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 nur...

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 ge...

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 patien...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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 m...

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 al...

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!

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...

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 ha...

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

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...

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'm moving from Florida to the Greensboro area in October. I have two years experience in a home health office and about a year on a PCU floor. I don't like floor nursing and home health is very complicated and stressful. Any suggestions? I have ...

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 ...

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 k...

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 t...

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 administrati...