Lenap

1. Narcotic drugs drips/PCA 2. Heparin drip 3. Blood products 4. Chemotherapy 5. Insulin drip

Yes, you need to be employed with a minimum of 6+ months oncology experience to take Chemotherapy & Biotherapy basic 2 day course. For a 3 day course with Practicum you'll need 1 yr experience, IV cert, knowledge how to access ports (vascular access devices). Here is sample: http://www.fccc.edu/docs/healthProfessionals/continuingNursingEducation/fa08-chemo.pdf Good luck!

There are plenty of jobs! Abington Memorial Hospital has a hiring freeze right now. In November of this year they bought Warminster Hospital and had offered the available jobs to Warminster hospital nurses and staff. Warminster hospital will now only have ambulatory services, all other units are shut down. It never hurts to apply there ( Abington) anyway even if the job you want is not listed! And there are tons of jobs available at other hospitals! Good luck!

Jefferson online http://www.jefferson.edu/jchp/nursing/rnbsnonl.cfm Penn State online http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/BachelorinNursing.shtml Drexel online http://www.drexel.com/online-degrees/nursing-degrees/rn-bsn/index.aspx

I don't believe it matters which school you graduate from, but the hiring facility may look at your GPA if you don't have any nursing work experience. If the smaller, closer to home school has decent nursing program and good % passing boards I would definetely pick that one. Keep in mind that nursing school is damn hard work and if you have to commute each single day 90 minutes each way, you'll be too tired to study! Having smaller classes/groups for classes and clinicals also means it'll be more personalized and easier to seek help if you need it. Good luck!

Well said! same here and maybe pleasantly confused (just not the ones who are pleasantly ringing call bell every minute) :roll

No bonuses, ever. Actually, I do recall getting something at my first job out of school : $1 gift certificate to McDonald's..I kept it for show and tell, otherwise no one believes me :rotfl:

Eastern Europe

In Europe most schools allow graduation finishing only 8 grades so at age 15-16 they can enter either workworkce or start technical school. Age 16 is considered young adult in Europe. By 20 most girls are married already.

If you use laptop when traveling you'll need a wireless notebook card ( the one we use is from Linksys). You can use it for wireless connections in pretty much all internet cafe and now a lot of hotels are catching up and starting to use routers to allow wireless connections. Few weeks ago my husband and I went away on vacation and took our laptop with us...not really hoping to use it for internet, but my husband ended up receiving signal from a nearby hotel that provided free wireless connection so we had free internet all our vacation :) Here is a link for some info how to find the spots with wireless connection: http://www.intel.com/personal/howto/dhg_hotspots.htm

Agree. Learning new experiences and meeting new challanges what makes my job rewarding for me. I can't imagine how rewarding it can be working on those special VIP floors.

:balloons: congrats tweety !!!!! :smiley_aa

I can imagine your concern! Few years ago I found myself in my 1st trimester pregnacy taking care of prostate cancer pt who had radiation seeds (I found that out by reading his chart and not from a nurse giving me report) I was terrified! So here are some info for you: For prostate cancer pt. w/ radiation seeds they use Iodine-125 and Palladium-103 , low energy radioactive materials that lose their radioactivity quickly. The radiation levels around patient are very low and fairly safe for most people. The only major precautions are that you should avoid prolonged physical contact with pregnant women and young children (such as holding them or having them sit on your lap) for six months following the I-125 implant or for three months after the Pd-103 implant. Here is a link for more details on this. http://www.kcc.tju.edu/RadOnc/brachy/saf.htm I hope this helps!

Per diem is great, but only is you are planning on it temporary. While the pay is great and you make your own schedule, there are no benefits. So do consider if you want : to buy medical coverage somewhere else, no vacation (or vacation without pay),no sick time, no 401/403 retirement plan contribution from your work. If you do per diem for your specific floor, you still will be in charge only because you have more experience. Probably doing agency or local travel assignments are better option for you as you'll get good hours, high pay and all the benefits.

While I have not worked there for 2+ yrs, I can say their rates are always the highest in the region. Benefits are really good too. But parking pretty expensive...UPenn's 2 closest garages used to cost $15 and $11 per day...maybe it's different now. Their rates are great if you live in a walking distance :) gas + parking should be taken in consideration. Good luck!

$27/hr on start, suburbs large hospital $24/hr start independent dialysis clinic

We have a lot of respect for all our unit clerks! When we have one, it means our day will be organized, all pt appointments scheduled, orders filed, consults called, all floor issues such as broken equipment and leaking sinks addressed. Plus our UC also answer call lights (when we are too busy and short staffed) and then page us to let us know what our patient is calling for. Thank God for Unit Secretaries :bowingpur :bowingpur :bowingpur :bow: You should transfer somewhere where you'll be respected.

Once I had a 18yo girl using her laptop to research her newly diagnosed disease. She used computer to look up normal values for her labs, learn treatment options..etc. I have a lot of respect for patients who are involved in their own care. Not those concerned about eating steak or duck or those expecting massages.

Agree.

Agree with Tweety I left Med/Surg floor and one of the reasons was I had enough of having to discharge 3-5 pts and immediately accept just as many post-op! But for advice to speed up discharges: 1. Have all docs write their discharges in advance along with all prescriptions. 2. Have the docs tell their patients approximate length of stay post up, so they are not surprised in a morning by discharge and start making up new pains and SOB so they can get more work up to stay longer. 3. All homecare teachings should be started at least 1 day prior to discharge, so you can ask pt for a return demonstration (and not to spend next 2 hrs teaching them) 4. Have family notified to be ready for pt's pick up by specific hr. Or at least ask when they can make it, so you can prioritize discharges. 5. Have a wheelchair ready by pt's door. Usually a task that can be done by night shift, as there will be plenty of wheelchairs around the hospital. 6. Have all the extra supply for homecare ready in advance. I can't think of anything else, but hope these help :wink2:

Thank you for your honest opinions! This hospital does mention they put earned money from those luxury services back into system. I know the location of this specific hospital and do understand it treats huge numbers of uninsured and homeless people. Knowing that this specific hospital spends huge money on new computers, state of the art equipment and agency/travel nurses (I know travel nurses there are offered thousand of dollars bonuses to renew contracts, while burned out regular staff are not rewarded) and now on VIP treatments.... There are better ways of managing money than relying on luxury units to bring more money in the system.

I don't think good care should be at extra cost. For example the hospital I work at has almost all private rooms. Patients can pay for TV w/ cable. I had many patients bring their own laptop computers and use phone line for internet. Many patients bring portable dvd players and watch their own movies. Almost all pts bring and use their cell phones. Everyone is allowed to bring and to wear nice robes (if they don't have any drains, chest tubes...etc). We often have patients from different cultures and all their beliefs we respect. Their family can cook and bring them special food (unless pt is NPO). There have been many times that pt. and his/her family would close the door to pray. We would ask the family to let us know they were done. Not a problem. No one interupted them. We would make their stay as comfortable as it is allowed. There is no discrimination. Everyone gets the care they need. No extra charge out pt's pocket. Even if they have no health insurance. Having excellent doctors and caring nurses as well as a successful surgery and recovery, what should be important. As for rich people..instead of throwing their money on useless fluff/crap, how about donating it to the hospital or some important fund or a cause. And if they are well enough to think about eating restaurant food and getting pampered by massages.....maybe it's time to discharge them home.

thanks for your input! i cannot agree more with you! i am glad to hear i'm not the only one feeling this way. i do also question the honesty of a writer of this article who says "the nurse-to-patient ratio is the same as on a general medical-surgical unit, and pavilion patients are not given priority for procedures." i must admit while i don't know how well staffed this particular luxury unit is, but i personally know how understaffed med/surd floors are in this particular hospital. i honestly doubt they have 1-2 nurses working this floor caring for these vip patients. (from what i know nurse to patient ratios were 1 nurse :7-10 patients). what would stop the hospital in speeding up an appointment or a surgery for an extra charge?

recently i came across an article in nursing spectrum magazine called "nurses help create a five-star experience" http://community.nursingspectrum.com/magazinearticles/article.cfm?aid=22697 in summary: for paying extra $350-450/day out of pocket, patient can be upgraded to a decorated room with plasma tv, internet, special menu with choices of filet magnon, bass and duck; receive plush robe instead of a gown. "the service upgrades begin at the door with a warm greeting by the concierge, who offers to accommodate a patient's every need-from scheduling a massage to arranging transportation for a family member to visit an historic philadelphia attraction. " what are your thoughts on having hospitals with special units providing hotel-like services? few parts of this article left me feeling angry. for example : "the principles of service excellence offered build upon deeply rooted nursing values. more than 100 years ago, florence nightingale emphasized that nurses must diligently pay attention to the caregiving environment. nightingale stated that the art of "nursing ought to signify the proper use of fresh air, light, cleanliness, quiet, and the proper selection and administration of diet." this principle should not be applied to rich people only! sounds like "you get what you pay for". i can't disagree more with this article. i don't think hospitals should have luxury floors. what do you think about this. are you for or against 5-star luxury units?

Coffee, windows down or loud music never worked for me! For 3 yrs of working 12 hr night shifts and driving over 1 hr each way (with 1 car accident during my 1st trimester pregnancy where I fell asleep driving 60 miles/hr on a highway) I've learned my lesson.....My advice: Pull over and take a nap! There have been multiple times when I pulled over, got off the highway to nearby shopping plaza and took a nap for 45 min-2hrs. Wake up and there would be no more traffic . (I should mention I took a paycut to get a closer job:wink2: ) Good luck!