Headhurt

Your career path is at odds with the reality of nursing, what it is, what it means, and what will be expected of you. Do yourself (and potential patients) a favor and do not go into nursing. Don't. Look into another field of work and see how many of your credits will go towards a different degree. Someone who doesn't believe in science-based medicine has no business being a nurse.

I worked for SMMC for almost 8 years until I finished nursing school. I thought it was a great place to work, great bennies, the pay was comparable to other hospitals in the area, and they do a lot of extra stuff for their employees (pancake feeds, jackets, etc). The only reason I don't work their now is that right at the time I finished, they had a hiring freeze and would only take so many new grads. Units usually hire their own first before hiring someone from the another floor (the hospital encourages promotion from within). My floor didn't have any positions, and the few others open were snapped up by new grads that already worked on that particular floor. It's a shame, too. I miss the Night Shift Christmas Breakfast.

I got that same letter...but I graduated in 2004. The thought of having to go through nursing school again gave me the willies.:uhoh21: I'm not surprised that the wait it so long. Lots of applicants, not enough teachers.

I graduated a little over 2 years ago from PVCC. I thought it was a good program, and prepared me well for the workforce. I can't remember how long it took me from the time I applied to the time I actually got in (I don't recall the wait being forever). Good luck!

He usually wears scrub tops with a t-shirt underneath. Hopefully, that will be enough because neither of us are the type of people anyone would suspect of having body piercings, and we would prefer it if no one knew.

These articales were EXTREMELY helpful. Thanks, Reno!!! I asked about the Tygon and acrylic. While my piercer prefers not to use them, he would if there were no other options. From what I read, titanium is not magnetic at all, although we are going to be spending a little more for it.

For something fun and spicy, I got my "girls" pierced fairly recently. Because I am a floor nurse, and I very seldom find myself in MRI, I don't have any issues. However, my other half now wants to have his nips pierced, and he works in a different department, often finding himself having to travel with ER patients to MRI. I know MRI affects metals that are ferromagnetic. I also know that the guy who did my piercing (and will also do that of BF), is very particular when it comes to the metals he uses in his work: implantable grade surgical steel or titanium. I know SS has some element of iron in it, but not certain about the titanium. So, I was hoping to find out from you guys, who have had experience with it, or just have more info, how much of a problem this is going to be. S.O. would really like to have it done and healed by the time we go on vacation next year. I'd hate to hear that he went down to MRI with a patient only to have the rings pulled out by unseen force. And it's not feasible to expect him to take the rings out before he goes because you are not supposed to take them out at all during the healing process d/t increased risk of infection. I know a lot of people have implanted joints/dental work and have no problems with MRIs. I'm just wondering what metals are safe, and which ones are not. Thoughts? Any help would be appreciated. (On a side note: I'm only asking about piercings and MRI magnets. This thread is not posted so I can hear about anyone's personal beliefs on the matter of piercings. The piercings are for myself and my guy, and really shouldn't concern anyone we work with.)

So they opened this new clinic, and they are hiring nurses. I work weekend option at a hospital in KC, but I get bored during the week and thought a prn job during the week wouldn't be a bad idea. I want something that is not like what I currently do (to shake things up a bit), so I thought about applying here. They require you to submit your resume with a salary request, and those who submit salary requests are given first priority. However, I have no idea how much nurses in such settings make. I don't want to give a number that is too high, or too low. Thoughts??

I work in a teaching hospital, and thankfully, I don't see a lot of that going on (at least on my floor). If a doctor is out of line, we call them on it. If a patient or family member is out of line, we call them on that too. We're there to do a job, not suck up. Interesting enough, our patient satisfaction scores are always in the 99 percentile. People, as a rule, will push you as far as they know they can get away with.

I recently had a patient, retired doc with GI bleed...so we were running octreotide and prevacid drips concurrently (two separate IVs). The octreotide was Y'd in with NS running at 125ml/hr because he had rapid infusion of 6 units PRBCs earlier in the day, a Hgb of 2.9. He thought the NS amount was too much so he would decrease the amount. He even decreased the drip rate for the other two meds because he didn't want to be bothered with having to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. We locked the pump, but he would just disconnect his iv and chuck it on the ground. Ruined both his IVs that way. It took me great pleasure to restart both of the IVs on this guy. We were glad to see this one go, especially after he managed to insult all the nurses, and the docs as well (he was racist, to boot). I've heard that folks get a high from IV Benadryl. Phenergan is another big one. I dilute almost every I give IV (there are exceptions, of course). I've even had heated confrontations with patients who DEMANDED I give them narcs at full strength, fast push. If that isn't a big red flag, I don't know what is.

You can also check into Fort Hayes State University. They have an online ADN to BSN program...AND they have an agreement with surrounding states (Missouri, Iowa, Colorado, Nebraska, etc) and even out of state people pay the instate tuition...which isn't too bad. One of my good friends is currently doing it, and she likes it. I plan on starting here soon.

I currently work at KU Med and couldn't be happier. They start GN's out at $20 an hour and the incentive package is really good (they reimburse you $3000 of education expenses right out of the gate). They have a great Residency/Fellowship program for new nurses. They are also seeking magnet status...which should come around in a year or so. The only other hospital in the area that is Magnet Status is St. Josephs...but other nurses tell me its not a very interesting place to work. I used to work for Shawnee Mission when I was an aide. They don't pay as much as KU, but they treat their employees really well. It's a pretty nice hospital, and you don't have to deal with a lot of the scary stuff large inner city hospitals have to. Just depends on your cup of tea. I certainly couldn't go back to a community-based hospital after a stint in an inner city one. I agree with the HCA sentiment. I did all my clinicals in HCA hospitals...horrible system. There is a reason they are becoming unionized. As far as living, most anything North of the River is pretty good. It's sort of hit or miss with the downtown/midtown areas. More rougher areas in east KC. I don't know if you are looking to rent or buy, but a good realtor should be able to help you find a good area. Good luck!!

We use pumps for everything...except FFP, Albumin...unless something is expressly ordered to hang by gravity.

I don't care who you are, what you do, how much money you make...everyone gets the same care, dignity, and respect from me. I was the nurse in question, and I wouldn't allow my very sick patient to be disrupted because someone wanted a better window view. If that labels me a troublemaker, so be it.

If that truly is that case, then they need to be honest about it...instead of cramming the "everyone gets treated the same regardless of race, gender, creed, etc". Why bother taking the nursing oath if we are not even going to practice by it?? I agree, there are some instances where a private room is warranted. My dispute comes from the fact that another patient was expected to give up their room so this VIP could have a better view of the city. I'm sure it was not the request of the VIP, they probably would have been happy in any room on my floor. The "get along, go along" sentiment works great, until that moment when the needs of your family member is compromised when someone with more money and more importance is wheeled onto the floor. We'll see how great you think it is then.