HaylyAmber

Yes it does help. Unfortunately I did not have another Biopatch (never seen one in home care to date, his dressing was from the hospital) and the only other thing to work with was the occlusive dressing and the piece of slitted gauze.... I hate the kits in home care. I guess next time I don't even have to use the gauze, I can just cleanse and replace with the TSM only. Like I said, the kits are ridiculous and don't give me much to work with sometimes. After I left the house I kept thinking about what I had done and that I probably should have chosen another route.

So here is the back story. I'm a new nurse, and have been working on a med-surg floor of a fairly large teaching hospital for 9 months. I just got a per diem home infusion job. I was a little surprised at how quickly I was hired given how little experience I have. With that said, I was even more shocked to only get one day of orientation (one day, one visit!) before I was thrown out there on my own. Being as I've only been in the hospital, some of the dressing change kits (among other things) in home care are foreign to me and I find myself questioning if I've done the right thing. So on to my question.... Yesterday I saw a guy with a Hickman catheter. After I stopped his infusion, I noticed his dressing was coming loose. The dressing was dated 1/2/13 and he had a Biopatch on the site, which I know is good for 7 days. It was clean and intact. His therapy will be done on the 9th. The kit including a sterile gauze with a slit in it, a larger piece of gauze, an occlusive dressing, a chloraprep applicator, and 2 alcohol pads. I would rather see him with the Biopatch than a piece of gauze under the dressing, so rather than take the Biopatch off I left it and just replaced the occlusive dressing. Did I do the wrong thing? Should I have changed everything?

I've heard the same thing here in NJ--not sure if the rules are different in other places. You cannot work "below" your license, so to speak. A lot of girls I know who are PCAs are being let go from these positions as soon as we graduate and get our licenses in May.

Good point, didn't think of that either but I can ask my girlfriend. She has worked in this particular hospital as a PCA before. I know that every floor is different, so you could be totally right. The thing I found odd is that when I go on the website and do a job search, there really are only 1-2 of those positions at that hospital. Aside from any of this, is the general consensus that it is a good idea to get into the hospital environment pre-RN license? Sounds like a silly question, but will a few months there make a difference?

I was just looking at bridge programs for myself for associates to MSN, and I stumbled across some info on U Penn's website. There is pretty limited info from what I could tell, but they did list a separate program for people with a second bachelors going to MSN. I didn't get into details (because that's not what I was really looking for) but they did specify between the two programs. Hope this helps!

Good advice, thank you. Apparently the hospital offering the position is in need of help-- the girl who told me she could get me the position already works for the hospital system, and her boss had offered her the job knowing the situation about graduation and everything. Oddly enough, a lot of the students in my class are just getting hired in similar positions, which I found interesting as well. One of the girls from another class is being trained and will not even be able to work one day as a PCA because by that time she will have her license -- it's all about who ya know I suppose. Like I said though, the system is one that would rather hire from within than from the outside (hence the reason my friend who works for them was offered a job- and her boss asked if any of her fellow students needed a job.) It's a rather large system here in this part of NJ (Meridian) and I'm sure they could hire me as an RN at one of their hospitals when I graduate (I hope!) being that I'll already be somewhat trained on some of their stuff. I'd like to think this would give me an advantage over another new grad. As far as the money part goes, I will be working the same amount of hours at either job for approximately the same hourly wage. The difference is that at my current job, I get bonused based on the policies I sell.... but again, I'm really not so concerned about the money end as I am the hospital experience and the whole "foot in the door" idea. Thanks for your help guys!

I really need some help/advice/anything anyone can offer! For some people this might seem like an easy decision, but I'll do my best to outline the cause for my dilemma. Just bear with me I am a senior in nursing school (yay!) I currently work in a small office doing insurance sales, where I have been for the past five years. I work for my cousin, and he is just about the coolest and most generous boss in the world. He knows I will be leaving some time in the late spring/early summer. He has been really great about giving me time off for school whenever I needed it (he actually just agreed to give me an additional day off during the week because of my school situation--this semester is going to be brutal.) One of my friends/fellow student in my class told me she could get me a job as a PCA (PCT, whatever you want to call it) at a hospital in the system I want to work for when I graduate. This is something I've been considering since the summer. Not only could I work weekend nights, which is nice for my school schedule and for my 3 year old daughter, but I would have a foot in the door and would already know the ins and outs of the system. I would be taking a bit of a pay cut, but it's only for a few months and I've already gotten the blessing from my fiance. I just want to get comfortable in the hospital--mind you, I do not have any past medical experience! I feel compelled to take this opportunity. Maybe I'm coming off as a bit melodramatic, but I feel like I have a responsiblity to my boss to stick it out until I said I would. Not to say I wouldn't be giving him a couple weeks notice, but I almost feel like I'm betraying him for some strange reason. So here's where the help comes in. What do you think? Number one, am I being a dork about all this? And does my idea of getting hospital experience and getting comfortable in that setting make sense? Thanks for any advice anyone can offer :hug: