QTRN74

I moved to Charlotte from S. Florida and have been looking for a job since the end of September when I received my NC license. I have probably applied to over 20+ jobs and haven't received a single call for an interview! I feel like my resume is probably just floating in some human resource cloud somewhere not being sent to the intended department posting the job. I am an experienced nurse and have NEVER had any difficulty finding a job until now. I am now questioning our decision to move here...

Hi Rach, I am a graduate of NIU's school of nursing and I can say you have chosen a fantastic accredited school to attend! Getting your BSN right away is the best move you could make. Plus, living in DeKalb was fun too since it is a college town. Since graduation, I have worked in many different areas of nursing and it has always helped that I had my BSN. I recently went back to school and completed my MSN and now teach students just like what you will soon be. My mentor was from NIU and I really hope to be like her with my own students. My advice to you is to work hard in school and work part-time as a CNA or PCT while in college. This will assist you in getting that first job. Until then, if you are still in high school, then volunteer at your local hospital for that also looks good on both college interviews and also resume's. Feel free to PM me...I am always interested in helping a future students, especially NIU Huskies!

Did you have to fill out the part that needed to be notarized?

THank YOU SO MUCH FOR THE LINKS!!!

Thank you all for your responses. How did you go about finding your clinical site? I am going for nurse educator so I am assuming I would need to teach. We just moved to a new state and I unfortunately have no connections here.

I am starting the online MSN program at South University next month . All I can hope for is it to be uneventful. I am nervous about doing the whole thing "online"...not exactly sure how the clinical portion works yet...

Hi all, I am wondering if anyone has gotten a Virginia license via endorsement online. I moved here from IL and looked up how to do it and am not sure if I did it right. I paid the fee, filled out a few questions, and was told it is "pending". Now, is that it? Don't I need to fill out paperwork in PEN and submit it to the Board of Nursing? Isn't a notary required? I feel like it can't be this easy! I must have missed something. Anyone who moved to VA, not from a "compact" state...please tell me what you had to do to get a VA license. Thanks in advance.

Hi there, I just relocated to VA, but from IL. I just started the process to obtain a VA license. Did you do this already? Or are you a part of the "compact" states? If not, did you get your VA license yet? I ask this because it looks like you can do it all online...which is strange to me. I paid the fee, but feel like I should have done more... Let me know how your got your license! Thanks!

I am the wife of an active duty Naval officer and have wished MANY times that I had joined the Navy as a nurse back before we got married and had our kids! I don't know about the other branches, but the Navy treats their nurses like gold! I would only advise this if you have your bachelor's degree, that way you are automatically an Officer. You get paid great, you get to travel the world, work on an aircraft carrier (with cute Top Gun pilots and such), or do mission trips to areas in need of the USA's help. (That would be on a "hospital ship, which are REALLY cool). The Navy has many opportunities that I had NO CLUE about when I was a new nurse. Plus...they would have paid for my schooling or repaid my student loans! Sigh...if I could go back and do different...I would be a Navy Nurse!

I will be starting my MSN through South University online...this fall.

South University Online MSN program

I definitely think LPN is the way to go if you are interested in the medical field. Due to lack of trained instructors, colleges are turning away students who otherwise would be admitted into an RN program. Get some experience and start taking care of sick people! With the babyboomers on their way to retirement, LPN jobs will be plenty!

It is actually better in some cases. When I looked into it I found they were more accomadating to new grads...plus in some areas the pay is actually higher because you are an "Officer". :) If my husband wasn't already in it and we didn't have three kids, I would do it in a heartbeat!

I graduated in 1997 and my first ICU job we made our own KCL bags! We used 0.9NS and injected the 10,20, or 40meq's ourselves! Now that is NOT done anymore!!! Also, in ICU each nurse only was assinged ONE vented patient...now we can have up to three! We also were the only unit to have drips...now the regular tele, med-surg floors do some of the drips. We didn't have as many "specialty" beds, nor did we have so many obese patients needing them!

I would suggest going the RN route rather than X-ray, only because nurses have SO many options offered to them. If you have a weak stomach, then you go into an area with little blood (psych, doctor's office, phone triage, case management, legal nurse, insurance, x-ray special procedures...). If you start one area and find out it is not a good fit, then you try a different area. You don't get this flexibility with radiology. Good luck!

I graduated in 1997 and my first ICU job had us drawing up our own KCL bags! The vials were located next to the Lidocaine vials... We also only had ONE vented patient at a time...now we get 2-3 dending on census!

We pay well?? I figured it was just the Fillipino nurses who left their home country to work here... All I know is I am now making double what I did 9 years ago when I first graduated!

Hi there, I am a nurse who is returning to work after a three year break and I too have been questioned about what I have been doing and do I feel my clinical skills are still up to par. For me, I will just need a week or more of orientation to help me 'refresh', but for a new grad like you, and that is what you will be considered, your orientation will be longer anyway so do not lie. Most hospitals have a three month "new grad" program where they basically hold your hand and guide you through orientation. If after that time is up you still don't feel ready or they feel you are not ready, they just extend it. They extend it until you both feel you are ready. They will not put you out there as a liability if you are not ready. It is not safe for the patients and it is not safe for you. You passed the NCLEX, so congratulate yourself and just hit the road running with your degree. :balloons: Hospitals are searching high and low for RN's to fill the shortage...they will train you, do not fear that! Good luck!

Hi all, I am a nurse who took the past two years off while my kids were infants. Now that my youngest is almost one, I would like to find a job again part time so I don't lose all my skills. My question is, I had the certifications for CPR, ACLS, PALS, and TNCC. The only one still current is TNCC...do I still put the other three under "Certifications" on my resume since I "had" them? Or do I omit them all together? I want it known that I HAD them at one point, but don't want an employer to assume I have them currently when I don't. So how do I word it on a resume?

i started my undergrad as a "pre-med" major at a major university with a top notch medical school. after the first year of prereqs i realized i didn't have what it took to be a physician. that and i also hated physics! so my major switched from biology to nursing. my advice to you is to go for either a bio, phys, or chem degree and then do many hours of volunteering at a hospital while also keeping up your gpa. if this does not work, you can go into physician assistant school or surgical assistant school. i would also suggest "shadowing" a doctor and/or a nurse for a few hours to see what they do. this can give you some insight as to what exactly the jobs entail. there are also many other paths you can take in the medical field. i think someone said this, but nurses and doctors do very different things. the scope of practice is different as is the time. good luck to you and if you really want to be a doctor...do it!

I love to precept, but I hate it when I get a student who acts like she/he knows more than I do. I also get annoyed when a student is lazy and does not do her homework. In my hospital the student's teacher comes the night before to the hospital to pick out assignments and then calls the students to inform them of their patients for the next day. If a student does not look up a diagnosis prior to coming, she is failing the patient she is taking care of. Example: I had a patient who had a colonoscopy performed for necrotic bowel. The student was shocked (in front of the patient) that he had a "bag down there". She looked very unprofessional. Also, look up all medications BEFORE giving them. Know exactly what each is for and double check the dose! Lastly, SMILE! Patients want to see "happy" faces taking care of them...not scared, angry, or even depressed staff. Good luck to you!

Skokie, $26, ER ($2 shift diff) and tuition reimbursment only if you are fulltime

...let me know what you find out. I am a nurse in the Chicago area relocating to Ohio in July.

What is "TCU" and "TWU"?

Would you say that working in a teaching hospital would be "less" stress in the sense that there would always be an MD just a phone call away if not already sitting in the unit? Although, I am sure teaching hospitals would see more "high" risk patients, which would be more educational for a transferring nurse...any opinions? Thanks!