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.....

thanks for the heads up on what is supposed to happen. my point is that ads like this are usually in response to, or as a pre-emptive strike against public hue and cry. the effort seems to be a way to demonstrate that someone is watching and protecting the public. my license is issued by the state, obviously checks and balances need to be in place. but i feel a sense of paranoia: i know, i know, as long as i practice safely, it shouldn't even be an issue. but i now feel extra worried, especially starting out as a new nurse.

And wouldn't the money be better spent trying to organize a way to accurately identify legitimately unsafe nurses who cross state lines and practice for years in one state, while another has revoked their license? THAT would be protecting the public. Yes, it is up to the employer to check that out, but really, those cases make us all look bad, and probably prompted this video.

Sooooo THAT's where the $200 per application, per test for each NCLEX applicationon goes.....to produce a video depicting young, super-cute nurses, caring for young, super cute patients smiling like idiots while they encourage the general population to check us out- just 'cause. I don't even have my ATT yet, and I can feel the thu-thud of the bus wheels rolling over my back.

Check your state laws. http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=14389 I printed a copy of the laws pertaining to my state and carried it with me for the first couple of months I was breastfeeding. I pumped during classes and clinicals- often sat in a closet with a chair against the door using a hand pump to crank it out as quickly as I could. I was a student and had no control over my day....but had understanding (to a point) instructors. I used an insulated lunch bag to hold all my "works" plus the pumped milk. I cleaned it out every night and did it again the next day. I actually found the hand pump easier and faster sometimes than my electric pump.

MA= Medical Assistant CNA= Certified Nursing Assistant LPN/LVN= Licensed Practical Nurse/Licensed (Vocational?) Nurse; East Coast is LPN, West Coast and Midwest is LVN (so I understand) PA= Physicians Assistant- Not related to a nurse. ASN/ADN= Associate of Science Degree in Nursing/ Associate Degree of Nursing (same thing- usually two year degree from a community college) BSN= Bachelors of Science in Nursing (may be some variation of the full name depending on school? this is a four year school) to add, there are even options for people with Bachelors degree in other fields, who once they complete the pre-reqs, can take an accelerated program that affords them a BSN in a little under two years. Once you have a degree, BSN, ASN, MSN (Masters....) you retain that degree. HOWever, you can still lose your RN if you lose your licensure. In the states, ASN and BSN prepared nurses both take the same NCLEX. The designation of RN comes with passing your boards and obtaining and maintaing your licensure. At a seminar I attended, one of the speakers referred to anyone who does not have their RN as NAN's "Not A Nurse". There is a great, raging debate (check these boards) for ASN vs. BSN here in the States. Some states are taking steps to make BSN entry level for nursing in their state. Obviously, some community colleges and ASN prepared nurses are not happy about this. Bottom line in the US, anyone who has achieved their ASN, BSN, MSN and sits and passes the boards is an RN. HTH.

Okay, so I'm pretty social, and can talk to anyone, about anything. I am fine in any social situation. I have never attended a professional open house, and am nervous. I am a new grad, and I really want a job- especially with this hospital. Who do I zero in on? What do I say? What do I NOT say? How many copies of my resume? And do I have the cajones to walk down the hall and find the ER manager and hand her my resume if she is there? And if she's not there, do I leave it- and trust it will get into her hands? Or is that gauche and incorrect? Help!

One of my best girlfriends hubby just finished his MHA- she says he is getting so many offers he feels like a hot girl at a bar! Employers that had previously not returned calls are now calling HIM. He loves the field of work, and had zero prior healthcare experience. She says that just having that MHA on his resume opened up doors previously not available to him. He is in the northeast, so don't know if that is a factor in the job market or not. HTH.

hmmm....thanks for the link. A chemistry prof. told me about titanium and an additional metal (which name escapes me at present time) and I never thought to question him. Now off to check the link in the snopes story about revenge, a wedding band and a member........

Regarding rings at work: my husband recently retired from the Fire Dept. and I requested he remove his ring for safety while on duty. Ours are both plain gold bands, and though gold can be cut, he still almost lost a finger a few weeks after our wedding (can easily get caught on the rig or gear). As for the idiots he worked with who had tungsten and titanium bands....well you can cut the finger off, and keep the ring.......but those rings last forever (and what better way to prove your unending love?) The best solution I've seen is pinning wedding bands to bra straps with a safety pin... dumbest thing was an RN who did this very thing with her "real rocks", then proceeded to put on fakes to send a message to all would be suitors that she was taken! Didn't want bacteria and gunk in the real bands, but had no problem keeping her junk bands in her makeup kit, and wearing them all day.

I may well end up doing that very thing. I have a few co-reqs/pre-reqs (depending on the program) for RN-BSN/RN-MSN left to do, and I can do some online, or just do one a semester, or over the summer. I'll also do some volunteer work, possibly even in the area of the hospital in which I one day hope to earn a paycheck One thought is that if I am currently enrolled in a BSN program, that might make me look more attractive to employers, but as a new grad, I really only want to concentrate on my preceptorship and first year of nursing before I add extra education to that schedule. DH is trying to be supportive of my wanting a higher degree, but I just want to work. As far as ASN getting hired... I do know hospitals that even say they are aiming for magnet and want only BSN, have hired ASN. And this is only the beginning of my search, I have only sent in one application. We'll see what I'm saying in 10 weeks.