jkesler

A number of others have already made some suggestions for ear plugs, air mattress, snacks, changes of clothes, and etc. I would also bring a good book or two. If the power goes out on your tablet, phone, kindle, etc you can still read a book. :)

Yes. In Florida and a number of other states they can legally force you to stay during an emergency such as a hurricane. They often call it "patient abandonment". Also, because Florida is a "right to slavery".. .er I mean a "right to work" or "at will" state they can arbitrarily fire you for any reason or no reason. Which is probably a good reason to check out the Nurse Practice Act and other applicable policies and laws in any state before you decide to live there and be a practicing nurse.

Technically hard would be something like transplant ICU nursing. Or maybe open heart. areas with lots of machines, dialysis, and etc. When you have to watch 6 drips, 4 monitors, and physically assess the patient every hour that is pretty technically demanding. Those types of things require the ability to integrate technology and advanced pathophysiology into your practice. Anyplace in nursing that requires flexibility, creativity, problem solving skills, and critical thinking can be demanding and challenging.

Your friend may have an unusually discriminating sense of smell. People with an acute sense of smell often have trouble dealing with the "dirty" part of nursing or healthcare. She may also have a germ phobia. I mean that darn E-coli just hangs out in poo and waits for the unsuspecting person to forget to wash their hands and then WHAM! You have a bad case of gastroenteritis. I have met many nurses over the years. And each of them has at least one thing that can gross them out and throw them off their appetite. Some people it's phlegm in all of it's wonderful variations. I know people who can handle emesis but the minute they see a dirty baby diaper they are hitting the porcelain receptacle of Ralph. Of course, there are those who can clean up poo. Wipe down the walls covered in urine. And watch Linda Blair spew green pea soup for 30 feet all over the exorcist priest. And then eat the greasy burger from the hospital cafeteria without needing a single Rolaids or Alka Seltzer cure. The good news for your friend and others is that there is a place in nursing for all of us. Except for maybe the ones who can't stand the smell of antiseptic. Because almost no matter where you go in nursing someone will be cleaning the place with antiseptic. He he he.

Are you being humorous? Or are you really unaware that the CNA role is usually the "grunt" of nursing? They are usually the one that is called when someone needs lifted, turned, fed, cleaned, and etc. If someone throws up the first person the RN usually calls is the CNA. Someone soiled the bed? Call the CNA. Yes, it's true. Some will say that is not how it really it is. But, ask any CNA. :)

It depends on what your priorities are. I recommend LPN to BSN if you can. RN is great. But if you don't have a minimum of a BSN some doors just won't open as easy. If you never intend to leave clinical nursing you don't need to worry so much about that. If cost is a factor find a distance learning program offered by your state school system. There are a lot more than you think there are. The best bridge program is the one you get ACCEPTED into that is an ACCREDITED program. It used to be that if they weren't accredited by the National League of Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) there would be limitations on where you could work/get a license. Other accreditation programs have come along. The other main association is the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. They run the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) accreditation program. Not all colleges of nursing will be accredited by both but the good ones will usually be accredited by one or the other. If you can't get into a program run by your state then look for 4 year colleges from other states. Grand Canyon University of Arizona is an example of a decent one with reasonable out of state tuition fees. I am not knocking schools like Phoenix. They can deliver what you want. But, they will cost you a LOT more than going through your own state programs. One of the other posters already mentioned that you will have to do clinical rotations. No matter how many years you have been an LPN/LVN it won't count as RN clinical training. So, just take a deep breath and do it. You will not be able to do those online. Some schools will arrange clinical locations for you. The 4 year ones are usually pretty good about that . But be sure that they aren't expecting you to set up your clinical locations and find your own RN preceptors. I hope this is helpful.

Have you consider Naturopathic Medicine? Naturopathy - Wikipedia I know people have already mentioned psych nursing. There is also ARNP in psych. Then you get to diagnose, treat, counsel, and prescribe. If you think nursing is just totally out there are other caring professions out there. Advice columnist, dietician, yoga teacher, and so many others.

If you have not contacted your exes employer about violating your privacy you should strongly consider doing so. Secondly, contact the authorities and ask if you can file a no contact order against your ex for harassment. Thirdly, if your hospital has a grievance process and/or a grievance officer contact them immediately and have them start helping you. A lot of what you are going through is because you feel helpless and/or powerless. Stop feeling that way. Start doing positive things that remind you that can control some if not all of the things that are happening to you. Even if they are only small things. Start now. And fourth. Contact a counselor and engage with them about the emotional issues that your ex is causing.

Welcome to the "service industry". When Hospitals use customer satisfaction (i.e. how happy they are with their stay) as a metric it does indeed become the nurses job to make the customer/client happy. And if you don't believe that hospitals have become a service industry the trend either has not hit your hospital or you have been very lucky.

There is a fine line between case manager and care manager. A case manager actively works to acheive optimal wellness outcomes for the client while being a good steward of the resources available to them. This role often looks like a chinese acrobat on a high wire juggling plates. If you let one of the plates fall you lose the game. OTOH it doesn't matter what the definition is as long as you are enjoying the job, your boss is happy, the clients are happy, and the company is happy.

Just about anyplace the Air Force has a mental health clinic or behavioral health inpatient ward will have a need for the PMH NP. Wilford Hall has merged with Brooke Army Medical center in San Antonio TX and they have a huge need for psych nurses and ARNP's. It is a joint base with the AF and the Army playing nice with each other. You most likely aren't finding specific information because it's "merged" into the medical provider category. If you look for openings for psychiatriac doctors and other mental health providers you will find slots for ARNP roles.

It really is going to depend on where you are stationed. If I understand your question correctly you want to join the Navy Nurse Corp and work in an ER in the Navy. To do that you will need to be assigned to a location that has an active ER department. Walter Reed Medical Center/Joint Naval Army base in the Washington DC area and Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego CA are both very active and have fairly robust ER departments. Walter Reed is part of a Level 1 trauma system in the DC area. There are some smaller but active bases in Everret WA, and on the East Coast You should talk to your navy recruiter and/or other navy personnel to find out other active places.

A family care plan is a document that you fill out certifying that you have a workable plan for who will take care of your dependent children if you are deployed or assigned to a duty station that does not allow dependents to accompany you. You have to have this if you are a single parent on active duty. The challenge is that the army usually will not let you join up on active duty unless you actually give guardianship or custody to someone else while you are in basic training. After your initial training when you go to your first duty assignment you can usually get guardianship transferred back to you. Here is the really important point. Be sure that whoever is going to assume responsibility for your child is really up for the job. If they back out on you the army has little or no tolerance for soldiers and nurses who suddenly can't deploy or do thier job because they don't have anyone to take care of the little tykes. You can ask for a hardship discharge but the army doesn't have to be nice about it. In some cases people have been given a "less than honorable" discharge and it can mess up all kinds of things such as federal benefits, federal employment and etc.

Best thing to do is find out who runs the education programs at the VA hospital you want to do clinicals at. If they don't have a memorandum of agreeement with your college you may have to do some leg work. Once you find that person talk to them about what they are willing/not willing to do to help you find a preceptor you can shadow for clinicals. Once you find a preceptor you will have to arrange to be a student intern for the required number of hours. You may have to network and find someone willing to take on a student. It's not totally impossible. Some nurses actually like to mentor. I recommend chocolate. It's always useful for getting people to do things for you. Be sure that you get real clinical hours. Each state is somewhat different but AFAIK they all require you to spend several hundred hours in clinical to be accredited to sit for the NCLEX-RN. The average is probably somewhere around 200-400 hours of clinical depending on the state. And you have to keep a record of those hours because the school will have to verify that you completed the required hours.

If your job in the military is equivalent to the job at the VA you get credit for experience. And you can/may use your military time towards the retirement plan the VA has. If you are a qualifying veteran you also receive hiring preference. As for the GS or VA pay system someone else can explain it better but the basics are you are hired a pay grade usually somewhere between GS or VA 4 through 11 if you are not management. Each pay grade has steps. the steps can vary from 1 to 10. If you are a GS 6 step 5 you earn more than a GS 6 step 2. There is also locality pay. It essentially works something like a cost of living allowance. Your Locality pay is going to be much better for San Francisco than it is for Bismarck ND. 2011 General Schedule (GS) Locality Pay Tables USA Jobs is advertising LPN slots at GS 6 step 2 it looks like. Salary range is about $27K to $45K per year.