Jean1313

Hi, My mom is a teacher, so I (sort of) know where you are coming from. She has complained about the poorly behaved children and parents, been awake all night grading papers, etc. This is what I do: Get in to work early every shift. Review my pt labs/procedures/meds/test etc. Get report, run from room to room, assessing, putting out fires, calls on my phone all shift, meds, prns, drains, oh no there goes a BP (up or down), always trying to make the right decisions. And making a mistake can be fatal. Not to mention very brief breaks (with the phone on) if you even get them. I have gone 12hr shifts without peeing, most nights I go once. As others have said, holidays are few and far between. And those elusive 12hr day shifts? Very hard to get one that doesn't rotate nights. Although I can only say for sure that this is my experience, I suspect it is that of others as well. My suggestion... Think about it. If you have a passion for nursing, like long hours on your feet, and don't mind lives in your hands at all times, go for it. But nursing is (though rewarding) the hardest thing that I have ever done. And yes, I have considered going back to be a teacher :-)

I agree. I have worked other jobs, even minimum wage jobs that let me have a break away from the job site and even eat. I am leaving my med/onc floor after 9 months. 14 hour days, some nights I pee twice, some not at all. My floor used to be ortho, but the onc pts are MUCH sicker. The families don't want to make them DNR so I have had multiple codes in a night. Staffing hasn't changed even though acuity has. I feel bad for my pts. But I don't enjoy my job, can't have a life. My last day is this Thursday.

Just wanted to stop by and say good luck to everyone! I graduated in 2007, RN now almost 2 years now. It's a great clinical program, you will see and learn so much!

Nursing school is really a major commitment. It is one of the hardest things that I ever did. But it is very rewarding. If you feel called to be a nurse than go for it! One of the things that helped me in nursing school was to take it ONE step at a time. I would focus first on getting through the pre-reqs. Then focus on each rotation of school. It doesn't hurt to have a goal in mind, but you are going to need the focus for your classes. Regarding what job you can get after graduation is going to depend on many things: Does the NICU you are applying to already have too many new grads? (units try to balance out the people with experience and the people without it), The economy (are there a lot of experienced NICU RNs trying for the same job because they can't retire yet d/t money issues), and then the basics: Are they even hiring? Do they think that you'll be a good fit? I'm not trying to overwhelm you, but I wish someone had told me these things. I had wanted to do Labor and Delivery, and found out: They prefer people with experience, don't have openings a lot, and at this hospital tend to promote from within. I did find interesting jobs in my almost 2 years, but it helps to keep an open mind. Good luck!

Hi, I started out as a Psych RN, then made the jump to medical, something that I found to be very difficult. After almost a year in the medical world, my floor was changed to a specialty that really isn't for me. So I interviewed in a few specialties, and Psych was the only one to make me an offer. I have a big question for all of the Psych RNs, current and past: How hard is it to go back again? Do interviewers still consider you for other medical jobs when you are coming back out of Psych? I got into a med-surg floor this past time d/t need, but I couldn't get into the specialties because I had no medical experience. Now, even with some medical experience, the economy has me competing for other specialties with RNs with experience in those areas. I really don't want to close the door on specialties on the medical side in the future if I take this job (I plan to stay more than a year this time to help the resume look somewhat stable). As we know, Psych RNs are very busy, but in a different way. Our assessments are different, the skills we use daily are different. I like Psych, but really would love to hear from some RNs that have managed to keep a toe in each world. Thanks!!!

Thanks for the replies! I really needed them. I have to go in to work a midnight tonight and I'm not looking forward to all of those questions. Right now I work 3 12's, midnights. I've been at it now about 9 months, and realize that they are exhausting me. So Day/Eve was quite a relief. But 5 days/week (gotta imagine more needs are eve) and I'm never home to do anything. The bigger obstacle (which I thought that I had accepted) is that I don't know if I can come back from Psych, and as Trixie noted, maybe should take this as a sign to wait it out? I thought that if I worked a 4 day week in Psych, maybe I could float a day once in awhile to the medical world to keep the skills up. But I don't see myself trying to work a 6 day week. I just go back/forth in my head, but have to make a decision really soon as I now have 2 HRs and 2 RN managers involved. Will deifinitely take your input into consideration. Thanks again.

So I went on a couple interviews: OR (they already had made the offers on the position), high-risk OB (maybe a foot in the door to L&D?) and Psych. I had been a psych RN before at this hospital, and liked it. Psych made me the first offer. I confirmed with them multiple times that I was accepting a FT 2 8s/2 12's Day/Eve position, they "officially" (their words) offered me the job on Thursday. They told me that I had to tell the RN manager and get my transfer date. I confirmed the position again and agreed to put in notice. I told the RN manager Friday that I like my coworkers, like her management, but not the specialty. Monday (yesterday) they call me and tell me, I can have the Day/Eve position on the floor that I want. But I now can only work 5 8s. Apparently, something happened with the union and I was "outbid" for my position before I even got there. Needless to say, I was very angry. I had just put in notice. So now I have 2 options, either accept the transfer under these new terms, or tell my current RN manager I'm not leaving (which she will correctly interpret as "not leaving yet") and suck it up. I'm certain most people on the floor have already heard, although I only told the RN manager. I really don't know what to do. Part of me is kind of relieved... It might mean that I'm supposed to stick it out until something becomes available in the OR or Postpartum/L&D. But the other part of me doesn't want to look like an idiot on my floor, or anger the Psych HR and RN manager on that floor (even though it was their fault, IMO) in the event I ever do want to go back. Anyone been in this position before? Any thoughts?

Hi, I have been on before, struggling as a nurse new to the world of medical nursing. I had started in psych, which I did like, but went to medical because I had interests in other areas. After a year + in psych, I went looking for a good fit in the medical side. I had never enjoyed my med-surg rotations in school and tried to get into the specialties I was interested in, but no luck. Every interview that I went to they took a brief look at the resume and said "No medical experience?" and would offer me a med-surg job at their hospital. Long story short, I went with the least intense floor I could find, with the unit director I liked the most. So from October to March, I did ortho/med-surg overflow nursing. I didn't really like it, and was looking at that time to move on. Our floor was abruptly changed to oncology, which I had no interest in ever doing. Our options at the time: 1. move to a cardiology floor, 2. go to the "all ortho" floor. 3. stay where we were. I chose to stay because at least I knew my coworkers and liked my unit director. I thought maybe I'd surprise myself and like oncology. Fast forward to June. I find the oncology very depressing. I have had 2 pts so far (relatively young) on "CMO" and was told they probably wouldn't make it through the night. I'd check on them as much as I could with 6 other pts and 1 NA for the floor. The one didn't talk, and didn't use the call bell. Whenever he grimaced and held his head I bolused his PCA. I wanted to cry. So the decision part (sorry so long). There is not much available in the way of jobs (no surprise). I have interviewed at one OR only to be told halfway through the interview that "we had 2 positions but there are offers out on them already." The only other type of nursing I want to do is OB. But no luck there either. However, my old psych hospital is hiring. I liked Psych, but I'm afraid of what might happen to my career if I go back. I'd want to stay at least another year, so I don't look like I can't hold a job. But I'm afraid of losing the medical skills, losing any drive to try again, and being looked at by HR as "just a psych nurse." On the other hand, staying for months and months until another job (possibly) comes up seems too much. What do you think? Will taking the psych job again kill my chances in the eyes of the medical world of ever going back?

They do tend to be on the website, but not always in the correct place. For example, if you are looking for full-time, it would seem logical to specify that in your search. However, some FT positions have been listed under PT. I've learned to no longer specify anything when I search, just see what comes up.

Hi, I am currently trying to find a new job within the system. Problem is, barely any new jobs posted on the UPMC website. Does anyone know of other places to find these postings? One person told me that she found one in a newspaper that was not posted on the site. Is this common? Any idea why they don't put everything online?

Thanks Oramar! Keep your fingers crossed!

I have posted on here before about my struggles with med-surg nursing. Everyone has been very supportive, thank you all! So now I am almost to my 6 months. I am able to apply for new jobs (to transfer within the system) on that exact day. It happens to be Easter Sunday, interesting how it is a time of new hope! I know that I have to transfer. Med-surg really isn't for me. To make matters worse, they just changed the pt population we serve, without any real education for the RNs. We get little info sessions a few times a month while we have already started care of these pts. It makes me nervous. Also, they ask me to stay after my 12hr night shift for these sessions, and I am exhausted already. I have no idea how much I am retaining. I am struggling with my next move. I don't know what type of nursing to try next, and I am terrified of choosing the wrong specialty. My interests have always been towards women's health (I always wanted to be a L&D RN) but I like the OR as well. I am told that the L&D units in my system are for high risk cases (not exactly what I had in mind) and the consensus from the OR RN advice seem to be that you need a certain personality to "make it" there. I don't know if I will fit there or not. I have the option of going back to Psych, and while I don't mind going back, I feel like I want to give my other interests a shot. So here's where I really need the advice, especially from managers. I am afraid that if this next job doesn't work out (i.e. I don't have the "right" personality for the OR, or L&D is more intense than enjoyable) it will look bad on my resume. You know, 1+ year, 6 mos, then ? I stayed at my first RN job for a year and a couple of months, which I like well enough. I had wanted to stay at this job for a year, but I realized that with the above issues I can't do that. I don't expect a job to be perfect, Psych had its drawbacks too. But I only left Psych so that I could have "medical experience." I'm leaving this current job because it's not a good fit. But I don't want managers to look at my resume and toss it. I don't want to jump around forever. I want to get into a nursing specialty that I am passionate about and stay! Managers, would this scare you off? Staff RNs, how long did it take you to find your niche? Did anyone else try a couple things, or did you stay for years despite knowing it wasn't for you? Thanks in advance!

I'm so sorry. I'm sure that he had very good care from you all. Take care.

Oramar- Too funny but sad at the same time. We probably will end up in Canada. Or, in my case, somewhere on a small island bartending.

If you don't mind my asking, what year were you? I might try to get out too. I was told that the first couple classes got out of theirs. I graduated 2007. Thanks!