darlink

I left a high paying union job and took an over $10/hr pay cut to work at a much better company which is a non-profit with much nicer management. I've moved into a better position and have a 8-5p, m-f schedule. Most days I get off on time. I could return to the hospital and make more but wouldn't have my nice schedule. My husband works a corporate job making twice what I do but he has a masters. He's salaried and expected to work more than 40hrs a week and he checks in to work when we are on vacation.

Look at hospice. We really make a difference in the lives of patients and families

Here in California we had a ratio law. I recommend fighting for the same if your state doesn't have one. Ratios that many are discribing here are scary and unsafe. California RN Staffing Ratio Law

with there pants down again masterbaiting.

We prefer methadone in our hospice for several reasons. It's a small easy to take pill that can be crushed. It is long acting (most long acting opioids can't be crushed) It helps nerve pain. It's cheap.

In hospice, I've seen pts get much benifit from marijuana. Our mds do not prescribe it though we can prescribe Marinol. Our pts are usually pretty upfront with us as we dont judge and want whats best for them regarding comfort. California has clinics but Feds try to shut them down.

Look at hospice.

It depends on what area you want to work and what training they will give you. I wanted to become a hospice nurse and getting that year of med/surg was very important. It made me so much better prepared. I knew someone that got hired at a small hospice as a new grad and she regretted it. If you are bring hired in to another area with a strong new grad program they will train you. I can't see what help med/surg would be for OR or L&D, these areas are their own worlds.

If you can do it, look at travel nursing. ICU is always well paid, housing is paid. I know what area you live in makes a big differance. I can tell you jobs here in California pay far more then what you are making. Starting for a new grad here in San Diego is $28-30. I have 4 yrs experience. I had a job making just under 100k doing home health/palliative nursing that I just left because I wasnt happy with management. This was a union job and raises were part of the contract.

Call your local hospice and ask about their bereavement services. Nothing wrong with talking to professionals that understand loss and grief. As a hospice nurse we always make sure staff are aware that they can use our services.

Unless you have a clinical background and have experience work with patients, do a tradition program. You want the best clinical experience you can get in a structured setting. You also want hands on skill labs. Nursing is a hands on job, you can't learn it just from reading.

The application for licence by endorsment is pretty straight forward. There is nothing about giving up your florida licence. The temporary license is issued so you can work until your permanent one comes through. Why don't you look into getting a travel nurse job there. Then you can get paid housing and help with moving costs and then you are not locked into staying at the job if you don't like it but you have time to see what else is there.

I'm sorry to read you resigned. You should have waited and talked to them. Explain your day to them, give them an action plan on how you would avoid this in the future. They might have given you more training as this was your first error. I would try to unresign and do just that.

Best thing that helped me make sure I was on time with all medication was setting timers on my phone. I would stop all paperwork and go do the med when the timer when off.

I work with an amazing set of nurses practitioners in Hospice and they provided wonderful emotion support to both patients and their families.

No one cares where you get your card. It's a mandatory requirement to have CPR cert for most jobs I know. Don't take ACLS until you are almost done with your nursing program. It wouldnt make any sense to you and would be a waste of money. What you learn in ACLS are drug protocols which you can't use without a license.

Eating is important. I eat a good evening meal around 530pm, then lunch around 12-1am, then I have a light meal before going to bed (usually have a bowl of cereal). Besure the first two meals have plenty of protien. Melatonin really helps me stay asleep during the day. First night is usually the hardest but if you sleep well the next day things get better. Also drink water all night.

I would email and not call again. Don't be upset by generic replies. You have to remember that right now there are so few jobs for new grads and competition is high. Hundreds applying for just a few open spots. Last time I spoke to a recruiter via email, she said they had over 400 applications for 10 spots. Do you thing she would have time to call back all those with questions You haven't even finished school or past your boards yet. Worry about that and keep watch for new grad listing.

Look at going in to research.

I agree with Tokyo. Stay put, get your license and a year of experience under your belt and then move. New grad positions are hard if not impossible to get here in California.

I would start with pain as my priority. First thing I would do is get better orders for pain meds so you can pre-medicate prior to every turn.

You can defer the student loans usually for hardship. Check with your student loan company.

Try to make yourself stand out. Send thank you cards after interviews. Take extra training classes. Get your IV certification. It took me over 8 months to finally get my first RN job and it was 130 mile from home. Jobs are out there, it just takes time.

In nursing school we had PDAs provided to us with expensive nursing software for which was part of our fees. When i started working, I used my iPhone as a timer mostly. I set an alarm for every hour I needed to give meds. I also would set reminders for other thing too. It really helped so I wouldnt forget anything. I didn't get cell signal in the hospital and we had Internet on our computers I could use to look up stuff. Now doing hopspice, I couldnt do it without my iPhone. I need it as a phone, GPS, Internet reference and much more.

I would look at how long its going to take for you to get into nursing school. Most schools I know have a year or longer waiting list. Whats the cost for your education? Will you have to take out student loans and do you want to be paying off those loans for the next 10+ years. How many years will you be in school? When do you plan on retiring? How much will you make in banking vs nursing? Jobs are super hard to come by for new nurses right now. Things hopefully start getting better but who knows when.