AndiSN

I can definitely understand where you are coming from. I can tell you that it is taking several of my classmates quite awhile to get a job. I am freaked out because I am pretty sure that it will be at least 8 months out before I can get a job. I ended up getting pregnant in November (we had been trying for awhile and couldn't so kind of gave up and then boom it happened at kind of an inconvenient time lol) and graduated in December. I have still been job hunting big time but the only companies willing to give me a chance have also only wanted to give me a 2-3 day orientation, so not safe for a new grad. At this point I am visibly pregnant and no one wants to hire the lady who is going to be missing 6 weeks this summer. I am so so scared that I am going to go try to find a job after this baby is born and everyone is going to not want to hire me because I have been out of school too long. A quick little bit here about the whole abortion clinic thing (I still can't believe some people were trying to turn it into a political debate), I don't know if it is just my part of the country but I will say that I found out quickly that majority of the nurses on the L&D unit I had experience on, were very unforgiving about the whole abortion thing. I can PM you a bit more on that if you would like. I just wanted to say that because while it would give you experience in women's health, it may also give you a big fat scarlet letter A on you resume or app if the person who is in charge of that decision is adamantly against it. This has nothing to do with my personal opinion on the matter. Also I am not trying to say that all L&D nurses are against abortion but in my experience and area the vast majority very strongly were.

Wow PetsToPeople, that was really nasty. You actually had some valid points but they kind of got lost in the hateful way you came across. That nurse came on here to vent from a situation that was frustrating to them which is what a lot of people do on here. While I had some similar thoughts regarding the mother's struggle and the boyfriend's right to be there, I completely disagree with your approach. I truly believe that there is something to be learned from your ideas of how the situation could have been handled better but unfortunately that probably won't happen. Instead of trying to help a fellow nurse learn from a situation that post looked more like you were trying to tear them down. Chill Pickle

Yeah multiple interviews are kind of the norm for a lot of jobs now. My nurse tech job required 2 interviews. Unless it was a mom and pop location, the jobs I interviewed for before nursing school all required multiple interviews.

When I started school we had to get the 2 step TB skin test done to start. I had to get it done at my doctors office and I kid you not I had to fight with the doc's asst (this one happened to be an EMT and not an MA) to get her to do the second part. She told me that I had just had a TB skin test and I certainly didn't need another one. Even after explaining the rationale behind it and that it was for nursing school she was still refusing. I finally had to tell her that if she had such a problem with it then she needed to send the doc in and I am sure he would take care of it. Lo and behold she came back with the stuff and did the skin test, not without some grumbling though. Anyways, a little off topic but this just reminded me of that.

Talk about a cryfest there. I pretty much can hardly see now. I am still a student and I haven't been through all of these things so I can't give any words of wisdom. I can say that your posts and posts of others like you help to keep me inspired and let me know that it's ok and normal to have emotions as a nurse. I know it's important to be there for the family and save my emotion until I have already done that but it helps to know that I won't be some oddball to feel that way.

I absolutely say LPN hands down. With MA you can only go so far and your education doesn't help you if you decide to further your education down the line. With the LPN you can do a bridge program later on if you want to get you RN but you can't do that with the MA. An LPN can do all the things that an MA can do but not the other way around.

Wow, I certainly don't think it's the dumbest idea I have ever heard at all. Also, nursing homes/rehab facilities are excellent places for first semester students to start. While I did not spend my first semester in a nursing home, some of our other clinical groups did. A skilled nursing facility is an excellent place to get your basics down. The people in our class who went to those learned a lot. The nursing staff was happy to have extra hands for baths, turning patients, ambulating patients, feeding patients, all that patient contact that helps people new to the profession of nursing more comfortable in patient contact. Now I don't really know what all is involved in nursing at a prison but I can imagine that the nurses there have a great deal that they could teach. We have spent time in nursing homes, public schools, community environments, clinics, and mental health facilities that some people may say wouldn't be a good learning experience but nursing is a lot more than just "hospital nursing". I have spent a good deal of time in the hospital as well but I feel that I have learned so much from all of my experiences.

You know I never thought about it. The city that our college is in has a state prison and we don't have the option of having students there. I hadn't thought about it before but now you have me interested.

I have read all of these posts about nurses not liking students and I just thank my lucky stars that I have been blessed. The majority of the nurses I have come across have really been great teachers. Some of them have even said they love students. I have run across the occasional nurse that doesn't like students but most of the time if I show them that I won't get in their way if they get super busy then I generally win them over. There was this one nurse that one of the students in my clinical group said she looked at her and said " I really hate students. " My poor friend did the best she could but was the sensitive type anyways and it just shook her up so bad. I had that same nurse the next week and she hated it at first but when I proved that I was fairly competent (as much as a student can be anyways) and when things started to get really crazy I either grabbed my instructor to help, or just stood out of her way and let her regain control, she did much better with me then. She even grabbed me to do an NG insert when she heard another nurse needed it done and stayed with me the whole time. I know that you can't win every nurse over but if you do what you can to make their day easier at first then many of them will warm up to teaching you things. I just do my best to keep a positive and grateful attitude that they are giving of their time to me.

I definitely try to be very careful about what I post because online because it just doesn't go away. That being said it's not just because it may get me in "trouble" but because the words you choose are important and can be damaging to others as well. What I don't agree with is firing someone because you don't like what they said online. I understand letting someone go because of a HIPPA violation or a violation of a confidentiality contract. I also have a problem with employers trolling looking to get someone in trouble. Don't you have something more constructive to do with company and personal time other than trolling employee social networking sites. It's one thing if it comes back to you through the grapevine and you have the responsibility of due diligence but to go looking for it is something else all together.

Oh my goodness!! That poor C.N.A. That had to rank right up there on the most embarrassing days of her life.

I really don't know enough to give advice but I love your title heading :) Love to see a nutcase with a sense of humor lol I haven't been hospitalized but I am quite sure that my husband would tell you I am a nutcase as well. Really hope the BON doesn't question him :)

That's just fine Merlyn. I have been known to get mixed up once or twice myself

Absolutely not. I would be thinking lets double that and maybe we can talk.

My comment wasn't in reply to yours. Sorry if it appeared that way. I saw another post regarding "anti-union" and people thinking that nurses made too much money. I was just saying that the attitude of many American's is very anti-union and it is frustrating. My comment was really after reading the following two posts " I tried to read about it, but the post disappeared quickly. I can say, tho, I was shocked and dismayed over all the nasty comments about nurses that I read. Apparently, there are a lot of people in the general population that think nurses are overpaid and have great benefits, and that we shouldn't complain! Blew me away. " "I would not have been surprised at all, given the current "anti-union" attitudes in politics lately. Teachers, firefighters and now nurses are being criticizised by those who think "we" get too much. If you don't believe it, google Wisconsin/Ohio state union laws. "

That is the sentiment toward unions in general lately. My husband works in aircraft in the middle of the country and anytime contract negotiations come up and a union considers a strike there is tons of nasty backlash. What the people usually don't recognize is how dangerous their jobs are and how hazardous to their health it is. So I don't think it is directed at any one industry.

I don't know that the OP's intention was to say that LPN's aren't capable of all these things. I understand the frustration in not understanding the legalities of it all. I have had the same frustration. I am still in school but it's never really all that clear to me. I have LPN friends and have tons of respect for them and they are wonderfully people and wonderful nurses that I can go to and ask questions. I have found many times where we get into discussions about scope of practice and it doesn't seem all that cut and dry to me. Some work in LTC and even they have admitted that the scope of care is sometimes bent in those situations. I think maybe the OP's frustration in not understanding came through as frustration with LPN's. I didn't read it that way but seeing some of the replies makes me think others did.

I have to agree that you should stay put for now. If they are interested in you now they will likely have interest in you again in the future. It would say a lot to them for you to honor the employer you currently have. There is a very good chance that you will have an opportunity at the #1 hospital in the future. There is also a very good chance that even if you do not get marked as ineligible for rehire, at the very least you will probably create some hard feelings there. You want to make as many networking "friends" as possible and as few enemies as you can.

Most schools do have some sort of minimal policy to get you by. Ask administration or your college health department.

I have personal experience in this area. My mom had problems with addiction and alcoholism. It took me many many many years to get her to admit she had a problem. Even when I was able to get her to admit it she was terrified of getting help. She was a nurse and had worked in addictions and knew that if she went in they would take her off most of what she was on. Although I know that in many instances addicts make excuses not to seek treatment but she really did know what it was like. She knew it would create a label for her and that she may never be able to control her pain again due to this. She died from heart failure. The autopsy was inconclusive because she had already been embalmed and so they had to do tissue toxicology which isn't as accurate. However, they did say that it was probably due to misuse of her medications because her disease hadn't progressed enough to have killed her. Very sad and it is awful to know that she could have been helped. It had a lot to do with her own choices but it also had to do with a bit of a broken system as well.

I believe that chiropractors can do good but it is difficult to find one that doesn't have it in their head that they can cure all. Honest to goodness I can only think of 1 in my area that just does straight up regular old chiropractic work without trying to convince people that he can handle anything. I worked for a chiropractor once and was really excited about it being a good experience. When I interviewed we discussed my views of medicine and chiropractic care and the chiropractor assured me that he believed that medicine had it's place. After working for him for a month I realized that it wasn't what he represented. I learned all the tricks from the inside and could then see what other chiropractors were advertising and how they went about it. I essentially had one day of training on taking xrays, doing spinal scans, electrical stimulation, and spinal decompression therapy. The chiropractor then went on and did diagnosis and patient teaching based on the xrays and spinal scans I had very little training on. I know there are bad eggs in every basket but honestly that seems to be the norm in my area for that industry. I was let go right before christmas by the office. He sat me down and I asked why I was being let go and he said that it was a business decision and I didn't need to know why. However I knew why and I just wanted to hear him say it. The day before I had been asked to pick from a large book of articles to pass out for patient education. He wanted me to hand them out to people as they were leaving. I told him that I would hand them out but I felt a little uncomfortable choosing what to do. Most of the articles were way out there and very inflammatory to medicine. I didn't say this to him but I did say that some of his patients might be put off and I was nervous about picking something that would be bad for business. Both he and the office manager looked at me like I was crazy and said they thought they were all fine. I honestly am not bitter about it because I was starting to feel very uncomfortable with my position but it really put me off regarding chiropractic care. I can't imagine what a nurse could do in an office like that. Most of the chiropractors that I have known are very at odds with medicine in general.

I am interested in hospice nursing myself. I first became interested during my first semester of nursing school. My father-in-law was under hospice care and I saw how much the nurses really loved what they did. I ended up caring for him during his last 48-72 hours and it was an eye opening experience. He did the whole sitting straight up thing. I yelled for my husband that his dad was almost out of the bed and I needed him to help me because I wasn't strong enough. He didn't believe me because dad had been incapacitated for 2 days at this point. It scared the living daylights out of both of us. Dad was almost on the floor before we could get him back up. The nurse explained to me that it can happen when his air hunger was getting really bad and that it meant we should probably start increasing his meds. I was in the room with him when he passed about 12 hours later. Although it was a scary experience in some ways it also showed me how much fulfillment you can get from helping someone through that final journey in their lives.

The part I forgot to add is that it is certainly not just women. My husband works in a primarily male workplace (manufacturing) and the rumor mill is just as rampant there if not worse. I hear all kinds of crap when he comes home. And these are the manliest of the men. The ones who build stuff :)

I really think the biggest reason for it is boredom. When you think of it, most of the people who are involved in the gossip aren't bad people. They just talk for something to do. It's a way to connect with another person. Certainly not a good way to connect but it is a way. I don't by any means think that gossip is good, it's just easy to get caught up in. Most people get caught up in one way or another and just don't call it gossip. They call it being concerned.

I am not a nurse yet but when I went searching for my student nurse tech jobs the thing that I found that helped me the most was making a connection with the interviewer, smiling (genuinely), and remaining professional. Balancing those 3 things is key. If I walked in excited about an interview and formed a bit of a bond with the interviewer (your sense of humor can help you there as long as you keep it professional) it usually went well. I have been turned down for positions (by the nurse manager) but had an HR person search for positions for me just because she liked me. Their jobs can get boring day in and day out doing the same thing. If they have a bit of fun with you in the interview then they tend to remember that you broke up their day a bit and it makes you look like a good person to work with. I haven't always naturally been outgoing but when I was a single momma several years ago I just decided I didn't want to be isolated and figured out that I just had to get out there and talk to people. That carries over in many aspects of my life, including professionally. It's hard at first but I really think anyone can do it.