Whimsical

PM when you get a chance and I'll tell you all about it.

AnnaedRn: Thanks for the info. The HHA that i work for does not do IV and blood drawing. They do have an excellent oreintation though. I guess after I gain about 6 months to a years experience, I should try to change to a HHA that orientate their staff to these skills.

I am a new grad in the New York area who just got hired in a Home Health Agency. Initially I was trying to get into a hospital. I thought this was the right way to go since I have as of yet to develop skils such as starting IV's, drawing blood, inserting foley's, working with trachs, vents and the like. However, after 4 months of not finding anything in any hospital on any shift, in any field, I started applying to nursing homes and HHA's. I finally got called by a HHA and started in June. I am excited about being a HHN. I like the idea of so much direct patient contact. I am now in the middle of learning all about OASIS. I feel that I can learn and grow in any area of nursing. Ultimately though I would like to be an ER nurse or a Family NP. I feel so far from either one of those goals now. My question is though, how do develop the skills that I mentioned above while in homecare. I'm concerned that later on when the economy improves, hospitals still won't hire me, because even though I will have experience, none of it will be medical-surgical type experience. I thought about taking an IV therapy certification course and trying to get one assignment during this to maintain what I learn. I'm not sure of what course to plot to get back on track of pursing the goal of ER Nurse or Family NP. I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you.

Epona: I actually started Nursing years ago at Hampton University. I'm a little familiar with the area. Originally I'm from DC. In New York it's common to see shows filming. If you decide you want to come this way let me know. We are having a challenging time for new grads getting work, but you can always put in a resume at the Home Health Agency I just got hired by. You would be more than welcome.

Not at all. I am also a new grad who just got hired from as a home health nurse and my starting salary is $72,000. I know of one place that starts at $75,000. I do live in New York though. If you are in the part of Virginia that's near Washington, DC, like the Falls Church, Alexandria area etc. that's certainly not too much.

If you go to a surgical supply store, you may be able to purchase a few things that are not to expensive that you can use as props and serving dishes for the party. Depending on the type of crowd that you're having you can purchase a few ace bandages and have races where groups have to see who can bandage a person with fake wounds or the breaks the fastest and things of that nature.

Just to fair to you though, I understand how you can have fellow feelings for friends who are working hard to get accepted into the program, Who are putting in the time and work to get the acceptable grades to get into what is obviously a space limited program. Then when they can't register for a class that someone else shouldn't bee even taking, is hard to watch. It's a challenge being loyal to your friends and your roommate. Here is a suggestion that might work. You've already spoken to your roommate. Without betraying your roommates personal business, encourage your friends to check back weekly with the registar to see if spaces have become available. If a mistake was made, it's only a matter of time before it's caught. This way your loyal to both parties and fairness can win in the end.

Hi ez2000. PM me if you can. I think I may have some information for you.

on my initial calls i asked for per diem and or part time. since then, i spoke to one of my former clinical instructors who told me that if i work on a sub-acute unit (not the nursing home part) within a facility or a nursing home, then that would be consider med surge. since learning that, i would work full time and not just per diem. for example, if you have a chance go to www.cobblehill.org for the cobble hill health center. you will see that under patient services, they have a sub acute unit, hemodialysis unit, long term home health care, cardiac rehabilitation just to name a few. within their sub acute unit, they take care of burn patients, surgical patients, hip replacements, cancer treatments, postop surgery, respiratory and trach care just to name a few. of course your resume would have to reflect that you were actually doing med surge nursing by listing the procedure and skills that you are doing, and not just working in a nursing home. (nothing's wrong with working in a nursing home). not all of the nursing homes have these units but there are quite a few. another one you can take a look at is the kateri residence skilled nursingand rehabilitation center. www.kateriresidenceny.org. if you go on their website, it also has a breakdown of the different types of programs they offer besides their nursing home residence. take a look. it's quite detailed. to err on the side of caution; it was my previous clinical instructor who told me that working in a sub-acute unit would be considered med-surger nursing because of the skills you learn and execute. however, perhaps you would find it helpful to call some of the hospitals that you're interested, tell them what skills you would be performing and find out if they would consider it med surge.

Hi Pooshu11 I'm not exactly sure who would be training me yet. I will know more by the end of the week. I'll be sure to let you know. The one that I'm really interested in is in Brooklyn. It has a sub-acute medical unit, cardiac rehabilitation unit, hemodialysis unit, palliative care just to name a few. This particular institution has over 500 beds. One of the other ones that I'm looking into in Manhattan has wound care management, IV therapy as well ass sub-acute care. It encompasses all the things that I would be doing on a med surge unit. I will keep you posted.

Like many of you, I am also a new grad looking for work. Many people were telling me to go to nursing homes. My concern about that was I don't have any experience and I was concerned if I would get any in a nursing home besides passing meds. I also wanted to be available for a hospital position if one came up. I spoke to a friend of mine who has been a nurse for many years. This was her suggestion to me and I hope it helps many of you. She told me to google a list of nursing homes in the borough that I was interested in. She then told me to go right down the list and call each one and inquire about working per diem for the nursing home. May homes will request that if you work per diem that you be available at least 2 days a month(that's certainly doable). By doing this I would get some experience, have flexibility in my schedule, make some money and still be able to search for a job in a hospital. She told me that even in a nursing home setting I would still learn skills like inserting a foley, starting IV's and the like. Another suggestion she made to me was to look into nursing homes that have sub-acute departments. These departments are going to expose to more of the things you would learn in med-surge. I took her suggestions immediately (today) and it's already working. Two places told me that they did have openings and to fax my resume. Although I want to get into a hospital, this will help with finances and exposure.