kima84

Good post. Here is where we can vent our fears and our frustrations. I feel what the original poster is feeling. But I am not one sit around and let the world decide my desitiny. You want something bad enough you have to work for it. If you don't like your looks change them. I know in some instances that would be near impossible, but this original poster's concerns can all be handled and changed. If you were not blessed with good looks, it does not mean you can't be good looking. You are right, this is the world of today, is majorly vain and fickle in their judgements. But I say, if you want something bad enough you can go after it or die trying. Never give up before even trying.

Hey Man, You want to be a nurse, be a nurse. Don't worrry about what others are thinking when it comes to your looks. Does not matter how attractive or unattractive you are people will always hate on you. In every profession they have standards of beauty. In nursing I don't think the standards are very high. You just need to be clean, fairly fit(not morbidly obese), and not smell bad. What I tell people is to practice their smile, demeanor, and their mannerisms in the mirror. It's a vain world out there. Sometimes people don't realize how they come across. Practice your smile in the mirror and see how it looks, etc as well as the other things you may be concerned about. And make sure you have good teeth. White. And if you are out of shape, get in it. There are ways to combat rosacea and Diastasis Recti. If you want it, you gotta to work for it. Befit and have good teeth, that's all you need when it comes to looks.

We had them in some of our nursing courses. It was more like trial and error. Our professors wanted to use them for actual grades but they could not figure out how to use them half the time, so our answers in class were never graded. I wasted $35 on that. At the end on our senior year they asked us to donate them to the school. I refused because it irked me that they required us to buy them and we never really used them and then they asked us to give them away. So annoying.

PeepmBiscuitsRN, "It might be that you're getting a weird vibe from them, and they're getting a weird vibe from you, so your weird vibes are...vibing off each other, you know?" LOL, you may be correct. You made me think that may be the case or the other way around. Their weird vibes rubbing off of me. Yeah I think it was a little bit of both. Eggshells are gone and everything is cool now. Thanks :w00t:

Hi All, thanks for the advice. I think this situation was a little mix of both their rudeness, curiosity, and my paranoia. After the first week I had my mind set on them being offensive and some things I still think were a bit rude, considering I would not ask others those type of questions in a professional setting as well as the other factors I mentioned to make me come to that conclusion. I decided that weekend I was going to clean the slate in my mind and work as if we just met and start over. This worked for me and I got to know these women better and most of them are pretty nice. I guess I loosened up and so did they and now we work together to learn. I like that. But there is one girl I don't trust. Funny enough in the first week I thought she was the coolest and most chill but I have caught her on several occasions giving me the side eye. No kidding. But I just ignore her and try and be as nice as possible and we are getting along just fine. I know this sounds crazy but I am pretty sure if I was friends with this inparticular woman (which will be very unlikely) we would be frienemies, lol. So I take it ffor what it is. No matter how offensive I think they may be (unless they cross the line) I will just be peachy unless I need to address it in a professional setting. But all in all it had turned into a great experience. I thank you all for your advice. I believe I am rigth to an extent and I think you are all as well. I took into account all you have said and adjusted my attitude towards them and it has worked out for the better. I think a bit of my paranoia stems from being betrayed by people I did nothing to or ones I trusted. I always figured if I was nice to people they would have no reason to be cruel or betray me, but as I have grown older I realize some people can just look at you and dislike you from the get go or find some reason not to like you and even try to sabatoge your life, without provocation. So I only trust a few people (family and close friends). Plus 'the devil you know is better than the angle you don't know.' so even though they try to come off as nice in the back of my mind I have to consider if somethings I tell them about myself will be used against me in the future (like being a new grad and my competency, age, marital status, etc). I have seen this happen. A person will think they are in good company at work and tell their co-workers about their private lives and then before they know it, they become the gossip topic of their work place. It is not only embarassing but you may come off as unprofessional or if it gets to your boss you can be passed up for promotions or not taken seriously. My mom and aunt are RNs too and they tell me the stories of stuff like this happening in the work place. So I want to be professional and keep my private life separate and private from work. People don't need to know about my family or my boyfriend or my finances. This is where I am coming from. Thank you all so much for your advice, it helped in dealing with my co-workers and we are getting along.

Hi all, I just finished my first week of training at the blood center I am working at. It is 6 months of training and I am enjoying learning everything. I am now being trained for 6 weeks with non-nurses so we can all get a phlebotomy certification.They stop there as certified phlebotomists and I as the RN will go on to be trained in therapeutic apheresis; allogenic, autologous, etc. I am training with these soon to be phlebotomists and they are all nice but I get the feeling they are scrutinizing me. Maybe it is because I am a new grad, younger than most of them, and I am the only RN amongst them. They just rub me the wrong way for some reason. It maybe all in my head and I may be over analyzing things. But sometimes I think some of the questions they ask me are inappropriate. For instance 'how old are you?' one woman asked me that the second I told her I am a nurse. Is she surprised that I actually became a nurse considering my age and the fact that I am single? Most of these women are married or not with children and older. It does not bother me that they are but sometimes I get a vibe that they are gauging whether I deserve to be paid more than them because I am a novice in this feild and some of them have been phlebotomists before and I am very new to this. As the nurse I will be over seeing their work and taking a supervisory/leadership role. We are all training together so I could care less if I am not an expert because that is why I am in training. But at times from these women in particular I feel they judge me as an expert though I am new to all of this. Also I notice one girl everyday keeps on commenting on how I bring my lunch to work. They always go and buy lunch together and I stay at the office and eat my lunch and relax. I kinda like the quiet and not having to talk to anyone for half an hour. This girl is nice, but it's not that big of a deal if I don't go out with them for lunch. I brought my own and I want to eat it and not waste my lunch break looking to buy something to eat. It's like they are in a click and I am outside of it. She kept on commenting on it so much so I felt I had to give her an explaination for why I brought my lunch. Also they give us a lot of paper work to read about company policy and I was making sure to read all of it and I did notice others just skimmed over theirs and started working on the assigned work sheets. By the time I finished reading they were almost done. I was working on my and one woman ask me 'do you need any help?' I told her no thanks that I am ok.(in my head, i'm like I can read, focus on yourself not me) For me it's not a race. I want to make sure I understand everything they want us to. But it irked me she would ask me that, though she tried to come off as nice. And she kept on looking at me after I declined. I just gave her a smile and kept on my work. Sorry to rant but little things like this just make me not like these women at all and truth be told if not for us training together I would never have a real converation with them in real life. To me they are rude. It bugged me a lot after I left work but I decided they they are not even a factor and we are not even working at the same centers and even if that is the case I would be the one in charge not them. At times I also feel the fact that I dress nice and professional to work (and a lot of them really don't), causes them to scrutinize me more. I have not dealth with this kind of behavior in the work place usually I get a long with everyone, rather when I go to social events with competitive and katty women. So it's kinda weird to get this vibe in the work place. Has anyone also had similair experiences with co-workers?

Thank you so much for your info on blood banking. I decided to take the blood center job. I will be looking for a part time hospital position in the mean time. I will just keep on applying. I want to thank everyone for the feedback it really helped in making my decision.

While I am here I will try my best to utilize my nursing skills and get the most out of it. I think I will really like it. I want a hospital job to solidify my nursing skills but I know in the long run I don't see myself working in the hospital rather as a Nurse practitioner in an outpatient clinic or something. I am leaving myself open to the possibilities. Thank you so much for your feed back.

Thank you so much for the feedback. I like getting straight forward answers. I have decided not to go to (moderator edit of city). I will work at the blood center and try to find a part time hospital job. My age is the biggest factor in this decision. If I was in my early 20s I would be more likely to go. I put my dating life on hold to goto nursing school and now I am in (moderator edit of city) it would be nice to meet people and start dating. thank you.:)

Hi all, I just got offered a job in Bethel, Alaska in an outpatient clinic in maternity health. I like advetnure and I am 27years old and single. I have a Job in washington at a blood center as an RN. I start in 2 weeks but this offer to bethel seems like it could be lucrative as well as an interesting experience. They want me to sign a 6%sign on bonus for 2 years. I am not sure I even want to do that. What if I hate living there? Also is 2 years a lot to give for a 27year old. I am single and would like to invest time into dating. Is the money & nursing experience worth it? Has anyone spent time in Bethel, ak or done Bush nursing? I would really like your feedback. Thank you!

Hi all, I am a new grad BSN. I just got a job as a nurse at blood center. I will be trained as a phebotomist/apheresis RN. The training is 6months. I have been looking for jobs for more than 2months and the only place that has called me for an interivew was this place. I am grateful and accepted the job. But I have been getting calls/interviews for hospital RN jobs. I am 27years old, single, with no children. Moving is not an issue, but I consider my social/dating life. But I worry I may not be able to secure a hospital job. Just got offered a job to work in an outpatient clinic. $10,000 relocation, 31.14/hr and 6%bonus for two year commitment and IHS will possibly pay for my student loans. 4.5 weeks PTO, 10 holidays. But cost of living is high. If I go I want to work a lot of overtime and make my self a nest egg. This is a big move. But I am looking at the trade offs. In the blood center, I will have to pay my student loans $45,000, live at home with parents, and will not use a lot of my nursing skills. At the other, I will get to use my nursing skills, live in a new area, meet new people, but it is really cold and I wonder about my social life. They only have about 5500 people, the average age is 28years. But I heard this could open doors for me in nursing. At most I would stay there for 2 years. What do you guys think would be the best move? I would like a hospital job but I have not been able to find one. Thanks so much for your feedback.

NJprisonrn, I agree with you that the bedside is not for everyone. I would like to go to ICU to get into Nurse anesthesia and if not then I want to be a psychiatric NP in the out patient setting. I am keeping my options open. New Grads that want to go into the hospital setting but find you are having a hard time getting a position, try to get experience where you can as an RN but keep applying to the jobs you want and learn as much as you can where you are and try to be the best at what you are doing:nurse: as a RN, just keep your options open. I hope to hear more new grads who have positions outside the hospital setting. Cheers.

Hi Mybabies2000, I am a new grad. I just graduated in December. I just got a job in a blood center and I will be trained in apheresis/phebotomy nurse. My starting pay is 26/hr and I will start in 2 weeks.:w00t: I want to work in the ICU but I live in the Seattle area and the competition for even med/surg jobs is pretty stiff. While I work here I will learn as much as I can and look for a part time hospital job.

Hi everyone, I want to thank you all for your feedback and answering my questions. I got the job! :yelclap:and I start in 3 weeks. He said I will essentiallly be trained as a phlebotomist/RN and the training is about 6months. They also have RNs who go out to the hospitals to give apheresis therapy to patients in the hospitals in the western part of Washington. I hope to eventually do that. I am also interested in getting a part time/on call job on night shift/weekends at a hospital to keep up my other nursing skills. Will hospitals hire new grads on call/part time on night shift? Since I will need so orientation/training in the hospital, I wonder if hospitals will be willing to hire me as a new grad only part-time or on call. Thanks again everyone. I am so happy I can work as an RN.:w00t:

Thank you, I hope so, I am keeping my fingers crossed.