KIMRNNYC

You are at work now? I have not heard of a correctional facility that allows electronic gadgets or email. Big security risk, at least, they think so in New York State.

I have never heard of an A.A.S. or B.S.N. that did not require Chemistry. Do I write out chemical equations, etc at work? No but it definitely helps me understand certain aspects of nursing a little everyday. If you really think about it during your day at work, you would be surprised how Chemistry creeps into it.

You should not update family members on the phone if your hospital has a proper policy in order. Only those people with a pin number given to them by their family member is allowed to call or inquire in person about the patient at my hospital. This really isn't something to be taken lightly. Just because the govt needs to clean house doesn't mean we should not be strict on privacy laws. We recently fired 2 RN's for violations to HIPPA. One violation caused a huge physical fight in the hospital which resulted in a restraining order. It is really no light matter. Reasonable care is all that is needed.

I hate, hate this too! How do they consider this safe for patient care? I am looking for a new job because this just happened to my floor. I didn't get hired to work in the float pool. They get a lot more money than floor nurses. Good luck.

Hi, I am considering moving from the Finger Lakes area in Western New York to Ft. Myers. One of the reasons I would like to move..it was in the 50's tonight and it is the middle of June. Also, I absolutely love Sanibel Island. I would love to live there BUT I cannot afford the housing! I am 46, divorced with no children. I am thinking of renting for one year at the Paseo community. Are there transplants out there who could let me know about their experiences in living and working as an RN in Ft. Myers?

This is seasonal that I was offered which is different than traveler. I was told the same, no travelers unless they did not get any seasonal nurses. Seasonals are hired directly by the hospital, work 6 months, 1 day and are required to contract to 2 years.

I have spoken to Lee Memorial about their seasonal nursing positions. They will give $1000.00 toward housing and pay health benefits for 2 FULL years if you commit to 2 seasonal employments of 6 months, 1 day. Has anyone had experience doing this? From what I hear, there are a surplus of nice apartments available at this time. My reason for wanting to do this is my love of Sanibel. I would be spending my days off there. I would love to rent there but the island is very expensive for monthly rates, especially as it will be high season. They have not released jobs to traveler agencies yet. Perhaps they are waiting to see how many seasonals they can get first. Thanks for any info. in advance.

Wow. You are describing a city that I don't know! I have lived in the Upper West Side of Manhattan for 3 years now. The streets are not filthy, crime is not rampant and people are friendly! I am a bit shocked by your opinion...but of course, everyone has different experiences. I do agree with everything else you said though. Excellent advice. I am just wondering where you live! Please come visit Manhattan before you decide to move. I would recommend that for anyone. I think you will find that most people (you will always find those that will not be, as with any community) are friendly. You can ask for directions, advice, etc and most will be happy to help you out. People are definitely much busier here so it may appear as they are aloof and uncaring. Remember, city people have seen it all and their attention just isn't as easily "caught". Good luck in your search for a hospital or housing (apartments). It is an expensive city and not a fun city to be in if you are just scraping by paycheck to paycheck. What I used to pay in rent where I moved from is now what I pay to park my car!:)

New grad pay: $18.50/hr. plus $1.00/hr eve shift diff, $1.50/hr night shift diff, $1.00/hr weekend day shift diff, $2.25/hr weekend evening shift diff, $3.50/hr weekend night shift diff This plus $7,500 sign on bonus - 2 yr. commitment I think I got it all correctly. I just received this info. from one of our local hospitals.

Perfectly said! Absolutely agree!

i was working as a unit secretary in a hospital while in nursing school. i received a call from the ed saying they had an admit for our floor and they would be faxing up the admission report.dx: penile trauma. after arriving to the floor, we received the details. he became a bit frisky in the kitchen as well. w/o going into great detail, he was facing the kitchen cabinets when his penile piercing caught on the cabinet knob, turned around and yepper, you guessed it, ripped the piercing right out. after surgery to repair the damage, he came to our floor. he and his partner were very funny about it and he was a great patient. p.s. hiv +, hopefully had teaching before discharge about the dangers of piercings and transmission possibilities associated with them.

OMG! That makes me so sad! They could have stood guard and shot it if they saw it trying to escape but..... We have taken away so much of their natural habitat. We don't have bear problems here but we do have a deer problem because of this. Many accidents happen because of deer. The county has a bait and shoot program in our parks just to keep the population in control because they would starve. It is just such a sad situation with no easy answers. I wish there was more respect for the animals that shared THEIR land with us.

I grew up in the Finger Lakes area and have visited Ithaca many times. I can answer only a few of questions though. Ithaca is Gorges! (Not a misspelling, this is their motto-lots of waterfalls, gorges, deep ravines, rolling hills, etc.) It is located at the end of Cayuga Lake-one of the Finger Lakes. There is lots of snow, not as much as you would get in your were more North because of the lake effect snow. It may not snow on Christmas but most of the times, there is snow on the ground. Cornell University is located there as well as Ithaca College. Small town feeling with charm and sophistication. Leaves change in the autumn and it is stunning! If crime happens, it is big news because it is relatively rare-except for the normal stuff every small town has. BSN is not required for nursing jobs. Can't give you info. on housing but it is much, much lower than where I live now-Manhattan. I included links below that might help you with that info. Here are a few links: http://www.visitithaca.com/index-visitithaca.htm (General Information) http://www.theithacajournal.com/ (Ithaca Journal) http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1395 (Ithaca Times) Good luck! It is a beautiful area! Kimberly

Anyone reading this, believe me when I say I know, I know, I need to detach myself emotionally. But understand at this stage in my new career, I prefer focusing (and have been until the past two days) on SAVING lives. Focusing on helping patients to die is just as important as focusing on saving lives. You are doing great and you will, over time, detach emotionally a little less each time until you get to a more "comfortable" level of involvement and detachment. You will eventually notice that you find a way to come to terms with the heartache of similar situations. Writing in this forum... or writing and sending a note to the family after the patient's death -it will help them and perhaps be therapeutic for you-... or perhaps each time reminding yourself that you did make a huge difference in how the family was able to cope during their loved one's process of passing as well as helping the patient to be as comfortable as possible. Eventually, you will find your own individual way of handling these emotions. It just takes time. I read a great book about nurse's in these situations and, unfortunately, it is in storage right now so I don't know if I am giving you the correct title. I think the title is "Stories for Nurses: Acts of Caring". I love to read each story over and over again. It reminds me that all our struggles are not in vain and that caring is always one of the greatest parts of nursing.

One of my scariest moments happened because we had 2 GSW patients admitted to our floor about 2 hours apart. Little did we know they were two rival gang members. When the visitors arrived on the floor for each patient, a full scale altercation happened in the middle of our nursing unit among the visitors. Security took forever to arrive. I quickly closed as many patient doors as I could to protect them from the "mob" spilling into their rooms. I was afraid that weapons would be used. They were cursing, pulling hair (the females in the group), fist fighting, rolling all over the floor-what a nightmare!