MissJessica,RN

Decemberblues- I'm not sure the answer to your questions, but I will tell you how much my insurance through NSO costs. It is around $100/year--not sure of the exact amount.

Depends on the state. Not in SC. I'd call the BON and ask for a direct answer.

You should check with the facility and BON in your state. In my state (prob yours too), you are held to the standards of a RN, even if working as a CNA. Therefore, at my facility, the answer is no....once you pass boards, you have to work as a nurse!

We have a MD that only orders IM morphine at the hospital I work at. Not sure of the logic when we have IV's--I have heard that IM injections of morphine last longer than IV (however, I'm not sure if that's true)....and we hardly even see it in pill form unless its a chronic pain patient that was on it prior to admission. I never saw it when I worked in long-term care in any form so I can't help there.

I love my job! I work on neuro med/surg and I thoroughly enjoy working there. Like the others have said, we all have our bad days. A little advice though--don't work on your floor if all the nurses seem burned out. In my opinion, part of loving your job is having great co-workers as well. If everyone is burned out on your floor, you're going to be missing out on that part and will probably start to take on their attitude as well.

I live in SC, where the cost of living is pretty low. I currently make $20.09/hour at a nursing home. I just got a job offer at a hospital, however. They paid $22/hour base pay, $3/hr shift diff for 2nd/3rd shift, $9/hr for weekends...I'll be working third so I'll get to take advantage of the shift diff.....I can't wait to be making $5-$11/hr more!

I have a similar experience. I had an interview for a neuro med/surg position. At that time, I met with the nurse recruiter and nurse manager in the same day. I was told by the nurse manager that she would have me back for a second peer interview. I waited a week for a call back then I called them. The nurse manager called me back the next day to offer me the second interview which we scheduled for two weeks after the initial interview. The second interview was on last Tuesday. The nurse manager called me on Thursday to basically offer me the job, but she also said that I would have to wait on the nurse recruiter to call me to officially offer it and set up orientation. The nurse recruiter hasn't called me back yet. This wait is agonizing!

So I thought I'd give an update.....The second interview went really well. It was really laid back and I stressed all the points from the advice I received on here. They called me today to offer me the job! Now I'm just waiting to hear from HR to set up orientation! I'm so excited!

Well, I posted last week because I was worried about not getting a call back for the second interview. I finally got the call back and am going to the second interview tomorrow evening. The nurse manager said that the only purpose of this interview is for me to meet the staff and see if I would be compatible with them. Have any you had a situation like this? I'm a little nervous because I have no idea what to expect and I feel really unprepared. Any advice?

I had an interview on Tuesday of last week that I thought went really well. The nurse manager seemed really impressed with me even though I have only been a nurse for 5 months. She introduced me to everyone working on the floor and told everyone of them I am currently working on my BSN (which I thought meant she was impressed with that). She even said that she encourages all her nurses to go back to school and was so proud that I was doing so. At the end of the interview, she told me that she would want me to come back to meet with the staff on night shift (the shift I would be working) and the she would be in touch after Thanksgiving. She said and put emphasis on "you WILL hear from me after Thanksgiving." So here I am thinking that I possibly have the job.....so its a week later (and after Thanksgiving)....and no call! I'm going to go insane if I check my phone one more time to make sure that I didn't miss a call! Do you think I read to much into the interview? Should I call her? If so, what should I say? Thanks in advance.

Do any of you ever have disturbing dreams about work? I've had two since I've been a RN, which is only about 3 months! The first one was one of my residents (I work long term care) was walking down the hallway. This resident does not walk and has a belt on for safety so I run down the hall to try to talk her back into her wheel chair. When I get close, I realize that all I can see is the whites of her eyes. She, then, falls on top of me and I fight to get out from under her because I'm terrified of her. The second dream occurred today. I was at work trying to give a combative resident an IM shot of Ativan (happens more than it should at my job) and I successfully inject the shot. She, then, somehow gets the needle and stab it into my arm. In my dream, I suddenly remember that this resident has Hepatitis B. I start freaking out and crying....then I woke up. Anybody else have any crazy dreams? Care to share?

This feeling is completely normal. You are very lucky to have three weeks of orientation. I started as a brand new RN in LTC with 33 residents to care for with three days of orientation, yes, three days! It was very, very hard for the first month alone. I cried before work and after. Now, I've been there for almost 3 months and I absolutely love it. You will develop a routine. You will learn that Ms. W has therapy at 10am, Ms. J always sits in the lobby, Ms. B stays in bed until 12p everyday and that will make your med pass much easier. As you people interrupting you, you are the "boss" of your residents. Very kindly tell PT that they will have to wait on you. Tell you CNA's what you need to know immediately or what can wait until you finish your medpass. Taking the time to get to know your CNA's and educating them will be very useful. Plan to do all your charting and calling the doctor (for non-emergent tasks) at a certain time of the day. It will get easier for you, I promise. But in the meantime, my heart goes out to you. I was there once and it was a very trying time in my life. Hold your head up high and just do the best you can....and always ask questions if you need to.

Has anyone bought the international version of a textbook? I'm looking at a textbook that says it is the international version, but has the same information as the US version. Is this true? It's a good price, but I'm still nervous about it.

I'm a new grad as of May 2010. Of course, there are few jobs in my area, so I'm trilled when offered a position in LTC. I recently finished my first week alone and hated it. All I do is pass meds all 8 hours. I have no time for patients interaction. I rush through everything I ever do. I'm suppose to work 3-11, but I find myself coming in at 2:30pm and leaving between 1 and 2 am. I cry before I go into work and cry when I leave. I have no time for anything else than work because the job is Monday-Friday. Some people at work tell me that it will get better with time....others say that it will never get better because they need 3 nurses on second shift. I know most of you are probably thinking that I'm whining for no reason. I know that many people do this everyday, but I'm so depressed about it. I can't just quit because the bills are piling up, but I don't know what to do. Not to mention that many people have told me to just pass 9pm meds with 5pm unless its a narc, which makes me really nervous. Is this the only way to get things done? It scares me to death to think that on Friday I had to sent a resident out to the hospital before 9pm med pass. I can't remember if I passed 9pm meds to her with her 5pm....can't remember if I signed the MAR before she left. I'm scared, depressed, hate my job, and have no way out. I guess I'm just asking for some encouragement or advice.

For those of you who posted things about this thread being so spooky, I've got a funny story for you. I was reading some of these posts last night before bed and was getting pretty spooked myself. Well, I went to help my five year step-son with his bath and he was talking. All of a sudden, he screams, "There's a human in here!" I screamed to the top of my lungs and whipped around to see what he was talking about. What did he see? A moth! Why is the world he said it was a human I have no idea, but it scared me enough to make me scream!