RN4NICU

The OP said it was a missing BOTTLE of lortab. All the hair follicle tests in the world would not prove she did not sell the pills. Proving she did not use the drug does not prove she did not divert. I'm absolutely not suggesting that she did, I'm just pointing out that she can't be proven innocent with a drug test. The situation could easily turn ugly...consulting a lawyer would be a smart move at this point, IMO. Hoping for the best for you, OP.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has been through this. I worked night shift for 10 years - LOVED IT. Then, one day, it was like someone flipped a switch. I would get in bed by about 8 am and would wake up about 11 am and could not get back to sleep. I tried everything - cool, dark room, white noise, no caffeine, not eating too late in the shift - nothing worked. That was 5 years ago. I was never able to turn my body back around to be able to make it through night shift again. I continued on day shift for a while and then finally left the NICU to become an FNP.

I guess the grass is always greener - many physicians I know have told me if they could do it over they would be NPs instead of going to med school. Not for nothing, unless you go for a high-dollar specialty, the money may not be quite as awesome as you think. You mention pediatrics - it is one of the lowest-paying specialties out there... a lot of hard work, long hours, and debt for a mediocre payoff. I'm an NP and there is no amount of money in the world that could convince me to become an MD. Just food for thought - I hope you find the path that makes you happy :)

No way. I would stay as far away from any career in healthcare as I could get.

always true

Legal and ethical issues? What kind of sport are we talking about here? Seriously, though, what you do on your own time (disclaimer: as long as you are not participating in some illegal activity) is really your business and no one else's. You are a nurse when you are at work and you are free to be whatever you want to be when you are not at work.

The circled C likely indicates who is Charge for the shift

It seems the OP has Plan B confused with RU-486

Spoken like someone who's never worked in a NICU We never, ever waste blood. When drawing labs from a UAC/UVC, we always give the blood back. I was horrified the first time I saw a "big people" nurse waste 10 ml of blood! Some things depend on your background. Maybe the traveler was a former peds nurse.

Non-partisan nonsmoker

That isn't a question that can just be answered as there is no "starting wage for NPs" - NPs all start out at different wages. It depends on what type of work you will be doing, call/rounds responsibilities, working hours, and the local market for NPs just to name a few things. All contracts are negotiated individually.

Gastroenterology is a subspecialty of internal medicine. It is not a surgical specialty. Gastroenterologists (GI docs) do not perform abdominal surgeries. They do endooscopies, liver biopsy, polyp removal, and things like that, but not abdominal surgery. Abdominal surgeries are usually done by general surgeons.

PAs and NPs that work with a surgical group will sometimes first assist in surgery, close the wound, harvest the vein for bypass, assist with joint replacements, etc.

What do you want to do in the OR? You can work in the OR as a nurse, a PA, a nurse practitioner, a surgical technologist, a CRNA. They all have different roles, so the best path for you to take depends on what you want your role to be.

I think you will be fine. I didn't take chemistry in HS and still did fine in college chemistry.

If the PD is handing out reports containing ANYONE's SSN, something really needs to be done. SSN is not public record by any standard whatsoever.

University of South Alabama also has required campus visits for the FNP program

Finding NPs in the OR is not that unusual - at least not more so than finding PAs in the OR. It largely depends on the preferences of the local surgeons. In my area, the cardiovascular surgeons tend to use NPs to first assist whereas the orthopedic surgeons tend to use PAs. Many of the NPs were RNFAs or surgical techs before they became NPs. Several of my classmates from NP school work as hospitalists or in the ER. A friend of mine from my BSN program, who graduated NP school a year before I did works for an orthopedic surgeon and first assists in the OR. He was a surgical tech before he became a nurse, so that background helps a lot.

it depends on what they are trained to do. neither can perform surgery. nps do not deliver babies (only certified nurse midwives), i do not think pas do either, but i don't know. both can work in a hospital setting or in private practice. both can suture, do trigger point injections, order labs, prescribe meds, and do other procedures that they are trained to do as long as it is within the limits of their state's laws.

Unlike the 30-minute lunch break, 15-minute breaks tend to be paid breaks, so the employer, by the letter of the law, would not be requiring the employee to work unpaid. While most states require a 30-minute unpaid break and all states require that employees be paid for all time worked, only 7 states require employers to provide paid break periods. The DOL may not be of much help unless employees are being forced to work during an unpaid break period. I agree, though, that it would be very bad publicity for the hospital if word got out about it to the community.

The bookstore handles the pins at some schools. Couldn't hurt to try there.

Surely there were at least a few that were quick enough on their feet to come back with "too much to work = too much to drive"

Does anyone know what the plan is (there probably isn't one), for masters-prepared NPs who wish to change specialties. Currently, there is the post-masters certificate, but I'm guessing that will be done away with if/when the change to DNP occurs. However, for the schools I've looked at, MSN to DNP programs do not support a change of specialty. Instead, they want practice hours within the same specialty for admission. So what if an FNP wants to dual-certify as a PMHNP or an NNP? Anyone have any idea?

Like this one? http://www.allheart.com/af500.html

When did I propose one cause problems for their employer?? When did I suggest that people should call off every day or at the last minute?? Not once did I suggest such a thing. What I SAID was that substitute nurses ARE OUT THERE - there are PRN pools and there are agency nurses, which IS TRUE. I agree that PRN nurses will often work for more than one facility or might work for an agency as well. They have to. Simple economics - no work = no food on table. However, the same could be said for substitute teachers, which is the comparison I was making. I would imagine that teachers are not replaced with the first phone call either, but substitute teachers are out there and so are substitute nurses. If you can't get one to come in, that does not nullify their existence. Units/facilities that utilize agency nurses are usually VERY successful in finding replacements, even at the last minute - not using agency nurses doesn't nullify their existence either. Nothing I said is untrue.