nursestacey62

Think about OR or procedural nursing like endoscopy. You can probably go straight to the OR out of school and then you'll have experience to try other specialties. I only lasted 7 months on the floor. I hated it! I did an externship in the ICU in nursing school and knew I wasn't prepared as a new grad to take care of critical patients. Tried home health but didn't like it. I wasn't with the right company. Then found endo. This is where I belong and now I'm a travel nurse specializing in endo. Good luck finding your niche!

Alcohol pads loosen the adhesive on tape and Tegaderm. I use it every day to d/c iv's.

I hate when they have no idea what medications they take at home. Another thing is when I ask, "Why do you take Coumadin?" and they reply "It's a blood thinner." I'm a procedural nurse and the patient's been ready in pre-op for an hour. I come to get them for their procedure, take them into the room, hook them up to the monitor and oxygen, and then they have to use the bathroom. Most of the time I love my patients probably because I don't have them for 12 hours!

CO2 is acidic. Once I learned that, interpreting ABG's and respiratory acidosis, etc. was a breeze. Why did no one say this until my 4th semester? Never heard it in A&P even though we learned about acidosis/alkalosis.

I have been an endoscopy nurse for almost four years and inpatient preps are, by far, much worse than ambulatory patients. Maybe because patients aren't feeling well and cannot drink the entire prep or maybe because floor nurses don't instruct patients that they have to drink the ENTIRE amount. The amount is not a suggestion; it is necessary to drink the full amount in order to clean out the colon. I also need to make it clear that I really empathize with floor nurses who have bed bound patients needing to prep. I cannot imagine how much work that is. I also had a patient last week whose procedure was cancelled by anesthesia because the floor nurse did not keep the patient NPO even though NPO was ordered. She told him he could have cranberry juice within an hour of the procedure but just "don't drink too much." Patients are NPO to protect them from aspirating under anesthesia. If an explanation is given to the patient about why they need to be NPO, they're much more likely to follow instructions.

I am scheduled for my colonoscopy and, because of my insurance, it's better for me to go to a doctor I work with and have it done at the hospital where I work. I know who is good and who isn't with regard to the GI docs and the anesthesiologists. I think it will be a little uncomfortable but I know I'll be in good hands. At least I'll be asleep!!

I was a medical assistant for many years before going back to school to become an RN. I was trained in school to give injections, read and write prescriptions, interpret abnormal lab results, and other things you think they are "clueless" about. On the other hand, I have worked with MA's who were not very well-informed about what lab results need to be brought to the doctor's attention, etc. Many of the good MA's go back to school because the pay is so low. I was called "nurse" at times and didn't like it but most patients don't know what a medical assistant is and it was easier for the receptionist to call me a "nurse" than explain my job description.

I understand that financial responsibility is necessary but the bottom line seems to be the only concern where I've worked, even at the faith-based, not-for-profit hospitals. I'd love to find a place with a positive culture but I don't know where to look and I hate to keep leaving jobs after only a few months or a year to find it. I'm thinking about travelling so I can look for good places without a long commitment.

I've been a nurse for six years and, since becoming a nurse, I've worked for either a corporate-owned hospital or a home health agency. I'm tired of the corporate influence-money being more important than patient care and employee satisfaction. I'm wracking my brain trying to come up with something I can do in nursing that doesn't involve working for a corporation. I love taking care of patients but I'd like the luxury of having the time to do it right without the hospital constantly being short-staffed and assigning more and more responsibilities to nurses with less and less resources. Any suggestions?

I've been a nurse for six years. I love taking care of people but I absolutely hate the corporate hospital environment where it's all about the bottom line. I'd love to get out of this situation and work somewhere where I can actually spend a few minutes with the patients. What are you doing where you help others but in a different way? I'm open to all suggestions.

I've been told that my manager's boss has been approached about this problem and she said that this is the way it's always been. If I accrue PTO, I should be able to use it!

I work in a specialty procedural area at a fairly large hospital. We have about five full-time RN's and the same number of per diem RN's. The per diem RN's are allowed to cancel themselves off the schedule with only 24 hours notice. The are also allowed to take three to six-week vacations. The full-time RN's are being denied time off because the per diems can cancel themselves at any time. The full-time RN's are having a hard time scheduling vacations because they are not approved far enough in advance to buy airline tickets at a decent price and sometimes their vacation request is denied with only a week's notice. Because it is a specialty area, we cannot use float-pool RN's to cover time off. How has this problem been handled in other hospitals?

1. State you work in 2. Years of experience 3. Specialty/unit and work setting (clinic, hospital, prison, etc) 4. Hourly Pay (base rate) or salary 5. Differentials (if any) 6. Union? 1. North Carolina 2. 5 years 3. endoscopy(inpatient) 4. $27.09/hr 5.Differentials have just been cut. Weekend option and night pay were substantially cut. They're hoping people will want to keep their shifts anyway. I don't believe the executive pay has been cut, however. I used to get time and a half plus $6/hr to come in on call but they cut out the extra $6. 6. no union

I worked at Florida Hospital Altamonte when I graduated about five years ago and the night differential was $3.00/hr I think but I worked days so I never saw it. I have friends from nursing school who work at Health Central and they like it but I have no experience there. If I were to go back to floor nursing, I would go to one of the big hospitals like Florida South or ORMC. They do have specialized ICU's but I think you get the best experience at the big hospitals because your patients can have everything done there instead of being shipped out from a small hospital. Don't know what the pay rate is now.

Thank you so much!! I saw the grades on the website so it does make sense.

The range for the job I applied for is like $51,000 to $91,000. That's a pretty broad range! Does it have anything to do with the cost of living in the area of each VA facility?

I was told it would take 3-6 months to hear back from HR about whether I even got the job. Was that your experience?

Thanks! I hope the VA doesn't take too long. Phone interview Wednesday. Any idea if their pay scale is different than civilian hospitals? Not sure how much to ask for coming from NC. I was shocked to see that new grads start at $33!

Thanks!

I am moving to Portland from North Carolina in August. I have a phone interview with the Portland VA next week. The cost of living is much lower here in NC so I'm not sure what kind of salary I should be asking for in Portland. I've been an RN for five years, the last two in endoscopy, which is the position I'm interviewing for. I currently make $27.00/hour in NC. How much should I ask for in Portland? Also, is there employee parking at the VA? I've heard it's scarce but I've looked for an apartment close to public transit and they are unbelievably expensive. Culture shock!! Any comments about where to live in Portland or what it's like at the VA are welcome! Thanks!!

I had the same problem when I was a graduate nurse. One nurse tech would always say she was overwhelmed and could not do anything for the patients when they asked for more water, etc. The funny thing is that she was taking her prereq's for nursing school!! One day I overheard someone ask her to do something and she said, "What's the nurse doing?" I think it needs to be pointed out to them that you are allowed do their entire job but they cannot help you with anything that only a nurse can do. There's no way a nurse can pass meds, do assessments, and chart on everything if they are also doing the tech's job. You can remind them of their scope of practice and your scope of practice!! I'm not sure it will work, but it explain to her why you're asking you to help you with the things she's able to do.

Take a medical terminology class or get a medical terminology workbook. Medical terminology is invaluable since you can figure out what any medical term means by knowing the root word, the prefix and suffix. It's a necessity in nursing and I don't know why schools don't make it mandatory. And remember this: nursing school is a lot of jumping through hoops. I took one week at a time. Don't worry too much about upcoming assignments till the one that's due this week is done.

I went to a job fair at Moses Cone in May and the head recruiter ended up driving me to the administration building so I could fill out an application because I was having trouble with the website at home. Then she took me to her parents apartment to take a look at it because it was Sunday and the leasing office was closed. She spent her Sunday afternoon chauffering me around. I couldn't believe how nice she was and I said right then that I needed to work for that organization. Good luck with your surgery. CNA is pretty physical work with turning the pt's and helping them to the bathroom and stuff. Maybe we'll work together in the future!

Which hospital are you talking about that has high employee satisfaction? Moses Cone? I actually asked about it in this forum a few months ago and one nurse replied saying she worked in ICU and couldn't say enough good things about the administration, the employees, everything. It's time for me to work somewhere nice again! Thanks for the well wishes and good luck to you too. Are you taking your pre reqs for nursing? CNA is great experience for working in a hospital. It's not easy and can be gross but great experience! I wish I would have taken a few per diem shifts before I became an RN just to get accustomed to hospital work and direct patient care.

Thanks! I've actually been in touch with a recruiter at Moses Cone and I think I'm going to email her again to remind her that I'm still out here waiting to hear back. Have you worked at any of these hospitals?