OrthoRN09

My facility does not give holiday pay at all. We have the option to take PTO if we want to, whether or not we work the holiday. So if I work 12 hours on Thanksgiving, I can take 12 hours of PTO on top of it to get paid "double time". If I'm not scheduled to work a holiday, I can also take PTO . Does that make sense?

I work 3 12's a week in a hospital. Have picked up overtime a couple times, but I have noticed that the more I pick up, the less I see it on my check. So it's really not worth it to pick up more than 1 OT shift per pay period. I will clear about $56K this year in MN. And this is my first year as a RN.

I was a CMA for 10 years before going back for my RN. As far as I know, there are no bridge programs for CMA to RN. And whoever is telling you that there is has no idea what they are talking about. I did not get credit for any of my CMA classes and had to start over from scratch.

Wow! I guess I am lucky. The manager on our floor is AWESOME! She is always in and available. A couple weeks ago, I needed help transferring a patient from bed to commode and she happened to be standing at the charge desk and volunteered to help. She even waited around for the patient to finish and helped me transfer her back to bed. Unfortunately, I just gave my notice last week as I got a job at a hospital WAY closer to home. I will miss working for such a wonderful, helpful, understanding manager. I hope my next manager is half a good as her!!

saza323, you seem to be obsessing over this whole Summer III thing. Just go ahead and apply, if you get in you get in. If you don't you don't. It won't be the end of the world. AND if you don't get it, it won't be because you aren't good enough. There are only so many spots available and at least 10 times that many that apply. The only ones that are going to know whether or not your GPA is good enough are the people that are reviewing the applications. Stressing over it isn't going to help. There are just some things that are just out of you control. I guess this goes for all of you that are considering applying. You will never know if you don't try. Good luck to all of you!

As an AD prepared nurse, I have managed to get hired TWICE in the past year at hospitals for positions that stated "BSN preferred" in the posting. Looks like I didn't need a BSN to open any doors for me. And as someone else mentioned, we sit for the exact same boards so why not classify us the same? To the OP, in your situation, I believe it would be financially beneficial for you to go to SCSU for your degree. I am currently enrolled in a RN-BSN program that will take me about a year and a half to complete, (no lack of motivation here)! Good luck to you!!

I think that only pertains to patients with spinal cord injuries or in cases of autonomic dysreflexia. But I could be wrong.

I cried one time that I can remember in nursing school. It was when an instructor reprimanded me for not being prepared for my head to toe assessment check off. I admit, I was not as prepared as I should've been. But I was able to pull it together and come back 30 minutes later and pass with flying colors. I have teared up a few times as a nurse on the floor. Once when a group of volunteers visited a patient and sang hymns to him and his family and another time when I sat and held the hand of a 108 year old lady who was afraid to be alone. There is nothing wrong with crying especially in a profession such as ours that sees so much pain and suffering.

I graduated from an AD program last December with close to $40K in student loans. Went a private school and the tuition was WAY more than the any other. This school happened to be the only one with an all evening AD program, which I had to do because of work. Luckily, I just got my second nursing job at a hospital that provides student loan repayment and tuition reimbursement so I can obtain my BSN. I am considering sending my student loans to President Obama for a bail out. Everyone (banks, car manufacturers) else gets one, why not me??

I have personally never considering giving lovenox, heparin or anything similar in any location other than the abdomen. That does seem like a very weak reason to be completely dismissed from the program. I hate to be "that person", but it seems like everyone that has ever been dismissed from a nursing program thinks it's through no fault of their own. I have yet to hear someone own up to it and say, yes I should've been kicked out. Sorry, but that's just my opinion.

I work 12 hour D/N rotation. I choose to work more nights than days for all the reasons you listed. Your patient ratio 7:1 seems way too high. On our days shift we get 2-3 MAYBE 4 patients if absolutely needed. Those with 2 patients will get a post-op or admit sometime during the shift. Then night ratio is higher of course, 5-6 and sometimes 7. I also worked this past weekend (nights) and it went pretty well. Not crazy like most of my weekends.

I would suggest the 1 unit. I was hired as a new grad to an ortho/trauma floor. After being off orientation for 3 months, I was eligible to float to other units when our census is low. So far I have floated to 3 different units and really hated 2 of the 3. There were some new grads in my orientation group that were hired to the float pool. They were given an extensive orientation. But personally, I wouldn't like it. Not knowing where I would be working on a day to day basis would cause even more stress than just being a new grad. It's best (for me) to stick to one unit and develope a routine.

I only did questions to study for my NCLEX and passed with 75 questions. I used to the Saunders review books. I tried to do at least 100 questions each day. As for meds, those were my weakness as well. I was lucky enough to not get very many questions about them. Good luck to you!

I love my ortho trauma floor. I have had to float to a couple different medical floors recently and HATE it. Everyone was jaundice, no ones liver/kidneys were functioning, and most had some sort of bowel issues (rectal tubes, diarrhea, c-diff). I like that my patients are for the most part generally healthy, they just broke something. Give me a couple open tib/fib fractures, a brachial plexus, a few spinal fusions, and throw in a farm injury for good measure and I'm a happy camper.

Thank you for being a nurse, Sue.