LETRN

Ditto above, I would be here all day if I detailed everything In a nutshell, administering meds (sometimes mixing my own drips), assisting the ER physician with laceration repairs and lumbar punctures, running a code, monitoring critically ill patients, splinting, and on and on. I love the ER, such a huge diversity...and you get to learn a little about everything.

Hi all :) I graduated from a BSN program in May, passed my NCLEX-RN the following June. I've been working in an ER in the midwest since then and love every minute of it! I'm married and have a 6 and 7.5 year old, and work FT nights.

I got my BSN from a private college and initially owed about $42,000. I signed a 4 year agreement with the hospital where I work and they paid off $10,000. I'm on the extended repayment plan and pay about $100 more a month then the minimum...my payment is around $300.

I opted out of benefits at my workplace in order to be paid 25% more (it comes out to about $5 more an hour). The insurance offerred wasn't that great anyway, monthly premium for a family was around $250 with a $1,500 deductible per person. My kids are insured through my husband, we pay around $150 a month for dental for all of us and medical for the little ones. My husband's premium is payed by his employer, and I'm insured through a private plan for $110 a month.

Count me in as another who doesn't understand the Friday shift = weekend. You can obviously do what you want and contact who you want, but you asked for input and you received it. It makes me homicidal to come on this board and see people ask for advice then become defensive and weepy when it's not what they want to hear. If contacting the ADA will benefit your life and you're ok with backlash from your coworkers, go for it. I know that if I worked with someone with a mental illness that used it to get out of working weekends, I would be ******. We all have physical, mental, and/or situational issues that would be improved if we could be off on certain days...but that's not the reality of the profession of nursing.

I was told in my interview to expect nights, which I assumed would happen and I was fine with it. After my 16 week orientation they offerred me a midshift position (11a-11p), but I chose to take the 7p-7a instead. It's a little slower pace, more autonomy, more money per hour, and I see my children more then I would with the midshift. So it's not a given that you'll have to work nights, but I would prepare for that to be the case and if you're offerred a day slot then you'll be pleasantly surprised

Dude, there is no way...you would never sleep! And the cat napping you would get with two 2 year olds would be minimal. I have a 6 and 7 year old (both in school), get home at 8am, and have to get up at 2:30pm in order to pick them up on time. It kicks my butt, and my butt is further kicked during school holidays when they're home with me because I'm too cheap to pay a bunch of teenagers $80 to watch them in the school's out program. Not to be all Debbie Downer on you, but there is no way you could pull that off successfully that I can see.

There are several advanced nursing protocols in place that we're allowed to implement without an order, and there have been many times when I've had a patient (usually female) complaining of vague or nonspecific arm or shoulder pain that I will call for an EKG. It's a noninvasive procedure and our physicians would rather us err on the side of caution than to sit and wait for one of them to show up and order it.

Working with techs/aides that have been at their job longer than I've been alive, and think because of it they should be calling the shots. If you want to be the nurse you should have gone to NURSING SCHOOL. Tools.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Bonus! Good one!

We were not allowed to do them on eachother either...which is why I sucked at it big time in school. I had one opportunity in clinicals at school do start an IV, and it was a major FAIL. Luckily it is an easily acquired skill, and after a few weeks at my new job after graduation I was pretty proficient.

We do all of our own lines...if something is especially difficult and we can't find anything even on the feet or EJ, we use the ultrasound and someone in the departmenet that is credentialed will use it. I don't work inpatient so I may be asking an obvious question, but why aren't floor nurses allowed to start IVs at your facility? I've never heard of that

The base pay at the hospital I work for is $17.25...I'm in the Midwest. I'm a new nurse as well and make $25/hr because of a program in which I can opt out of benefits at work (25% added on my base pay), $3.25/hr night differential, and $.50/hr for having my BSN. From what I have heard, anywhere from $17-20/hr is pretty normal nationwide for nurses just starting out. I'm sure it's more on the coasts and in cities where the cost of living is ridiculous.

I do dosage calc everyday. When I worked on an inpatient floor I never did...pharmacy prepared everything and it was all packaged nicely and neatly in the exact dose. The IV pumps were preprogrammed with the recommended rate, etc. I'm in ER now and we mix all of our own drips (Epi, Nitro, Dopamine, Insulin, etc) so they are not in the dosage amounts that match what is programmed into the pumps...so we have to figure mcgs/min into mls/hr, etc.

Graduated with my BSN in May of 2010 and started working on June 1st, passed NCLEX on June 17th. I had my job secured before I graduated I'm in Missouri.