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My husband is a paramedic who works as a high-level ER Tech in Colorado. We will be relocating to Portland, Maine in Spring '23 and he's looking for the same position within an hour of Portland. Do any of you work in ERs near, or in Portland where Paramedics work in the ER, helping nurses, and have a higher scope and pay than the CNA-level ER Techs? It looks like CMMC in Lewiston offers that position, but I was told that they lost their trauma status, and that the new owners are making it an undesirable work place. Does anyone have first-hand experience to confirm this? Or is it a decent hospital to work for? My husband is a very hard worker. He teaches EMTs, he's excellent at placing lines on difficult patients, he teaches splinting, and has been trained into extended-scope procedures. He is a tremendous asset to his team and loves working in the hospital. He plans on going to nursing school once our boy is a little older. Any info would be much appreciated!

Thanks for the information :) I am planning on applying to FRCC Larimer for the ADN program after I finish my pre-reqs this fall. I just decided to take the CNA program this summer for a number of factors, so it's nice to see that they may be requiring that for entry, giving me another good reason to get it done. I was a little shocked to see that the nursing application is so basic. The only info they ask for besides your contact info is that you've completed the pre-reqs, have a 2.5 gpa or higher and have a background check. I hoped that they would have a couple questions asking why we want to be a nurse and why do we think we would make good nurses to further help them get a better understanding of who is applying. I have several years of relevant related work that I think would make me an excellent candidate, but it's a bummer that non of that will be taken into account. Oh well... I'm excited to tackle my CNA this summer and move on from there :) ... I've heard such great things about the RN program, I hope the new instructors will be just as good.

Thanks for your replies :)

I'm curious, in general is rural RN pay higher or lower than in suburban/metro areas? I could see it being lower because the hospital may have less patients and endowments bringing money in, but I could also see it being higher because they need to pay more to attract skilled workers to the area. I know the rate will vary from area to area, but I was wondering what the trend seems to be. Thanks!

You're welcome. I had no idea it would turn into such a big thread! When you think about it, close to half of the population is on their period a 1/4 of every month, yet people rarely talk about it.

Thanks for the embarrassing stories and laughs! My worst leak (and really the only one that was ever a big deal) was in 7th grade when I was in karate class. We wore white gees (spelling?). We were doing a million high kicks and stretches. People in class were behind me and all around me. I had my super duper tampon in, but didn't feel a leak. When I went into the dressing room to change, I saw that my pants were stained to about the size of a large pancake! I was shocked and super embarrassed. I kept looking at the people's expressions around me to see if they had noticed, but nobody seemed like they had. I don't see how the people behind me in class couldn't have seen that... I quit karate shortly after.... I couldn't deal with having to worry about that again. :chair:

Thanks Mark - That sounds like a great opportunity to learn and grow!

thanks for the suggestions. i honestly don't think i'd be the best fit as an er or med/surg hospital nurse, although i keep considering it to gain the experience. i'm not someone who's drawn to intensely high-risk, life or death trauma and i don't want the bulk of my job to be passing meds. i can picture myself in an urgent care clinic, l/d/woman/baby care, outpatient, or home care. i love the preventative/educating side of things and natal stuff. would urgent care give me a chance to be involved as dixiecup had mentioned? i'm also not opposed to working in the lock-up here, but i am concerned for my safety being a woman in that environment...though it's just a local jail and not a 'prison'. at my local hospital they also have an option to rotate between the birthing center, women's care, neonatal intensive care, and pediatrics plus... i think that would be a great fit for me and i imagine that would be good prep for primary care. it's a hard hospital to get into though.

Ideally I would love to be an FNP / Primary Care Provider. Is it best to have my RN experience in a primary care/office setting or would other hospital specialties provide a better foundation for that role? Thanks!

Yeah, some women are fortunate enough to never give this stuff a second thought and others have their lives ruled by it. When I was young, my flow was horribly heavy and I sometimes would have to go to the restroom every half hour to stay on top of it. I had terrible anemia and debilitating cramps too. Since I've been on the pill, I rarely have to worry any more, except on rare occasions, but the idea of being slammed with patients all day and doing strenuous work at times, made me nervous. But with all the great tips on here, I'm sure I'll do fine. Thanks!

Thanks guys. I'm still not sure if my back could handle it. Is there ever an OR rotation in clinicals?

Thanks for the tips ladies!

I'm a pre-nursing student. I have been fascinated with watching in-depth surgeries since I was a kid. I would love to be involved in the OR, but I have trouble standing in one place for a long time. I can run around waitressing for hours with no problem, but the stationary standing just kills my back. Before I completely discount the OR option for me, I wanted to get some of your feedback about it. As an RN in the OR, are you standing in one place for long periods of time or are you moving around? How many of you are hurting from standing so much? What do you do to deal with it? How long are the surgeries you are in typically? Does anyone get a stool to sit on? Thanks!

I'm an elderly caregiver who works mostly with dementia patients. One nice thing about those folks is that even if you are bothering them, they won't remember it after a few minutes anyway. :heartbeat

This is a 'personal' question for the female nurses... It seems in school and professionally, most nurses wear light blue scrubs and the school I'm looking into requires them. Typically during 'that time of the month' I wear dark pants just on the off chance that there may be an accident. I can only imagine when you are on a long shift and taking care of people, possibly doing strenuous transfers and such, it can be harder to get to the bathroom as often as needed and an unwanted incident could occur. Professionally, do most of you have the latitude to wear dark scrub bottoms and if you can't, what do you do? Sorry for asking a 'gross' question that people aren't really 'supposed' to talk about, but I'm trying to figure out the logistics of our annoying monthly situation. You're all nurses or nurses-to-be, so I figure you should be able to handle personal questions like these, if anyone can.