Benedina

OP, you definitely have the manners and grace to handle disappointments, so every best wish for your future. Those same manners would be an asset to almost any employer. But your statement that you're not planning to publish in peer-reviewed journals might be a reason to reconsider your career goals. Professors in my alma mater's school of nursing were expected to hold research doctorates, with a proven track record of publishing and of obtaining grants for their research activities. Clinical instructors might only holds MSN degrees, but there was no question of their living off their earnings as instructors, an activity that paid only about 5K/semester. You might consider, instead, nurse educator positions in a clinical setting, or other positions where formal academic work isn't the goal. Benedina

One of the GREAT benefits of HH is more autonomy over your schedule. Sometimes I'm still working late at night on my charting but I genuinely love every minute of HH. (And sometimes I'm taking a long lunch with my daughter!) Good luck! Benedina

I'd save some of your questions for after their initial job offer to you. Questions that win you the job focus on THEIR needs: 1. What skills do you look for in your nurses? (Their answer is a GIANT clue as to what parts of your resume will be of most interest to them) 2. What challenges should I expect in this job? What resources should I draw on to make sure I succeed at this job? 3. How would you describe the strengths of this agency? Etcetera. What I'm getting at is you want to genuinely show your interest in *them.* Once they make the offer, that's a great time to get nifty gritty about pay, hours, and other benefits. Benedina

I'm paranoid about giving away too much personal information but a respectful salute to all my 90-something patients who are active, friendly, intelligent, wise, and just plain fun to be around. They've turned my ideas about old age absolutely upside down. Benedina

Paper first. We have consents bound into a book with safety information, contact information, fall risk reduction, all kinds of useful things, so it's very natural to make this the foundation of our first 15 minutes of conversation. Benedina

This roughly matches our company's pay schedule, and I find it just fine. We have clunky software and only manage about 5 visits per day, so much less income. In our part of the world? Plenty of money to get along with. Benedina

Accept the M/S job, and if you get a better offer from the HH company in the same time frame, give respectful notice to the M/S job. It's a business negotiation and it's okay to jump ship for the right offer. That's not common advice around here, but there's nothing unethical about negotiating for what you want most out of your career. Of course, it DOES pretty much slam the door to working at that second hospital in the future, so make sure it's what you really want to do. Benedina

We accept private pay patients, too, so in addition to regular patients I have a few private patients who get once a week or biweekly med fills, weekly lab draw, etc. that Medicare won't cover. I also see some patients once per week for 1-3 weeks toward the end of their care to assess response to the plan of care and do discharge education. Benedina

It's much shorter, isn't it? This is what I did, and it made me an RN in 24 months. It could have been 18 but I elected the traditional path in order to work at a paid internship for one summer rather than take courses and graduate one semester early. Our school required 5 semesters past our general ed courses. My BA fulfilled all the 2 years of general ed courses. I hesitate to differ from you, though, Klone, because you are pretty much always right! On the other hand, OP, it sounds as if you don't have your BA yet? In that case, doing a BSN is going to take you the whole 4-year nine yards. No point in getting your BA first unless you have only a few courses to go. Benedina

Eileen Fisher. It's as comfortable as sweats while making me feel as if I'm a stylin' granny. And I'm old and can afford it. Well--I can afford it when it's on clearance or eBay or in the local thrift shops. Benedina

I pretty much only check out AN when I'm procrastinating on projects, but I always looked for your posts. Happy nursing, and best wishes. Benedina

I think it's your hourly wage that makes the problem, personally. I'm paid per visit--roughly 150% of what you're paid per hour--and that visit time is meant to include travel time, charting time, case management time as well as visit time. In addition I get paid a small amount of extra money for in-town trips and a slightly higher amount for out of town trips. If I manage my time well--it's fair compensation, over time, for me. Benedina

Bucky Badger RN took exception to my suggestion that older parents will be pleased to hear from their kids, text speak and all, and wrote: "When will that day come, just so I'm prepared. I'm in my mid 40's, my older kids are 23 and 20. All 3 generations call and text on a daily basis. What may be your experience within your own family is not an indicator of how all families function." When you reach a dignified age, youngster. My oldest is *your* age, so: just wait. (Or, possibly, take a remark intended as playfulness in a playful spirit. This one is intended as playful, too. Possibly a mistake on a Monday morning!) Benedina

Some of our phones are still not text friendly. I care passionately about language; my first career was in publishing. But I have a work-issued phone that requires you to punch the 7 button 4 times to get the letter "s." This is why text speak was invented, and it was a useful innovation. And all you intransigent moms who insist on complete sentences from the kids: that's perfectly good parenting. But trust me, the day will come when you will be so pleased to hear from your (adult) kids that you won't even notice the text speak. Benedina

My kiddles are grown, so I sign up for holidays often--I'd like the younger nurses to have that time with their kids, and the older nurses to have that time with their families! We generally only do emergency visits on major holidays. We're expected to sign up for first call at least one night a week, one weekend every 4-6 weeks, and second call one weekend every 4-6 weeks. You get to open clients when you work weekends so it's a nice way to build your client list. D