checker1981

So your line is that you won't take street drugs, that's great! Other people would take street drugs, they would not understand your philosophy, much like you don't understand my position not to take other people's prescriptions. I don't know why that is so difficult to get across. I realize that people may be posting from other countries (Canada, UK etc) on this thread and this may be a cultural thing and I don't know where any of you live, but I live in the US. I have never lived more than a few minutes in an ambulance away from an emergency room. If I were in so much pain (true 10 excruciating pain) that I needed narcotics I would go to the emergency room instead of asking my mother for percocet (which would take 30 minutes to kick in anyway) and the ED will give me pain meds, then send me home with my own prescription if so needed. Pain meds are easy to get in the US if you so desire and pain is not a bad thing either in my opinion. Pain does get you to a doctor to figure out what is going on, rather then just cover it up with percocets. Also, what would happen to you if you were randomly drug tested and you did not have a prescription? I have known people to be fired for testing positive for narcotics without a valid rx. At my prior job they tested 5-10 of the 180 employees randomly monthly. Why put yourself in that situation? I don't know any of you and I don't care what you do. I don't understand why it so important that everyone does the same things as you, like taking drugs without a prescription. It is so ridiculous that people keep saying, "are you for real?". Read through the last few pages and it seems like a lot of people have my same opinion and a lot of people are opposites. Diversity is a great thing and I don't think we should all unify around taking other people's prescription drugs illegally as nurses. I have feel like this is the Bizarro world following this thread.

If you were in pain would you shoot up with some heroin? A heroin addict would look at you and say I would be a little concerned if you DIDN'T use this heroin for your excruciating pain. Where do you draw the line? My line is drawn at not taking some other person prescription drugs.

I have an associates degree and graduated in May 2011, of the 9 nurses in my orientation 6 were new grads, all ADN RN's, 2 guys out of the 9. I am the only guy on my unit and shift. All of the guys in my graduating class have jobs to my understanding.

Just remember it takes all kinds to make a world. I am sure you will bring something great to nursing if your heart is in it for the right reasons.

People can get up to a 90 day supply at a time depending on what state they live in for schedule 2 drugs. A few select states don't allow 90 day supplies. It is a federal law that does not allow the C2 drugs to be phoned/faxed in and no refills but the doctor's staff can certainly mail an rx to the pharmacy, which many do. Many physicians/APRNs give the prescriptions post dated to the patient so they do not have to go back if they are a chronic user. New York is one of your more strict states not allowing any controls to be phoned or faxed into the pharmacy with exception of Lyrica, and not allowing refills on certain drugs other then C2. I would be all for loosening up on C2 drugs if it were not for the rampant drug trafficking of these drugs that can be sold for $1=1mg, a 90 day supply of oxycontin 80mg can get the patient several thousand dollars if they decide to sell. OP took darvocet rather than lortab. Lortab is hydrocodone/APAP and I know many patients that benefit from Lortab. Don't know many people that would benefit from darvocet though.

Not sure how my ethics and following guidelines puts me on a "high horse". I would not treat my family because I would lose my professional objectiveness, despite my knowledge and skills. If my family member or I were in distress I would obviously tender first aid, but I would make sure a professional at the emergency room were taking over care ASAP if need be. Treating a family member like a patient takes away their autonomy as a patient. These are my personal and professional opinions and if someone opens themselves up to ask for my opinion on a public message board I will freely give my opinions. I am not trying to be contemptuous towards any of you, but as I responded with my opinions. It is unfortunate that the OP lost a job over this and I hope you find a job quickly.

I agree with you kids!

I am for real!! If someone handed me a pain pill and said take this, I wouldn't take it, especially if I didn't know what the pill was. I cannot believe how people are posting that they think it is ok to share prescription drugs. I guess this is the drug culture that we live in where people think it is OK to take other people's NARCOTICS. I don't know what medication your son has, but some of those migraine drugs can mess up your heart and alter the vessels in your brain, how is that OK? There is a huge moral issue with taking narcotics from someone else, even in a pinch, would you take a percocet from your patient if you were in pain, even in a pinch? If you read the ANA morals and ethics you will see where this falls into several categories. "but i see absolutely nothing (morally) wrong with taking a couple of pills from someone else, in a pinch." The OP could have taught her family member at the time the medication was offered that taking someone elses medication is morally wrong and risky. What is your child learning about medications if s(he) sees the parent taking their medication? So many morally wrong issues in this thread and to say, are you people for real? Yes, I am 100% for real and cannot believe anyone thinks it is morally ok to share narcotics.

It depends which blood pressure pill you are giving (ARB, beta blocker, ACE inhibitor, calcium channel blocker, immediate release, extended release) and what the blood pressure/heart rate was when you gave the med in the evening and what the blood pressure /heart rate was in the morning when you gave the second dose.

I learned in school that the ventrogluteal site is preferred site in children of all ages. A child for med administration is no longer a child when they approach adult sizes (i.e. puberty). The ventrogluteal is pretty much free of major nerves and blood vessels and is less painful than the vastus lateralis. The dorsogluteal muscle is insufficiently developed to be a safe site for infants and small children. I am not a peds nurse though.

Seriously? A mistake anyone could make? I don't take narcotics that are not prescribed to me and I am willing to bet that most people do not take other people's medication, and that would never happen to me. And the OP had a prescription for a better drug then darvocet that any pharmacy could fill in 15 minutes.

If you tested positive for opiates they would have said you tested positive for opiates. The fact that they said you tested positive for darvocet makes me think that they isolated the chemical and know you took darvocet, and it would be impossible to get a prescription for that drug. I doubt you will get the job if you are taking controlled drugs not prescribed to you. This is the whole purpose of pre-employment drug screening, to find people who use narcotics illegally, which is what you did from the post. Taking other peoples prescription is against the law. Not sure if they can report you to the board of nursing.

As a former high school chemistry teacher I am hoping that your curriculum will help you in nursing school. Although I went into nursing school with a chemistry background many of the concepts I taught to high school students would be useful. In my study group, people found the explanations of why things happen useful. In nursing school you will be learning about blood gases, metabolic versus respiratory acidosis/alkalosis, buffer systems (henderson-hasselback equation). Some of the concepts in chemistry are going to help you tremendously. When you are giving IV fluids to a patient you want to understand osmolarity, make sure you understand molarity/molality, hypertonic, isotonic, hypotonic solutions. If you have a patient in renal failure it would be important to understand the inverse relationship of electrolytes, i.e. phosphates and calciums, you will be giving drugs like Kayexelate and that is one big chemistry experiment of swapping one ion with another ion in the intestines. A patient on high flow oxygen can actually go into atelectasis, understanding electronegativity would be usefull for that concept. Retinopathy for pre-mature infants can be caused by too much oxygen, understanding what kind of molecule oxygen is will help you a lot. Understanding fluid and electrolytes will be very helpful in nursing school. You will learn about ion gaps in nursing, chemistry will help you a lot. Metric conversions are covered in high school chemistry. If you decide to become a dialysis nurse, understanding osmosis is helpful. Radioactivity could be useful if you become an oncology nurse. Sugars, proteins, and fats are important parts of nursing and understanding nutrition. Some patient's get a mixture of helium/oxygen, understanding the concepts of the noble gases is useful. Gas laws are useful, if you are working with ventilators or other settings. I use my chemistry background every time I go to pass medication to a patient, I am changing the metabolic pathways in their body and it is my responsibility to understand what I am doing and why I am doing it. Plus it all depends on what kind of nursing you decide to go into. If you are a med surg nurse chances are you will not need as much knowledge in somethings as an ICU nurse or an oncology nurse. Good luck.

I went for my nursing license in 2 states. I don't remember seeing any questions about my health. I did have to get a physical and cleared by a physician prior to starting on my unit/hospital. They asked me what meds I take and what illnesses I had. Maybe you could find someone who works in occupational health and ask them if they see a lot of nurses with mental health illness. I cannot imagine that bi-polar disorder would exclude you exclusively from nursing. When I did my various clinical experiences I saw bi-polar disorder with varying levels on the health continuum.

Why did you fail med-surg twice and pass the third time? (you don't have to answer here, but that is the answer I would give to the person interviewing you). I would be candid about your experiences. If the job is med-surg and they have a candidate that did better in med-surg, they may go with that candidate. That is probably one of the reasons they want to see your transcripts. Lots of people failed med-surge when I was in school. Most of my class is still unemployed though.

Go for ADN, think about it this way. Nurses make about 60K a year depending on what area they live in. ADN nurses graduate 2 years earlier then BSN students. You make 120K extra in your career and then you can do a transition to BSN in 1 year online easily. BSN doesn't prepare you any better for the NCLEX. Some hospitals will only hire BSN because of magnet. I earned an ADN degree, and I am transitioning to MSN now. Good luck!

I heard Yale only hires new grad BSN level nurses, possibly due to Magnet nursing status, either they have it or are applying for it. Bummer for all the ADN's who are RN's just like the BSN students.

I am a new grad and this is my third career as well. I entered nursing in my early 30's. I had a difficult time finding a job in my opinion, graduated in May 2011. I sent applications everywhere and filled out over 250 applications. In July, I was offered a 'sub-optimal" job as a RN on overnights in the local nursing home. And as you described I was going to be the grunt on the night shift. The nursing home requires a RN on duty 24 hours a day, but is mostly ran by LPN's. The nursing director was an LPN who interviewed me and when I sat down for the interview she described the job I would be doing as LPN work with a 20-25 patient assignment based on census. My charge nurse would be an LPN. My pay would be LPN level pay and I asked her where the RN house nurse would be working. She explained that I would be the RN house nurse on nights (just in case anyone fell or needed an assessment). This job was 'sub optimal' and many nursing homes are taking advantage of new grads. I declined the job offer and kept looking. By October I was offered a med-surg job at a local hospital and I now work on a med-surg floor, they asked me in my interview if I wanted days or nights (my choice). Like all the other nurses I work every 3rd weekend and every 3rd holiday. I am treated the same as any nurse on my floor and I am not their %^&*^. I obviously cannot get a job as a nursing manager (nor would I want one at this point in my career) but I didn't have to go to work in a "'sub-optimal' position". They said after 6 months off orientation I could switch to ICU or ER. Many of the people in my orientation group were also new grads. It seems your main question is: If you become a nurse will you be treated poorly for your first few years? In my experience, not unless you let someone treat you that way or take advantage of your license. At my hospital they only want you to start in med-surg for a minimum of 6 months so you learn prioritization/patient assessment/charting. Good luck and if you want to become a nurse don't let the 6 months after nursing school deter you. It was a real pain and I am glad it is over, but I will never have difficulty finding a job again with experience.

This is another good article. http://www.ajj.com/services/publishing/deansnotes/sep10.pdf

It's annoying they did that to you, but it is an employers market. If you start there I would just work hard to get to FT and get the benefits you are expecting. If you do leave for that reason I wouldn't mention that, leave on good terms and say you are leaving for a better opportunity. There is a hospital in Massachusetts offering around $11/hour really taking advantage of the new grads in dire straights. I personally know I would always hesitate to work for a company like that. https://allnurses.com/massachusetts-nurses/mgh-offering-new-531951.html Sounds like your company has a crappy HR department, sorry you have to put up with that junk.

nurses pass narcotics alone, they need another nurse to discard wasted narcs usually.

I graduated in May 2011 from GWCC. Finals are 25% of your grade. You need to maintain a 76% proctored grade and there is no rounding. Anything on the final is up for grabs that was covered in the lectures, syllabus, or reading. In block 4 we had 1200 pages of reading, 500 pages in the last 3 weeks leading to the exam. Our psych portion was a ton of SATA questions, and very very difficult. If you are not reading everything the teacher assign, at least 100 pages a week you will struggle, because a lot of teachers will take questions right from the book or articles they assign. The program is very difficult, and everyone in my class that didn't make it usually admittedly did not do all the work assigned (their fault). Your best bet is to make sure you walk into any final with at least 85% proctored. We lost a lot of people each semester due to the difficult final exams. None of the teachers will do a review, the nursing review course 104 is a complete waste of time. Most of the teachers will test on different material then what they covered on the quiz, they already tested you on your knowledge of that material. In block 3 we had 30 med surg questions, 30 OB questions, and 31 peds questions (because instructor had to throw 1 question out on prior quiz). Also I don't recall that many math questions on the final if any, which are usually the easier ones. If you cannot pass a final out of the block then their is no way you would be able to pass the NCLEX so it is a good thing that they won't let people progress to the point where they have a degree and cannot get licensed. The NCLEX is so much harder because it will mix material from all of your nursing programs, drugs you never heard of, and diseases you would only hear about on an episode of House. Not to be a downer but the program is super difficult and it is going to take a ton of your time to prepare for these exams. You will get through the program knowing so much, but so little at the same time.

I am new nurse and it took me a long time to get here and a lot of work. Had two previous careers that paid more (hourly) and had better hours. Would I do it again? Yes! Why? It's interesting. You will never have the same day twice. Prior to switching to my nursing career I was a science/math teacher and for 5 classes a day I would give the same lecture to each group. And worked in a pharmacy typing the same drugs in over and over again. My brother is stationed at Luke AFB as a jet engine mechanic and he says it is very repetitive. For your math skills and chemistry... you should understand basic concepts when taking chem (acids/bases (Ph scales), ions, electrical charges (electrolytes), measurements). Math, you would need to know how to do medication calcuations, conversions of units (lbs/kg), mostly dimensional analysis. They will teach you in nursing school what you need to know, for most part you will just have to do it in school, then use online calendars, double check your math with other nurses or the pharmacy. Get use to the question, "Why don't you become a doctor?". Not sure my gender has helped me get a job any sooner then females or if I will get paid more. I have heard that in the past from other female nurses, I just haven't seen that practice. It is a struggle to find a job (like any industry at this time), but once you get your first year of experience it will be easier. It took me 5 months to land a job, but I know a lot of people that are jobless in other careers and have nothing on the horizon. Plus another reason to go into nursing is better pay then the Air Force. Good luck.

When I was in school I checked nursing made incredibly easy out of the library for OB and it had a chapter all about lab values. Go to local library website and see if they can order that book for you, those books are extremely helpful.

I see something wrong with this. What if the VA decided that since most of the population is male they won't hire females? That would be wrong, and it is 100% wrong that a person cannot be hired for a job based on gender. If you think you are not getting the job because of your gender I would ask for a meeting with someone at the hospital (head of HR, nursing manager), I wouldn't threaten them with any type of lawsuit but I would ask leading questions so they get the hint you are aware of their bias.