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I love my nuvarings. Super convenient. I'd never go back to having to remember to pop pills at a certain time.

Oops, I'm not sure why I assumed it was the same hospital system. It would not matter if it was a different one.

It might come down to hospital policy. Many institutions have a certain number of months required to work in a position before you can transfer. My current hospital is 1 year.

Yes, your student loan debt does affect your eligibility for other loans. When they run your credit report they will add up all of your monthly payments to see your ability to pay the new loan/ mortgage with your established income.

I did with no problem. The keys to succeeding are finding a job with flexible hours to work around school and organization. I was lucky enough to find a flexible unit. I worked every single weekend and fit in half shifts when allowed. You just need to be motivated.

This should be complete before the patient goes into the OR, well before the time out. An unwitnessed or undated consent is not considered complete. If I need to witness a consent that I did not watch the patient sign, I show it to them and ask "is this your signature? Do you understand the procedure and have all your questions answered?" If they agree that they signed it, I'm ok with that. If they are sedated/ confused/ parent or guardian signer not present then I leave it in the hands of the person obtaining consent and do not witness it. Of course this all happens BEFORE the procedure. You should never assume consent unless it is life or limb. Even then we still try if reasonable.

Mine expired 4 months after I got the first one. Very annoying.

We "officially" call one hour in adv ance of the person being needed. If they are on call @7a then we page @6a. If I'm the charge nurse though I will always give a heads up call/text as soon as I know they will be needed so they know it's coming. I figure I would like advance notice. Then they still get the official call in from the clerk. I would agree that your department policy needs clarification so everyone is on the same page.

I would still apply and interview. Sometimes the process takes a while anyway and you might be well on your way to recovery by the time they are ready for you. And, depending on the job, they might be willing to wait for you. I know we have waited a couple months for people to fulfill other obligations before starting. You could always mention when you schedule and interview that you are currently injured but still very interested if you want to be up front about it. The worst they can do is say no. Good luck!

We were required to have it when I worked in a very small hospital due to limited resources. I've never seen it required at a large hospital though. And like you, my job will not pay for us to renew because they do not require it.

I'd get a copy of the AORN guidelines. Your facility probably has one you can borrow. I purchased a practice exam through CCI and saw the areas I was deficient in. Then I reviewed those sections of the guidlines. Also picked up a box of their flash cards and went through each question once. That was enough for me. Good luck!

I used cerner my entire career before moving to an epic facility 1.5 years ago. I used Cerner both at my main job and my side gig, and both had fairly different builds. I have to say, I like it as lot more than Cerner. Once you get used to it i think you'll like it too. Of course, it will depend on how your facility built it though.

I could never get used to the anxiety of not knowing if/ when they would call. I felt like i couldn't really do anything. I found a position that doesn't have call it it helps me to enjoy my time off.

I went straight to the OR and never looked back. It's what I wanted and I had a chance so it worked out great for me. (I did work as a nurse tech for 1.5 years while in school on a post surgical floor. ) I can truly say that had I done a year in med surg, I probably wouldn't be a nurse today. I want no part of it and I'm sure I would not have been able to handle it. I don't know how floor nurses do it.

Ah, I did not realize it was his professional account. I can agree it was inappropriate.

How you use your call teams varies greatly in the facility. Some places will allow them to be called only for trauma or certain cases. Some have different call teams for different specialties. One place I worked at would routinely use their call team just to open another room for routine cases to appease doctors. Thats a tougher question than it should be! As far as handling being overwhelmed. That will come with time. My biggest tip to new charge/weekend/ night nurses is to know your resources and how to get a hold. I have a night time phone list on the back of my badge. Sometimes in hectic situations I have random people helping such as an anesthesia tech or environmental person grabbing a piece of equipment for me. Review how to get blood and your rapid transfusion protocol now. I also check our dedicated trauma rooms as soon as I get on shift to make sure they are ready to go and have everything set. You can only do one case at a time and no more.

I don't see why he lost his job as a weatherman over this. People say bad things about other professions all the time. Heck, don't get me started on inaccurate forecasts! Agree or not, what does it have to do with his position? It's not like he is president of a healthcare organization. People say good, bad and stupid things all the time. I think our country is going overboard with the knee jerk firings for having an opinion. Idk, I guess I'm just not that sensitive.

Sometimes it is all about timing. At my last place they would only hire experienced nurses for the longest time. We could rarely get anyone and had no staff. As educator I had to continually explain that hiring new grads is better than not having any staff...and oh yeah all those piles of new grads begging for OR at the career fair last year, well they would be trained and on their own by now. They finally got it. We started taking nurses new to the OR fresh out of school and from random floors as well. Most of them did great! They now regularly hire ppl without OR. I would just keep trying. Sometimes it takes a while. And network as much as possible. As much as it is unfair, I'd always pull resumes and interview the ones with a recommendation by someone I knew.

I went for the much cheaper ADN. Th hen let the hospital pay for my BSN. Took longer time- wise,but the money saved cant be beat!

A lot of this will depend on how efficiently your OR runs during the day and how loosely they use the term emergency/ trauma. First thing when you get there, you will be finishing cases that are still going from the day if there are any. Thats an easy one to figure. Next, you'll be available for emergencies overnight. Depending on your patient population and facility, it could be ortho (think x-fixes), fasciotomy , burr holes, appy, i&d, ectopics, transplants, gsw, stabbing. Anything that would go stat during the day. Now as I reread I see there will not be 24 hour service so forget that. During my downtime, not operating, which is most time, first I walk around and clean up the rooms. Turn equipment off, throw away used tape, put supplies away etc. Then I check stock on cast carts, latex free carts, any special carts. Check crash carts. Empty return bins (unused supplies). Then set up rooms and pull cases for the next day. Afternoon shift starts on these things before I get there so it might be almost all done or not at all when I start. Just depends on how busy we were. Some techs help me do everything and are wonderful. Sometimes we do it all together or split yhe work in half. Some do absolutely nothing... I choose to not get in fights over it and just do everything myself if i have to. Not the best strategy but its easier. There is also a lot of tv watching, playing on my phone, resting. Nights can be awesome to get away from drama but it can also be boring and leave your circulating skills stagnant. At least I get traumas where I am. Thats why I rotate to days. Not many people like rotating but I think it helps keep me fresh.

I have never gotten anything extra for being certified. Some places pay for the exam, some don't.

Congrats! I've seen OR nurses leave to go to L&D, ED, NICU, and adult ICUs. It can definitely be done. Of course it will be another huge learning curve getting back into the floor groove but no different really than a new grad. I dont have a problem with people going straight to the OR. Why do you need to solidify skills required to pass meds and care for 6 patients at a time when you wont be using those skills in the OR? It's completely different. The things from the floor that helped me most were foleys (my post op floor straight cathed a lot) and walking into a room having a conversation with strangers/small talk which I hate. Luckily your OR patients are only awake briefly. If you know you want OR and have the opportunity then go for it. I find shift preferences vary by institution and culture. Where I am now, people beg for longer shifts but only a couple on afternoons have 3 12s. Most do 2 12s + 2 8s or 4 10s, 5 8s that way we get our 40. Previous places I worked were either almost all 12s or none at all. Those who do 5 8's pretty much always get out on time but then they are here more days which I think is annoying when weekends are involved. Those of us who do 4 10s (7-530) seem to get stuck the most. I've seen this happen at several places since its a weird mid- shift. Personally, I love my 4 10s. The extra two hours are totally worth the another day off per week. 12s are too long for me, and I like routine so I'm not a huge fan of 2 12s + 2 8s. On the flip side, doing 2 12s +2 8s lets you avoid nasty 5pm traffic if thats a concern. It really depends on you and what you like. Its great that you have options!

When we used cerner, our instruments came up on the pick sheet and we could mark if we used them but this didn't translate into anything used by CPD. So, we werent required to check off instuments as they were just there to know what to pull for the case. Our disposable supplies were tracked and charged this way, however. Our CPD used a system called Alex Gold which was used to build and track instruments and sets within the facility.

Thats for med-surg skills and requires years of med surg experience.....not OR. Google it.

I've been here many times before, coming from some rough inner city hospitals. It was the goal of many seasoned staff to see how far they could push it. They enjoyed breaking people. I experienced this myself and mentoring new staff as an OR educator. I had people in my office crying constanly at some rough places. What seemed to work for me was standing up to these people. You don't have to be rude or angry, but sometimes just stand up for yourself. Show some spunk. Ask the person flat out what is wrong with your actions. Ask them what their deal with you is. Be confident and show them that you know what you are doing. (And make sure you actually know you performing safety and properly). Most them buckle over when confronted. This person is probably insecure and is trying to make you look bad, but can't handle it themselves. Another way is to kill them with kindness. Be as polite and chipper as possible to their face. Be overly gracious when thanking them for their "advice"/criticism. It will drive them bonkers that they are unable to get to you. Most importantly, NEVER LET THEM SEE YOU CRY. They feed on it.