ksims2008

It will change when you are actually on your own. Right now, your preceptor has the last word and sometimes it is just a matter of "trust". They don't want to be going back and forth repeating same things to two different nurses. Relax. It will change when they actually have to report to YOU.

Thank you so much for your words of encouragement. I've been talking to many pple and they all tell me to go and try it. I agree w/ you. I'll feel better as time goes by and I learn more and most importantly, feel more confident about my own skills. Mostly, it's just the fear of not having anybody to "hold my hand" so to speak. It's like moving out for the first time! In my previous job (the only one as a nurse), all the season nurses were there for me ( and all new grads for that matter) holding our hands and protecting us. They used to call me their "baby nurse". My preceptor (tough as a nail.. that nurse gave me the hardest time ever for my own good...) had a hard time to let me go. She would be around me all the time until somebody told her that she had to let it go... So even though they let me do my work on my own, I knew I could ask for help if something new showed up or if I wasn't sure of something. They would not treat me as if I were stupid. Besides that, we all were helpfull towards agency nurses which kinda molded my atittude towards them because the patient always came first and we needed the extra help. We were there for the patients, not to make each other's lives miserable. Besides, as known, agency is not a previledge of a few ones. It's there to whoever wants to go for it. If agency nurses make more money, good for them. Being jealousy of something that you can accomplish but choses to stay in your comfort zone instead, it's your problem, not anybody else's. So if an agency nurse was having a hard time and asked for help, we all would jump in and help her out as if she were staff because she was part of the team and if one falls... we all fall. I remember spending my entire shift helping one w/ meditech documentation of restraints. She was so happy that when she said bye, she had tears in her eyes. She said she had never been treat as a human being working as an agency nurse. It broke my heart. I was like... what the heck... with this shortage or nurses.. other nurses are still eating their own? How ridiculous can that be. Guess what? She came back many times because we were professional... and believe me... we need that help or some of us would be tripled out... and that is not fun in an ICU setting w/ crashing pts...So, my fear is more related to having unwilling people to help out (even if it's at the patient's expenses) and also because w/ 2 years of experience there is NO way one can be exposed to everything... but again... aren't we nurses learning every day???? Even those season nurses who are on the floor for 20 and some years are learning and asking questions. If they have problems with me asking questions and/or asking for help when I need... let them do the job of 4 nurses by themselves then. Too bad for them. I have thick skin and I'm stubborn. I will ask questions and I'll want the answers... because before any animosities... comes the patient. That is my take on staff who wants to give agencies a hard time... I'll keep you posted on my experiences....:nuke:

This may sound like a stupid question but how do I make sure that the CEUs offered in web sites and magazines are accept by the BON? I need to start working on my CEUs but want to make sure they're valid otherwise... waist of money and time... Thanks.

Jesus...I just saw this post and can't help but write...even though we are in february already... makes me cry.... Just hold her. that is why I don't work w/ children... I'd be crying the life out of me... just can't handle it. God bless you for the work you do...

I'm not sure how much they pay for those positions but I think something around 38-40/h. Again, I'm not a 100% sure. They are harder units to work for because the workload of pts is more, much more higher than ICU. I'd say something like 8-10:1 and being LTAC these pts are sick... sicker than a normal med/surg floor. So, put 2 and 2 together and you get the picture... But this is what I have seen in one facility. I certainly can't say that all LTACs are like that...

You're certainly welcome! :)

I forgot to mention Triumph and Kindred hospital.

I could recomend an agency but I'm not sure if we're supposed to mention names here... just in case it's SEV Staffing. They're pretty good, very organized, pay daily (if you want to), and give 1:1 assistance when you go there. The lady who owns it is a RN with lots of years of experience. She knows the hospitals in Houston, what they expect, how we should go about... The agency is located in Baytown. You can google it and find their phone # and address. I went there yesterday and talked my fears out. She was so supportive and understanding. She spent 2 hours of her time listening to me and explaining how things work. Very nice lady, a very positive person with the right attitude not only regarding agency work but regarding nursing generally speaking. They staff HCA facilities, some Memorial Hermanns, some Tenet facilities and other smaller hospitals around Houston and nearby areas.

Yes, I'm a scared but I'll try it and see how it goes. This hospital is a small one with only 8 ICU beds. Another agency nurse who used to work with me in my previous job, has been there and said the acuity is low and I'll be able to handle it ok. She told me to give a try and see how it goes. Here in Houston the shortage is so bad that every hospital has tons of agency nurses working. You can count in one hand hospitals that don't resort to agency here and believe me to work for these hospitals is very competitive because they pay well, they are magnet hospitals and they provide their staff w/ equipment and support to provide pts with the best care possible. But this is a minority not majority. The big ones as HCA hospitals and Memorial Hermann(s) have to get agency nurses or they have to close doors... So you have some idea how bad it's... I used to work for a hospital with 22 beds. The shortage of nurses was so bad at nights that every night (still nowadays) you'd see at least 9 agency nurses working with us. They work so often there that they became a part of the staff... meaning we all hang around, ate together, helped each other, talked, played around and so on... I surely miss them... So, here in Houston almost every big hospital hires agency nurses.

Oh, I see...I agree w/ you. And I also think you won't have trouble doing overtime. ZHospitals are always in need of staff.... Keep eyes and ears tunned to the bonuses that sometimes they offer to get nurses to do OT, especially on nights....

Overtime pays better than prn in most cases. Do the math. prn varies from $33 to 35/h - no benefits (no pto) overtime is time and a half... plus benefits

I'd say 36 hours per week. (three 12h/shifts).

With all my respects... but finish nursing school first, get to work in a hospital, and then talk about what you know. I appreciate you point out things that are valuable as having a job/job security. But I betcha your Pollyanna mentality won't last... Mine did not and I was soooo happy to finally get my degree and be able to go to work. Now I dread it...

Last Iheard it was around $20-23/h both in the suburbs and med center...

Nurses are not united. In fact the very opposite is true. I'm not talking about unions. I'm talking about being united and together fight for change, fight for their rights, for justice and recognition in their profession. One supporting and protecting the other in a healthy and just way. I see resignation and complacency in older nurses. As a new nurse, everytime I brought up an issue, I was treated as if I were picky, a whiner and I should not complain because things are like this or like that for this or that reason and I should suck it up, pay my duties and smile because what does not kill me, makes me stronger. Wonderful! It's almost as if they were taken the administration's side and justifying why things were bad as they were. As if suffering and pain should be part of nursing so it can be valued as it's. It's the perpetuation of this mentality that has got us where we are (among other health care issues that it'd take me too long of a message to address here). The shortage of nurses will continue and will get worse if things don't change. Baby boomers are getting older and sicker. We have capable, experienced, smart nurses leaving the profession... so we can have talks of hiring foreign nurses who don't even speak English and pay them nothing... I tell you... things will get much worse if a change does not happen soon. We need to wake up and actually do something about it, versus complain and jump from one tree to another in hopes that the rainbow is there... I don't have a clear idea about what should be done and how. Just know that a change is desperately need... if we want to survive in this profession... just my 2 cents.