SAHMStudent

Many non-bedside nursing positions posted (from what I've seen in my area) in public health or case management or even school nursing require a BSN/MSN.....OR one year experience in exchange for those higher degrees. Stick with it longer than 6 months. Just get that 6 month mark out of your mind and expand it to at least a year. Sign up for any and all free education your facility is offering, ACLS, PALS, etc, and get those certifications. If it's not really where you want to be, you'lll be able to apply for new areas with a clear conscience, and department directors will take you seriously. Jumping after two months will make them wonder if you would do the same to them after such a short time.

No kids? go for it. Especially if this job opportunity for him could lead to more relocation. If you give up your dream job for his, and he gets another job offer to move again, you'll really start resenting your missed opportunities. As a mom and wife, and newish nurse, the most stressful part of my job is that I feel behind. I haven't been able to devote more of my time to my job to really be the nurse I want to be right now. I read up on at least one thing post shift, but not realllly get into it, because it's time to pick up my daughter, cook dinner. I sleep less, work out less, and am less balanced overall. Some in my cohort pick up 2-3 extra shifts a week! I'd like to do that too- that's not just extra money, it's extra experience. I can't do 3 shifts in a row; my family hates that. But you could do a S-M-T, go see hubs, and have almost a week for travel and visiting before you have to go back to work the following TH-F-Sat. Important to make sure you explore the new dream city though. If that will be your home base after your contract is up you don't want to feel like a stranger, while your DH is over the "newness" of his home for the last 2-3 years. GL!

OP, I was you in nursing school. After a year in a very busy trauma/ICU I find myself thinking about going back to school. NOT because I cannot handle the workload, but because I feel very disconnected from my original nursing goals. I am really leaning towards public health nursing; many of my patients who are not traumas could have really benefitted from education and in-community services before they ended up with us. Public health nursing jobs want BSNs, MSNs or MHAs. So my high horse is on it's knees- floor nursing helped me, but it's not my be all, end all.

Second career for me- graduated at 31 with my ADN......BSN is going to be a lot slower Est. grad 2014 (one class at a time) if I start in 18 months. Mayyyyyybe I'll do an RN-> MSN program with a similar timeline. Once I figure out what I want that MSN to be in.

Depends on where you live. In the D.C. Metro area, I wish at least once a day I was fluent in Spanish.

I'm sorry to hear that you had to encounter such a rude tech while in a very stressful situation with your grandfather. I'm hoping the nurse reported the tech, or contacted the tech's supervisor. People joke to cope, but this person was desensitized to the point where they need to get out of the ED, or bedside entirely.

Do you work on my unit?

No romantic relationships with anyone you work with ever!!! I say "don't get your honey where you get your money"....MD's, PA's, other RN's, PCTs, PT's, OT's, LPNs, Lab techs, xray....the list goes on and on. It almost never ends well, and yes, everyone knows an exception to this rule. Be very careful you don't delude yourself it will be you.

Thanks for all the tips. I am scared about the drive home more than anything else. I have an hour commute, and am freaked out about the driving. Does anyone take a quick nap in the car before driving home, or does the sleepy feeling hit halfway through your commute?

Sorry to hear you are going through this. I just started working, so have no experienced words of wisdom. ((hugs))

If I was your age and could do my life all over again, I'd go to med school. I'm smart enough, but went through a lot of crap as a teen, and ruined my grades. I didn't go to college until I was in my 20's. I love my life, my husband, my daughter, and want more children, so nursing definitely fits the lifestyle. But if I could be your age, with your drive (be careful not to burn yourself out) and then come out at 27 with an MD...that leaves plenty of time to marry if you choose, and have children if you choose....well, I say go for medicine.

LOL! I'm sorry but that is hilarious. Not the rest of your story, that is sad and scary. As a new nurse I feel like I have plenty to worry about, never mind looking over my shoulder all the time. Yikes. No wonder they practically brand us with "document, document, document" in NS.

I have no inside connections anywhere. I had some clinical rotations at the hospital I was hired at, but I knew nobody when I applied. I used LinkedIn to find the correct spelling of the RN recruiter's name and researched them, used good resume paper, had my references on a separate sheet, sent a handwritten thank you note to the people who interviewed me, had letters of recommendation from my clinical instructors, and those professors I worked with in clubs. I rocked my interviews. I am sure my previous experience in another (completely unrelated to healthcare) field helped me, but allthrough NS I was just as sure that it would mean nothing when it came to getting hired. I was also just as sure that I would get passed over for someone with a BSN. I am 31, with a husband and a child. I chose to take classes at community college and paid in cash, which I had saved while working in my former (and much loathed) career. I had zero college credits when I started taking classes; it has taken me almost as long for my ASN as it does for a BSN, and I still have the BSN classes to take. I took a gamble, just as anyone choosing a different path did. I gambled that I would get a job with a hospital willing to reimburse my tuition to achieve my BSN, and I got lucky and found one. Others gambled that they would take on debt and get a job ASAP with their BSN.

I got a job, just graduated last month with my ASN. I consider myself very lucky. The problem with this area is that while there are a lot of medical facilities, there are also a lot of RN programs. Both BSN and ASN; about 15 total within an hour-1 1/2 hour of D.C. There is a glut of new grads, limited amount of new grad programs. Two hospitals I'd applied at and had set up interviews, sent out letters stating they'd canceled their programs for the time being. Marymount is a good program; GL and hopefully when you graduate you will find something quickly.

Seriously trying not to hyperventilate right now. I did not expect to react this way to permission to test- never mind taking the test. "I will Pass, I will Pass, I will Pass"- my new mantra for the next month or so.....