NoblePath

I have no idea, I wouldn't have guessed that. I'm guessing your job is harder to replace than a care partner? Transfer on the medical side seem to be easy to do. I just transferred myself.

Hey there, I work in Nashville. I moved a few years ago after 1.5 years of experience. I got a job right away, but I didn't have a lot of options. Do you currently work in a hospital? What specialty are you in? I'd say that it's good that you have 1 year of experience because that seems to be the magical number they look for. I can't speak for everywhere, but Vanderbilt is hiring a ton of bedside nurses right now because the turnover is high. They recently changed a lot of the benefits and decreased them so I'm guessing that people aren't driving as far as they were to work there and working close to home elsewhere. If you have any questions feel free to shoot me a PM.

I'd say to do whatever is best for you. You should take a good hard look at what you want in life and make your own decision. No one else can say what is best for you.

I am in a graduate program and I'm a Vanderbilt employee. Here is Vanderbilt's website that talks about non-nursing degrees to MSN in nursing: Pre-Specialty Entry | Master of Science in Nursing | Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.

I thought I'd share this story, because I'm sure there is another nurse who may be in a similar position. I entered the nursing world inspired by an amazing nurse who took care of my sister who died from cancer. Recently a lot of things have happened, and I have had to change a lot of my career and long term plans. I was really wrecked with anxiety and many other feelings. It looked like I was going to have to change specialties in order to find what was best for me at this time. I was dreading leaving this patient population, but I was on the verge of taking another position in a totally different specialty. I was driving down the road, and I felt my sister's presence. This may sound crazy, but I've felt it rarely since she died. The next thing I know my phone rings, and I am asked to interview for an oncology position that sounds like a perfect fit. This job was not posted. My resume was passed along I guess. I can't help but wonder if she was smiling somewhere along the way. Life has thrown me a lot of curve balls recently, but I found peace in this.

I have an interview coming up with TN oncology and just wanted to hear what you've heard or if you're a former or current staff nurse there. They seem like they've grown a lot. What were the pros and cons?

Does your employer have an EAP program? I'm just suggesting this so you could talk it out with someone? This is a very tragic event, and you did everything you could do. I'm sorry this happened.

I'm so glad you found some work and thanks for the encouragement. I'm re-framing my thinking and looking on the bright side. I just need to find another job.

I spoke with a few faculty members, and they said it'd be okay as long as I had the experience. I'm feeling a lot better about it, and I've seen some good progress in my healing process.

Thanks for the replies. I'm thinking about working in a clinic until I finish my master's and then maybe becoming a diabetes educator. I hate the idea of totally leaving the bedside, but I can't risk further injury or issues. The doctor I went to was through workman's comp and barely said anything. I'm going to ask the occupational therapist. I think they can give me a better idea.

Hi everyone, I've recently become injured with a repetitive use injury in both arms which will be a long recovery. I've found through research that bedside nursing with the heavy lifting will have to be stopped to ensure my recovery. I applied for entry to a master's in education program. If I can't work bedside anymore, should I abandon this effort? I really would like to teach students, or be an educator to patients. I also like the idea of a health coach as I'm athletic and a bit of a health nut. I have to decide soon because currently my employer is going to pay for my master's. If I quit and get a job elsewhere than I will have to pay for a master's on my own which isn't likely to happen. Thanks for any advice! (If it matters I already have a BSN and I have 4 years bedside experience.)

I worked for Ascension health the same corporation that owns St. Thomas in another state and it was a good company. The only thing I've heard is the benefits are better at Vanderbilt. We have a lot of former St. Thomas employees that work at Vandy. The pay is not the best in the area, but the benefits are pretty good. I've heard the VA is better, but this is all hearsay. If you have any specific questions about Vanderbilt feel free to send me a private message. Good luck on your search!

I relocated to the Nashville area about 2 years ago. I can tell you what I've heard over the past few years. The best areas to live are in west Nashville and south of Nashville (Brentwood and Franklin), most of sumner county (Hendersonville and Gallatin). These areas have higher incomes and better schools. As far as places to work the job market is a bit tight, but there are definitely jobs. The only place I've heard really bad things about it is Summit and Nashville General. I work at Vanderbilt, but they've done a lot of cutting back lately. What type of nursing do you do?

I am transitioning to day shift and so most doctors I've dealt with over the phone. I now work in an inpatient unit inside of a hospital. I've been screamed at by doctors over the phone finding out their patient was transferred to hospice and being told I'm committing "euthanasia" but how do you handle this in person? We just had a doctor who did a surgery on a patient scream at the hospice doctor accusing her of just this. Obviously they need an education because this is not what we're doing but I find cardiologists and neurologists are the most difficult. Oncologists understand completely. I just want some ideas so I can handle this in person.

As I go into pallative care/hospice nursing after working fresh out of college as an oncology nurse for 2.5 years, I feel compelled to write a "letter" to my former oncology patients. You all were some of the best patients I ever had. You showed me what is important in life. I watched you suffer through rounds of chemo and their side effects. I watched you bravely take this on with almost no complaining and with true strength. As I administered all your blood products, electrolytes, chemo and worried tirelessly that you'd see a cure, I discovered my talent for talking to you and your families when the chemo didn't work and making you comfortable. I'll be here still rooting for your cure, but I'll still be here if there isn't one. I'll be supporting you and your family as you make some of the hardest decisions you'll ever make. I'll respect you and your decisions and give you dignity. Most importantly, I'll never forget you. Thanks for the last 2.5 years!

I understand your concerns but you won't be giving any chemo. Chemo precautions are usually only for 48 hours post chemo administration. You have to be chemo certified to give chemo. Also a lot of patients on an oncology floor haven't had chemo within that 48 hour window. They may just be suffering side effects from the chemo or cancer itself. I'd be a lot more concerned at a chemo infusion center which I did go to in nursing school, but they didn't let me touch anything. Every hospital policy is different regarding chemo precautions. At my facility we double gloved, double flushed the toilet and double bagged trash. Also several chemo drugs are given on floors other than oncology for autoimmune conditions or other conditions so it's something you'll have to learn anyway.

We rarely do chemo and when we do it's usually palliative. Every once in awhile someone will get it overnight but usually those are the chemos that run continuously for an allotted time. We just rarely initiate a chemo regimen at night. I decided to go ahead and finish that certification. I'm still debating the rest because depending on where we live I may not get an oncology job.

My husband is looking for a new job and I'll have to go wherever he finds a job. I have no idea where we'll go. Everywhere he has found jobs to apply for I have found oncology positions open. I currently work in oncology with just over 1 year of experience on nights/evenings, I'd be willing to work any shift but prefer nights. So here's the question.. the markets I'll be applying into aren't as open as where I live. Do you think I should try to get my OCN while we're waiting for him to find a new job? Also I took chemo class and passed the exam but never finished my certification. I've read that a lot of hospitals do their own certification like mine did. Would I be wasting my time finishing this? We aren't allowed to give chemo at night. We did twice on evenings and all hell broke loose. Thanks for your opinions :)

I have 6 months experience on an oncology/palliative floor and one thing that the nurses that are precepting new nurses have complained about is when they are orienting a new nurse that is afraid to take opportunities to learn something and have no initiative. One nurse even asked not to be a preceptor to one new nurse that is orienting now because of this issue. Take every opportunity you can get to learn any procedure or watch a nurse educating even if it means you have to stay late to chart or if it inconveniences you. I took every opportunity and I'm glad I did and I'm respected for that. It's unbelievable how much learning you will do in a short amount of time.

I'm 6 months out of orientation and my preceptor was explaining currently orienting a new grad who seems to be in a very similar situation that you are in. My former preceptor has complained to me about her a few times and to other nurses and told me I was the easiest nurse she ever oriented. I explained to her that maybe their personalities didn't match and she agreed. The orientee did ask for a new preceptor and it was understood that their personalities/work styles didn't match. You only get one orientation, I don't think it would hurt to ask for another preceptor.

You can't consolidate with anyone but them. It's the new nationalized student loan system.

This is a form of a vent, but I also want to know if anyone else is having problems with errors that direct loans is making. I was lucky enough to get a job lined up immediately after graduation, and than direct loans started asking me to pay my payments earlier based on an error that they supposedly received from a college I attended in the past, and it is happening all over again. They are blaming the school, the school is blaming the new nationalized system that started this year. I am believing that direct loans is at fault because they are telling me a totally different story everytime I call. Am I the only one having these problems? I feel like they aren't held accountable because they're a government company.

I did my preceptorship in oncology and work on that same unit now. We have a mix of med surg overflow, oncology patients and inpatient hospice patients. Locally, I don't know about elsewhere but here you have to have this experience for 2 years before you can work at a place that only deals with delivering chemo at an outpatient chemo facility or an inpatient cancer treatment center. Is this your eventual goal?

Well I've since found out that a floor nurse has to accompany IV therapy and successfully complete 10 iv's before you can start them on your own. Also I work on an oncology floor and our pt's usually have ports or piccs but the patients that come up that are not oncology are sickle cell or iv drug users so these are people that are frequent flyers and are notorious hard sticks (we get the same sickle cell pt's over and over). It's not uncommon for these people to have an iv in the foot or a finger. So I guess the thinking is that they don't want us to attempt an iv on someone who is a notorious hard stick if you rarely ever start them. They also did some patient satisfaction survey and found that patients especially remember when their iv was started and it's an indicator or high or low satisfaction so they want as little of attempts as possible. It's still frustrating though.

The hospital I work at requires that iv therapy start iv's from about 7:30a-10:30pm. After that you have to call the nursing supervisor who finds a nurse from somewhere else like ICU, etc. The average floor nurse doesn't start IV's. I wonder what other places do about this? I had to throw out some plasma on a patient who was a hard stick because it took over an hour to get a new iv site. One night it took 3 hours to get an iv started because so many nurses called in on halloween night! I think it is ridiculous that they don't have just one iv therapy nurse overnight and I'm sure they could find things for them to do in between that'd be productive.