1styear

I graduated in May and started working at Sloan Kettering in June(every floor is oncology). I would say that so far I'm very happy with my decision to start my career in oncology. My only advice is to pick a floor that has a lot of surgical patients so you get that exposure. My friend is on a hepato-bil floor and another is on neuro and they really only see late stage med patients which doesn't seem like a great place to start. Gyn or urology usually have a high % of surgical pts in my hospital and it's great experience caring for this more routine population in addition to learning the complexities involved with medical patients. Good luck in your decision.

I'm graduating this May from Nassau community college and will continue on at Stonybrook for my BSN via the online program. If you want information or to get a good feel for the nursing program-- there is an information session held every friday afternoon at the school of nursing. The online RN-BSN program is perfect for me because it is inexpensive and allows me to work full time as a new grad and still continue my education at the rate I desire. Good luck in whatever you decide upon.

North shore Long Island Jewish(LIJ) has a well known and respected oral-maxillofacial & ENT(otolaryngology..... not sure how to spell it). I just a rapid pallate expansion done over a year ago and had a great experience there, in addition any doctor I speak to in NY seems to know and respect the MDs there. I'm not familiar with the pay specific to that unit but I know that staff RNs are starting at 60k @ LIJ so it should be in that ballpark for new grads. Good luck --that's a fascinating and everchanging field!

I'm currently a nursing student and will be graduating this May(2005). I've really enjoyed my semesters in various units but can't see myself standing behind a med cart for too many years. The jobs that most interested me while in school were the ones that nobody talks about. The nurse who comes to talk to the pts and instruct them about the care they will need at home or the nurse who comes up to visit a newly diagnosed diabetic to provide info to the pt and family. I've been asking around about positions like these and the usual response I get is that they are very hard to acquire and it's very political. I'm a little discouraged at these responses, does anyone have any advice what my best route would be towards these types of positions?

I'll be finishing my ADN this year and will be a little sad when it's over. I haven't worked while in school and have no children so I have really taken advantage of getting to know other students and had a great time laughing throughout evertything(or else we would have all been crying). Cramming for exams, care plans at 2 am and bathing your first pt all seem livable when you have students around you to laugh about it with. The friends I have met have been great and we have repositioned ourselves every course so we are all together. I will miss that aspect of it a lot and am hoping I find just one person like that on whatever floor I work where you can just look at them, roll your eyes and they KNOW!

To answer your question on how people are making it --a lot of friends I have who have recently moved into their first aparments in Manhattan have all done the same thing to save $$$. They all wanted a nice neighborhood with a doorman building so they paired up went looking for huge great one bedroom apts. Upon moving in they paid $800 for the construction of an additional temporary wall so they could transform the place into 2 bedrooms and split the rent. It's pretty awesome because when the rent is split it's not so bad plus they live in very nice buildings with gyms, drycleaning, storage, elevators and doormen. Not sure of your situation but if it's an option for you --I know a lot of people it's worked out for :)

Nursing is physically and emotionally draining. You can have seven patients, 40 meds to give by 0900, doctors issuing new orders, family members calling and no CNA to help. On top of this, one of your patients rings the call light every 10 minutes because he is scared, lonely, confused, etc. Another patient's husband is irate because the doctor hasn't been in yet and he comes to the nursing station every 15 minutes demanding to know when the doctor will be coming. Everyone, regardless of their motivation to become a nurse, would be stressed, frustrated and aggravated. I think you are only talking about floor nursing when you say "nursing" in the above post. Not everyone plans on pursuing whatever job the above details includes. There's more to nursing than med surg floors, back pains and frustration. Maybe someone wants a solid career in nursing but plans on working in a doctor's office or do legal nursing or a pharm rep?? Surely their care would be no less because they strive to enhance their lifestyle with a good solid paycheck. The hospital is not a convent and nurses are not called by god, it's a CAREER choice for most people.

I am in nursing school because I want a good, steady job and I like interacting with the pts. I'm not a saint who longs to heal the sick. Nurses in NYC make a LOT of money. New grads at my school this year started at at 65k per year. The great thing about us who want to make a good living is we'll pick up a lot of extra shifts so that some nurses I know make 90k a year cause they work hard and they want to advance their lifestyle. Do nurses like us stay on the floors long? No, usually we get out as soon as possible, and give good nursing care in areas like plastic surgery, agency, MD offices etc. or possible legal nursing, forensic nursing. pharm rep.... I'm basing that off a lot of people I know at my school who dread even spending 1 year on med surg and so they will all pick the highest paying job that does not involve floor nursing most likely. These are not bad nurses, they just have different ambitions and want to pursue their career differently and with little back injury. Maybe that's wrong, maybe everyone should feel some sort of calling and just want to help people but THAT is not pursuing a career. I think nursing is a career and the hospital is a business, everyone else in the health care system is worried about their wallet and serves some nurses some good to do the same as long as it doesn't interfere will giving good care to the pts.

Why do we need more men in nursing to save it exactly? Anyone know? This makes NO sense to me!!! What...nursing is going to disappear? Are people going to start taking care of themselves if there aren't men in nursing? I've read a few times that experts feel that when men join a career choice it becomes more stable and experiences less turnover. In addition when men have entered fields like teaching they have been great organizers and lobbyists therefore benefiting all in the field. As a side note, I love when there are men on the floor because they tend to not be as moody and are always willing to crack a joke and make the day a little more fun. I know, I know, that's a total generalization so I'll have to say that has been only MY experience. :chuckle

I live aout 15 min from Manhattan on North Shore of Long Island and am entering my second year of nursing school. I just like you Princessdingaling am shocked at some of the salary figures people quote. I guess I have to keep in mind rent, parking and general cost of living. Near me starting salary ranges but new grads are typically making 65k and most do some overtime so they can make 80-90. This seems like a great deal till you figure in that they pay over $2000 a month rent and $300 a month for parking in a garage. So I guess that'll be me -making a lot of money and somehow poor at the same time.

Entering 3rd semester at Nassau CC in Long Island, NY. I can finally see the light and am really excited to begin/finish this upcoming school year :) It's been hard but it has also been great and a lot of fun with my classmates! :balloons:

Thanks for the links of other discussions regarding this topic, those discussions present a mixed view of opinions. It's interesting how students hold themselves to a higher standard based on the responses above, maybe the strict learning mode and black and white exams put us at a heightened level of professionalism.

So if you are working in the PACU, ambulatory surgery, doctor's office etc. and you meet a pt or pts family member as you are caring for someone for however many hours it would be just unbelievably horrible to you if someone happened to form a relationship that they wanted to pursue once the care was terminated? I'm taken and not interested in any pts ---psych or not but I really wouldn't judge someone who never made it a habit but did one time meet someone they were interested in. I went to a wedding last year where the bride married her dentist --it happens and life goes on happily for both of them

I think involvement with a psych pt is an obvious no-no, other than that as long as there is good judgment used and it doesn't disturb the pts care... why not? Good relationships and love should be encouraged wherever one may find it so long as it doesn't harm in the process. One that same note --one student in my class is dating a resident she met during our clinicals. It didn't impact on any of the other students and most of us thought it was great and encouraged her to go for it.

My first semester our class wore shorts and tank tops so we could bathe each other's face, arms, legs and feet. I didn't see it as a problem with anyone and it gave a new perspective on how the pt feels. To be honest, there are tons of non politically correct and insensitive things that seem to happen in nursing school ---can't focus on it or you'll lose focus on what you're doing there and accomplishing getting out :)