cookie78

Not to worry daytonite...My family taught me very well about saving for a house. I grew up in a household where my parents saved for everything, paid cash for most everything and didn't buy anything (more or less) that wasn't a necessity. I never wanted for anything as a child but on the other hand we never had anything fancy. I live completely within this spirit. It will however take me a little while as a single girl to save up for the houses in this area because they are so expensive, and the property taxes are insane! So meanwhile I am living cheaply and renting, and saving. On one point I disagree with you however, I don't personally subscribe to the real estate as investment theory when it applies to your own home that you plan to live in. When you live in your own home it is a place to live, and especially in this market where you might pay close to $1 million dollars for a first time home, I don't see it growing massively in my lifetime the way my parents home did when they bought it in 1980 for $90,000 in the silicon valley. At this point most people like me will struggle just to pay the mortgage and little else. So that is why I am waiting a little bit, but saving in the meantime.

I live in the thick of it in Northern California in Berkeley or Berzerkely as some call it Ha! I just got my first new grad job at a hospital in San Francisco and it pays 39.45 an hour for day shift rate. However you have to realize that most people have to pay a $3-5 toll for the bridges or a $6-7 bart fare daily if they don't drive. Also housing market here is like $600,000 average right now. But I live in a bad apartment with a roomie in a nice area and we split $1100 rent, that I think is like living for free when you consider most rents. I concur however that it would be impossible to leave this place, everytime I think "oh man it would be so much cheaper in -you name the state-" I remember all the lovely california things and can't imagine my life elsewhere.

I live in CA which means no early reporting of scores. Anyways I have been checking daily on the online site for my license but it hasn't come up yet. I took my test last week on 6/21/05 and felt bad about the whole thing. Mind you I did well on Kaplan tests, my school only does computerized testing and I never failed one of those, so despite my negativity everyone is piling on the false reassurance. I called last week to make sure everything was in. I was so frustrated that I called back today and asked "I wanted to know if all my paperwork was in so I will receive my license?" The lady replied "oh you should receive it in the mail in 7-10 working days" To which I replied "which will I receive my notice of results and then a license if I pass?" So she said "No, you will receive a license card and a wall hanging copy separately in 7-10 days." I then said thank you. Now I know that they cannot tell you whether you passed or not but, many a rumor suggests that they will tell you in code all the time. So my question is, is "No you will receive a card and license separtely in 7-10 days" code for "yup you passed, cause I know thats what you are really asking anyways"? Ahhhh life in California never ceases to be mysterious... Thanks for all your input cookie78

Hey congrats pie! How did you find out? Was it already updated with the CA BON? I took mine the same day as you and I am dying to find out, but so far it hasn't come up on their site.

I am a new grad as of yesterday Yeah me! Anyway I have job offer for both labor and delivery and er and I cannot decide what to do. There are some other influencing factors such as the er job is at my current hospital where I work as a secretary and is just down the street from my house and it is pm shift, but it is a small er with no trauma etc. (something I am interested in) while I know that this is a good stepping stone to finding a trauma job in the future. The L and D job is about 15 miles from my apartment, I have to cross a bridge and pay either 3-5 $ toll each day and it is night shift... but I had a senior preceptorship in L and D so I know it is something I like and it will be an amazing wonderful training program unlike the er which is a little loose on their training program. In one way I feel like the er job is convenient, and I know the computer system, and I am young and this is the time to do it, but on the other I feel like this is one of the best L and D training programs out there and I could use a change of scenery and would enjoy meeting new people. I also have no direct experience in er and so do not know if it is really for me. These are the two areas I have always had an interest in and I never expected to get both opportunities at one time. Any ideas on how to help make my decision? I am a very flexible person who does not make very many enemies and am generally able to find something I love about every place I have been throughout my clinicals, so in some ways I feel that I will be happy either place because it is my choice to do so, but I can't help but feeling that I will leave a good opportunity behind either way. Let me know what you think thanks!

Hey just bumping my post so maybe someone will reply! Especially some of the 50 or so onlookers. thanks!

I am wondering about all of the ED's out there, so I can make a decision about where to work. In the area where I live there are 2 trauma centers (one level one-county hospital), and many many other smaller ER's. I am not sure what to expect with these in general. So I have a few basic questions that all of you more experienced nurses may be able to answer What type of ED do you work in? What is the population you serve (urban, rural, affluent etc.)? What are common diagnoses you see? What makes it a great place to work? What makes it a horrible place to work? What type of ED would you recommend for a new grad? If you started in a smaller basic emergency services ER did you find it difficult to move to trauma later? Add any other comments you like and thanks in advance for your input.

I really know very little on the subject but my hospital (I am in northern california) where I work as a ward clerk (I am also a nursing student) hired 2 new grads from Canada on a long term 2 year travel contract and trained them in our new grad program(8-10 weeks) so good deals are out there, if you like 2 years of night shift in a foreign country.

I am so glad to hear all the support you have offered me! TrueSN yes it is frustrating when students ask questions that they know the answer to just to "show off", equally frustrating are the ones who ask questions easily answered if they are keeping up with homework, but I would take the true clarification or reading questions over the show offs anyday. I will have to mention a trip to Siberia as a grad present (it might be worth the money to get here out of the country so she can see that there are other people in the world with more drama than her.) MommyLaura...just out of curiosity what increases Siberian's chances of PIH is it genetic or climate related? thanks again everyone and keep the wakko stories coming I can't help but find so much more humor in them now than ever!

Wow Jolie, That is really unfortunate that the nurse decided you were her personal counselor...I feel that it is so unprofessional tell personal life/ work related experience stories to the patients. Also she was there to support YOU right? A major block to therapeutic communication is telling your patients personal information. Its funny sometimes I am hesitant to tell my nurses and doctors that I am a student because I think it changes how they conduct their care, and it does open them up to the opportunity to "talk shop". I do agree that the unfortunate thing is my classmate may give us a bad rep. I'm sure it more than a little codependent but we are all embarrassed for her and are fearful of the guilt by association. Thank you for responding and sharing your story I really needed to know that I am not the only person out there with this problem, and that I wasn't just being heartless...there really are genuine wakkos. I mean this genuinely...I just realized it might seem sarcastic since I was dogging storytellers...but this is the proper place. It isn't as though I don't want to hear stories, just when it is appropriate.

Sorry to start a vent but I had to get it out somewhere...I am a nursing student in my 3rd semester (maternity and pediatrics). I have a particular classmate that always interrups class with personal stories and is very attention needy. The professors have learned to manage her somewhat decently but there are still many times that she derails lecture and we loose so much ground we can't finish (during our psych rotation we all felt as if she used class as group therapy). She is very attention needy and always has a story to top yours. She so desperately wants to be an ob nurse and it is killing her that she is in pediatric clinicals first (we rotate every 8 weeks so the class is split in 2 and we switch from maternity to peds or vice versa halfway.) She has many horror stories and lots of "someone told me" or "my son..." She had every possible complication during her own pregnancy and delivery and we have all heard about it 400 times. Today when she "ratted" on another "bad nurse" from a friend's delivery the instructor responded by saying "we don't want to spread misinformation so lets move along" . Most of the students in class, including me, bow our heads so we can keep from making faces or outright laughing at how out of control she is. Anyway the kicker of all this is that she told me " I hope I get a pre-eclamptic patient who's baby is frank-breech, and needs an emergency c/s...this would be my ideal patient because I could offer her so much since this was what happened to me and the nurses were just bleepity-bleep-bleep rotten." I was just stunned. I didn't know what to say. But I feel that I would never wish these things on anyone for my own benefit or whatever. I also just wanted to yell at her "ITS NOT ABOUT YOU!" and tell her to get some much needed therapy. Anyway sorry to bore you all but I can't help but feel that this person would not necessarily be a benefit to moms-to-be when she hasn't sorted her own issues out. Just looking for what other people's experiences have been...have you encountered these types and does it scare you that they may be ob nurses someday?

my annoyances come from staff: predisone-prednisone doctors/surgeons who spell gauze-guaze what were the pt's O2 stats phenagrin msra instead of mrsa The ones who say that an ECG isn't the same as an EKG ah well I could go on but thats enough for now.