asfreeasabird

Be confident in what you have learned. You don't need an experienced nurse to check ALL of your work. That being said don't be afraid to ask questions of nurses you trust. Find a good nurse that you can go to like a mentor who works with you often and wants to help you transition from student to professional nurse. Just remember to stick with your first nursing job it will become more natural, give it approximately 6months to feel like you know what you are doing.

Nurses have a huge rate of burn out. Know when not to take extra shifts. Take care of yourself, eat well, exercise, and take regular vacations. Know when you are starting to get burned out, and take some time for yourself. I have quite a few vacations scheduled for myself this summer to help with nurse burnout.

I was an LPN before I became an RN. I worked in LTC and now work on the medical floor at our hospital. I am thankful for the experience I gained as an LPN. I gained excellent time management skills. I worked a 2-10pm shift when I did LTC which was great for a new grad. You only have one meal and the residents are getting ready for bed. The patients who are entering LTC these days are sicker than they have been. They need enteral feedings, intraveneous medications, replacement of urinary catheters, and even a trach. I learned delegation skills, and basic nursing and critical thinking. I had a great mentor who helped me transtion from student to LPN. It is a personal decision. It depends on the job market and how difficult it is to get into either program. When I first started applying to nurisng schools LPN wasn't on my radar, but when I was accepted to an LPN program I thought I would rather do this than wait another year to get into an RN progam.

I understand what you mean I work 12hours shifts on a medical floor. 30minutes is taken out of our paychecks for lunch, but I have had up to five phone calls during my lunch hour. Some days I take the battery out and enjoy my lunch (boundries). If it is absoulutely impertive that I leave my lunch break, time starts over. No wonder we are so burned out.

You could volunteer as a candy striper (if they still do this). Our hospital has something called transport. A transporter will take the patients all over the hospital for diagnostic procedures, wheel them out to their car when they are ready to go home, and fetch supplies. This may be an interesting job to get exposure and make connections.

I have had that happen a few times. I have care planned it so they can do the care themselves. I asked my manager and I had one of my patients reaccess her own portacath because she would be doing it at home and had been doing it at home. I had another lady with a urostomy and colostomy that I just handed the supplies to. It was great because you watch how they like and get some teaching done at the same time.

1. Wear comfortable shoes 2. Be confident in what you know and ask about what you don't 3. the patients can wait, go the bathroom 4. find a mentor 5. have a sense of humor about what you do (somedays this is going to be the only thing that will get you through) 6. don't be discourged if you are not as good as the experienced nurses you will get it eventually 7. pay attention during orientation 8. don't delegate something you would not do yourself (be nice to your support staff) 9. always know how a physician would like to be contacted (cell, pager, office phone) 10. separate work and personal life, set boundaries hope this helps. best of luck

The community college I went to told me where I was on the alternate list.

I was an LPN for a few years at a long term care facility before returning to get my RN. An LPN is considered "the bedside nurse." The LPN will typically care for a more stable patient. Our hospital has phased out most of the LPNs at the bedside. From what I understand the RNs were not adaquately supervising the LPNs and it was more the RN's fault we no longer have LPNs at the bedside. The RN must perform the initial assessment and initate the plan of care. An LPN can hang IV meds,or anything mixed by the pharmacy. They can not mix anything in a bag of IV fluid (which is a requirement in a few of our rural hospitals). When I went to school the IV certification course was part of my training, but a few LPNs had to return to school. In LTC we were able to take telephone orders, note orders. LPNs are also not allowed to draw from a central line. Depending on the facility LPNs can serve as charge nurses. At the LTC facility I worked at if we were above a certain number of patients we had to have an in house RN 24hours. I think the best place to practice as an LPN was in a LTC because you are functioning at your hightest level (at the hospital our LPNs function as CNAs and we call them all "support staff"). It was great experience the patients being dischrged from the hospital into the LTC facilitys today are sicker than they have been and are quite challenging requiring a skilled nurse at the bedside. As for the pay it only makes sense that someone who has more training would make more money. I think if it bothers an LPN too much she should return to school and get her RN.

Just remember people can tell when you are smiling on the phone. I would shoot for all three instead of the oncology dept, you can always transfer later. It is a great oppertunity to work at a teaching hospital. Be calm and courteous to all of them. You might ask your nursing instructor how to prepare for an interview(what types of questions to be prepared for) they can be a great resource. Be happy with anything at this point even if it is not oncology, any of those floor will grow you as a nurse. Congradulations on landing an interview, please let us know how it goes.

If you have the option I would recommend waiting. You don't want to deal with swollen ankles, morning sickness and nursing school exams. At the school I graduated from many of the pregnant gals failed out. One that did not showed up a few days after giving birth to clinical...they let her wear black pants instead of the required white.

My aunt worked as a critical care nurse for 10years and became a personal trainer. Her clients seek her out because she is a nurse. Something about having someone there who knows what to do if you start exercising too hard is comforting to her elderly clients. If you can tie in why somebody would want to go to a nurse who is a massage therapist in the same way you would have a great niche. As for your business card I don't think it is tacky, but don't be surprised when people who are scheduled for a massage show you strange rashes or confide in you about strange things you never wanted to know about their bodies because you are a nurse. If this doesn't bother you by all means put your credentials on your business card.

When mine is down I usually have something to put it up, because as we all know in nursing you never know what is going to happen during the day. Our floor is a little stricter. We are not allowed to wear jeans to on-site education (which is good but it should be hospital wide), we are not allowed to wear sweaters that are not scrubs, they discourage shirts under scrubs (becuase they can't be taken off in a flash), we are also considering hosptial wide uniforms when we move to our new home in a year. They don't require hair to be up, just use your own judgement.

Our local hospital had a pretty bad nickname. A few years ago it partnered up with a chain of other hospitals and has since been trying to improve it's reputation in the community. Most people notice the change, but there are still people who call it by it's nickname. I know that as a nurse I do the best job I can everyday when I go in. It is so important to have a good local medical center. Yeah you could move and join another hospital, but think about how proud you would be working at the hospital to make a change. You stated the "good nurses" were few and far between, if you joined them they would have one more "good nurse". If it not a bad work environment you should try to change the public's perception of this hospital one patient at a time. Many hospitals have committes you can join to make change while you are a floor nurse, this may be an outlet for you.

1. You will learn to see everyone as an equal...everybody is equal sick in a hospital gown 2. You will have a bladder that is like a 50gallon drum 3. You will be able to watch medical dramas and be able to laugh at the dramatic parts 4. You will be able to talk about stool while eating 5. You will spend holidays potluck style in the breakroom 6. You will sign checks with RN after your name 7. You will hear monitor alarms as you are nearly asleep at night 8. You will have a new respect for people 65or older 9. You will learn 30years old abdominal pain usually comes with a high does of opiates 10. You will be able to read many styles of physician hand writing (a skill they just don't teach in nursing school) 11. You will learn how to speak quickly to physicians before they lose interest and hang up 12. You will learn how to hit squiggley little veins on cute old ladies 13. You will have a new respect for people who are twice your age and doing the same job 14. You will learn to have a calm poker face for whiney, or agressive patiens 15. You will learn to have a sense of humor about the nursing that you do Nursing has been an adventure...some days we call it "high adventure nursing" I knew I never wanted a desk job and most days I feel satisfied with the work I have done.