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.

Hi purplechicxiii, I want to do a follow up today, I don't have my interviewrs' email but I have his number. It has been 24hours so i will give him a call today and to say thank you and I would like to work for them. thank you.

I will keep looking for jobs. I am mostly getting responses for rural med/surg, ICU, and ER positions out of state. I will follow up on those and keep applying in Washington state. I want to send a thank you note but not sure how. I don't have my interviewer's email but I have his phone number and I know his last name. I did not see a plaque on his desk during the interivew. But we has a conversation about how both our last names are unusual so thats how I remembered;).

not.done.yet, I have the same feeling. I only wish I had remembered to ask when I should expect to hear back from them. Do you think it woud be okay to give a call tomarrow to ask when I should be expecting to hear back from them or does that seem too pushy? Cnsidering he said he will call if they are going to hire.I don't want to blow my chances of being considered for the position. On the other hand I have been getting calls from recruiters out of state in rural hospitals that are interested in me applying for them. I have a feeling applying to these places out of state will be a fast process. I applied for a job in Alaska on a fluke last Friday and recieved a call and phone interview on Monday:o. I want to hold out to see if I can get a position in washington before making a big move...but I am getting tired of waiting for interviews.

Esme12, thanky ou. I hope I get the job. I was a bit hesitant at first because it was a blood center and my nursing skills may not be used but he told me that the nurses here can eventually goto the hospital in their other sector to give blood and tissue products to patients who need them. I was a little surprised at the payrate. I was expecting less, was happy it was a dollar over what I expected:cool:. I plan on going to graduate school next year so this job may be a good fit since it will be low stress.

Hi all, I graduated BSN, in Decemebr took my NCLEX in March and started looking for jobs in the begining of April. I have been applying nonstop and last Friday I just about gave up Washington state because I never even got so much as a call back from any job I applied to...until yesturday, I got a call from a blood center for an RN/phlebotomist position I applied for a month ago. The interviewer set up an interview for today at 8AM. I showed up early and it lasted 30 minutes. I was offered coffee/juice before and after the interview but I declined (maybe I should have accepted after the second offer...) He seemed to like me and the interview went smoothly. He told me the salary 26/hr and benefits, and he said I would be full time. He asked when I could start...I said as soon as possible. He also asked if I have any job offers at this time, I told him no but I had some prospects. He also told me there would be a background check and if there would be any problem with that. I said no, he looked me striaght in the eyes when asking. I did not flinch at all (I thank God I have a clean record and no criminal history). He said if I get an offer I will recieve a call and if I don't I will recieve a letter in the mail. I did not get a definite job offer after the interview. I am wondering if this is a bad sign that I did not get the job. He told me in the begining of the interview that there are a lot of applicants... Do you think if I had got the job he would have let me know? Or is this a sign I likey did not get the job? Feel free to share your good and bad experiences in interviews. Thanks so much.

Congratulations! I am So happy for you. I took my NCLEX on the 23rd of March. I got 75 questions, no math, about 30 SATA, a few meds, etc. I was a little frustrated with all the SATA, I sometimes got two in a row O.o. I felt weird coming out of the exam room. I kinda felt I passed but was not for sure. I went home and an hour later I got the good pop-up! I was so happy. The NCLEX was a scary beast to me and we conquered it. I am so happy to be a registered nurse! I am happy for you! All the best. HERE is what I did. I used only Kaplan Live Online, I really liked the online format. I was disappointed I was not able to schedule an in-person class with time for my exam study schedule, but the live online class was fun andwas very convienient. I did Diagnostic test, all the Question strainers, watched 65% of their content videos, answered 100% of the question bank questions and reviewed ALL of them, even the ones I got correct. I had a 70 page noted book I used to make notes for all the questions and reviewed them a couple times and used the NCLEX cram sheet found on alllnurses.com (But I only reived about 60% of it). For those of you who are getting ready to take the NCLEX, do as many questions as you can and review ALL of your answers and the rationales and take notes. I answered around 3,000 questions from Kaplan. I got my quick results 48hrs later confirming I passed.

Hey guys, I will be taking my NCLEX in 8 days and I am really anxious. I have been studying for 5 weeks, I used the Kaplan live online, and have taken 6 qestion trainers and completed 75% of the Question Bank with an average of 59% on QB. I have reviewed and taken notes on all the questions I have taken. Here are my QT scores: QT1: 56% QT2: 59% QT3: 53% QT4: 58% QT5: 55% QT6: 62% My readiness test: 58% I have been doing an average of 100 questions per day but have kicked it up to 150. One of my biggest weaknesses is SATA questions? Are the SATA questions on NCLEX similair to KAPLAN's. What were strategies when answer SATA questions? Your feed back on my scores are greatly appreciated. Are my scores good enough to be confident to take the NCLEX? Thanks again.

Hi, I am doing my final clinicals in the OR at a major hospital in my area. I have this preceptor, who just graduted last year and has been at the OR for a year. It seems that I was 'dumped' on her. She said I was put with her because the older seasoned nurses did not want a student. Since being in the OR, I feel like I am being constantly quized about everything here. This is very different from most of my other clinical experiences. She asks me questions about proceedures, equiptment, and meds. I understand her asking me some questions on the medications (though the only drugs I am familiar with in the OR is heparin and antibiotics. The rest I am new to. She expects me to know all these drugs. She made a big deal out of me not knowing drugs like bupivicaine, FloSeal, Tisseel, amongst others. My experience with meds is that, I know the basics, but the ones I don't know I look them up before administering them to the patient. There are no drug guides in this OR and I don't have access to their computer system so only she can look the drugs up. Yesturday she asked me 'in what situations would you NOT take a blood pressure on a limb?' I responded from what I knew working on the floor, 'a patient that has had CVA, not to take blood pressure on the effected side.' she sad that was incorrect, that it does not matter if a patient has a stroke, you can take the blood pressure on any side. I then told her, all the floors that I have been on don't take blood pressures on the effected side of patients. I guess it was not the exact answer she was looking for, pertaining to the OR. But I was thinking, why is she quizing me on this? During clinicals, when I have had the chance to go to the OR, I have be only observing. Why not just tell me the answer she wanted? Another instance yesturday: she asked me what TISSEEL is: and I started to explain it is a drug made up of thrombin and fribrinogen...' before I could finish to explain that it promotes clotting of the blood and will help in sealing the tissue. She was like no, no the drug is not made of thrombin and fibrinogen. And started with her diatribibe about drugs. I pulled out my notes to confirm I was not wrong and then she later admitted that I was correct about it. Any time she wants to find information on a proceedure she goes on her computer and looks it up. But then she sits there and asks me questions about proceedures & equiptment and sometimes I may happen to know because of what I happen to have seen during my clinical rotations and other times I don't. And I let her know I don't know and that I would have to look it up. Then she goes through the prosess of explaining. I am wondering, why is she quizing me these questiions instead of explaining? She had 6 months training on the floor to get orientated and more familiair with OR proceedures. I feel like a fish out of water. This is new to me and the nursing focus is different than I am used to, but I know with time I will be able to do excellant. I have been on the floor for 6 days. It seems like I am constantly being tested. I feel this is getting in the way of practicing my OR skills and nursing. Why is she not asking me questions about assessment, positioning, patient advocacy, and safety? Meds are important but I do not think it is a big deal that I don't know the main OR drugs off memory. If I don't know I will look them up(especially before administering them). In this situation I have no access to computers, otherwise I would just look them up on our downtime. I feel this preceptor is making my clinical experience painful. I think she constantly quizes me to show others in the OR what she knows. I want to learn and I am learning but I am miserable. I don't feel I can say to her that she is the problem. She and others on the floor ask me if I am enjoying myself, I tell them I am. But I am not. If I say i am not, it will be awkward. So I grin and bear her. I like what I am learning and doing, but my preceptor is the one I have issue with. I feel being asked to switch with someone else would be taken badly. I have 48 more hours on the floor. I will endure. But I am worried I will get a bad review. Should I let my faculty staff know about the situation? I think it is too late to have them switch me around. And on this floor people gossip a lot about everyone, especially my preceptor she is always talking about what this surgeon did in the OR or what some Tech or Nurse did. So, if she has a negative view of me, so will others on the floor since it seems to be close knitt. Sorry it is so long. Your help is much appreciated. What should I do in this situation wth out making it worse than it is?

I got into a car accident eary this year. My insurance had lapsed at the time. I got a ticket for failiure to yeild was was not cited for no insurance. I made an agreement with the other party's insurance company to pay for the damges which I did in a timely manner. I finshed paying them off. They were supposed to send a fax to the department of Licensing stating that I had paid them, so I would not get my licnese suspended. They never sent the paper work and this resulted in my lincese being suspended. I called the DOL to check prior to the suspension date to see if my licese was in good standing and they told me I was in good standing. The only reason I found out that my license was suspended was because I wanted to start a new car insurance plan and they informed me that my license was suspended. I quickly called the insurance company and they sent the paperwork to the DOL. They apologized and refunded my the fee for my license being suspended. The DOL says that even though I paid on time and it was the insurance company's responsibilty to have sent the paper work, the suspension will remain on my driving record. I am contesting this, since I was at no fault in this situation. As far as I know, I don't have any criminal record and having my license suspended for this reason is not a misdemeanor. It only is, if I was to get pulled over by the cops for driving on a suspended license, which I was not. But my question is, how will this effect my ability to get my nursing license? Do I need to report this suspension when applying for my license? How will this effect my ability to get a nursing job? And Can I sue the insurance company for this? thanks for your help

Hey Partrease, Congratulations. I got accepted into nursing school in Januray. I was excited going into nursing school. It was fun meeting new fellow students and it was completely different from regular undergrad. I am in my first year, second semester and I can;t wait for the semester to start. All the best!:smiley_aa