Nierdo

Any updates? This Avenue of app development sounds interesting!!

I have always loved art and creative outlets growing up and wondered if it has a place in nursing? I won't be a bedside nurse forever. I was thinking of maybe nurse educator creating sims/lessons etc and nurse researcher writing papers and creating studies? I looked into nurses who are "creative writers" writing med articles for magazines/online as well. Any other "creative nursing" jobs you can think of?

I've been a bedside nurse for over 5 years. 1 year endoscopy, 1 year med/surg/tele, 3.5 years acute rehab and just 3 months into iicu AND I HATE BEDSIDE NURSING! I feel like 3 months is too early to gain any meaningful nursing experience but I feel like a robot at work. I used to love connecting to my patients in rehab but now the critical care environment makes tasks the priority. I feel like I'm treating the disease and not the patient. Im dragging my feet to work everyday and feeling anxious and sad on my days off. I can do the work, I know it's hard, but I JUST DON'T CARE. I know I need to build my floor experience before completely stepping out of bedside. I'm going back to floor nursing on physical rehab but it's a step back for me. Any advice?

Congrats on the plunge! I took the exam. ALOT of percentages and statistics.... the exam was written for any scope of practice so it will not be NCLEX questions or even remotely medically intensive. I studied for a month, very casually. Hope you have a good proctor!

I work in an inpatient acute rehab unit in a hospital. Ive been told many times from many hospitals we are more sub-acute and do not really have the acute care experience needed for other floors. I beg to differ. We get alot of the same patients! I consider this acute care. I've gotten interviews for ortho and neuro floors recently because of the rehab care we give. Since alot of our guys are splints/casts/braces/TKA/THAs or stoke guys they at least take notice. There is hope!!! Just talk up your med-surgy guys Also look into spinal cord units since they can be an extension of rehab like patients too

When i was a new grad i shadowed and volunteered as an RN in a bunch of places that i HATED. I would drag myself at work everyday and try REALLY HARD to find something that interested me. It got to the point where i became really technical and became really engrossed in doing simple things like setting up procedures, cleaning machines, looking up meds and history etc. Kept me busy for a few months. I only wanted to be able to put the experience on my resume. That experience lead to the job that i have now =)... and contributed to the knowledge that I would NEVER go back to certain areas of nursing =P My advice to any new grad is to STICK TO IT. You may hate it now but your experience is valueable. It will open doors trust me.

i feel the exact same way. its worse somedays and then some days i dont think about it at all and just have fun! I am a may '10 grad and about a year later i stumbled upon a new grad program... now i havent gotten any hours for MONTHS... i am a new grad again =( been searching and searching for ANYTHING new grad since i technically dont have even the 6 month experience requirement. loans came back full force... people asking if i even work giving advice i've heard for YEARS... its sad. i just sit on the computer most days looking for jobs. no hopes of moving bc i dont have money... somebody hire us!!

I worked as new grad registry and i did get less pay then regular registries, no benefits, weird hours, and less orientation. you do get the "harder" patients but think of them as an experience. being a new grad everything is overwhelming but thats how you learn when you float. also think that you get to see how different floors run, manager styles, etc. this will help you figure out which area of nursing you like/dislike so when an opening comes up you'll know if you really want it or not. also the staff will eventually get used to you and know your a new grad... managers got used to me and could ease up my work load . lastly networking on the different floors will help you be a shoe in for that up and coming open position for your dream job.

I never saw tattoos on nurses till i went to an SF hospital. WOW! sleeves, necks and arms? oh my! coolest thing i saw in nursing school.

i went to a job fair at a hospital for "employees only" even though I was not affiliated with them. Turns out i was late and most of the places were packed up and gone with about only 4 or so left cleaning up. I asked the receptionist if there were any jobs for new grads and she said oh i think there's one but maybe they left... this is for retiring or laid off employees only. Walked up to a table and woohoo! found myself talking to the president of the company who was thinking about opening new grad positions! i handed her my resume and she contacted me a few days later telling me to come to an information orientation... guess that was my interview bc i got hired a few weeks later =)

5 months after my boards. 11 months after graduating. im from CA

South Bay isn't good either... or should i just say the whole bay area has too many new grad nurses bc there are just so many nursing schools here?! I have been looking persistently to stay in the bay but looking for jobs is really hard here

i had the same situation. try to email/call/walk in to sister clinics or branches. you might have to drive a little further but maybe someone at those facilities can direct you to a personal email/contact. otherwise i say find other places to volunteer!

Thanks for the insight. This is my first contract and since there was no mention of penalizing me for leaving i was just running it by other nurses for their insight. I do not intend to quit just wondering if there was a loophole if i acquired a 2nd job. thank you!

i am a new grad and i got my first job with a registry. They had a program set up so that i could get orientation and a short preceptorship. I guess I was lucky to find a registry that would do that for a new grad... however, without a proper orientation+preceptorship i was so thrown off the first days i was on the floor and still am now. My advice to you is to ask ur staffing agency to either give you "experience" precepting with a fellow nurse? Help with some home health nurses? You REALLY need to be supervised as a new grad to protect your license and your patients.