natural-born nurse :)

Hi JCazburgs - Don't worry - I'm a big baby and if I could do it you can. It's well worth it. I can't believe I'm working as a nurse! I imagined it for so long and now I'm doing it - yippee! :) all the best to you!

Hi Lena, All the best to you. Enjoy the experience - I miss school to be honest. I have a B.A. in English literature. Math and science were never easy for me - if I can do it anyone can.

Quilter - I think that was very wrong of them to insist you resign or be fired. It sounds like they botched your orientation and made you pay for it. I think that happens a lot because management does not want to take responsibility for mistakes. The only consulation is that you're out of that place - it sounds like a below par place to work, although, being a new nurse, I'm not sure what's more common, facilities that have good training practices or lousy facilities running like chaotic circuses and treating new nurses badly. I hope you found a better job with a better facility and got a good preceptor. They are hard to find!

Also, They often turn down people with high averages who sound very self assured, but have no altruistic-socially responsible history. You need to be a little humble when you write your essay, express a desire to help people who may not have money or insurance, be willing to take on boring, no-glamour roles, be part of a team. If you have a high academic average, but never volunteered for anything community minded, have no proof that you care about health care and people and not just a good salary and employment prospects, that will turn them off. The school is located in a community that they are committed to serving - visit the neighborhood - read the bulletin boards, it's a very good school but it is inner city and it does not have an Ivy League following.

For those deciding between Downstate or a private school...if I could have afforded it I would go to the private school, i.e. Columbia, NYU, Pace to save myself some supreme headaches associated with public schools. But if you're poor like me - Downstate is a good school, albeit a pain in the behind sometimes and you get a great yet affordable education. You have to be able to discipline yourself and to figure some things out on your own - no hand holding at this school - but that will serve you well when you start working. Nursing can be a tough job so coming from a no frills school can only help you.

Mahage - Kudos to you! You sound like a wonderful person and a very good nurse - I wish there were more Mahages where I work. And I love this "...put on your big girl panties.".. :) Thank you Mahage for your wisdom, humanity, and sense of humor! to Caribqueen12 and to us all. You are very much needed in the field of nursing and you did my soul good today! - Durable

I thought it was very hard. I went to bed at 3 or 4 in the morning and woke up at 6 or 7. Weekends and holidays were spent studying or preparing. Friends went on fun vacations and left me home alone working my behind off. I remember my first summer I cried so hard I couldn't see, my eyes were two swollen balloons. It is an accelerated program and I found it very difficult. But there were people who were not as challenged as I was. I guess it depends on your previous habits and what you're used to. I thought it was like having my fingers stuck in an electrical socket for 15 months. But plenty of people actually enjoyed it. If I could do it you can. I'm a big baby so I'm told :) But I think you have to want it badly. For me it was a supreme effort but I wanted nothing more than to be a nurse - so badly I wanted to graduate and be a good nurse helping people, with something to give back for a change instead of just wishing for it and that got me through - just pure determination - no way was I going to fail any course - my attitude was 'Just do it! Do anything, but don't fail!'

P.S. at my facility is is strictly forbidden to make copies of anything - chart pages, MARs, Kardex pages. Also, I made a schedule table and posted it at the nurses station of which patients on the floor are scheduled for finger sticks and when because they are all stacked on different days and times and it takes a 1/2 hour to go through the Medexes every day and rewrite down the schedule for myself. But the manager ripped it up and said I am not allowed to do that because it violates HIPPA - which is ridiculous. It is also ridiculous they haven't switched to computerized documentation yet.

I think the biggest mistake we make is blaming ourselves before we realize that hey... we are rushed and thrown in there without proper training or the benefit of modern tools like computerized documentation or checklists to help us since, hey! - we are only human, and then we get blamed and made to feel stupid and as if we are failures. To hell with preceptors who are irresponsible or just plain evil and to hell with facliities who do not support us or train us well. Putting pressure on you to be an experienced nurse in 3 months - or in my case when you start on day 1 is just plain stupid and irresponsible. It is NOT your fault. The best way to fight back is to stick together and participate in forums and share tips and tricks. And remember - the facility and your preceptors will blame you rather than take responsibility or be understanding. That's their game so we should have our game ready - they have experience, they are responsible for you - do not let them lay the blame on you - stand up for yourself and above all - be prepared at all times to slow down and think in small steps. If they rush you - tell them to back off and that any mistakes resulting from rushing you as a new nurse will be considered their error - don't let them push you around! You are not alone. Thousands of nurses have been in your shoes and the ones who say they never made a mistake ...I don't believe them. The current health care system is a big mistake waiting to happen and the "perfect people" make the system worse for us honest human people. - Durable