jpizzle11

Hey kaley, I'm not able to send PMs for some reason, but I did receive your message. Can you PM me an email address and I'll email you? Wrote a long letter but it's saying my account doesn't have enough posts or something and my messaging is disabled.

Don't know how to PM someone...Kaley, I have experience in this area and would love to give some advice if you are interested. This process will be 10x harder than you think, but it IS doable. And for the people painting rosey pictures of, "It's your personal business, no one will care..." well, that's BS. Gender is not personal business. It is very public business. Even in extremely well educated and accepting environments, you will be under the tremendous burden of having to educate everyone on what transition is and how people should treat you. You WILL be asked very uncomfortable questions right and left, your privacy WILL be invaded on a regular basis, people WILL screw up your name and pronouns all the time, and people WILL say incredibly stupid and hurtful things to you...sometimes with good intentions, often with bad intentions. There are some things that will make this process easier, however.

I applied in Boston as someone with 2 years of tele experience...took 25-30 applications before I got some callbacks. Finally found something after a good 3-4 months of looking. So...be prepared for a longer, tougher search than you expected. But stick to it and something will probably turn up. At least, that's what my experience told me.

Honestly, I think it's extremely weird for a patient or patient's mother to friend-request you on FB. I would never think to do that if I were a patient or family member...nor would I as a nurse want to be FB-friends with a former patient's family. Maybe it's just me...but I think it's inappropriate that she sent the request and it'd be inappropriate if you had accepted (though probably not technically legally problematic.) Sending you a card or picture of her child doing well (addressing it to your workplace) is a normal way for a family member to keep in touch with a nurse that she bonded with...but keeping in touch by being FB-friends definitely is not normal. Best to steer clear.

What kind of IV was this that its bleeding was such a concern? How much bleeding are we talking about?? Why not try putting pressure on it for a few minutes before calling an ambulance? I've never heard of a bleeding IV site being an emergency...unless we're talking about a central line that was d/c'ed from somebody on anticoagulants. I'm confused why they were told to seek emergency care...maybe I don't have the whole picture though.

"Its frustrating because the tools that a man is given to combat inappropriate behavior against a belligerent female is proving to be ineffective." Please...stop whining about belligerent females beating up on poor, defenseless men. Her threat isn't taken seriously because it is highly unlikely that she could do any real physical harm to you. Your threat would be taken seriously, on the other hand, because men beat and kill women every day. Double standard? Sure, but that's the reality of the difference between men and women. Think YOU lack the tools to thwart violence? Try being a battered woman or a victim of date rape, then we can talk. Statistically speaking, it is highly unlikely that she is capable of hurting you, much less actually willing to. That is why her threat was not taken seriously. However, her behavior is still unprofessional and tacky...if she worked for me,she wouldn't still have a job.

Things will get better. Hang in there. This industry goes through ups and downs like any other. A lot of people have told me that I'd never find a job with my experience level, specialty, and desired location but after several months and 50 applications I've finally started getting interviews here and there. New grads have it very bad. But hiring freezes are just starting to thaw...old nurses will eventually start retiring again...there is still hope.

I've got about 2 years of experience as a telemetry nurse. My ultimate goal is to become an NP who specializes in critical care. I'm applying for 2 jobs right now and, although it's too early to tell, I may end up being offered both. I'm looking for any helpful advice on which would be better. One job is at a very large, prestigious teaching hospital on a cardiac step-down unit. The other job is in a small ICU at a small, not-so-prestigious hospital. Pay and location are comparable. Which one would be better to take for a career in ICU? I know it may seem obvious to pick the ICU job, but I'm afraid that it's too small to have really relevant experience (very few vents, art lines, etc.) and that I might actually learn more on the cardiac step-down unit. Also, I just didn't have the same "good feeling" when I saw the ICU in person as when I saw the cardiac unit. But I also really want to transition into critical care within the next 2-5 yrs. Any suggestions for a young nurse who doesn't have a lot of experience making big decisions?

Honestly, it sounds like she may have been rushed to the hospital for no reason. An asymptomatic BP of 100/70 (or 80/40, for that matter) isn't an emergency, especially if the person is sleeping heavily (which elderly people will do after a Tylenol PM.) A BS of 80 is perfectly normal and doesn't need to be treated. Depending on why she actually takes the BP meds, she might need them adjusted...but if she's taking them for CHF instead of HTN, she may not even need that. As long as someone has signs of good cardiac output, a low BP isn't usually something to worry about. On my cardiology floor we give Lopressor and Lasix with BPs of 100/70 all the time, provided there is no contraindication (like s/s of low cardiac output.) If she was REALLY hard to wake up, it may be time to lay off the Tylenol PM. But BP and BS wise, she sounds like she was fine.

"Why would you feel the education system was poor in educating future nurses?" Probably because our public schools in general rank some of the lowest in the nation?

One thing to consider with the lower salaries in Alabama is how much lower the cost of living is there than in some of the larger urban areas...rent, car insurance, etc. will all cost a lot less. The nursing shortage is definitely overstated right now...BUT the economy is starting to pick up (very slowly) and some jobs are finally opening up. It's still very hard for new grads to get jobs, but someone with experience should be able to find something...though it may not be exactly the job you want. Good luck!

Did you look into dialysis positions? I used to be a PCA on a dialysis unit and most of the staff was composed of older nurses who had gone into dialysis after a lifetime of nursing left them with back injuries. There was also a young man who had a spinal fx due to an MVA and found that dialysis was the only field where he could meet the physical demands (he wasn't a wheelchair-user but he did have a lot of activity restrictions.) I don't know if your limitations would prevent a dialysis nursing role or not...but it's one of the physically easier fields and it usually pays very well.