QueenMangin

What state are you in?

I would be most concerned about your health. Having autoimmune can be exacerbated by stress and nursing school, family, work; sounds like a recipe for stress. Is there a way to regroup and cut back on your hours at work, ask for more support from family and get back in the saddle next semester? You can still do this but just might need to restructure some things. Don't waste time beating yourself up or comparing yourself to your peers. Just keep thinking positive and recognize that you are doing your absolute best in a challenging situation. Every time you berate yourself for "failing" then re-frame it and say "it didn't work out the way I was doing it so now I'll make changes and can still be successful." And then believe it.

I graduated with my ADN 5 years ago. I did 1.5 years on a Tele floor and 8 months in home health. For the past 2.5 years, I've been working in a residential facility with a specialty population of adolescents with eating disorders. I pass meds and use therapeutic communication, run groups, etc but basically use almost none of my clinical skills. I am thinking of trying to get back to more clinical setting even though it makes me a little anxious and my previous experiences were not enjoyable. I am thinking an LTC might be better because even though the patient ratio sounds insane, there is a little more stability in the residents i.e. they are longer term. I'm just not sure which direction to go. Should I take a refresher course ($$$) or rely on hospital orientation? And what exactly should I expect from a hospital for a new hire? I am interested in getting my MSN but not sure what discipline. I enjoy communication, education, and assessing more. I'm in a weird space where I'm not a new grad but I feel I could benefit from a transition program. I think I'd really do well if I could shadow/precept with another nurse to get my confidence back up. And transitioning into a different area of nursing, like hospice or palliative care, it seems like everyone prefers a certificate or experience. Any advice or suggestions?

Absolutely unequivocally emphatically YES! Seeing the invasive things we do to people on a daily basis because the family and doctor are unable to let go or even uninformed is horrible. Futile, undignified, painful procedures are not only disturbing but a gross misuse of resources. I always try to bring up hospice and palliative care options with families; they are not always receptive but sometimes I hope it at least gets them thinking.

I am wondering how you are doing now? I just read your post and I can relate. I am awesome with patients and I'm very smart but I don't know if it's nerves or if I just don't "have" it but it seems so overwhelming the amount of knowledge required and all the additional tasks to complete. I worked on Tele for a year and a half. I'm working on my BSN now but wondering where I fit in in nursing and I just was wondering if it ever got easier for you or if you found a better specialty more suited to you. I think it must have something to do with our training? Else, how could we get through nursing school, pass boards, work at a job and still suck/be freaked out? lol.

UGH! The FLOOR! ewww I can't even imagine what types of nasties are growing there...

We're up to 8 Rights...

Yeah I agree - lose the seminars. Lose the certifications, etc that aren't related to nursing/healthcare. Lose the jobs that aren't related to healthcare... in your cover letter, you can pump up your experience as a team leader, etc., which is very valuable. I know you're proud of your accomplishments but you need to clear out some of the clutter....

Ok, I'll take the bait. Yeah man, if you smoke - you have got to do that on the down low. Excessive perfume or cologne should be a no-no, especially like OP said when patients are already nauseated. Exploding hair or crazy hair color, I would only care about hair as it relates to infection control... you don't want to be doing wound cleaning and your hair is all over the place. What else was in there? Oh fingernails - yeah we are told to not ever wear nail polish and no no no fake nails - for increased risk of infection/transmission. Body odor, sometimes it can't be helped but I believe you got to tell someone, nicely, diplomatically - although some people have no control over that...

Maybe summarize your work experience as it isn't relevant in itself... something like "10 years of customer experience, conflict resolution" or something like that? I haven't seen goals on a resume... you maybe could list those in the cover letter?

I'm ok with her referring to herself as a nurse. She is a nurse. If she said she was an RN, then I'd have a problem with it.

I graduated with an ADN from a "really good school" and my clinical experiences were terrible. Our instructors were responsible for up to 12 people on two different wings - it's was chaos and for me, it didn't work out well. I sort of managed to slip through the cracks without getting very much hands-on experience at all. We were supposed to have a preceptorship for our final rotation, which I think would have helped me a lot - but we never did. A lot of people were successful in clinicals and felt ready to start nursing. Me, I'm terrified. I passed all my classes easily and I know that I possess talents that you can't teach but it's the technical aspect that's causing me concern. I know the knowledge is in there - I just get nervous and tense up. I've been out of school now 5 months and have applied to so many new grad programs that I have to keep a spreadsheet of them all. I really believe with the proper support and encouragement, like the transition help you get in a new grad program would be excellent for me and bring out my abilities but those programs are only taking people with experience, with advanced degrees, with tons of certifications. In fact, to me, it seems like some of those people might be fine with a more traditional orientation and training. So I wonder are the hospitals focusing on the right people for these extensive training programs? What does that say about me? What happens to someone like me? I got into nursing because I wanted a career where I felt like I was doing something important, where I could advocate for patients, encourage people, educate communities, and continue to learn and grow. Is it possible that I managed to get into nursing school, get through it with honors and being well-liked and respected by my peers and instructors, but not really be "nurse material." Is that possible? I feel like I've made a big mistake. I feel like I want someone to hold my hand for a few weeks, really take their time with me and I know I would thrive under the encouragement but everyone says nursing isn't like that... it's sink or swim. So what happens to people like me? People who maybe want to wear a life vest for a little while? Does that mean we don't have the right stuff? Not sure what to do with this shiny new (getting older) degree.

I agree with Ashley... it's such a tough market right now, anything you can do to make yourself familiar to an employer would be great. As an employee, you may be able to get a coveted New Grad spot - anything you can do to make yourself more marketable, I say go for it!