MissM_RN

Hello! I was wondering if anyone has made the leap from critical care to Mother/Baby Unit! Originally as a new grad I wanted to work in the Mother Baby Unit or Pediatrics. When I graduated from nursing school though, jobs were scarce and I took the first job I could get (Telemetry). Later on, I went to the CCU which is where I've been ever since. 9 years of CCU and I am BURNT. OUT. I've seen so much death and sadness and it has just changed me. My anxiety is so high at all times- I'm emotionally and mentally drained after working. There's pretty much no joy in my job right now. After having some time to reflect, I've considered just taking the leap to Mother Baby Unit. I'm a Mom, I love being a Mom, I love babies (and kids of course!), I love teaching! I feel like I'd be a great fit but worry about struggling with having more than 2 patients. Has anyone made this transition successfully? Are you happy? Thanks!! ?

I'm not very familiar with any family nurse practitioners, but I would think an NP would be very competent and comparable to that of an MD in a PCP position. An NP would be able to consider a patient's complaint, look at lab work and figure out what is going on and what needs to be done. No offense, but you're a MedSurg nurse. You know what your patients need, but when you work in critical care as an RN (which I do) you learn that there's no time to wait for orders from MD. You just do it. If your patient is crashing, you just hang the drips. You know what they need and you do it. If you stood around waiting for a Dr. the patient would be dead. Also, not sure how much experience you've had with House Dr's (especially on night shift) but sometimes you, the RN, knows more than they do and you need to just tell them what to order for the patient, what dose, etc. So maybe you should think about these things before saying the NP is invaluable to primary care. I think they're very valuable and I honestly think NPs listen more and have much better "bedside manner" than Dr's. Gee, I wonder why that would be?? Oh, because they worked at the bedside as RNs before!!! Bedside nursing is not the future of nursing at all, especially with Obamacare coming. My hospital just had a meeting and talked about how most care will be done outside of the hospital in outpatient care, home care, clinics, etc. Nurse Practitioners will be very valuable. Also, when you talk about NPs not being able to do surgery. I am pretty sure NPs and PAs harvest saphenous vein grafts from patients during open heart surgery at my old hospital. You are obviously a new nurse and have not seen much in the line of what NPs do. They do the same things PAs do and let me tell you, when the patient's about to crash and burn, having an NP on your unit to give your orders or basically serve as an MD, you will be grateful they are there!!! Like I said, not to belittle you as a medsurg nurse, but if you worked critical care you would probably have a much different viewpoint.

I am an ICU nurse wondering if PACU would be a better option, too! Wondering if it is in any way less stressful, too?

I would say leave on good terms, no matter what. You never know who you might run in to from this facility in the future. You could say an opportunity for you to gain experience in a certain specialty or area came about and you have accepted this position. Make sure you thank them for giving you the opportunity to work there and learn, etc etc. Always leave on good terms. I would hold out until you get official word from the new job, then submit your letter of resignation. Good luck!! This sounds like a hard situation.

I can't speak for rehab, but I know when I worked in a LTC unit as a CNA day shift was definitely crazy busy trying to get all of my residents up, washed, dresses, OOB, showered, etc. Evening shifts are busy, but it's just a different pace. I didn't feel AS pressured.. but you still have responsibilities such as getting all of the residents in their PJs, perform PM care if this is part of their routine, put them to bed and sometimes there would be 1 shower to give in the evenings. Eventually, when you get them all to bed it might slow down a little bit maybe around 9 or 10. But they are still ringing for something to drink, have to go to the bathroom, can't sleep, need the nurse, turn the heat up, dim the lights, etc. So although it's a different pace from dayshift because management isn't around, less people coming and going, people going to bed.. you will still def. be busy. Good luck! Evening shift is nice. I always like it.

I think there is a chance of being exposed to HIV in any field of nursing and any type of setting. I know the ER is a big place for people to be exposed because angry patients come in and purposely try to infect the staff.. They will try to spit on you or put their blood on you, etc. (This is not the norm, but it does happen with combative patients, intoxicated patients, etc). There are many violent patients that may come in through the ER and any type of altercation could result in exposure to HIV+ blood, Hep C, etc. But again, this can happen in any setting. If you use standard precautions, the risk of you becoming exposed is minimal. Be sure to wear goggles if you are emptying tubes/drains, etc to reduce the risk of a splash going into a mucous membrane like your eyes or your mouth, etc. Wear gloves if there is a risk of exposure to bodily fluids. Do not re-cap needles. Most needles have a safety device anyway where you just slide it up and it re-caps itself. Although you may be drawing blood more at a Dr's office, I think the patients generally would be more stable than in the hospital where there are many different tubes, lines, etc. that pose a risk for infection. good luck in whatever you choose to do!

I definitely feel you on this issue. I was a nursing assistant for 3 1/2 yrs while going to nursing school. I am a new nurse now, just passed NCLEX in Jan. Woo hoo! Being a nursing assistant is definitely a great way to prepare yourself to be a nurse in the hospital. However, you may want to consider what type of nursing specialty you are interested in. I first worked in LTC and felt the same way.. overworked, underpaid, doing back breaking work, patients all completes, incontinent, etc. So I moved on to acute care to a telemetry floor. It was great at first but towards the end it was constantly patients with c-diff, incontinent, falling, confused, etc. A setting like this very much mirrors what it will be like when you are a nurse working on this type of floor. Remember, it's not only the CNA turning the patients and cleaning the incontinent patients.. it is the nurse's sole responsibility to make sure this is being done. If the CNA doesn't do it, the nurse needs to do it. So, what I would suggest is maybe looking into being a pediatric nursing assistant. I've heard the work is much easier for nursing assistants and actually a girl I went to school with described her job as "boring" as a peds nursing assistant. She said she mostly stocked the unit with supplies. Although kids are sick and not feeling well, they are not usually incontinent in the bed, confused, etc. You may have to change some diapers, but no big deal. Also, you could try doing home care which would probably be less demanding. Good luck and I hope you find something!

I am from Philadelphia and I can say the same thing is happening here. I graduated December 2010 and have put in tons and tons of applications at pretty much every hospital in the Philadelphia area, have made follow up calls to nurse recruiters, HR, delivered resumes personally to nurse managers, and have heard NOTHING from hospitals. I have my BSN, RN and 3 1/2 yrs of nursing assistant experience and have gotten nowhere with hospitals. I did a search for LTC facilities in surrounding suburb areas, as well as subacute facilities. I finally got an interview for a subacute facility. It's about a 45 min drive, but the pay is pretty good and it's in Pediatrics which has been my dream area of nursing to be in (except with the job market the way it is, I NEVER thought I would start out with a Peds job). A few home care agencies called me back, as well. I would look into them if you are comfortable going into home care as a new grad. I had applied and then had second thoughts when they finally called me back because with this new license, I really don't want to take any chances. Plus, home care doesn't really give you the thorough orientation you need as a new grad. BUT, I know people in Philly that have done the home care as new grads. So, that's an option. I would def. look into rehabs and LTC especially in the surrounding suburb areas around you. Also, keep your eye out for career fairs/open interviews, etc. I went to a career fair with open interviews at a local rehab, got interviewed and got called back for a 2nd interview. I'm still waiting to hear back from them as well. So there are options and people willing to interview you, you just really have to go out of your way to find them. Look in different surrounding counties/areas. Be willing to commute. I know it sucks at first, but I think the experience is worth it! GOOD LUCK!!

Does anyone know when the next nurse residency program starts?

I'm wondering the same thing! I've applied to lots of LTC facilities that are listed on websites.. but I just wish I had a little more direction. If someone knew specifically a place hiring new grads, it would be great. Have my RN and BSN. Anyone have any tips?

Hello! I know you wrote this about a year ago but I have a question.. I just graduated in Dec, took the boards on Jan 26th and got my RN license Jan 27, 2011. Since you were in the same situation last year... when applying in other states, did you get your license endorsed for that state beforehand? Or are they willing to consider you even if you have the PA one and as long as you start the process of getting the NJ endorsement, will they consider you? I'm just asking because I've heard getting your PA license endorsed by NJ is a huge process, expensive, time-consuming, etc. Let me know if you know anything about this.. Thank you!

I'm in the same situation now.. just graduated in Dec, passed the boards Jan 26, 2011.. now job searching. Any advice? How did it work out for all of you? Just curious and as the previous poster said... any tips??

Hi, thank you for the info! I am going to call their main # and ask to be put through to HR. Is that what you did? Also, did you follow up and THEN get the interview or did they just call you back on their own? Thanks!

Hi, I know you wrote this awhile ago, but I am applying to the Horsham clinic now. I was wondering if you ever got hired there and if so, do you like it? What can you tell me about it? Just curious!! Thanks!

I took the NCLEX yesterday at 8am in PA. Did the PVT trick yesterday right after the test, got the "good" pop up, and this morning my name was on the PA BON website!! I passed!! I'm an RN!! Wooooo!!! The PVT DOES work!! I was skeptical and really didn't want to go by it at first, but it does put your mind at ease!