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.

I've been on nights for a couple of months, and the transition is brutal I had good luck with taking a nap during the afternoon of the first day of my 3 in a row, and every night on my way to work I make a big cup of coffee and take it with me on the drive. I also use Melatonin when I get home in the morning, it helps tremendously.

I've done the same as well, but like the previous poster said I don't turn off the infusion (granted it's compatible). If I'm giving something that needs a longer push (like Compazine or Pepcid), I put it in a 50cc bag of NS and run it so I don't have to stand there for 4 or 5 minutes.

I don't sign RN unless it's on verbal or telephone orders...I don't really see the need to do it on anything else, but that's just me. I'm proud of my BSN, but that would just be overkill

I would say, 'CLEARLY you do not know who I am. If you did, you would know that I'm pretty much a big deal...hence the reason I get paid more.' Some people just need to know how important I actually am, and it's my pleasure to inform them.

My advice would be to take ACLS...if your employer doesn't offer it, look into taking it on your own. It really helped me with my confidence during codes.

May 2010 BSN I had a job secured in April before I graduated ER Missouri

They have our L&D nurses take PALS because they routinely float to the nursery and Peds. But everywhere is different :) Someone said it before, but ACLS is advanced cardiac life support.

If you've got a good line in and the fluids are going in quickly, I don't think it's necessary to pinch it while pushing the med...I never do. I give it from the highest hub in the line and push it in slowly.

I feel like at this point I can make it through a shift without screwing up or killing anyone, but I don't feel 100% in some things. I compensate for feeling that way by making sure that I DO know what I'm doing and if I don't, asking someone who does before I do it. The great thing about the ED is that it is such a team oriented environment...I don't ever feel like I'm in the weeds if I have something critical come in.

I wouldn't let the crappy job market keep you from shooting for the areas that you really want, because those areas do hire even if it's few and far between at the moment. I agree with whoever suggested ACLS, and I also recommend PALS which you would need for both ER and L&D. Other than that there really isn't much you can do besides network, network, network while you're in school, and/or look into an externship or even employment as a tech in those departments.