elizanne

I work in the NICU at a children's hospital. Same as wooh, we don't use egg crates anymore due to pressure points; we stopped about a month ago. Not sure what the policy is for our OR.

Policy at my hospital is that new grads must have a license in hand before they can even start orientation. For this reason, our new grads wait several months after graduating to even get started, depending on how long the licensure process takes. I know this isn't your exact situation, but perhaps that's why the recruiter is under the impression that you can't work even with the temporary license (ie--she may not understand that it is different from being unlicensed). I would get some clarification from her about what the hospital's policy actually is and then see what can be done. If the policy is similar to what Ashley described above, you may be able to work with the temporary license and the recruiter may just not fully understand the process. If the policy is similar to my hospital, they may expect you to take a month or two to get started. I graduated in December and didn't actually start on my unit until March (due to fingerprinting issues and ATT, etc.). My manager was pretty understanding. Hopefully your potential employer is willing to work with you. Good luck!

Before I became a nurse, I worked as a counselor, and my internship before graduating was in a residential treatment facility for children and adolescents with a history of abuse. Not strictly psychiatric, as we didn't heavily utilize nursing staff, but we did have lots of kids with with emotional and behavioral issues. I saw much of the same behavior from our aides and house parents who were charged with taking care of our kids day in and day out. They were often abrasive and impatient, and seemed to lack therapeutic communication skills. I'm not sure if they weren't trained in basic communication or if they felt that they were overworked and underpaid, but it was discouraging to watch. We occasionally had reports of verbal abuse form our kids regarding staff members, and while some of our clients could be manipulative, some of the accusations were easily validated. Attempts to correct the problems were sometimes successful, other times not, depending on staff members. Management knew about the problems, and staff members with validated reports of abuse were fired, but there simply weren't enough people willing to work that job for minimum wage, which is what they were paid at the time, so they were sort of allowed to continue on until someone else came along to fill a spot. Are other nurses at your facility uncomfortable as well, or do they seem to just accept it? Perhaps a fresh set of eyes could remind them that this type of behavior isn't standard or acceptable. It's a unique setting and population, so maybe an outside perspective will call attention to the behavior. At the same time, it's hard to be the one doing that when you're also trying to fit into a new culture. I hope it gets better, both for you and the kids.

I haven't gone on enough interviews to know if this is common, but I do know at least two people I graduated from nursing school with (and another who is not a nurse but also looking for a job) who have been on interviews, sent thank-you notes, had positive experiences, etc., and received no response whatsoever from the interviewer, recruiter, or hiring manager. Fortunately, they are happily employed now. I'm not sure if some organizations are just disorganized, or if this is simply the way things are in a flooded market... Sorry for your experience, though; that is frustrating.

We practice primary nursing on our unit (surgical NICU in a children's hospital). The primary nurse is in charge of discharge planning, such as making sure the chart is updated as to what types of teaching parents need to take the baby home, etc., and are assigned to the baby whenever they are working. They definitely aren't supposed to encourage parents to call them instead of the nurse on duty, although some might. I have seen some nurses get a little territorial, but that type of thinking isn't encouraged. NICU babies, and kids in general, can get sick fast. How on earth would a nurse at home be able to update parents with current information? There's no way to know if the kid got septic, coded, or what have you. Last week I started my night with a baby who was supposed to go home the next day, had no lines, no O2 requirements, really seemed totally straightforward. By 0600, he had an IV, was on O2, had an NG tube, was on a radiant warmer, and was undergoing a septic work-up. All happened within about 6 hours. There's no way his primary nurse would've had any idea about any of this.

It's a big red flag that your preceptor was unavailable and didn't let you know where to find her for 2 hours. I'm about to finish orientation, and even though my preceptor isn't always necessarily checking over me, she always makes sure I know where she is (ie--lets me know if she's going to help someone else change a dressing, start an IV, etc.) and ensures that I'm comfortable with her being gone before she leaves, even though I'm fairly independent at this point. Starting out, I would have been very nervous if she had disappeared on me for hours at a time. Yes, the med error is the issue at hand, and it probably should have occurred to you to ask about it. I suppose you could've gone to the charge nurse since your preceptor wasn't around. I'll echo everyone else and say that your preceptor was too harsh, but it seems that the bigger issue is that she also doesn't seem to be keeping up with her basic responsibility of orienting you to the floor and training you to be a competent employee. I agree with other comments that you should let your NM know about your preceptor's behaviors overall, not just regarding this situation. Good luck in your meeting! I'm sorry you're having a hard time.

Hey pjp2u2, how are you liking the PICU? I'm doing my practicum in one of the CHOA PICUs now, and I'm interviewing for both the NICU and the PICU. I'm not sure which one I want the most, but I really like the PICU a lot. I'm really excited to have options!

I'm also new to the PICU, and I've had people make similar comments to me. I see it more as a "different strokes for different folks" type thing (I, for instance, would be really depressed if I had to work some other types of jobs instead of this one all day). I'm similar to you in that I've had patients whose cases were really sad and taken really compassionate and competent care of them while not getting emotionally involved. So far, I've only gotten emotionally attached to one patient, but he was on our unit several weeks and died on my shift while in my care. We had all grown close to his family, and I think all of those factors together contributed to making his case more emotional than others. Even if you never have a case that makes you feel this way, I think you can rest comfortably in taking good care of your patients. It sounds like your making a point to learn as much as you can take the best care of your patients that you can, which is exactly what this time is for!

The components of each are different. 0.9%NS is NaCl, while lactated ringers has sodium ions, chloride ions, potassium ions, calcium ions, and lactate (generally as NaCl, KCl, and sodium lactate). Anyone feel free to correct me or expand on the make up of lactated ringers--I didn't get it from my textbook, just did a quick google search.

CHOA's big hiring times for new grads (per the nursing recruiter) are around October and March each year, a few months before most students graduate. I was lucky enough to get a scholarship that comes with a new grad residency, so I'll be starting after December 2011 graduation. If you have any questions about the interview process and all that, PM and I'll tell you what I know. Good luck!

I hadn't thought about shadowing--that's a great idea. Also, you're completely right. I know I'll be fulfilled and happy no matter which area or floor I end up on. I feel very blessed. Thanks!

Okay, so I know this thread is pretty old at this point (I'm not even sure if I've commented on it before), but we're so close to finished now, guys! There's no point to this post except my excitement! to sharzaejones: We are now in our second to last semester and about to head into practicum. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone when I say it has been alternatively grueling, amazing, and most importantly, almost over! I'm assuming that the application process you would've had is already over, but if its not, feel free to PM with questions (others too). YAY!

I just got a scholarship a large pediatric hospital that pays for the rest of nursing school in exchange for a year of work after I graduate (I intend to stay MUCH longer than a year!). I'm graduating soon, so I'm in the process of deciding which area I'd prefer to start out in. Obviously my options will be limited by space available in certain areas, but most departments bring in new grads, so I potentially have a lot of choice. I LOVE general med-surg peds, but I recently did a short observation in the NICU and fell in love with that as well. I'd really like to hear from general peds, PICU, and NICU nurses about these different areas. Pros and cons? What do you love about it? What would you rather do without? I'm definitely grateful that this is my only dilemma since a lot of new grads are having are hard time finding jobs. Thanks for your help!

I was speaking with one of the nursing recruiters from Shepherd at a career fair a couple of weeks ago, and I asked him a similar question about the benefit of an externship. I'm in an accelerated program already, and I was worried that not having an externship would be a setback when I was compared to other new grads with externships. He basically said that if you spend your summer doing something (so, taking classes OR an externship), that's what they want to see in their new grad applicants. The red flag is when a student doesn't take classes or complete an externship. Of course, I still think that performing well in an externship or practicum in the hospital/unit you want to work in would give you a competitive edge because the people doing the hiring already know you. Maybe it would a be a good compromise to do the accelerated program and shoot for your senior practicum in an area you would like to work in upon graduation? Anyone with other information, please help! My thinking is based on what that one recruiter said and what seems to be happening in my area, but it could be very different. Good luck!

I know this is an old thread, but does anyone have any more current information about the Altlanta VA? The VALOR program sounds great, but I don't think I'd qualify for it (I'm in an accelerated program, so working during the summer isn't an option because we'll be taking classes). Right now my interests are in peds and PACU. Obviously, peds wouldn't work in the VA, but does the PACU hire new nurses or does the VA have a new grad program? Thanks for any help!