IMABSNRN

We had a male RN who was hit from behind by a patient and this nurse whirled around and slapped this patient out of his chair. The nurse was placed on leave and the BON ended up deciding this nurse's response was a normal reflex reaction and no disciplinary action was warranted.

I understand that, naturally, the SRNAs will be biased but I would appreciate some counsel, as I'm at a very difficult place right now, careerwise. I understand your time is valuable so I will try to be as brief as I can. I am a RN in a LTC facility in a management position. I'm going stir crazy, to say the least. Day in and day out it's pile after pile of boring paperwork and QA projects. I love the hours (7a-3p)but the work is mind-numbing and hard to take. It's so bad I've begged them to let me push a med cart again, but no, they want their RNs in management at this place. Not only that but benefits suck and I've got a disabled, spouse with pre-existing conditions and the older he gets the more expensive I see it becoming. I applied and was accepted to an adult/gero nurse practitioner program for Spring 2010, but the more I look around the less promising this line of work seems. I'm not exactly fond of spending 20k for something I might not be able to even use. Bottom line is that I know you should go into a field for the right reasons (which are supposed to be magnanimous and all that) but the bottom line is, I've got a large family, I'm their only means of support, I'm not a paperwork person and I would rather mop floors than stay where I am with this job. That being said, I was just contacted by a nurse recruiter ata large university hospital who has offered me a chance to interview for a position on the Burn Unit. I hear the bene's are good, but I wouldn't be able to start the NP program if I take this job. It just would not work. I've got a bachelor's in nursing and a pretty good GPA (3.3-3.4ish) and I want career advancement. Naturally, I've been eyeing CRNAs. When I had the choice in clinicals to float where I wanted it was always to the OR, so I have a fair understanding of what they do. I just never thought of myself as having what it takes to be one. I guess desperation can wake you up to explore new possibilities because I'm wondering if I could ever have a shot at becoming a CRNA, thought I'd be around 40 by the time it was over...guess I'll be 40 regardless, hey? The burn unit is critical care, do schools accept this as experience? If not, would it be wise to use the Burn Unit as a stepping stone to another critical care area that would be recognized by an anesthesia school? I'm sorry to be a bother, but I am at a point in my life where I can't afford a 20k mistake. At the same time I can't bear where I am anymore.

I work in a LTC facility where the management is very nasty. The administrator has to be about the most unpopular person around. He took a garbage bag the other day and went around gathering personal belongings of staff (coats, books, etc.) and threw them away (one was mine) because he said we weren't to have these things behind the nurse's station or in the medicine room. We aren't allowed to have drinks anywhere in the facility except the dining room. The CNAs are expected to stand in the shower rooms that are like hot saunas with nothing to drink and they aren't allowed to roll their pants to their knees because this looks "unprofessional" so they go around with sopping wet pants. And at lunchtime the "big whigs" (which is a group of about three people, the BOM admin and one of their cronies) barge into the kitchen (no hair nets, no washed hands) and help themselves to whatever is there, heaping their plates with whatever they want and by the time the CNAs finally get the chance to go to lunch (about an hour before their shift is over-what's the point?- a lot of times there's nothing left. The admin says, "this is the way we do things here." Of course, that is, unless the state is there. We got a new employee who's sister happens to be her supervisor. This is against the rules and is clearly stated in the employee handbook, but when it was brought to Dude's attention he said, "what they don't know won't hurt them." And you should have seen them cleaning out their offices the day before the new management corporation came to inspect the place. The big whigs were there until the wee hours of the morning cleaning their offices of incriminating evidence of their corruptness (including a huge bottle of narcs). So, the workers day after day watch the hypocrisy and double standards and finally we are starting to feel resentful. I mention the CNAs because it seems like out of all of us they get the worst end of the deal. The big whigs stick up for each other, right or wrong. As the administrator said once, when it was pointed out that a worker was singled out and treated VERY unfairly by one of his cronies, "I'm backing Shirley 100%. She's been my friend for years and I'm not going to do anything to hurt our friendship." That's not friendship that's sick. They are a bunch of sick, co-dependent animals and I'm so fed up with that place I can't stand it. On top of that, it's no secret the administrator is a sot who loves to party. You can see it in his beer belly and bloodshot eyes a mile away. He's so arrogant it makes me sick. Corrupt, small town politics at its best. I'm looking for another job, as soon as I can find a hole I'm jumping out. I just feel bad for the other poor souls who have to suffer.

I looked on monster.com and typed in "adult geriatric nurse practitioner." Down towards the end of the page was a position in Detroit.

Peaceful, I just found out I've been accepted. I'm not sure what to think or do, because all I keep seeing about adult NPs is total doom and gloom. Why go through all that and then end up having to go through again to get a FNP? I'm so frustrated.

Oh yuck. This is not what I want to hear right now...please don't say that.

I'm nervous about the job market but I guess I can't lose that "never say give up" mindset because I feel like I should still go on with it. My mind is a blur right now. I've got to arrange financial aid, figure out how to work full time and study (at least as long as I can) and set up clinicals. I think my anxiety disorder is getting the better of me. Wow. I've got to keep things in perspective, but I'm kind of flipping out at this time. University of South Alabama...I sure hope this will all be worth it. I hope I can find a job. I hope I don't run up too much debt. I hope I will feel fulfilled. I started back in 1999 as an LPN, then worked up to ASN, then BSN, now I'm pushing for MSN. I feel like I'm about to enter stormy waters and I'm in for a rough ride, but I'm excited about it, too.

Oh my, you should definitely NOT spend/go into debt for 60K, and they should be sued.

We're in the same boat. I'm getting so frustrated. I called them yesterday, and it seems like they tell me something different every time. They were nice enough to look up my name (again) and tell me it says my application is still under review and that they are sending out rejection or acceptance letters as they complete each review, and this process will continue through November 1. Last week, they told me "packages" should be mailed out by the end of this week. So, I don't know much more now than when I first sent in my application. Maybe you could call them today, ask what's up and report back to us? I'm so sick of the apprehension and uncertainty!

In the South, day shift RNs can get around $23/hr, night shift goes for around $27-$28/hr (in the hospital.) LTC pays about $25/hr to start.

I'm disgusted with my situation, too. I'm stuck at a job in a LTC facility and it's getting on my nerves. I've got a BSN and know I could go to a big hospital where the excitement is but it would be at the expense of doing what is best for my family; first of all I live in a little hick town and the big high tech hospitals are far away, my toddler loves his daycare, which is 2 minutes from my job, I work the 7-3 shift doing QA projects (office work, no patient care), I'm at home in my cozy bed every night. The problem is that I hate doing QA projects and administrative tasks, but they won't "let" me work the floor. So much for career advancement, I had more job satisfaction as an LPN! But I've got children depending on my steady predictable income and convenient hours but I'm in a rut with no way out and I hate it. Still, I make way more than $16/hr, that pay rate more than sucks, you need to do some serious negotiating.

Congratulations! Me and peaceful are anxiously waiting to see if we've been accepted into USA for Spring 2010, which program are you starting? I'm so nervous I can hardly stand it. I know there is a thread on gadgets that are helpful to have, and I believe I read that once you're in clinicals a blackberry or iphone is a must.

I work with a superb nurse who has lupus.

I've taken 3/4 of my education (so far) on campus and the rest online, and I've noticed that the grades I made in my online courses were pretty consistent with the grades I made in the classes I took on site. I think it isn't that online programs make it easier for academically challenged people to " buy" their degrees, because I remember losing about a third of my online pharmacology class because they couldn't pass the timed calculation exam. I think that, for the most part, online programs are graduating competent people. The problem I see with this is that where many capable (even academically gifted) working people with responsibilities and obligations could never had gone to college/graduate school, with the school being made so accessible to them this has opened up the floodgates. For those old enough to remember the old days, think about how many people would have liked to go back to school if it wasn't for being saddled with so many responsibilities. Not to mention many didn't even live in an area where there were colleges to go to. This left many people out. But now that you can be a bonafide college student at a real university with the click of a mouse, here they...we come. I'm included in this aggregate. It is kind of a painful situation to be in because I understand totally how online programs can drag down the NP profession. At the same time, I can't deny that I have such a strong drive to become a NP I can't stop myself from grabbing this opportunity and hope that this online mania levels itself out.

1. The sense of camaraderie that can develop between you and your co-workers. 2. There will no doubt be at least one little old person who will steal your heart and become your pet. 3. The pleasantly confused residents are the most fun to interact with, there is always something interesting going on in their own little worlds. 4. You'll be involved in some hilarious situations (you'll just have to see what I mean.)