jbjelus1

It's probably per diem, because Sacramento hospitals don't pay as much as the bay area unless your working for Kaiser. I worked per diem for a mercy hospital in the area and didn't make that so I dont believe that, unless they got a good raise

How is that cheap? That's two mortgages in some places. No offense but working six days a week is not living to me, but I understand that people will do what they have too to live comfortably. I lived in California for five years, and moved back south to be closer to family, and honestly I make less, but live just as good or better

I lived in northern california for 5years and while the wages were higher i dont regret moving back home, the cost of living is very high, so i considered myself lucky by breaking even. I moved back home and see more money now than i did then. I came to realize that nursing is not just about how you can profit financially. It really irks me when i constantly read comments about pay and low wages, advice to all if it was pay that you were intetested in then you should have choosen a different profession

Agreed 100%. I personally believe that if someone assaults a nurse then charges should be pressed, because if these people did this on the streets then pressing charges would not be an issue more than likely. A lot of facilities make excuses for some patients, but the majority of these people still know right from wrong. I once worked in a facility where a nurse was caring for an ex soilder and one night he got upset and punched the nurse in the chin. They said that it was post tramatic stress disorder, and while this may have very well been true, it still doesn't give a person the right to act out against staff in a violent manner, so I am all for pressing charges against people that act violently against nursing staff

The patient satisfaction thing is a buch of crap at times if you ask me. It's true as mentioned that most of the time when you get surveys back it's about what the patient didn't like or what wasn't done for them. I even worked for a facility where we got docked on our yearly evaluations for patient satisfaction scores not being where the manager wanted them to be, and that is when I decided that I had had enough and started looking for another job

Whenever there are students on the floor I try to remember what it was like when I was in their shoes, meaning that I try to be of assistance in anyway that I can. I guess the only thing that gets under my skin is that sometimes it bothers me when a student does not have common sense, I mean you can't put a whole Colace pill down a peg-tube, I mean come on, but I guess it's true when they say not all sense is common.

Personally I would focus my time on watching my children grow. If you already have two degrees why not just go for an advanced nursing degree as opposed to going for a MD. If you had no children I would say go for it, but your kids will only be kids once, so why not focus on them, but if it is something that you feel that you need to do then go for it, especially if you have a good support system.

You may want to check with nursefinders or MGA healthcare staffing agencies. They seem to have a lot of work in those areas. Agency pay is not the best but it's o.k. As far as work right now I do not know whether the Bay Area or Sacramento has the greater need. I work at the University Med Center and they do not use agency staff, but I used to work for a small community hospital outside of Sacramento that was always utilizing these agencies

Personally I hope that I am financially prepared so that i will not have to work when i am 70 years old, but on the other hand i believe that after someone has did something for so long it becomes a daily routine, and sometimes a routine is hard to break. I have met some retirees who are miserable because they did not know what to do with themselves after they retired, while on the other hand i have also met people who have stated that they wish they could have retired sooner. All in all i believe that if a person can keep up and do their job efficiently, then why should age matter. It is easy to look at someone who is in their 70's still working and ask why would someone still be working at that age, but if we live long enough we may be them one day and that's just a fact

i currently reside in the bay area and yes i believe that the nurses are paid pretty fairly. I only work Fri-Sun, 8 hour shifts and I easily made over 80k just working my weekend shift, not to mention that I receive full benefits without any contribution on my half for me and my family. I could easily make more but I would rather devote my time to my kids. I live quite comfortably on my salary and it does not cost me an arm and a leg to live, but it just depends on where you choose to live in the bay area. Yes S.F. is very expensive but there are other areas that are reasonable, especially since the housing crisis hit.

There was a time when I was considering going into management, however I have since changed my mine. I have seen many people that were once floor nurses totally loose their sense of direction once they go into mangement. I am well aware of the fact that you have to look at management in a different perspective than floor nursing but it just seems that people really do change once they go into management. After observing peers that have gone into management I know now that it is not the role for me, because i would probably get fired for trying to be fair. Nursing is stressful enough in my opinion, so why make it harder

what can i say but i feel your disgust at times, however i try to do my job to the best of my personal ability no matter the situation, but there are times when i have asked myself is all of this really worth it

I empathize with your concern. I work on a med-surg unit and believe me it does get frustrating at times when you constantly have a revolving door of pain seeking patients. I understand that you do not know truly know if someone is telling the truth about their pain, but when you have patients who are receiving Dilaudid 2-4mg every 2 hours prn and are setting their alarm clocks so that they do not miss a dose it's sometimes difficult for me to believe that these patients are truly in the pain that they say they are in because I believe that if you are truly in pain then you are not going to set the alarm on your cellphone to go off, then call the nurse for pain meds, and fall back asleep in the process of talking to the nurse over the call bell asking for the meds, maybe I am wrong for feeling this way but we really need to stop feeding drug habits. Whenever foreign nurses come in from other countries they are often surprised at the amount of narcotics that we give here in the states, and i can honestly say I really cant blame them for feeling that way

Depends on where you are in the state, housing has actually become quite reasonable here in the northern part of the state. The housing market has taken a big turn up here, however I am not a native and I plan on moving in the next year or two.

jacksonville state university 7800-8000 for total program, three semesters, 100% online, university of south alabama around the same price, three semesters, 100% online, no out of state fees for either program, there are others also but i attended jsu and i would recommend it to anyone trying to return to school. i would also recommend university of south alabama. it was my first choice but i did not have all of my pre requisites done at the time and i would have had to wait to enroll and i did not want to wait so someone told me about jsu and it has been a very good experience for me. i am glad that i enrolled in the school because i will graduate next month. you can enroll in either the spring, summer, or fall semester. usa only has a fall and spring enrollment however as i said they are both good schools and fairly resonably priced.

Med surg is a very difficult place to work, however the experience that you gain will prove valuable in years to come. I currently work on a Med surg unit but I plan to move on. Although we do we have ratios we always get the worst of the worst patients, and it often seems as if we are the dumping ground for the rest of the facility. People that do not work on a medical unit often have a hard time relating to what we as med-surg nurses go through. But hang in there because although times are tough now they will get better. After you get your year in move on because you do not want to get burnt out this early in your career.

I work in northern cali on a med-surg unit and the ratio is 5:1, however there are hospitals that have 4:1 ratio for med-surg h but the law is 5:1 and the starting pay for new grads here is around 80k/yr.

Most definitely. Right now I work as charge nurse on a med-surg unit. I like my job but I am ready to move on. I am seriously thinking about going into management just so that I can gain experience in the area, then I plan to move on as management is a very stressfull job, but working on the floor can take it's toll on anyone.

It is so easy for nurses to forget that they were once new grads too. I attempt to keep this in mind anytime we may have a new grad on the floor. Although I was fortunate to have very nice preceptors when I first finished school I have observed situations where new grads did not feel that their preceptors liked precepting them. This can be very frustrating and I think that when ever you are considered new you may experience some sort of resentment. I do not know why I think that it is a stupid way to act personally, but I guess that is just the way some people are, however things will get better for you just keep pushing forward.

You should inquire about your facility's policy regarding this issue. When I was pregnant I didn't lift any patients and I my patients assignments were chosen very carefully. Although some nurses would handle patients on contact precautions as soon as I found out that I was pregnant I was fortunate to have staff members that would work with me and take any isolation patients that i may have been assigned.

You can enter the program in the spring, summer, or fall semester. I started in the spring semester. It was a simple process. I did not apply until around the end of november or early december and still got in in the spring semester. Because I started at the last minute I got a loan for the first semester, however i paid out of pocket for the summer and fall semester. They do have a payment plan system if you decide that you would like to pay over time. Tammy Johnson is the admission coordinator for the program and she is very helpful. Her number is on their website if you would like to contact her directly

I do not know where you are located, but i finish up at Jacksonville State University in December of this year. The program is very resonably priced. I went for three semesters and paid a total of about 7800. The instructors are great. This program worked really well for me because I live in California and was never required to come to campus. All assignments are completed on line, and you can enter it even if you have some outstanding prerequisites(the most that they will allow is 2 outstanding pre req's). The only thing is that you will have to take the English Competency Exam, unless you already have an undergraduate degree. It is a simple essay that you have to write. You can either go to campus and complete it or have it proctored by someone where you reside, which is what I did. You have to pass it though, as it is a requirement for you to graduate from the school, however the admission counselors can discuss this with you in more detail

Wouldn't be nice if that is the way that it worked. In order for you to be considered a travel nurse you have to live a certain distance from the facility. It however depends on the company that you are working for. The last company that I worked for, told me that I had to live a minimum of 50 miles from the facility if I wanted to stay in state, but that was in 2005, so things may have changed now.

Agreed, if you have dependents i would suggest going the NP route. You have to remember that medical school requires a lot of time and dedication, not to mention a lot of clinical hours. NP programs require an average of 630 hours worth of clinical time (during the entire program). Besides if you decide to pursue a medical education later going for your NP now should help you in the future, for one thing you will already have the experience of dealing with patients ,amongst other things.

interesting that you said that i posted a similar post under how much is to much, about the difference between good and bad debt. my advice to you would be the same that i posted under the mentioned forum. think about what is important. many people today spend that much on a car and do not think about it, and at the end of the day what does a car do for you, yeah it helps you get around, and it may look nice for a while, but what happens after a couple of years, usually people get another one and have put themselves in more unnecessary debt. the point that i am trying to make is that student loans can be paid off and unlike a car note an education is something that will remain valuable to you throughout your lifetime. if school is important then i say reach for the stars and do not let anyone discourage you from following your dreams. i have been there and i have had student loans, but with proper financial planning i payed them off, and it didn't take me 5-10 years to do it.