L&DForMe

A month ago I was feeling exactly the same way. Im in the central valley, but all the jobs seemed to be in the bay area. Im completing my 3rd week at the county jail. A HUGE change from the hospital work Ive always done (as a CNA), and more specifically Labor & Delivery where I spent the last 5 years. While I have to agree somewhat to the "its not what you know, but who you know", dont let that discourage you! I moved here last fall from WA state and knew NO ONE! One of the things I did was apply for jobs regardless of that "one year experience" thing. I have a strong medical background, and I just held onto hope that that would push me above the rest. It worked! I got called for my current position, interviewed, and was hired all within 2 weeks. Theyve now got me almost all the way trained (go out on my own on Monday! ) and they are still interviewing other LVNs, some who DO have experience. Im honored and priviledged that they chose to put me at the front of the line. And I LOVE my work!! Just hang in there and keep trying. Unfortunately it takes time, and at times it makes all that hard work in nursing school seem like it was for nothing. But youll get something!

Central Valley, CA New grad, Per Diem, $26/hr plus shift differential of $1/$2 per hour. Once I get a full/part time position Ill be eligible for medical/dental/life and 8 hours holiday pay (for 11 holidays/year) and time and a half if I work the holiday also (making holidays 2.5 times regular pay).

Not helpful to you since Im in the Central Valley, but maybe more CV people will see this. I *highly* recommend Vic The PICC in Lodi, CA. Its $300 for 4 eight hour days...we did Tues-Fri. The instructor is very entertaining and makes some of the more boring material easier to get through. I did mine at the end of June. I havent even checked to see if mine is showing up on the site yet.

Exactly....when in doubt....ask questions! I just started my first LVN position 3 weeks ago at the County Jail. Far cry from Labor & Delivery...LOL! But Im loving it. Ive been in the medical field for 14 years though, so Im fairly comfortable in my surroundings. Just remember that everyone has their own personal way of staying organized. So while your preceptor is showing you the way that works for him/her, you may find that a different way works best for you. Dont be afraid to tailor your work process to meet the needs of your patients and yourself. Good luck!

Im just wondering how long it took before you knew the results? I took the test in Milpitas last Saturday (3/26) and have been stalking the BVNPT website waiting to see my name I know it's too soon, but wishful thinking after they took 4.5 months to process my paperwork Also, have you found a place accepting new LVN grads? I cant find ANY positions available to new grads (looking in Modesto and a 40 mile radius)! Ive been in the medical field for 14 years and have a strong background. Im hoping that would help, as my only real option is to apply for positions and ignore that "1 year of experience required" in the job descriptions.

You dont need to do anything, except pay for recertification every year. No CEU's, and you dont have to work as a CNA to keep it renewed. Im in the nursing program at Skagit Valley College, have had my CNA for 10 years (9 years in WA), and havent worked as a CNA in 2 years. I get my renewal notice, send in my money, and its all good!

Im getting ready to (hopefully) finish 1st quarter at Skagit today! I have had absolutely NO PROBLEMS with this quarter. Organization prior to starting the quarter was a little poor, but I lived through it. I dont feel like Im being shorted on education. Infact, of the 3 colleges I have attended (one in IL, one in CA, and Skagit), I think Skagit has by far the best instructors! They have all been very nice. Some of them tough, but only because they want the best out of you!!! I live in South Everett and commute to Mount Vernon because I REFUSE to have anything to do with EvCC!! My experience with them was horrible, and for awhile I gave up on continuing my education because of them. I also work for Providence. It would have been nice to be in school close to home, doing my clinicals with my employer, but I dont think I would have made it through the program with them. They are extremely picky and on some occasions, very racist!

Best part: bonding with patients, smiles and thank you's from patients and family, knowing you've helped make someone better (most of the time), forming a great team with co-workers (we call our groups that work well together the "A Team"). I work in labor and delivery, so its also seeing babies coming into the world, and watching new families being formed. Worst part: the back breaking grunt work, patients dying, drama with coworkers, not being appreciated for all the work you do.

If you really arent sure about going into this profession, I think it would be smart to do a job shadow for a day or two in an area of nursing that interests you. The money is usually pretty good, depending on where you are working, but that shouldnt be your primary reason for going into nursing. In my opinion, theres nothing worse than a nurse who hates her job! Ive worked with a handful like this, clearly in it for the money. The staff suffers, but more importantly, the patients suffer Try volunteering at your local hospital or nursing home and see if you are still drawn to nursing thru that sort of interaction. Still not sure? Talk to a career councilor that can help place you in a different profession.

I havent read thru all pages, so this may have been suggested already.... You'll learn to pack your lunch with a meal you plan to eat, but also with several little baggies of snacks to munch on along the way. Some days youll get to eat your "real" lunch, and some days you just snack here and there. Ive worked in a hospital setting for 8 years. As a CNA on med/surg, then a CNA in L&D, and now I work as a HUC (secretary) in L&D while going thru nursing school. Not one time in any of those positions, and working both 8 and 12 hour shifts, do I remember a time that I wasnt allowed at least 3 minutes of time to go to the bathroom, or eat, or both. Nor do I remember clocking out at the end of my shift thinking I was hungry or had to go to the bathroom because I COULDNT do either during my shift. I stopped taking official breaks a loooong time ago! I work nights, and find if I stop for too long, its hard to get restarted If I get to stop for a couple of minutes every hour or two, I do better that way. So missing breaks/lunches isnt that big of a deal for me. We dont get paid for our lunch breaks (30 min), but do get 2 paid fifteen minute breaks in a 12 hour shift. Very few of us demand to get our breaks. RNs/CNAs/HUCs....we all work as a team to get breaks when needed. Some nights we only get enough time to pee. Other nights we sit around waiting for something to happen. Give it some time and you'll realize that it "all comes out in the wash". Acceptable? No. But you get used to it.

I work at a hospital north of Seattle, and ours is not run that way. Last year we switched to self scheduling so our rules are a little bit different. We only work the shifts we were hired to work, unless we volunteer to work extra on a different shift. Self scheduling rules require that we work at least two weekends in a 6 week period. Sat/Sun for day/evening shifters, and Fri/Sat for night shifters. They arent too picky about whether staff individually fulfill these requirements as long as the schedule works out. Should they need to move one person off one day/night involuntarily they look for those people who havent fulfilled the weekend requirements. I love self scheduling! Its cut down on the amount of sick calls we get, and decreased the amount of PTO being used because staff is able to schedule a vacation around their days off. Our nurses are getting a ton of low census right now though, thats eating up their PTO.

I used to work on med/surg as a CNA. I moved to L&D 4 years ago, so Im not sure what its like there anymore. I only get bits and pieces of info from nurses who transfer over to us. Penny Parks is the nurse manager on that floor and she's a very nice woman. She's generally very organized and very willing to help you with whatever you need help with. Right now, I would ask questions like.... *How long will orientation last? *How often are you low censusing? *How often are you floating to other floors? *How long after orientation before I can be floated? *What will your patient load look like? *How many patients would you take with & without a CNA? (When I left, the 33 bed unit was getting 2 CNA's to split the floor. Each nurse was getting 6-8 patients, depending on census, aquity, and staffing. Ive heard that theyve gone back to each nurse getting 6 patients with a CNA and the CNA works between 2 nurses. I dont know that I believe that though). Good luck with your interview! And welcome to Providence, should you accept the position :)

Thank you! I ended up buying this Littman Classic II. My aunt is a breast cancer survivor, so I went with the pink. They give a $5 donation when you buy that one :) I also bought a matching ID tag to have engraved with my name incase I misplace it. :)

What stethoscope would you recommend I buy for the nursing program? I know Littman is always recommended, but in searching online there are several styles and Im not sure which one to go for. Thank you! :bowingpur

I went to the intake meeting on Tuesday. They told us that 161 is more of like a CNA course....teaching and/or perfecting our bedside skills. Then 162 we act more as a nurse. We are given 1 patient to do total care for. That's also the quarter that we will learn to insert foleys, NG tubes, IV's, etc... From there on, each quarter just gets more demanding with adding 1 more patient into your load for each quarter you're in. Then your focus is on time management and delegation.