Deargceann

Did not even realize this was a thing until I was browsing the local job boards? A little background about me. I have a MEd. in counseling and a BSN. I've been working in psych for almost 2 years now, a RN for almost 3. My question is what is the pay like compared to civilian nursing. Also would I be deployed as a psych nurse? Any AF psych nurses, please tell me a little about your experiences. Patient population, do you feel like you make a difference? Thank you in advance.

So it's my first job out of nursing school and despite the fact that I like most of my co-workers, I really want out of my unit. I have had 2 separate instances with 2 separate preceptors who have given me misinformation on how to do a procedure. The first one resulted in a note on my file, but no write up, and when I talked with my nurse manager, she said that the second instance was just something that I need to do right from now on, since I know better. I try to watch any procedure that the more experienced nurses do because it always helps me to see something a few times to get the hang of it. The procedures aren't something that we do every day so I might get to see it once a month or so. Neither patient was harmed, but I really want to be a good nurse and it just makes me angry at myself for doing it wrong. We have a nurse educator, but not on my shift. I was watching a more experienced nurse access a port the other day and saw her contaminate the sterile field with a pre-filled syringe. It is not just the one nurse either, I have seen a few do it. My question is, how do I keep this from happening again when I don't trust the info I'm getting? It's not like I have time to look up every policy and procedure before I do it. I'm not sure if this a case of "this is how we've always done it" or if they were given misinformation too.

I also took the 3 day live review. While some concepts were explained so that I could understand them better, I don't feel that any of the reviews I took helped. Honestly, I think only 2 questions on my NCLEX-RN were even addressed in my reviews. BTW, I passed with 90 something questions.

A. I actually had a resident tell me the other day that he needed me to page someone but he didn't know their name or department. B. Surgeons who have their own nurse they like and there is nothing you can do to make them happy. C. Surgeons who hold up the case doing God knows what and they walk in the room and say Time in, Time out like it's your fault.

May I ask why you are leaving the OR? I'm trying to get a summer internship there but have not been able to get an observation day there yet. I was able to watch a PEG insertion and that was one of the coolest things ever.

Psych nurses have to take the same exam and get paid the same amount as a floor nurse. I'm in nursing school and had my med/surg evaluation with my professor. She knows I want to be a psych nurse and during the eval she stated that I should follow that passion. The sad thing is that in her mind, she was insulting me, but in my mind, she was just reinforcing what I have known all along. I will be a great psych nurse.

Right now I am just a student PCT on a psych unit 2 1/2 more semester to go), but I find that a smile and respect go a long way. I've been cussed out and threatened, but never actually swung on.

I took A & P right after high school (when ASU was still on the quarter system), played around and made a C & D respectively. I had to retake them and made B's for both courses. However, ASU had converted to the semester system so the hours counted less which lowered my GPA even though I made a better grade the 2nd time around. I know it doesn't make sense but if you do the weighted mean calculations that you learned how to do in statistics, you'll see the math works out. Yet another reason I don't trust stats.

That's the funny thing, my GPA was lowered because quarter grades count for more than semester. I can only assume that they took that into consideration. Even though I haven't used my counseling degree in a paying job, it definitely helps on the floor. I'm not sure if the fact that I'm older helped or hurt me, the people in my class seem awfully young. Good luck, you should hear something soon.

Mine was lower than yours but they might have looked at it differently. Originally I had a C in A&P on the quarter system but when I retook them got B's on the semester system and lowered my GPA. I had A and B in everything but nothing like a 3.8

I honestly have no idea how they accept people. My GPA was a 3.6 I think and SAT was an 1130 and I had no community service as far as a hospital. They might have looked at my volunteering with a rape crisis service and the fact that I had a Masters. The kooky thing is they waitlisted the TA in my anatomy class and accepted me. At some point, I think they put names in a hat.

I hear Hawaii is pretty lax about having tattoos.

I never meant to imply that tattoos= hot, just that I'm pretty sure that when I'm 80 I'll be a lot more concerned about keeping track of my meds than whether I look good in a bikini.

I hate that whole "How are you going to look when you're 80?" comment. As far as I know, I've never seen any hot 80 year olds.

Thanks everyone. I pretty much figured L&D was out, I don't really want to be elbow deep with sleeves on. lol. I wasn't sure about OR since they are usually knocked out anyway. I'm used to people judging me by my tattoos, that's why I cover them in any kind of conservative setting. You would be amazed at who compliments me on them when I'm out and about. I was shocked the first few times little, old ladies did. As far as using band-aids or wraps to cover them up, I'm pretty sure I would look like a mummy or I lost a fight with a weedwhacker if I did. I always get a laugh too when I make my heart tattoo on my forearm "beat." Evidently the department head is a beast about tattoos, but since she said to come to class like I am going to work, I'll just wear long sleeves and pants even to lecture. I figure if she freaks when she finds out, I'll just explain that I wanted her to see the quality of my work before she made any assumptions about me. The way I look at it, tattoos are our generations long hair on men. Eventually, it won't be a big deal, and larger cities will be more open than the deep south town I live in now.