juliaann

I work what we call "weekend option" at my hospital. It's a contract that adds an additional hourly differential. It's still 3 12-hour shifts a week, either F, S, S or S, S, M. They have to be consecutive - Friday, Sunday, Monday wouldn't qualify. But I end up getting my nights diff, my weekend diff, AND my weekend option diff. It's a nice extra chunk of cash. My husband and I are both in our 20s and have a 6-month old baby, and I don't feel like our lives are any more restricted by my work than before I went to weekend option. There are some stipulations about time off and whatnot in the contract, but I don't feel like it's very limiting at all. I am very happy working weekend nights.

We SLED our own patients. It is a 1:1 assignment. Our dialysis nurses do bedside HD.

When I first started working at my hospital a few years ago (I was a CNA then), it was owned by Ardent. My hospital is now a public city trust. This hospital loses money. It was potentially going to be closed when Ardent was done; thank goodness my city stepped up to keep us open and serving our patients. That's really my only experience with Ardent. I wasn't a nurse yet then, so I can't speak to those questions of yours. I did have excellent benefits with Ardent. And they gave me my first job in healthcare! :) Ardent owns another hospital in my city still and it has a gorgeous new cardiology addition. It has a good reputation. A few fellow nursing students from my class got new grad jobs there and seem very happy.

I knew where I was going to work (ICU - got my job offer in my 3rd semester), so I viewed my leadership semester as one last opportunity to get any other kind of experience. I left my preferences blank, assuming I would learn from wherever they put me. I was placed on a geriatric med-surg unit and LOVED it. I never would have chosen it, but it was a fantastic experience. If you can't decide, let your instructors place you! No matter where you end up, it will be a great learning experience!

I have 2g lobes and wear/wore Pyrex colorfronts throughout nursing school and now at work. No one in school noticed, and only my preceptor at work knows, because one day I forgot to take my earskins out and put in a pair of colorfronts until she mentioned it. I switched them out and either no one else noticed or they just didn't comment. It hasn't been a problem for me. I don't plan to stretch any further.

You have to wait to know for sure. You got the "good pop up" message for the Pearson Vue trick. I tested this summer on a Thursday and my quick results were not available until Saturday morning. It isn't instant.

I received my ICU job offer while in my third semester of nursing school.

I received a job offer for the ICU of my 1st choice hospital while in my third semester of nursing school. My inexperience did not seem to concern them. I will have a long, thorough orientation and am so excited to be starting where I want to work!

At my hospital, we actually work 0630-1900 and 1830-0700. We refer to it as 7a-7p and 7p-7a as "shorthand" for day shift/night shift. We overlap for report from 6:30-7:00 and are out the door by 7 on good days. :)

Wong's Nursing Care of Infants and Children. I sold it back in my third semester. I don't think I ever opened it.

Hmmm...we've lost 0 students due to academics (1 left because of legal trouble and 1 left for a job offer in her former field). We picked up 2 students from last year's class who got pushed back for either an academic or personal reason...I don't know. We started with 32 and it looks like we'll graduate (in JULY!) with 32. :)

This is exactly what I saw during my psych rotation. It is really, really sad. It turned the one person in our class who was interested in psych nursing completely against the idea. She was hoping for meaningful patient contact and education opportunities...yeah right. I felt so bad for those patients. I can imagine it must be hard for you!

I'm in an ABSN program and I was offered my dream job (ICU) during my 3rd semester. I did an externship at the facility, worked my ass off, introduced myself to everyone, and then applied when I saw an opening posted. :) I cannot wait to graduate in July and get to work!

Yes! My hospital offered a differential for any hours worked after 3pm and any weekends. I don't remember exactly how much (I've been a full-time nursing student this past year and haven't worked as a CNA since last year), but it was nice. My hospital also payed time and half for holidays. It adds up nicely, but I still think it is nowhere near what a CNA's workload deserves. Good luck with your certification and getting a job! I'm glad I did it, despite the poor pay.

In Oklahoma, I made 9.25/hour full-time in a hospital.