incurable_optimism

Hey Everyone, I am seriously stressing out, and just looking for some advice from people who have been there or are currently in the same boat. I passed my NCLEX-PN in October, just a few short weeks after graduation. I had a job I was basically guaranteed in January. So, throughout the "holiday season" I didn't really apply anywhere...totally my fault. I should have never done that. But, the job ended up falling through. (of course) So now here I am applying everywhere! Where I live all of the hospitals are going to magnet status, so the only place I can really get a job is a nursing home, which I'm totally fine with! I really do enjoy working with the elderly. So I've been applying and basically getting instant email rejections. I finally got a call back from a place I was really wanting. It's close to my house, night shift, 12 hour shifts. They are a national company so it was a woman in another state who called me. She said she was calling to find out my availability for an interview, I told her I was available anytime. She said she was going to call the HR director at the location I applied at and find out their availability and then she would call me back to set up the interview. That was last Wednesday. I called her back Thursday morning and got her voicemail and she hasn't called back. Should I keep calling back and leaving voicemails? I just don't understand what could have happened in a matter of hours to go from her wanting to schedule an interview and then silence. I don't know I guess I'm just frustrated...but I guess there are a lot of us feeling the same way. : /

You're right, we were always told in school that AAPC was more office focused and AHIMA was more for hospitals, but my school paid for/prepared you for the AAPC exam. So, thats who I went with. But, with AAPC you can take an exam and get your CPC (certified professional coder) and then take a second exam to get your CPC-H (Hospital) So that's what I did...and I ended up getting a job with one of the largest hospitals in my city. I honestly felt like I was prepared, but I felt like a lot of things I learned on the job from other coders. I attended a local technical college in the classroom. They didn't offer online at the time. I was done in 17 months. I thought both exams were a piece of cake. I passed both on the first try. But, many of my classmates did not. Several had to re-take it. So I think it all just depends on how prepared you are walking in to it. For me it was easy to find a job, because the last semester of school we did an externship and I ended up going to work with them. So I graduated on Saturday and started work on Monday. I was happy with the pay, since it was more than I had ever made before. Usually depending on experience you started out between $13-15, but after I left I was told there were some smaller offices that paid better, but that I can't confirm. I enjoyed my job, I really did. You got to research diseases and it was interesting. BUT, I couldn't take staring at a computer screen all day. I realized that I wanted to be with the patients, not billing them, so I left to pursue nursing school. (They couldn't work with my school schedule) Oh, but one good thing is they were always pretty flexible with hours. So, I also enjoyed that, some weeks I was home at 3 everyday, or some days I could do 4 10's and take Friday off. You may want to do some research into it and see how needed coders are in locally. I've heard rumors of coders being phased out and everything being computerized, but I've yet to see that where I live. If you have any questions let me know. Best of luck to you. :]

So, next week I start my first psych clinical at a local psychiatric hospital. I'm really nervous/excited. They've told us that this clinical is 100% focused on therapeutic communication. I'm just really nervous after all of the long lectures in my mental health class that I'm going to say the wrong thing or something. I don't know. I'm just not sure what to expect. Any advice on how to prepare or what to expect?! :]]

I am still in nursing school, and I have only been to two nursing homes. But, there is one patient I will never forget. She was in her 80's, dementia. Not sure what else was going on with her as she was not a patient assigned to me. She believed that she had bugs crawling all over her and would scream for a nurse to come put her medicine/lotion on her. She would sit out in the hallway screaming "NURSE!" To the nurses who were on this floor every night (and most of my fellow students) this was annoying and they had grown to ignore her. To me though, I knew this was a woman who truly believed she had things on her and needed help. So I would go in her room and put lotion on her and just scratch her head. She loved it. The other students thought I was crazy, they walked past her room and said "Are you serious?" But it made her feel so much better, and she would sit there the whole time going "Oh you're such a good nurse. You're going to be the best nurse ever" That woman always put a smile on my face. And I'll never forget her...or the fact that sometimes just taking a minute to do something small for a patient makes a world of difference. Also, there was another patient at a different facility, who was covered in wounds from not being turned. He was a total care. I took care of this patient for 8 weeks. Without going into too much detail, there were some circumstances going on that made the RN and CNA's avoid his room at all cost. He was doing horribly. I went to my teacher who took it from there. We had some changes put into place and some new orders from the wound doctor and the last week I was there the pt looked a million times better then the first week I saw him. He was freshly shaved, smiling and telling me he would miss me. I will never ever forget that man. Or the many lessons I learned while taking care of him.

I'm very confused and feel kind of dumb. : / First-this is an assignment, but I don't want anyone to give me the answers. I just need help understanding so I can figure this all out. I have to do a case study as a make up assignment. The case study is over a elderly pt with pneumonia. It gives the orders and one of them is D5 1/2NS at 125ml/hr. The question is asking if that is appropriate for the pt and it wants a rationale. The problem is I have no idea what D5 1/2NS is or what it does. I've been trying to research it this morning and I feel like the more I read the more confused I'm making my self. Could someone please help me understand what this is. I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm in my 2nd quarter and we haven't gone over IV fluids yet. Thanks.

I'm currently in an ADN program but fully intend on getting my BSN. The way our instructor explained it to us was, even if you aren't paid more, it benefits you in other ways. He got his BSN and worked as a bedside nurse for several years. A few years ago he was diagnosed with a really rare cancer in his leg. They've done multiple surgeries and he is in a wheelchair now. He said, if he would have just had his ADN he would be on disability, but since he has his BSN he has all kinds of other options aside from bedside nursing, like teaching. So personally, I think it's a good idea.

I'm doing it right now as well. I'm about to take my finals for 2nd quarter. I work in a non-medical job right now. But my mom is my manager so she can be a bit more leniant on my hours if I need time off to study for finals. But, I agreee with what everyone else has said. You can definitely do it, you just may not be getting the A's. For both quarters I've been a B student. It seems like everything I do comes out to a B. But I work Monday through Thursday 6:30-4:30. Then class starts at 5 and I'm there until 9 or 9:30. Somedays we get out early though. But I like having Friday off because I can get up early, run errands during the morning and then I have the rest of the day and the weekend to study. I was also planning on the whole study at work thing and it hasn't worked out well. Flash cards are usually all I have time for and that's only on breaks and lunch. But I definitely think you can do it. Go for it! :] -But just don't forget to squeeze some sleep in there too. I did, and landed myself in the ER. No good.

Hi All! Sorry it took me so long to get back, like I said it's finals week so I have had my nose in books all week long. But I'm happy to report I got through all of my finals with 2 A's and a B! Thank you so much for each and every one of your kind words and advice. I appreciate it so much. Even just hearing the things you all had to say made me feel better about walking into this with no experience. I am one of 3 people in my class of 30 that has no clinical experience. So I was a little intimidated, but hearing what you all had to say definitely makes me feel a lot better. It's so nice to have such a supportive group of people to talk to! Thank you all so very much! :]]

Hey everyone! I am currently in school to get my LPN. This week is finals week, and then once I get through those, I have successfully made it through my first quarter! But in 2 weeks I will be getting my very first clinical site ever! I have zero clinical background. So this will be my first time with actual patient interaction. I am so excited but absolutely terrified as well! I don't want to mess anything up and I just want to be a good nurse. If you can't tell, it worries me a bit. But that's just because I want to be a nurse so badly, and I just don't want to mess anything up. Any words of advice, wisdom, encouragement? I think after my first couple of times I'll calm down a bit. I think I should mention I'm also extremely excited, and I can't wait to get started and get this hands on learning experience. I'm just a big ball of nerves at the same time. I appreciate any advice you all have! :]]]]