bstewart40

So is my experience as a LPN pretty much irrelevant? I've been a nurse since 2011 but an RN since 2013

Hello all! I've had my ASN for approximately a year now and while I am currently employed, I'm looking for something closer to home and that will allow me to grow in my skills. I'm getting highly discouraged because I'm getting rejected for pretty much everything I apply for. I wonder if I'm doing something wrong or if I should just give up on nursing altogether. I honestly love what I do but I can't seem to get a job at the local hospital to save my life. I've never even interviewed. What can I do?

Congrats! That's the sort of job I've been hoping for as well.

I work in LTC working every other weekend and 8 hour shifts. They'll schedule you depending on the facility's staffing needs.

Charting is a learned art, and when I was as new as you are, I was staying over that long as well. Your best bet is to chart right after something occurs. If you have 30 seconds, make a note. This will keep you from forgetting things as your shift progresses. If your flow sheets are legal documentation, I would say that you can use the flow sheets. That's why they are there- to keep you from having to chart the same thing every hour or two. If your patient is rating pain 8/10 at midnight, you give the PRN, and they are sleeping at 1245, that's an indicator that their pain is relieved. He's not tossing and turning, groaning, grimacing, or otherwise showing what you would describe as pain. I would definitely chart that patient is resting quietly with eyes closed, no s/s pain observed at this time. As far as refusals, I don't work in Tele, so I can't tell you. Go with policy, ask your preceptor. If it's emergent, call the MD. Otherwise I'd wait, but again, my opinion on this means nothing. You are a new nurse but you DO know things. Don't doubt yourself.

Hello all! I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, but I looked for a while under the "student nurse" tab and didn't find what I was looking for. Anyway, I'm an LPN to RN student and I am working on a care plan for myself in my Mental Health Class and I have a part of my care plan that is driving me crazy (pardon the pun). The teacher requires 3 "Needs" for every diagnosis. My needs are "Relief from Pain" "Improved Physical Mobility" and "Physical Therapy". The associated diagnosis is "Impaired physical mobility related to musculoskeletal impairment secondary to scoliosis AEB gait changes, limited ROM, and postural instability. " I don't like it, especially as this is the diagnosis I used for the Education part of my care plan. Let me explain. I have scoliosis with poor abdominal muscle strength. This means that my back muscles are doing all the work of keeping me upright and this is the perfect storm for the pain that I have. Pain makes me angry, irritable, and it's a significant source of my stress. However, because of my back issues, including the pain, I have the impaired physical mobility that's due to the musculoskeletal impairment. I DO have the limited ROM, postural instability and gait difficulties. My problem is this: I keep going back and forth over whether or not I need to make pain the diagnosis or keep it as it is. This is one of two diagnosis in this care plan that aren't strictly mental health- the other is imbalanced nutrition more than bodily requirements, but I relate it to my anxiety. So, can you help me out? I know I am probably over thinking this, but I'm a perfectionist at heart.

I would not do it. Gas is too expensive for a 4 hour commute. I'm not close with my own family, so there wouldn't be anyone to watch my children. I would move if it were that important to me.

My professional profile would be nowhere near that impressive- which is obvious because you have much more experience than I have. I don't have my ASN yet and I have minimal hospital training. I worked at an LTAC facility as an agency nurse for about a month before I found full time work at my LTC facility. The majority of my clinical rotations in school did occur at a few hospitals, one of them being the LTAC I mentioned earlier. Right now, I work the rehab to home unit- lots of wounds, g-tubes, IVs, foleys, with hospice care on occasion. In the LTAC, a lot of them were on contact isolation but my duties were essentially the same except the patients were much sicker. As a floor nurse, I have supervisory duties over the CNAs and I am a member of the Admissions Committee. I am able to function appropriately in a crisis, most recently demonstrated on Thursday. I am BLS certified but not IV certified because I'm not an RN. (My facility chose to only certify the RNs.) I've thought about going outside my facility to get this done. The other information you supplied is really good, too. It's certainly different from what I've been taught, too. I know one typically needs acute care experience to get into hospitals, but how can I get the experience without someone taking that risk? Ultimately, I want to be a nurse practitioner in an ICU-type setting. I've been told Med-Surg is the first step. I just need to get there.

LPN and RN scopes of practice are determined by the facility. That's why some LPNs can hang blood and others can't.

BRITTANY ______ Address | CITY, IN ZIP| Phone Number [email protected] OBJECTIVE A licensed practical nurse seeking a full time direct patient care position in an inpatient hospital environment. EMPLOYMENT HISTORY Charge Nurse-LPN, FACILITY 7/2011- current CITY, IN Perform physical assessment of new admissions and current residents Administered medications and treatments consistent with physician ordered plan of care and facility standards of care Communicate and coordinate care and delivery of services with all medical disciplines Medical-Surgical LPN, Maxim Staffing Solutions 5/2011-current CITY, IN Administered medications and treatments consistent with physician ordered plan of care and facility standards of care Charge Nurse-LPN, FACILITY Health and Living Community 1/2011-5/2011 CITY, IN Performed physical assessment of new admissions and of current residents Administered medications and treatments consistent with physician ordered plan of care and facility standards of care Communicated and coordinated care and delivery of services with all medical disciplines LICENSURE Licensed Practical Nurse License Number: ********* CERTIFICATIONS/ACHIEVEMENTS Basic Life Support- Renewed 04/2012 Appointed to facility-wide Admissions Committee by Director of Nursing EDUCATION Ivy Tech Community College, Practical Nursing program Graduated December 2010, GPA 3.6/4.0 Ivy Tech Community College, ASN program Anticipated Graduation: May 2013, Present GPA 3.6/4.0 This is what I did based on everyone's suggestions. I couldn't think of anything that wasn't redundant to put in the skills profile, so I took it out completely. Anything else?

Indiana's state practice acts are pretty vague. Typically what LPNs are prohibited from doing are determined by the facilities. As a nurse in my facility, I always do the initial admission assessment. I don't do the care plan in the strictest sense of the word, but that may be because I am a floor nurse. Our UM is an LPN, and I know she participates in those meetings. I do care plan for medications, PT/OT/ST orders, and treatments. What would you suggest I change that line to? What do I need to put under my job titles? Should I take those repetitive descriptions out? All my volunteer work (such as for Project Safe Place) was approximately 5 years ago. I have 2 kids and I work full time. I'm not sure what volunteer opportunities I could undertake that would be useful. Thank you for looking over it for me! I really appreciate it!

BRITTANY _____ Address Here | City, IN zip| phone number [email protected] OBJECTIVE A licensed practical nursing position that will totally utilize my skills and abilities SKILLS PROFILE Success oriented with high energy and positive attitude Strong sense of responsibility and motivation Eager and willing to learn Function effectively in stressful situations and emergencies Strong patient advocate EDUCATION Ivy Tech Community College, CITY IN Practical Nursing program, Graduated December 2010 Maintained GPA of 3.6/4.0 throughout college career EMPLOYMENT HISTORY Charge Nurse-LPN, (facility name) 7/2011- current CITY, IN Perform physical assessment of new admissions and current residents Provided direct patient care, including administering medications and specialized treatments, to residents as ordered Communicate and coordinate care and delivery of services with all medical disciplines Medical-Surgical LPN, Maxim Staffing Solutions 5/2011-current (CITY), IN Used the nursing process to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate patient care Identified and prioritized patient care requirements Provided direct patient care, including medication administration and specialized treatments as ordered Charge Nurse-LPN, (FACILITY) Health and Living Community 1/2011-5/2011 CITY, IN Performed physical assessment of new admissions and of current residents Provided direct patient care, including administering medications and specialized treatments, to residents as ordered Communicated and coordinated care and delivery of services with all medical disciplines This is my resume. I keep getting turned down for hospital positions. I've edited out my personal information, but the gist of everything is still in there. I need to know what to do to brush this up. I'm BLS certified, I'm on the Admissions Committee at my current facility, currently returning to school for my ASN. What can I do to make my resume more attractive? I'd really like to get into a hospital before my skills go to waste.

i was terminated from my first lpn position after 4 terrible months on the job. i didn't know what i was doing, really, and the facility i worked at chewed up and spit out new nurses. what i did first to keep money coming in was to get a job at an agency. you tell them your schedule and where you'd like to be, tell them the minimum per hour you want to work for, and they'll place you somewhere. it's not a permanent situation, and i eventually started applying at ltc facilities. they're the red-headed step child of nursing, but they provide really good experience.

Ladies, I am at a loss. Since I was fired from my first job at a LTC facility, I've had massive anxiety about keeping a job and keeping enough money to take care of my kids. I worked as an agency nurse for about 2 months while I found more reliable work elsewhere, and I did. I got a full time, day shift position at another LTC facility working on the rehab hall. My DON- a male- was the ADON when I hired on. He did my interview and was hesitant to hire me because of my explanation of my termination. However, the DON (a female) thought I would be a good fit and I was hired. The sexual harassment started almost right away. The ADON was curious about my sexual orientation (he heard me mention my "partner") and when I confirmed that I was in fact, a lesbian, it opened a can of worms i was unprepared for. It turned him on, and he was NOT shy about telling me so. He would touch my legs under tables, give me back massages while I was trying to work, pull me of the floor to have sexually explicit conversations with me, ect. I know more about this man's sex life than I EVER wanted to know about anyone. About two months into my new job, the DON abruptly left the job to move to FL with her husband and the ADON moved into the position. Since then, he's constantly making inappropriate comments, trying to touch me, ect. I am terrified of losing this job. I've been here 6 months and I am preparing to go back to school so I can get my RN and get a hospital job where I belong. I've indicated that it makes me uncomfortable and it has actually made my anxiety worse- where I have panic attacks at work. I've told HR several times, and nothing is done. Last week she actually told me she didn't want to know, so she could stay out of it. She said that I am not the only one he does it to, that the ED knows, and nothing is ever done. I feel that I am unable to approach the ED directly because he is friendly with the DON. So what are my options?? FT and day shift positions are hard to come by in this town, especially when I am heading back to school soon. I am terrified that if I say anything, I am going to lose my job. What can I do?

You might want to look at LTC to get some experience. LTC facilities are always looking to woo RNs, the pay is pretty good, and it'll give you some patient experience.