Tozz

I didn't retire from nursing, but I retired from another career in my late 40's. After taking a few years off, I went to nursing school. I've been doing per diem (PRN) ever since, with the exception of one full-time year in a nursing home. It's perfect for me. I'm in a hospital, so there are always plenty of needs. I can work zero hours, or 40+ hours a week, or take a couple of months off. They apparently like me because they don't hold me to the letter of the contract when I take my mini-sabbaticals. (Allergies to the vaccine are extremely rare, but if you're one of the unlikely few, vaccine mandates always have a medical exemption.)

I graduated from Curry Accel a decade or so ago, and it's an excellent program. It's the least expensive (along with UMass) in the Boston area, and clinical placements are in the top Boston teaching hospitals. As I recall, it was the first accelerated nursing program in college-dense New England. Good luck, all!

I'm in full agreement. I don't think I made myself clear--if you're in a competitive job market, go for an accelerated program when you have another degree. Where I live, schools are churning out 4000+ new nurses per year within commuting range. It's a buyer's market. Most hospitals don't hire ADNs. I realize this may be different depending upon where you live.

I've been exclusively per diem for nearly ten years now. I work at three locations. I schedule ahead, and it's very rare that I'll take a last minute call unless it involves incentives. You'll figure it out.

I don't think COVID will impact your education significantly one way or another. All the indications are that we may start to see a few glimmers of "normality" within just a few months. What you should carefully consider, though, is what flavor of program you enter. With your prior Biology degree, you're already ahead of the game. So consider entering an accelerated (usually 18 month) program, to get your BSN. In many areas of the country, hospitals are selective with credentials. I know several RNs with a bachelors in another field, who opted for a much cheaper community college ADN program. To a person, they regretted the decision, and spent years, dollars, and time, obtaining their BSN. (I've never noticed much of a difference between ADN and BSN nurses. I'm just pointing out a practical reality in competitive job markets. This may or may not matter where you reside.)

Do you really believe that the US has never mandated vaccination?!

I had "gnarly" side effects (basically flu symptoms, fever, vomiting, feeling like you fell down a flight of stairs) for 12-18 hours after Pfizer #1. Nothing after Pfizer #2. Nothing after Johnson and Johnson. Feeling out of it for a day was well worth it. In reviewing tales from co-workers, there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason, other than more people had side effects after #2 of the mRNA vaccines. Maybe some people's immune systems are just more ramped up, looking for a fight. I'm the only one I know who's had the J&J, so don't have even a meaningless anecdote.

Sometime last century, I posted a link in this thread to a pre-peer reviewed study from Israel that indicated that, yes, the vaccine significantly reduced transmission. I linked to the actual study, but am too lazy to search a few hundred messages. Here's a media report referencing the same. Since then another study from Israel, with real world data, has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine (I admit, I have yet to read it).

I started out in Long Term Care. 20-40 patients per shift, depending on who called out sick that day. I can't imagine what you folks went through this past year.

You are a man of strong opinions.

Haha, I'm back here after a week. I guess the thread was not winding down! Anyhow, we're in agreement. Maybe I was not clear. Bullying occurs in both. Absolutely. However, the female profession seems to be more obsessed about it. In this thread alone, the term has been used dozens and dozens of times. I never heard it used once during the twenty-five years I spent in my prior career. It's just an observation. Perhaps we just called it something different. Saying you're being "bullied" implies victimhood. Among most males, proclaiming yourself bullied, much less, being perceived as a victim, is a fate far worse that being bullied.

I received the J&J vaccine the first week of December in a Stage 3 clinical trial. They are currently enlisting subjects for a second dose of J&J. This is just speculation, but J&J may end up being nearly as effective as Moderna and Pfizer with a second dose.

For what it's worth, the number is nearly double that. Google your state's number of deaths (due to any cause) for, say, Sept 2019 and compare with Sept 2020. The difference is the true toll. Many deaths not attributable to Covid actually were (I.e. deaths with no test, deaths at home from people who avoided the ED during the crush, etc.)

I sense this thread is winding down. A few takeaways: I now have a sense, though not an understanding, of why so many of my coworkers are refusing to be vaccinated. Having spent time in two careers, one almost exclusively male, another almost exclusively female, I've come to realize that "bullying" is an exclusive concern of the latter. Even though it occurs in both. I'm left with a sinking feeling, that many of those who have gone through the same s**t that I have experienced during the past year, are, at the best "vax hesitant." It goes with the territory in nursing, but I wish the profession was more grounded in science and facts, rather than feelings.

Okay, that's a start!

You've said this multiple times in this thread. I've provided a study from Israel, twice, that does support the prevailing wisdom that vaccines both protect the subject and retard transmission. You never respond to my posts. I feel lonely.

Agreed. We've done it with other diseases. Why not with one that, aside from the human misery, will probably plunge us into a major economic crisis within the next year. .

Good point.

First week in December, I got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine/placebo through a Stage 3 study at Brigham and Women's. Two weeks later I got the first Pfizer shot at work (much earlier than I expected). I told the study staff what I did, they flopped around for a bit, then did an "emergency" unmasking and told me I received the actual vaccine, not the placebo. My assumption is that they did the for liability reasons, so I could make an informed decision before deciding to take the second Pfizer shot. To repeat another data point: J&J, no reaction. Pfizer 1, significant reaction, but no worse than flu symptoms, and very short-lived (less than a full day). Pfizer 2, no reaction.

I responded with a link to your earlier post stating the same. It was a recent study from Israel, where a majority of the populations has already been vaccinated. For your convenience, I'll post the link again. Money quote: "Taken together, our findings indicate vaccination is not only important for individual’s protection but can reduce transmission." Yes, it's preliminary, and no, it has not been peer reviewed. Peer reviews take months and we don't have certain luxuries in perilous times. So we can do our own peer review. If you're hanging your argument against vaccination on the supposition that the vaccine does not reduce transmission, you're blowing into the wind.

"I got very sick" vs "I had a very robust immune response." I'll go with the glass half full! [FWIW, I'm one of those rarest of beings. I've received both the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and Pfizer vaccine. And, yes, I had a robust immune response after Pfizer first shot, but it was over within 18 hours. Nothing after Johnson & Johnson shot and Pfizer second shot.]

Nothing definitive yet, but the word from Israel looks promising. Vaccine also reduces transmission.

Exactly. I'm a sciencey kinda guy. The cockwomble in me merely wanted to point out that a significant portion of the nursinghood is very, very definitely not.

Haven't dropped into this forum in years, but one quick anecdote: According to our Director of Pharmacy (in a largish community hospital), somewhere slightly north of 50% of RNs accepted the vaccine. I asked about MDs. He paused, thought, and said, "100%."

(pssst. Hey you. No, not the original poster necessarily, but YOU. The "you" who is a new graduate looking for a job in a very competitive market. Want a job? Got four hours? Do the following: Go to the Medicare.gov site. Search for nursing homes in your area. You can do a zip code search for say, 25 miles within zip code 12345. Depending upon what part of the country you live in, you will glean dozens. I got 140 within 25 miles. Import the Nursing Home addresses; Figure out how to do a Mail Merge in Microsoft Word; Merge the address database into your cover letter. If you're a luddite, simply copy and paste addresses. Hustle your broke-*ss self down to the local stationary emporium, and buy yourself some good resume paper. Send out your 140 cover letters and resumes addressed to the Director of Nursing of the facilities. They will be flattered, or at least, not offended, to get an old-fashioned paper resume. Ignore any website instructions regarding "online applications only." If the DON likes you, you can always fill that out later. Don't forget the extra postage if you bought the really high end resume paper. Drop your resumes in the mailbox. Wait. Attend interviews (I got 22 call backs out of 138 resumes; four job offers before I started cancelling interviews) Cut your teeth in long-term care. It is not easy, but you will learn valuable time management and nursing skills handling 20-40 (long term) or 10-20 (sub acute) patients. Zoom ahead one year? You'll get that med-surg hospital job. The transition will not be difficult. Yes, you will need to be more analytical, but in the end, you can always take a deep breath and say it's only five patients... ​That is all. When you obtain your job, and you will, I will demand my finder's fee. Please don't pass this on. It only works if nobody knows the trick.)