joemomma35

Boohoo, women are victims. There shouldn't be any issue with a guy helping to lift as long as he's able, I agree with that, of course. But do yourself a favor and stop repeating (incorrectly) that liberal BS that women get paid 78 cents on the dollar as men for the same job. Do you know any female nurses that make 78% less than the males for the same exact position? I don't. That study was done for all men and all women regardless of profession, and there are many reasons why.

I'd just do some OT to make up the difference.

Why do I see a chip on your shoulder? Practically everyone in healthcare works their asses off, there's no reason to pit yourself versus another group. Many nurses in general need to cut it out with the me-first attitude.

Try not to get your panties in a bunch. The forum is here because there's a minority of men in the field. Women still invade the forum regardless.

I'm surprised that's your first death. What specialty are you in? ICU/ER?

I'd go with DON if you have further ambitions. If you don't plan on advancing and would prefer less of a headache and more money, then become a supervisor.

I know it took me at least a month to get my license in NJ. It's got to be one of the worst states in this regard. Still, you should call them about it.

It's normal for your time management to be weak. It's just part of being new. It just takes time and experience, seeing the same types of situations, anticipating problems before they arise, learning the environment and computer programs through time, etc. You'll notice yourself getting better each and every week, month, for years. Some nurses may incorrectly attribute it to problems with you as a person, but as long as you're improving and learning from their mistakes, just do your best to ignore their idiocy.

Many state boards of nursing will let you look up online what the cause of license actions were for nurses. Usually they're drug/alcohol related, not paying child support or loans in the states we talked about, etc. I haven't heard of any from med errors or basic mistakes.

Take the above advice, but don't count your chickens before they hatch. Either way, what you're possibly being presented with is what we refer to as one of those "good problems." If you're in a situation where you get offered the step-down but can't get an offer from the ICU in time, just take the step-down job. You have your whole career to transfer later (one year is not unreasonable at all), and it's really easy to move around in nursing once you have experience.

It's funny. I think RNs who work as many hours as the DONs make almost the same amount of money. Sometimes more.

You need LTC experience to become a director in a LTC setting, it only makes sense. The MSN will look great on paper. You can be a supervisor, unit manager, ADON, etc. You need to be familiar with MDS. Acute care experience absolutely helps.

It's an advantage in some specialties for sure. It might be a disadvantage on a med-surg unit if they might smell the ambition and desire to move to the ER/OR/ICU in a year. Experience is still the key regardless.

Funny, of course, how marijuana is the most harmless drug out of all the illegal drugs, yet it's what almost everyone who fails a drug test gets nailed for. One day the attitude will hopefully change towards recreational use off the job. Until then, take the advice of the above posters. Any time you get a new job you can expect a drug test. Usually it's during the physical, but I've had an employer ask me to pee in a cup the same day I interviewed because the recruiter had to travel far to the site and knew she would hire me. Employers can also randomly drug test you, but that is very rare. Usually they won't do it unless they suspect that you're impaired on the job or want to find a reason to fire you, especially if the place is unionized and needs documentation to fire employees.

Like the above poster said, if the market is tough in your area, move out and get experience elsewhere for a year if it's an option for you. There is always a bull market somewhere, even if it's out in the boonies. Also, don't be afraid of nursing homes/rehab centers. They are easier to get into and experience on a sub-acute unit is very similar to med-surg experience. Two phone interviews really isn't bad for one month of searching as someone with no experience. At least you're getting something. Also, try calling up the unit managers on the units you applied for and stating your interest in their position. It's much more effective than calling HR.

I do it. Here's a list of pros and cons of doing per-diem only. Pros: Awesome flexibility - you can take off whenever you want and you're not held to one place or one unit. More $ per hour If you lose one job you still have another one, it gives you more leverage if things go poorly Cons: You don't get your own unit as a per diem, in some fields of nursing this can be a big disadvantage because you always get new patients. Scheduling can be tough, sometimes you end up with the crappy shifts that nobody wants No benefits - You pay for your own health insurance out of pocket and don't get PTO. You can make it work between several jobs; it's important to find out with their scheduling requirements are before you accept the job. Try to find a place with a lot of need (bigger facilities). Some require a certain amount of shifts a month unless you tell them you'll be gone a while - most require certain holidays and a weekend a month but they may be flexible with which holidays you have to do. Overall I like it a lot, but it's not for everyone.

Sounds like she's ugly and crabby and you're young and attractive. Or it could be something else. Usually that level of vitriol comes from something that emotionally afflicts that kind of person. Either way, play some workplace politics just to defend yourself. Get on the good side of people. Meet with the DON in private, give her your side of the story, and tell her that you're learning as you go. She will probably say different things than when she's around the NP. Everyone has been a new grad and new grads always make mistakes. Read about what you're seeing at work to touch up your knowledge; especially if you are doing the same LTC unit and have time to look through your patients' diagnoses at home. Everyone goes through crap their early years in this field. If it remains this bad, look for a new job on the side. A lot of LTC facilities have piss poor management.

For the first few weeks I responded to this by just being more quiet, feeling almost like I was walking on eggshells with everyone. But I got tired of that. I felt really aggressive when I got home and I was starting to dislike the job. So I stopped doing that. Also medserver, I agree. I'm still working on that because I'm new to the field. They cannot doubt my dedication to the job and a lot of my talent though. I come to work to work. I don't cause any trouble for the managers (i.e. the gossip and backstabbing that's happening to me). The worst I do is have some fun and joke around...god forbid. They know my utility to the place though, and they know I'm great with patients. The picture I'm looking to paint is that I'm a very good worker that just happens to work with a bunch of gossipy females. I haven't heard anything since the original post. It doesn't mean nothing is being said, I doubt a lot has really changed. I just don't think it's a big priority for them. Maybe they only told me about it because I had to sit down for a performance review. The biggest change I've made is just being better at figuring out who would complain about petty things and who wouldn't. I can't tell you how many things are said to me that I just brush off.

Like I said, with a lot of women managers you get the kind of crap mentioned above. It's like elementary school at your job. A lot of them don't even realize they're encouraging it, but they are. The fact that they only said this to me during performance evaluation might also mean that they just did this out of necessity. Performance evaluations always mean a review of the good and bad that they see and hear. I was asked to attend a class several months down the road, so that's a very good sign.

Because the government says so.

It takes experience to become efficient at getting out on time. My first 6 months or so, I was considerably later than my coworkers and I ate a lot of crap over it. I was also very thorough and assigned to the most challenging units in my facility, and I made sure that the management knew that. Eventually everything became second nature and I was pretty consistent at getting out at a reasonable time as long as nothing major came up. If they're really on you a lot, then just clock out early on some late nights. It's not fun to work for free, but you're still in the learning stage and it's much better to be able to keep your job than to lose it over a few hours a week of lateness. Try to be open with the manager about it, tell her you're learning and trying your best to get out earlier. I wouldn't necessarily mention that you plan on clocking out early, because they legally cannot encourage you to do that. And do your best to not openly complain about it. No hospital wants to pay out the extra money to someone who is consistently late, even if it's not really your fault - you're new, and practically every new graduate has those feelings of self doubt.

In a lot of cases yes, especially if you're muscular and/or present yourself with confidence. But not always. Of course, it also means that in some cases they're more afraid to say things to your face if they don't like something you do. Which means you don't have a chance to defend yourself, especially if they're in the wrong. Go figure.

Yup, you definitely need to watch out around female coworkers. There are those who don't care, there are those who make you think that they don't care, and then there are those who will go ahead and report the first thing that offends them. And there are many of them. There are some men that do that as well, just not nearly as many. I admit to not being more careful about this kind of thing, but I worked at the job for six months before I heard anything. It's tough to change things when you only get feedback every once in a while. The passive aggressiveness can be mind numbing if you actually let it bother you. So I'm just going to be more focused on my job, and be more careful about what I say around whom. Most obvious non-work topics at work I avoid. I do understand that there are things I've said as obvious jokes that can offend people, and that regardless, people are going to complain behind anyone's back. Hopefully I can minimize how often it happens.

The sad thing is that the complainers know they get an advantage for making complaints. Usually they were ruder in person than I was to them. Personally I don't complain about anything unless it's serious and needs to be said to cover myself, which has only happened once so far in my career.

Only one was told to me in detail, and I didn't push on the rest. I don't think they're trying to create a witch hunt. I believe that they're guilty of taking complainers too seriously. I don't believe that they want to fire me, but the managers are trained at avoiding litigation, so they are basically forced to listen to every complaint. I noticed that they have everything documented. I fully agree about keeping options open, but I'd rather stick with this company if possible. If things start getting really dicey I'll have to bail. I'm in a position where I can afford a temporary job loss with no issue. Also, at this stage early in my career, job hopping will not look good. I appreciate the outlook so far. Please keep it all coming.