janice_c67

Nursing without ratios will suck the life out of you. My first job was in Texas and it was murder and it was extremely unsafe. I am in California now, and I don't hate nursing now that I know I won't get an unlimited number of patients of any acuity level.

I always keep it around my neck instead of leaving it at the nurses station because if I put it down I will either forget it and it will magically disappear, or something will come up and I will need it. AND it makes me look cool

I didn't start nursing school till I was 41. I was a phlebotomist before that for 15 years. You are not too old.

I've been a floor nurse for years and I'm still not good at it! JK Only you can decide which to pick, they are two very different jobs... I would think the laser job would be less stressful than OR, and OR usually requires you to be on call, lots of things to consider. I do know there are a LOT of people who would LOVE to get into an OR position, myself included. It all depends on where you ultimately want to end up.

You should take it. You will be great at time management by the time you are able to transfer into the job you really want.

RN to BSN isn't that difficult while working, I am doing it right now and I work full time. Do not wait to finish BSN to start looking for a job, I would find a job first then start the BSN online. Once out of nursing school clinicals you kind of start to get rusty, so waiting isn't going to do you any good.

I don't know if you have taken Biochemistry by now, but I took it last term through WGU and it was hard (because chemistry is hard for me) but not nearly as bad as I was anticipating, and the course mentors are outstanding and very helpful! Lots of good resources to help you along, I was so afraid to take it online but in the end I think it was probably easier than in class.

I graduated in 2010 and it took me over a year of applying to anything that didn't say no new grads to find a job half way across the country. Although I do see that there seems to be more new grad jobs popping up no than there was then, I would highly recommend not limiting the area you are willing to work and just be prepared to move. I left the SF bay area and went to central Texas and just made the best of it, saw the sites, explored, and eventually came home. If it is at all feasible to relocate I would do it, I have no regrets on leaving home to get my nursing career started :) oh, congrats on graduating!

Well I am fairly new to well baby nursing (formerly med surg) but I am thinking that with opiate exposure they may have difficulty with feeding/latching/swallowing, so they would be at risk of dehydration and hyperbilirubinemia, failure to thrive... hopefully some NICU experts will chime in and help you but I would it would be safe to assume those would be probable issues. I'm sure much more serious I just don't know I don't see those babies.

It will get better I promise! I absolutely hated my first year, wanted to walk off the job so many times, even called my old phlebotomy manager to beg for my job back. Fortunately, it was a holiday and he didn't answer. When he called me back I felt better and didn't answer the phone I was told by everyone that it will get better and I thought there was no way that it would, but yes it does, it gets a lot better after the first year. I am almost 3 years into nursing and I don't feel like crying going into work or leaving work anymore :)

They expect you to go back to work after two weeks?!?! I think at 3 weeks I went to my first PT, just having them attempt to move my arm at all was so painful I saw my life flash before my eyes! Two months is probably not even going to be enough given the nature of what nurses do, it was 3 months before I was somewhat functioning again (had to let my nursing job go but got another one and started working 6 months after the injury) you will absolutely not be able to work in two weeks even if the tear was minimal, I can't speak for every rotator cuff repair but mine was extremely painful, didn't sleep for literally 9 weeks. This workers comp person is insane to tell you that, and even when you do go back your employer needs to figure out how to arrange light duty for you or they can count on having you go out again for a reinjury.

I have been at my job now for about 3.5 monnths, I had about 8 weeks of orientation and didn't feel ready to go on my own either. i get asked questions that I can't answer all the time too and I feel stupid to not be able to answer a question a patient asks me but there are just some things that we will just learn as we go along and one thing at a time will start clicking and one day there will be newer nurses than us and they will wonder how we ever got so smart and knowledgeable... at least that is my hope ;P I have been very fortunate to work with very patient and helpful nurses, I am sooo thankful because I have not been the most confident new nurse, in fact I had a horrible time when I was coming off orientation and still felt like I knew nothing. I have had extreme anxiety on top of being super homesick (moved from CA to TX) but I will say, every day, things get a tiiiny bit better and I feel like slowly I am getting the hang of things. I am still a little shaky and slow but I am improving, so be strong and be brave... I didn't believe it when everyone kept saying " I promise it will get easier" but I thinkmaybe, just maaayyybee, it might be true :)

Definitely look further than two hours from home. I graduated June 2010 and just started working Oct 2011, had to move from CA to central TX. If you can move, do it... get your experience and then if you aren't happy where you are then go back home. I also heard that N Dakota is hiring alot of new nurses, check that out too.

I lived in the SF bay area, worked for 15 years at a large hospital as a phlebotomist, and couldn't get a job there. So, after 15 months post graduation I moved to the boondocks in Texas and started working in a large hospital on a med surg unit. I suppose it just depends on the large city you live in, but I know CA (anywhere) is very hard to get a job as a new grad, even with a BSN. A lot of my class is still not working, mostly due to inability to relocate

I graduated June 2010, started working in Oct 2011. I left CA and came to TX after applying to well over 1,000 jobs. I would recommend taking a refresher if you are able to, and hopefully there will be some better job prospects for you where you are going. I know it's hard and depressing, but don't give up!

I think it's safe to say every area of nursing deals with vomit :/ at least every area that has direct patient care

I can't give up either! I came home from work after a rough shift last week and my niece had posted on FB how she is tired of school, bills, work etc and wanted to give up, to which I told her "don't give up, it won't always be this hard!" then I looked at what I told her and realized that I need to take my own advice and not give up, and to trust everyone that tells me that it will get better. I will just go to work every day and try to be positive and work on being more organized, and hopefully remember things without having to ask for help repeatedly on the same things I have already asked for help with :/ ugh I feel so dumb I feel like I don't retain anything because I am trying to retain so many things at once!

There are alot of other types of nursing I would be happy in I'm sure, but the job market being what it is for newbies, I can't have what I really want. The unit I'm on is about as far from what I really want as I can get but I just took the only job that came my way after a year and a half of job searching :/

I was a phlebotomist for 16 years and I definitely love healthcare, but I think I would be happier in a different type of position. I want to get at least a bachelors but I think I want to do something other than BSN.

Hello, So I am going on 3 months into my first nursing job and I am not loving it. I know there are alot of new grads that can't find work that would like to choke me for sounding ungrateful for finding a job (took me a year and a half after graduation to get it!) but after moving half way across the country with no family or friends, I am ready to go back home if I can get my old job back. I guess I am the one in 5 that want to leave nursing within the first year :'( but anyways, I don't want my ADN to go to complete waste, and I do like healthcare, so I am wondering what else is out there that I can move on to from RN?

Hello all, I am just wondering how long did it take most of you to stop having major anxiety about going to work every day? I am a new nurse about 9 weeks on med surg now and it is very stressful to say the least, I am still trying to get organized but I am struggling with that and I end up staying late every day charting and always feeling like I am going to miss something does this feeling ever go away? I don't know how much stress I can take! Right now I just want to go back to my old job but my old coworkers forbid me to give up I feel guilty to complain knowing how hard it is to get a job at all and I am thankful (it took me over a year and probably at least 1,000 apps to get this) but it is so stressful and I'm afraid I will eventually reach a breaking point if things don't get better

I finally after a year and a half of rejections was fortunate enough to get a job in Texas (moved reluctantly from CA but hey its a job and it isn't that bad here actually) I have a friend that moved to N Dakota and started working there, she said they are hiring alot there so if you don't mind living there then I would say check it out there.

I would say that it is definitely unnecessary to take ACLS and PALS at this point, but EKG interpretation class wouldn't hurt... I don't think taking the EKG interpretation class is going to make a huge impact on your education or job outlook when you are ready but it is good to know some of the basics because in clinicals you will have monitored patients and it is something you can actually apply to what you are doing in clinicals, you can practice reading rhythm strips and you never know what you might notice that others may overlook. I took ACLS at the end of my Associate program and it didn't do me a dang bit of good, it still took a year and a half to get a job even with a ton of hospital experience and I ended up in a job that doesn't require it anyways so I won't be renewing unless I change jobs and need it someday. If I had to participate in a code which I have yet to do, I don't think that the ACLS I took almost 2 years ago is going to do me any good, so just wait until you are ready to work and if you have a potential job that will require it then do those classes then.

Hello all, I am actually a new nurse, 2 months on a med/surg oncology floor, I am suspecting that I may not want to do floor nursing forever Anyways, I am wondering how difficult it is to transition into clinical nursing for a person who only has floor nursing experience? If anyone has transitioned, can you tell me if it was super difficult to get into a different type of nursing?

I am in my mid 40's and second career too, I think it does take longer to learn things, that hadn't occurred to me! Ugh it's so difficult, I am really struggling and I have never considered myself a dumb person but this is so overwhelming, I feel so stupid that I can't seem to get up to speed when other new grads are not having as much trouble as I am