TriathlonRN

Agree with Nickilaughs, Jenni811 and Loque. Since you are in California it is very competative here! Even for nursing schools programs!!I also live in the southern CA area. My daughter is currently going to a nursing school in WI because of the hassle with prereq's and being on a waiting list here in CA!!Some ADN programs have a 3 yr waitlist and that is after you finish your prereq's of course. My suggestion is if you can afford have her go straight for her BSN at the university level. And while she is going to school (maybe 2yr of nursing school) start getting her foot in the door by being a CNA or PCT at the local hospital so she can start networking and getting some experience under her belt. Or maybe even volunteer. She will be exposed to the nurses and nursing manager on the unit and more than likely can get into their new grad residency program. As far as NP or CRNA, she will need her BSN with a couple of years of floor nursing before she will get accepted into a graduate level program. Best of luck!!

Work days on Med/Surg/Tele unit. Suppose to be 4/1 tele, 5/1 med/surg but we have been going over ratio in the last 6 months.

Wondering which state and area that memorial hospital at that? Thanks!

Whats the difference between ANCC and AMSN certs? Anyone better than the other?

How long have you been in med/surg before you decided to take the cert?

I feel your pain, frustration and stress. Unfortunately its not going to get any better with HCAPS scoring. Real life nursing can be very disheartening after nursing school but you have to find something positive to get through the day. Remember nursing is 24hours and when you have so many things coming your way your have to learn to prioritize. Ask for help if its available and the rest is "one bite at a time." If you still find that med/surg is not for you then do your time, prepare yourself and set your self up (BSN, MSN etc) and find another nursing specialty. Med/surg is not for everyone...in fact at my facility we have 40 staff M/S RN's. Out of that, 2 of them have been there 25+yrs, 4-10+ yrs and the rest less than 2 yrs. For some its just a stepping stone into another nursing specialty. Don't give up just yet...I know you can do it......at least until you find your niche!!

Woot!! Woot!! WTG!!

Hello, Just wondering what kinds of patients are seen on a Intermediate Medical Floor. Are they transfers from ICU and then go on to a regular Med/Surg floor? Ive heard of major hospitals with these kinds of units? I work at a rural hospital Med/Surg floor where we get them straight from ICU/ER and Recovery post surgical procedure.

Is going to nights a possibility? I've worked both days and nights in med/surg and it literally is two different worlds. At nights there are times where it is crazy but much, much less than during the day. Plus there is a span of down time that you can catch up....even if its just an hour of the 12 that gives you some time to catch up and chart. During the day there is so many other people to juggle on top of the pt and family as previous posters have mentioned i.e. therapists, casemanagers, pharmacy, imaging, new MD consults, and new orders all throughout the day from all the MD's on the case. Thats not including looking for the chart and waiting for missing meds. It never ends! I feel your pain and frustration and I too agree that we as nurses need to learn to reach out and ask for help when it gets overwhelming. If I see that my fellow staff nurses are too busy, I reach out to my charge and ask for help! I think it also lets the charge know that maybe the assignment should have or needs to be split up d/t the acuity of the pt(s). I hope it gets better for you.

Just had a friend graduate May 2011 from MiraCosta CC ADN program and she highly recommends it! Wonderful and top-notch instructors and she felt well-prepared for the NCLEX! She passed!! Best of Luck!!

Don't know where you live but I think in CA you can challenge LVN exam....Call the CA LVN board. That would save you a ton of time then you could get into an LVN RN transition program...just a thought. Good luck!

My hospital uses RES-Q Acuity Tracking software that each nurse is responsible for entering for the next shift. Throughout the day the charge nurse keeps tracks of discharges, admissions, central lines, foleys, isolation, hemodialysis pts, etc when she is ready to make the next shift assignments. I just started on the unit and I'm a new RN but it seems to be working so far. Our ratio is 5/1.

3.7 2yrs 60k

All I have to say is BSN!!!

I think she might be required to take a refresher course. I would call the WA Dept of Health which handles RN licensing. They should be able to direct her on the requirements. Best of luck!!