dolgre

I have 2 years Critical Care/Step Down experience, and am considering applying to the VA. Does anyone have experience at the Albuquerque VA hospital? What's the work environment, staff-patient ratio and quality of resources for nurses there? How do the docs treat us? Also, how do they schedule--the VA boasts "flexible" scheduling with paid holidays, etc. but given it's a 24 hour acute care facility, how may hours and days a week do you really work? Do you get shift differentials and overtime pay?

As a 26 year resident of LC (from back east) here's my input: -Beautiful environment, awesome weather (hot summers!), small-city feel with very, very nice people and a diverse culture (Hispanics are around 55%, Anglos 40%, rest 5%) -Lots of outdoor and nature activities, although cooler temps require a short 2-4 hr drive for "field trips" -A great state University that brings even more diversity, culture and art into the community (inexpensive compared to most and could be good if you need to take any pre-reqs) you're kid will rub elbows with kids who parents are PhD's and never know it because they are so down to earth here on this campus. -Public schools that may not be rated "top notch", but generally have really caring and hard-working teachers (especially in the K-5 grades). Almost all kids here attend public schools, so we still have a nice balance of socio-economics which keeps the quality up. Bottom line: If you are an involved parent they can get great educations -very active and extensive Catholic Church influence, including a private school -Two private local hospitals with average quality services, but we always rank in the lower tier of competitive pay. My hospital also serves more indigent and uninsured patients, which means we are always tight--we function on love, not money in my ICU. :-) Our hospital recently went through growing pains when it expanded from 20 to 40 beds and started catering to cardiac services, but things have calmed down a bit. Our Director and Program Managers are really nice, smart and decent guys. -Crime here is pretty predictable for an area with quite a few low income people. Which is to say the majority of crime is about someone stealing something--non-violently--from you. Burglaries are up lately but they are everywhere else, too, given the economy. Yes, unfortunately, we have had our share of tragic murders and other violent crime stories over the years, but from my point of view, this is a pretty safe city, as long as you do the normal things everyone does to avoid being a victim. -Medium cost of living. Utilities can be high in summer. Home rentals are affordable for a very nice apartment for a family (2bd for about 600-700/mo). Houses can be anywhere from 750 up, but nice, newer ones would be around 800-900. Hope this is helpful!

Since you are recently familiar with this area, could you give me an idea of the pay scales at these facilities? I currently have @ 18 months experience and I work in a medium sized ICU/CCU/Step Down unit in a hospital in NM. We make approximately 22 per hour with benefits or 26 an hour pay in lieu of benefits for full-time, permanent new grads, (new hires with more experience probably only get a couple dollars more per hour). PRN is 35 per hour. Are there pay differences depending on specialty? What are the nurse to patient ratio's on your floors? Any feedback is much appreciated--Our family may need to move to that part of the country next year so I have been trying to estimate the quality of nursing jobs and our ability to afford the cost of living up there. thanks!

Your mistake (absent an allergic reaction) was the equivalent of serving a patient on a low fat diet a pat of butter. And they FIRED you for that? Either they had "buyers remorse"after hiring you and needed a "legal" excuse to let you go (and so grabbed the first thing they could), or they suck as an employer. Actually, no good employer would do the former, so they are by default the latter. Sounds like you dodged a bullet to me. Go buy a lottery ticket--it could be your lucky week.

Forgot to state I was a 2nd degree BSN fast track grad, with a Master's in Counseling from my previous career.

ICU/CCU in Las Cruces, NM. Started in January at 26.47/hr as a full-time, "pay-in-lieu-of benefits" employee, meaning I took the extra $3-$4/hr instead of insurance, annual and sick leave, etc. The thing that does irk me though, is that if I worked PRN in my same unit, I'd make about $30/hr. We have a LOT of full-time employees who do that, and even though they are the first to have to float to other floors or are more subject to schedule changes or cancellation, they seem to be there on the same basic 80 hour schedule I am. So they get paid $6 an hour more than I do for EXACTLY the same job. Sucks.

Why would you choose to move to a foreign country to get your BSN, when you could attend any one of a number of stateside BSN programs for the same costs? And an ADN/ASN is a great way to start, but you will need to get a BSN to move up. It is terribly hard to work in nursing full time and go to school to do that, so I'd advise you if you are ultimately wanting a BSN get it now, not later.

There are NO NICU jobs in Las Cruces, only nearby El Paso or up the road in Albuquerque. As for OB/Perinatal, we have units at both hospitals, but I understand new jobs in those areas are a bit tight. I suggest you call the two hospital's nursing recruitment offices for details, as what they advertise on their websites doesn't always correspond to actual openings. Overall, Las Cruces has decent nursing opportunities, especially in areas such as adult icu/ccu/progressive care and med-surge, but you may not get what you want right away if you specialize in the areas you say you are interested in.

I think you had the blessing of a genuine reaction to this man, a reflection of your ability to empathize and have compassion for the suffering of another human being. It is what drew you to nursing in the first place, and will always be a part of why you will be a great nurse. Allowing yourself to feel, process, and then grow from these types of experiences is as much a part of your development as a nurse as learning how to manage your time or to operate new machines. You were given a gift from the universe, allow it to shape you. :)

Took the NCLEX today and it stopped after 75 pretty hard questions. I hav no idea if I passed or not in the state I am in--all I can think of is all the ones I KNOW I got wrong. Anyway, I just attempted to register again and got the "you are not allowed to reschedule at this time" message. Everyone says that means a person passed, but has anyone ever known that NOT to be the case? Where they weren't allowed to register and they actually FAILED the test?