LadyK,RN

While it is true that there are many people drug seeking, I urge you to remain compassionate and LISTEN to your patients before you judge them. I have a very dear friend who has been unable to keep a job and therefore insurance because she has a rare disorder called Sphincter of Oddi disease that has just been diagnosed now that she has insurance under the ACA after finally undergoing and ERCP. I mention her because of the countless times she has gone to the ER over the past several years in excruciating pain to be dubbed a drug seeker and under medicated and discharged. She has nearly died a couple of times due to dehydration and electrolyte imbalances related to vomiting and been septic due to undiagnosed pancreatitis. As an RN I am embarrassed when she relays the barriers she has received to care. We must be careful not to stereotype people, even the frequent flyers who drive us crazy, without ensuring that there isn't an underlying, legitimate cause to their pain. As her friend, I have instructed her to carry MD documented medical history/summary with her in hopes that any future episodes that she has are met with understanding and compassion.

In effort to manage high risk patients care coordination is becoming very common in the inpatient and outpatient setting. You will have the opportunity to have a great impact on the ability of people with chronic conditions to manage their health care at home. The role is similar to case management and will likely involve a lot of patient education on how to manage symptoms, when to call the doctor vs. 911, etc. Some aspects are a bit like babysitting and can be a little frustrating if you have the perspective that these are adults who should be able to follow instructions. Remember that many patients are completely overwhelmed by their disease process and need guidance and sometimes a cheerleader to encourage them. Many patients appreciate the personal touch that the care coordinator provides and the fact that they have a go to person in helping them to navigate the health care system. This is especially true for people who may have not had health insurance for years and are now accessing care under the ACA. As far as resources, check out the American Association of Ambulatory Care Nurses website (AAACN), I think they have a webinar or courses on care coordination. You can also look at case management/care coordination websites.

I just accepted a position in a large group model HMO (we provide the care and the insurance) as a Clinical Workflow Consultant/Nursing Informaticist. I won't start for a couple of weeks but I am definitely interested in this discussion board. I have been an RN for 5 years and currently have my BSN and am working on my MSN in Nursing and Organizational Leadership. I will be required to become EPIC certified within the next 2 years.

AMEN!

I graduated from GPC Nursing School. It's a tough but good program. They have two admission times, the standard Fall admission and an acclerated Spring admission, both graduate at the same time (the Fall class breaks for Summer, the Spring class goes straight thru the 1st summer) You must take A&P I & II before you begin, but I took Micro during the summer break along with a couple of other prereqs I needed to finish.

I worked for Kaiser for 11 years in the DC metro area. Kaiser was a great company to work for (although I wasn't a nurse then) and I only left because I relocated to Atl and was a stay at home mom for awhile and then went to nursing school. Anyway, as a whole, Kaiser requires 2 years of nursing experience before they will hire. My understanding is that that even applies to current employees who become nurses (happened to a coworker of mine in DC). Hope this helps!

There are 2 primary Emory hospitals in Atlanta, Emory University Hospital and Emory Midtown (formerly Crawford Long). Both are very difficult to get into as a new grad. This past Spring, when I graduated, Emory did not post ANY new grad positions. They did all of their hiring internally from those new grads who were scholarship recipients, Emory students, or techs (employees) of Emory prior to graduation. Good luck with getting on there. I don't know the status of the new grad hiring at this time (December grads), but check their website: www.emoryhealthcare.org. Best wishes to you!!

I understand your concerns. Perhaps you can do some volunteer work at a free clinic or something that allows you to practice your clinical skills. Also if you are working for a research hospital you may want to ask around and find out if you can have the opportunity to work in an outpt clinical part time or again on a volunteer basis. Good luck!

To be fair to the OP, most healthy people encounter nurses at their doctors office for routine care and are not exposed to the puss, blood, poop, puke, etc. Hospital bedside nursing is a whole different experience and I think many are not prepared for it. I am a new grad (3rd healthcare career). I worked in healthcare administration in an outpatient medical field for years. Even though I worked in the clinic for 11 years, directly with patients, I experience aspects of patient care that are less than desirable and that are frankly gross. However, my desire to help people get better and improve their health outweighs my disgust for some of the tasks. (e.g. changing the infected wound dressing of a patient the other night...the smell was horrible and the patient has generally poor hygiene or the other pt to whom we game a kayexalate enema, who subsequently pooped all over her bed rather than requesting a bedpan. And yes, I the RN, helped my tech/CNA clean her, change the bed, etc. and took care to ensure that there was no feces on her foley catheter to prevent a UTI waiting to happen.) Bottom line - OP you have to decide what is best for you. You should not be blasted for realizing that pt care is not what you imagined. You may like the aspects of outpatient nursing, but know that you have to pay your dues as a hospital bedside nurse first AND that you may still encounter the puss, blood, etc albeit less often. I will say that from your post it sounds like bedside nursing is not for you and there are many ways that you can assist people outside of nursing. Just be sure to be true to yourself and not enter the field just for the money, flexibility, etc. As you know, nursing is hard work. You will be miserable working that hard if you hate what you are doing. Good luck and God bless!

You might also consider getting a MHA, Master in Healthcare Administration or MPH, Masters in Public Health. Obviously if you are geared toward administration, the MHA may be the better route.

I would tell your NM basically what you told us. Honesty with yourself and the NM is always best. You can soft sell it, and just ask her if the dayshift is an available option to you. Then proceed based on her response. If she asks you if there is a problem on nights, tell her no, but you really enjoyed the add'l patient interaction and overall environment, etc of days (like you told us). Note: you are not demanding dayshift or refusing nights...you are inquiring. Just make sure that days are what you want because you don't want to switch back and forth making you appear wishy-washy or unreliable. Take into consideration the whole picture...sleep schedule, your personal best time of day, income (differentials), etc.

I agree with you...it's not fair, but life is not fair and favor is not fair. The bottom line is that opportunities are quite often based on who you know. However, in most cases that is your foot in the door. You still must prove yourself. Case in point, I am a new grad and one person in our intern group was hired because she knew the nurse manager of one of the departments...she did not even meet with the nurse recruiter. She also did not participate in the hospital rounding that are intern group did and instead went straight to her unit. She has somewhat of a "privledged" attitude, which got her fired (by the woman she knew) in less than 4 weeks. For me personally, I knew no one at my hospital. However, I stopped by the hospital I now work at and sought out the nurse manager of my department. I introduced myself and asked for a couple of minutes of her time. She granted me about 10 mins, after clarifying that this was NOT an interview, and talked with me briefly about her department and its needs and I briefly pitched how I might meet those needs. I gave her my resume and left and headed to HR to briefly meet her face to face. The following week I was contacted for an interview with the manager I had spoken with. A couple of months later I was hired into the New Grad program. Let me first say that this was WAY out of my comfort zone, but I stopped working for 2 years to return to nursing school (career switcher) and I cannot relocate due to husband and kids and I cannot afford to wait 3-6 mos to get hired, so I hit the pavement. This was networking...I used the ten minute conversation to "interview" the nurse manager and then used the information I garnered to sell myself at the formal interview. Note: I followed up with a thank you letter (email) which highlighted the ways that I could uniquely fill her needs. For instance, I picked up that she has had poor experiences with new grads coming in and getting EKG and ACLS certified and then leaving after 6-12 mos for a bigger hospital. I used my stable work history (11 years at my last company) to demonstrate my history of commitment and informally agreed to stay for at least 2 years. Unless something dramatic happens, I fully intend to keep that commitment because I have learned not to burn my bridges. Hope this helps!

Congratulations to all who have passed the NCLEX thus far!!!!!!!!!!!! :yeah::yeah:

To God be the Glory...I passed the NCLEX with 75 questions!!!!!!!!!

To God be the Glory...........I PASSED!! YAY!