lesliel

encourage open communication and talking processes and procedures out loud (i.e "i'm going to change this IV dressing because...and these are supplies I have to get ready and this is the policy I looked up and this is my step by step way of doing it). This can be pretty time consuming at the beginning, but it promotes dialogue, allows you to note any things that need correction and gets her/him used to the systematic way of doing things! good luck! (apologies for the terrible punctuation, im on my mobile)

It went well! I got the job There were absolutely no scenario questions and it was completely behavioural type questions (i.e. How do you deal with conflict? Tell me about a time when you were working in a group and there was an issue, How did you manage it?) At the end, there was a multiple choice medication administration quiz. I think that these were questions were specific to my situation as I am basically a new grad (graduated in December 2010). I always hate interviews and the wait to hear back afterwards! eeks! warmest regards! lesliel

Wow, that is a tough place to be in!! It's great that you have all these options available to you and are looking towards professional growth :) IMHO, I think this is a personal decision that takes much thought and in spite of advice given here or anywhere, this is your decision to make! I think one thing that you need to considered is what will make you happy, as cheesy as that sounds. I have a colleague who graduated top of our class, took all the necessary requirements for medical school, again was top of the class and could have definitely been an MD (that was her prospective goal at that time). After our last year of consolidation, she decided that nursing is where she wants to be and eventually a nurse educator. Yes, money is great, but as they say "money isn't everything" and "money can't buy you happiness!" As well, I think that a good thing to adopt is to start looking at the interdisciplinary team as a cohesive team, rather then someone being authoritative or "superior" to you. I know that in healthcare it's difficult to escape the "hierarchy," but feeling inferior is a personal decision! I worked with nurses from all different generations and some treat MDs very different from others. I am always respectful, but I will not be spoken down to and I speak to an MD the same way I would anyone else on the healthcare team. I digress and that is a whole other thread that could be started from that! Be proud of the nurse title that you have worked very hard to earn!! Professional advancement whether it be as an NP, MD or CRNA is a great goal! I wish you the best of luck with whatever you make your goal! :)

Hi All nurses!! I was just wondering If you were a nurse manager or nurse educator, what kind of questions would you ask at an interview?? I have been fortunate enough to land an interview at a Pediatric Cardiac CCU and have been preparing endlessly for it!! I'm nervous, but excited as this is my ideal position! I completed my consolidation at this hospital on another unit and have already been through the initial interview and this is the second interview I'm going to. I know as a nurse that is still pretty fresh (graduated in December 2010) that it is going to be mainly behavioural type questions. At least that is what I'm expecting. Also, because I consolidated there, would they expect me to answer questions that were scenario specific (i.e. how much of this med would you give during a code?). Anyways, I was just wondering if there are any pediatric ICU nurses, nurse managers or nurse educators out there (I assume questions may be similar to the ones asked at these interviews ) who can share their interview experience?? I know there are threads out there that have addressed interviews, but I find they are a bit dated and was wondering if anyone could help? I have always received GREAT advice from fellow nurses here, so I'm hoping you guys can pull through for me again Thanks in advance for any suggestions (I'm open to any!) and advice that anyone can lend! -lesliel

I was in the same position as you when I came out of nursing school! As a new graduate, it is difficult to start your resume from scratch, but fortunately you CAN put your clinical experience. My resume has all the clinical experience that I had as well as any of my non-nursing work experience. I actually found plenty of online resources that helped me put together my resume quite nicely. I know this is a Canadian reference (I'm assuming you are not Canadian because you took the NCLEX), but I think you may find it helpful. http://www.rnao.org/Storage/17/1141_resume.pdf Let me know how that goes! Good luck job hunting! lesliel :)

Hey Ellab! I'm a new graduate that has been working for a couple of months now in the GTA. When you say "1000 other stuff" are you referring to the qualifications wanting different certificates and such?? I came across this a lot as well when I was on my seemingly unending job hunt. I suggest you apply to these anyway because sometimes they hire you and give you some time to take the course while training or in the earlier stages of your employment (i'm assuming you were referring to different certificates). This was the case for many of my colleagues. Also, you might consider looking into these certificates or courses on your own. Many different colleges in the GTA offer these courses over the span of a few classes, though they tend to be expensive, but they're a good investment for your future practice! They also pad your resume and make you that much more attractive to an employer. I know that looking for a job can be discouraging and stressful but, keep at it! It's a tough competition out there for jobs, especially in the GTA so be diligent with looking and you'll find a job eventually! It may not be what you hoped for exactly but, in this job market, employment is employment! Good luck:yeah: -lesliel

congrats on surviving that!

Thanks for all the valuable input from everyone who posted! I really appreciate whatever advice anyone can shed. I realize that I probably won't likely be able to sit and talk to a client one on one for an extensive period of time but, it helps to know that it's not impossible to engage with atleast a few residences once in a while. KellyRPNinOntario you bring up a really good point in rotating between clients, that is something that I will try and incorporate into my care! I also don't really consider alleviating patient's nausea or pain to be that huge of an intervention but, I'm seeing more and more how this affects a resident's day immensely! Thanks everyone!

Hello all! Looking for some suggestions here...:) I recently was looking through all the threads and was looking through one where the OP was about becoming more efficient while in LTC. I started my position as a new graduate in long term care about a month ago and found that while I am becoming more and more efficient with giving medications and providing all the different treatments, but I am finding that I am spending less time being able to sit with patients, get to know them and tailor care appropriately. I was shadowing another nurse while orientating and during this time, I had more time to get to know residents and learn that "resident a" likes their medications with juice and "resident b" would like you to leave the bedside light on because they like to read before bed. I really valued hearing about their experiences and being able to spend that extra 2 minutes to hear about their family or what visitors they planned to have on the weekend. Now, that I am flying solo on the unit I find that I can't do these things at all. I feel like my day is rushing through medications and then treatments!! I mean, I can still say the "good morning," "how is your day?" and various greetings but, the conversation does not go beyond that I'm just wondering if any other LTC nurses who have been in this specific nursing specialty have the time to go through nursing process, specifically nursing intervention vs. medical intervention? How are you able to carry nursing process out? What can I do to ensure that some sort of nursing process is carried out? As a new grad, I'm wondering if this specific specialty is right for me at this point :S Any thoughts or comments are more then welcome! Thank you :redpinkhe

Oh my goodnesss! I could not agree with this more! I always wonder why people who are not nurses or are not directly related to a nurse have such a skewed view of what nurses do, well it's because the media portrayal of nurses is absolutely FALSE! Nurses are either being shown as erotic figures or secondary to physicians in all aspects. House is definitely horrible for this, I sit with my family and point out everything that nurses actually do in real life and they are surprised at how much the show are depicted as providing most if not ALL of the bedside care! I know these shows are wildly popular too so it is unfortunate that uninformed people are taking this as the norm. I'm also amazed at how 8 different doctors (or however many different doctors are featured on grey's anatomy) all work on the same unit?? I don't watch the show but this is what I have heard. Really?? There has to be at least SOME bit of reality in these shows. It's actually insulting!!

Oh my goodness! What a terrible experience for your daughter :hug: I agree with what someone else had posted earlier that "nurses eat their young" As a new graduate, working for the first time, the generational gap between myself and the "younger" nurses vs. the older nursing staff is immeasurable! From my own experience, I have been "put in my place" many times in my short career thus far. I have also found that before I entered the nursing profession, that some nurses can be the worst advertisers for the profession! I think that a long and tiring career has led some nurses to be bitter and take it out on prospective nurses! Hence, I don't think that what one person says about your skills determines how you will be as a nurse. As someone else mentioned, advocate for your daughter, speak sternly and ask her about her teaching style? I don't think it would hurt to ask! good luck!

WOW, as a new graduate in long term care, this is something that I find very surprising! I think that working on the unit is something that is of most benefit, because similar to what everyone else in this post has mentioned it's important to get the basics down first before you tackle a management position! I, personally would not want to be a unit manager, I'm still young and don't think I would get the respect let alone manage a floor as well as a veteran or senior nurse! The person who manages the unit that I'm on does her job amazingly and you can tell it can be credit to her experience

I'm a new graduate, that just started my career in LTC nursing. I have only been working for a month and I can relate to everything that has been written in the previous posts!! I sometimes feel used and abused by the management of the facility. They expect us to give medications, finish treatments, do dressings for an unbelievable amount of patients, all while adhering to policies and procedures AND leave on time?!? I'm sorry, I did not know that I had to sacrifice my physical well-being and sanity for the efficiency of the institution. At times, I feel like there is not one soul within management that care enough for the residents to try and change something. I learned SO much in nursing school that we need to advocate and "be the change you want to see" but, how is this possible when there is barely enough time to perform the most basic care?? My apologies for the rant! One thing that I found that helped me was that I cut down on conversation. As terrible as that sounds, I keep interaction with the residents to a minimum. I found that many of the elderly have tons of stories! If I stop to engage, I could be held up for an extra 2 minutes that I just can NOT spare! Right now, as I am adjusting this is something that I found is helping, as my skills improve I hope that this something that will change! I know I have a tendency to be chatty as well, so this is something I definitely need to work on as well! :D

I think that every nursing faculty can make some adjustments to their curriculum :S I base my judgments on universities from my colleagues who have been to the institutions you refer to. My friends from McMaster enjoyed the student life and their experiences, mostly because they had to move away from home and got the experience of independence. I never heard them complain about the faculty or program itself. For the most part, they seemed to enjoy everything about McMaster. My friends from York graduated (very very late) because they were in their last semester during the strike they had last year. They often spoke negatively about the curriculum and said it was really "disorganized." I'm not too sure if their opinions were based heavily on the fact that the strike occurred at the same time, but thats the impression that I got from them! Anyways, I suggest going on a campus tour or even seeing if the nursing programs are having an open house where you can get a first hand look at some of what the curriculum has to offer. I know that my school offered this! Good luck and congratulations with your acceptance!!! I hope you end up with the best choice :D:D

There is also the possibility of taking extra courses such as ACLS or PALS courses? These could pad your resume and make you more appealing to employers