backinwonderland

The friend was probably worried about either fluid overload (if she thought you were running fluids at 200cc/hr) or blowing the IV access (which is easy to do because Vanco is terrible for veins, especially peripheral access). Your dose was probably 1 or 1.5g and running it over an hour is pretty standard, although I usually run it over 90 minutes to save IV's. In any case, the friend was probably misinformed or not used to standard hospital Vanco administration.

Overall I really liked the program. I made some close friends and the majority of my professors and clinical instructors were very helpful. Clinicals in the city are cool because you have so many hospitals to choose from and you get a wide variety of patients and healthcare settings. The main thing that I didn't like was the price! Luckily I had a really good scholarship that covered almost everything, but baseline tuition there is ridiculous!

I went to USF nursing school, but started in the BSN program as a freshman so I don't know much about transferring. Just wanted to say good luck!

I moved to DC from California. Apply as soon as you can! It's always better to have applied, gotten your license, etc before you get there.

California's BRN is notoriously slow. They do pretty much everything through regular mail and on paper instead of online like just about every other state. Plus I think they have like one office in Sacramento doing all the paperwork for the entire state. Ridiculous! If it's past the 6 weeks they promised you can always give them a call and have them check that they even have your paperwork, but that's about all they do. Good luck with everything!

I was in your position a year ago so I completely understand how you feel. Have you tried applying to do vaccinations for the rest of the flu season? I did that as well as volunteered at a free clinic (I lived in the Bay Area) while I was applying to hospital jobs. I've heard of some new grads getting PRN positions with home health organizations as well. It's not ideal, but the entire economy isn't ideal either so at least it's something. Hang in there.

I was in your exact same position a year ago. What worked best for me was applying for places where I knew at least one person, and using that person's address as my contact information when applying (with permission from your friend/family of course). This makes you look more permanent to the hospital hiring you, like you've already moved there. In your cover letter you can also say that you're planning on moving there or that you're already in the process of doing so, so that the hospital knows you're serious about the position. Another thing to consider is applying to jobs in rural areas, since they competition is much less in non-city areas (especially for new grads). Good luck!

I think it's because in my case I was part of a really big new graduate group that was hired, so they were working on more than 100 people's relocation reimbursement all at once.

I graduated in CA in May 2009 and looked for jobs for ten months before I ended up getting an offer in Washington, DC. I didn't have a DC license at the time of the offer. I found that it was best to mention in your cover letter that you're applying for state licensure (even if you're not doing it yet) so that at least the hiring manager knows that you're on top of getting it. I actually didn't even have my DC license by the time I started working (I'm sure you already know how slooooow CA's board of RN's is;) ) but was able to work under my manager's "signed letter of practice" until it came through. Hope that helps!

They do reimburse for a lot of relocation expenses (not all), but they take forever to get the money to you. I had nearly forgotten about the second half of the money that they said they would reimburse when it finally popped up in one of my pay checks. Kind of a nice surprise:)

I oriented on days, then switched to permanent nights about one month off of orientation and have been on nights ever since (I'm a night owl just like you and waking up at 5:45am was killing me). I honestly couldn't imagine going back to days at this point. The night team is so tight and supportive of each other. Even when we have no techs or unit clerk (happens a lot) we all come together to get everything done. Before switching though I would definitely ask around and see what people think of the charge nurses at night, because that makes a huge difference.

In general I prefer working in a unionized hospital, but mostly because the nurses where I work are really involved and care deeply about the union. I can see how it was be incredibly difficult to work in a union environment where the nurses weren't as involved. The main frustration that I've had with the union is that starting as a new grad nurse in a unionized hospital (in the middle of a strike vote no less!) I was the absolute bottom of the totem pole in terms of seniority. That wasn't so much the problem as the very senior nurses' attitude of "all or nothing" in terms of union support. I think it's really difficult for some senior nurses to remember what it was like to just be starting out as a nurse and a union member and why some newer nurses might be hesitant to fully support the union. It was especially hard to fully support a union that was about to strike, when I'd just been unemployed for nearly a year and all I wanted to do was work! In the end though it's more about long term job protection and patient safety.

Personally if I were going to work in a day care I would definitely take the first aid class because what you'll learn there will probably be used on a daily basis (nosebleeds, cuts/scrapes, what to do when someone may have swallowed something toxic). BLS is exactly what it stands for: basic life support (i.e. the person is dead/dying and you are trying to make them.... well... less dead. )

We have the same problem. I always feel terrible for the patients whose rooms are closest to the nursing station and report room. And I get that to the oncoming nurses it's 7am and time to start your day, but to the patients it's 7 in the freakin' morning and way too early for that kind of chaos!

The job market here is much, much better for new grads than the rest of the country. Or at least it has been, I'm can't really say what it'll be like after you graduate. I know that Washington Hospital Center and Georgetown have been hiring tons of new grads (I was part of WHC's February 2010 cohort). I do know that WHC is hiring a cohort for Feb 2011, and if they continue how they have been the next group would be July 2011. I don't really know much about Georgetown lately... Good luck!