Mantibob

Wow _ great advice! Any additional advice? I was hoping there was a step-by-step guide. I would even consider hireing a job coach to help me walk thru the CA state prison hireing process. What do you think?

Moldova - thanks for post. As you can see by my age, children/family are not as big a constraint as they would be for some one a little younger. One of the bennies of getting older. --Robert

ZENMAN - thanks for your posts. I do think this is a great option. Please see private msg. Thanks again. --Robert

Don't own a home so thats not a worry. See the kids/family the other six months while in U.S.

I think I like this other option!!

when i first made this post i had no idea it was such an issue for so many nurses. i have read all your posts and have learned a great deal. hippa will continue to be an area of possible missuse by hopitals and agencies untill we have more detailed direction from the govt. untill than - be careful! --robert

I am playing with the idea that a RN could live in an inexpensive place over seas and work in the us for six months out of the year. If the place one was living had a low cost of living, mexico, latin america, etc... Any thoughts? Anyone doing this? Thanks in advance for your responses. --Robert

here is my situation. i am a new rn, graduated in april, 2005. eight months experience in a tele unit. after spending time with some dialysis nurses and reading the great posts on this site, i have decided to look into becoming a dialysis nurse. part of the process for getting the position i want at a local clinic is to be interviewed by an rn. if you have any advice specific to doing well in this interview - i would be much appreciative. are there specific questions i should anticipate? what areas should i study to be prepared for questions? any basic/intro books to dialysis nursing i should get? i will be very grateful to any ideas related to this interview you might want to impart. thanks

NephroBSN, Great advice! Thanks again.

Krup, Thanks for the info and advice. I WILL be looking into dialysis.

NephroBSN Wow! What a great reply to my question. I have a much better understanding now. Thank you. You probably guessed why I was asking. I work on Tele and the Dialysis RN just out of no where said - "Have you thought of being a Dialysis Nurse?" "You are very compassionate with your patients and they like you - these are qualities that make a great Dalysis Nurse". Of course I was flattered, but it got me to asking the nurse a little about the job - next thing I knew she was taking my name down and giving me her boss's phone number to call for an interview. I really do not know what to expect or even if I should interview, I just graduated and have only been on the floor seven months. Any advice? And thanks again for your great response to my questions. --Robert

I am not familiar with Dialysis. When a dialysis nurse says he/she is an acute dialysis nurse or chronic dialysis nurse, what are they saying? Different specialties? Different areas? Different kinds of patients? How are the day-to-day job duties different? examples? Just trying to learn more about this interesting area of nursing. Any info you can give me is appreciated. --Robert

i will be a new grad in may! i will be living in salt lake city when i pass the boards. pay is not all that hot in utah. question - what if i worked per diem, or casual or whatever they call it, in the san francisco bay area every other week? i could work 4 12s every other week and make a lot more. the flight is cheap and i have relatives/friends i could stay with. i could do this in sacramento also, (where i am from originally), but i want to be near the ocean. ideally i would want to be in the monterey bay area but guessing it would be harder to find a position there. anyway, the real question is - would any hospital hire a new grad under these circumstances or do they require you to be local permanent hire when you are fresh out of school? i look forward to your responses and thank you in advance.

What a great opportunity for you! I have visited there in the past and just fell in love with both the country and the people! I will be a US grad in May. Any advice on how to get job offers in Australia? Thanks

If you here of anything let me know and I will do the same.

My school uses the ATI Exam as the "Exit" exam that all students must pass to graduate. Does anyone know anything about this exam? Is there a "look-alike" exam out there that helps you prepare for it? I guess this is what I am looking for. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

i was told "nurses eat their young" i have found this to be true especially for nursing instructors!!! as far as i can tell they are more interested in insuring that nursing school is as much hell for their students as it was for them!!!! if they cared about actually passing on knowledge they actually have(?) they would teach it - not give a basic 2 hr lecture covering 700 pages of a text book and then make the entire 700 pages, that were hardly even covered in the lecture, testabke. if you ask them go give you a little focus for the test it usually goes like this-"oh, everything i covered in lecture and all the assigned reading, any questions". i even had an instructor tell us that any materials that came along with the textbook, (cd, handouts, references), were also testable. this is an effort to see if we can live without sleep! by the way not a single student has received an "a" in any nursing class i have attended for three semesters. i overheard two nursing instructors speeking in tones of great pride over this accomplishment!!!!! (their words)

From a 45 year old finishing my ADN. Like virtually any degree offered by almost all colleges its just a money making opportunity for the college. Let me explain: Colleges offer classes, some required, some elective. They make a lota money on these classes. Most of it is used for administration pay and to cover their losses in the various sports programs they need (?) to support, football, basketball, lacrosse, field hockey, etc... Are these classes really necessary to perform at an entry level in the career you have chosen? Questionable. Take nursing for an example. There is an entry exam to the career of nursing that all nurses must take, (NCLEX) (The Boards). It is very conceivable that anyone with the right study materials, (Kaplan), could pass this exam with flying colors. Of course the nursing field has made it a requirement that you have a nursing degree to pass it. But, I have been having some interesting conversation with hospital hiring managers, (nurses), who tell me that they "expect me to have no nursing knowledge" on hire date, because they have preceptorships or training programs where "they will train me every thing I need to know". Virtually every hospital nurse I have talked to have expressed there very little expectation in nurse grads, some have even expressed their down right disgust in the minimal skills and knowledge new nursing grads have. The whole college degree program is just a big scam made to make more money for colleges and pay the salaries of nursing instructors who are burned out of doing real nursing or are incompetent of doing real nursing, remember the old saying "those who can not do - teach". If there is one saving grace to nursing school it would be the clinicals where at least you learn real world hands on procedures. Of course that is the way nurses used to be trained - Hospital Diplomas - Which produced a lota great nurses and with none of the college BS and I do mean B.S.

Good points

Good points - well taken. Maybe I getting a little carried away with all this.

This is a clear cut HIPAA Violation. If you reported her to the HIPAA officer you would totally be within your right to do so. If you want to be nice you could speak to her and let her know of your concerns. If she seems sorry and admits to making a mistake than you could let it lie. If she is unrepentant - report her! Maybe she would learn a lesson and not continue this behavior in the future. In any case I am sorry you had to go thru this. I hope it all works out for the best in the end.

I see your point, but maybe we should be concerned with something that has the potential for the loss of our license. If you ever get falsely accused it would be very benifical to know your rights and what actions you can take to defend yourself. The HIPAA Officer and committee are not going to tell you. Not knowing could result not just in your loss of employment but the loss of your license and thus the loss of your entire career.

Good reply. I can see form your response that we need to get these answers. Thanks

Good point! Thanks

Thanks for your reply. You have given me new insight about this. It being so new it is probably open to a lot of interpretations and misinterpretations. I am sure over time a lot of my concerns will disappear as these gray areas will become more clear. I am not so upset as concerned. I have not had a chance to the website but will soon. Thanks again