MSciRN

Crust skin and apply ostomy belt.

I work as an outpatient wound care RN and I smell some nasty stuff daily. I am also 7.5 months PREGNANT! Like the previous post said, the patient needs us to be focused on treatment, not the smell. It would be very unprofessional to turn away in disgust. In my wound care center, we use hurricane spray to battle the smell. Its an analgesic with a black cherry scent. And, if that doesn't work, breath through your mouth. I should also add, after seeing 30 patients a day, only 2 or 3 (sometimes more, sometimes less) smell really bad and you get used to it.

university community hospital in tampa, fl at fletcher avenue is always hiring new graduates. they take forever to call back so what i do is apply online and then call them a few days later. the human resource number is (813) 615-7290. i have even applied and gone there in person asking to follow up on my app and they have given me an "on the spot interview." i think nowadays it takes being a little more aggressive than most to get your foot in the door. many of times when they see you are motivated and qualified, the hr rep wants to help you and remembers your name. the hr recruiter used to be ms. ******* and we got to know each other on a first name basis, but she is now a new rn grad from a local school and is no longer the hr recruiter.

1. What is your educational background? (ADN, BSN, MSN, were you a CNA or LPN before RN?) ADN Do you plan to pursue further education, if yes, what, why, and when? Yes, I am currently pursuing a bachelors of nursing part-time. I do not want to do bedside nursing forever and to get the higher level admin jobs, you would need at least a bachelors degree in most hospitals/companies. How do you feel your highest educational degree has helped you do what you are doing today in healthcare? With an ADN degree, I was able to attain the basics, Nursing 101. While on the job, I have managed to pick up more experience and skills then a class could ever teach- I'm sure that all nurses could say the same. A higher level of education can give you a broader way of the thinking from everything from management to statistics and, ultimately, a deeper level of understanding. 2. What is your job history, including delegation? I worked as an insurance agent. No delegation in this job other than having someone come to fix my computer or printer from time to time. I also worked as a nurse technician prior to getting a rn license. Delegation included asking for help from a coworker to move a patient or reporting critical vitals to the nurse. What have you liked and disliked about any different positions you have held within the nursing field? As a nurse, I have liked taking care of patients and the feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day. Dislikes, being the ultimate one responsible for patient care out of all the people involved in patient care/experience. As a tech, Dislike would be by being used and abused by some of the other nurses- water girl or there just to turn off the lights when patient was ready to sleep. Likes, feeling like I really helped a patient when they really needed some extra care. What kind of nursing care have you provided in you different positions? monitoring of patients vital signs and reporting to doctor or nurse depending on being a tech or rn, assistance with ADLs- bathing, feeding, assistance with ambulating back and forth to bathroom or other places, giving medications and watching for side effects or benefits, being a support for patients receiving bad news, educating patients on specific diseases, treatment processes, and medications. Did you work with other healthcare providers when caring for patients, if so, who and how? Yes, doctors, nurse techs, cnas, radiologist techs, radiologists, physical therapists, dietitians, food service employees, rns. Everyone plays a part, doctors plan the treatment process and plan, nurses monitor and execute the plan of care and report back the doctor, supervise all aspects of care, techs and cnas do patient care- assistance of ADLs, taking vital signs, some draw blood and can do other functions as EKGs, all make sure the Pt has fresh water, orients Pt to the room/bed, take daily weights if needed, record how much the Patient eats, drinks, goes to the bathroom, etc. PTs work with the Pt while in the hospital, especially if the Pt is immobile for long periods of time. Dietitians find what diet is best for the Pt, then educates the Patient on what to eat- big one for a dietitian is tube feedings.

Hi! I am a recent grad of HCC's nursing program as of Dec 2009. I was in the Night and Weekend program for the first 3 semesters and day classes through NP4. Nights and days are very similar....I preferred night classes, from 5-8PM 2xs a week, as you normally had the morning and early afternoon to study and review notes before tests...plus, someone always knew someone in the day classes that would give us night students a heads up about how hard the test was and study this stuff and not this kind of thing. The hardest semester for most of us students was NP1- it stunned us students into reality of what we were in for. NP4 was tough, but most of us were prepared...I think 1 student in our class failed in NP4, but in NP1, our class was dropping like flies...of a class of 38, I think we lost about 15 students that semester. NP2 was the easiest for me. The math lessons/tests were always at the beginning of every semester...short lecture, then test...no class dedicated to math- students didn't struggle with the math. There were some students that took a pharm class prior to nursing program, I didn't and did just fine- it wasn't required for us, but can see how it would be helpful as many test questions are related to side effects of meds, especially, psych drugs. You attain clinical hours, 1 day a week for about 10 hours- this varies with different professors as it should be 10, but some professors will let you go after 8. The clinical day is the same every week and required to pass. You only visit the local hospitals and typically the same hospital all semester. Normally, by the end of the nursing program, you have worked in every hospital and have a pretty good idea of which hospital you would like to work in- St Joes and TGH were all favorites of our group. I think HCC prepared us students for NClex and nursing world...I didn't hear of one student failing the NClex from our class, only how hard it is to find a job right now. I suggest, that you start around NP3, looking for a job at the local hospital as a tech or something working with patients- These were the first to find jobs and didn't have to beg and plead...Some students that grad in Dec 09 are still looking! I am currently working in a small hosp in Polk county and got very lucky that my application was the first one on the stack! I worked full-time through this program and got a B every semester with studying 8-10 hours weekly. I don't have kids, but knew a few students pregnant with kids at home and working full time that still managed to get Bs. You will find the time and, eventually, get a routine down. For all the students looking forward to the nclex, I studied for about 1.5 months using saunders nclex full color edition, kaplan nclex (I didn't take the course, just bought the book), and Prioritization, Delegation, and Assignment: Practice Excercises for Med Surg by Linda LaCharity, and used cd-roms out of a few of my other nursing nclex review question books much like saunders book. I did about 50-100 questions daily using the cd-roms and reviewed all electrolyte ranges. I took the nclex in 45 minutes, my computer shut off at 75 questions. There is a waiting period for scores of about 3 days, during this time, I was not worried, I knew I had passed....and I was an average student. The HESIs are harder than the nclex, but prepares you for the harder level questions so don't get discouraged with HESI scores- I know I did. Hope this helps. Good luck to all!

I posted this message on another board....thought it might give you a little insight on the market for new nurses. BTW, hospitals tend to higher new grads with no exp around graduation months such as December and May- they typically due mass training programs for all their new nurses......especially in the Tampa Bay vicinity as there are so many nursing schools dumping new nurses into the area. I graduated nursing school Dec 2009 and had already been applying for jobs like 2 months pre-graduation. I got my license 02/01/2010 and, at that point, had been applying for nursing jobs for nearly 4 months. I figured that I hadn't received a call back b/c I wasn't licensed; although, I know that GN positions were out there- just few and very far between. I live in Tampa, FL and I was applying all over the state. I finally got a job offer from Hillsborough County School System as a school nurse; as you can imagine, the pay was lousy and I figured it wouldn't help as far as future endeavors. So I kept looking, everyday I searched the internet for hospitals 200 miles away in towns I had never heard of. Everyday I searched like it was the first day I started searching- I stayed motivated. I called local hospitals and was told "due to the amount of applications we have received, we are only accepting applications for new nurses with bachelors degrees." I am a ADN. Anyways, I was called by a small hospital located in the middle of no where. I have a little over 4 months under my belt now and I am just trying to make it to the year point so I can go elsewhere. I know I was very fortunate to get this job and they have been very good to me. But, it is very apparent that this hospital is trying to do more with less. Staffing is always an issue, but still no one is ever hired. This is a for profit hospital and they count their pennies and save them in all areas. If your looking for a job, just don't give up. I called HRs before I wasted my time with the long application process online and I applied online to hospitals at least 5-20 times a day depending if I was working or not. Just don't give up. Something will come through, but that something is going to make you work for it.

I graduated nursing school Dec 2009 and had already been applying for jobs like 2 months pre-graduation. I got my license 02/01/2010 and, at that point, had been applying for nursing jobs for nearly 4 months. I figured that I hadn't received a call back b/c I wasn't licensed; although, I know that GN positions were out there- just few and very far between. I live in Tampa, FL and I was applying all over the state. I finally got a job offer from Hillsborough County School System as a school nurse; as you can imagine, the pay was lousy and I figured it wouldn't help as far as future endeavors. So I kept looking, everyday I searched the internet for hospitals 200 miles away in towns I had never heard of. Everyday I searched like it was the first day I started searching- I stayed motivated. I called local hospitals and was told "due to the amount of applications we have received, we are only accepting applications for new nurses with bachelors degrees." I am a ADN. Anyways, I was called by a small hospital located in the middle of no where. I have a little over 4 months under my belt now and I am just trying to make it to the year point so I can go elsewhere. I know I was very fortunate to get this job and they have been very good to me. But, it is very apparent that this hospital is trying to do more with less. Staffing is always an issue, but still no one is ever hired. This is a for profit hospital and they count their pennies and save them in all areas. If your looking for a job, just don't give up. I called HRs before I wasted my time with the long application process online and I applied online to hospitals at least 5-20 times a day depending if I was working or not. Just don't give up. Something will come through, but that something is going to make you work for it.

I work on a Progressive Care Unit in West Central Florida and I don't have quite that much experience, but know many of the nurses that have almost identical experience that make $25-$28 an hour as a day shift nurse with all benefits as the base hourly rate. If you aren't interested in full benefits, you can typically make 20% more, but no med ins, sick time, vacation pay, etc. Also, if you work day shift, the typical 7A-7P, not only do you make $25 an hour, for instance, but after 2PM you get another $2 an hour until 5PM where you will received another $4 an hour until the end of your shift.