FerRN

I would also like to add that pregnant nurses are the worst to work with, "Oh I cant take that patient. Oh i cant turn my patient." If you can't physically do the job, its time to go on short term disability.

Employers are sneaky and sometimes unethical. The only reason to ever release any information is if the patient personally requests it. My mom called out sick due to chest pain and ended up having a heart cath. Never telling her employer where she was hospitalized. The HR person ended up being patched through to my mom's room, she fished around and probably called each hospital to check up on her story, rather than calling her cell phone. Keep in mind my mother is retired and has a part time minimum wage job, and no personal relationship with HR. Bottom line is that no one but the patient has authority to request and receive any information.

Plain and simple, you hire someone based on their ability to do a job. As a fat cardiac nurse, I sometimes feel hypocritical, but I also know that as a fat patient, I am way more likely to tune out the fit and trim nurse's weight loss lectures because she has no clue what kind of struggle it really is. I am also a cath lab nurse, and I have got to tell you I see way more health nuts with serious clogged coronaries than I do fat people with no other health risks (me). (Diabetic smoking fat people are a different story). If I owned a business, I wouldnt have a problem hiring smokers, again I am hiring them to do a job. But... if they took more than their 2 regulated breaks and lunch to smoke, that would be an issue. So would the smoke smell (not all people smell like a chimney) If the smell were distracting, then that would also be an issue. We all know that there is a good majority of nurses who drink like fish and are party whores, but they dont bring it to work. Dont tell me they all dont do their job well. There comes a time when people need to start minding their own business. As nurses, we cannot save the world, but I can tell you that as negative busy bodies we will save far fewer.

Haha you can totally tell I just got off of night shift with that post. What was going on in my head was... I had considered contracting previously, but never got anywhere with it. My friend, who is currently another type of contractor, recently got stitched in a clinic, and his experience renewed my interest in it. SoldierNurse, I am not exactly sure what you mean as a no-go. Can you elaborate? I know I wouldn't be doing anything with the military, they have their own stuff, but the company that runs the clinic for the contractors is intriguing me.

Does anyone have any thoughts on working for a contractor as nurse on the American base in Afghanistan? My friend who is an electrical contractor recently went to tbe clinic for sutures, and I have been looking into nursing there. Has anyone done this?

I don't understand why nurses as a whole cannot work together and educate the public about the ills of hospital life. If there is public outrage over how thin nurses are spread and how dangerous it actually is, we can see change in the work place. I dont know how California did it, and I havent seen the effects of the changes there first hand, so I dont know if it is really as great as it sounds....but the NNU representation at my hospital is AWFUL and it represents the stereotype of why unions are bad. I cannot wait to go back home to my right to work state, where my friend who has the same education and experience I do, makes 26.53/hr un-unionized with similar benefits. I make 30.03/hr and my cost of living is double what it is at home and my hospital is completely unsafe and just plain ridiculous. So the way I see it, the 70/month I pay for union dues is absolutely wasted.

I have 15k from an adn, but I only worked 20hrs a week at $7/hr so most of that was living expenses. My program was around 6k. Its not hard to live with.

Being a CNA was the first job I ever loved, that's why I went into nursing. I love what I do, but hate the politics of nursing/ hospital life. I can promise you if you don't like nursing now, you will never like it. It won't be worth the paycheck or the administrative BS. You made the right decision for yourself. Besides you are only 23, I didn't graduate from nursing school until I was 30. My advice is to pursue culinary arts... but do not go to one of those career academies that are super expensive, you do not want yhat debt in an iffy job field full of chain restaurants Try a community college culinary program and then use those prereqs for business or hospitality and look into an MBA. You would br super marketable or could have the know how to branch out on your own.

I am going to be honest and say that I kind of glazed over and stopped reading your resume. I second the opinion that it needs to be quick and easy to read, consider how many resumes HR people look at and most of them probably just get a quick scan. For my resume, I followed the format on monster.com's resume writing services page, where you pay them to write it. They had a sample nurse resume and I followed that.

In the Washington DC area, the only place you will be hired with an ADN is at Washington Hospital Center. Period. And I am pretty certain that the only reason I got in, is that I came with cardiac experience. They aren't hiring ADN new grads at all, even on my old floor which is desperate for nurses (80% less than 1 year experienced staff right now), so that should tell you what type of facility it is to work for. You are doing yourself a huge disservice by not getting a BSN, especially since there are so many ABSN programs that last just as long as an ADN. However, it seems that you have already made up your mind, and just want someone to agree with you. That's just an ADN nurse's two cents. I was 29 years old when I went to nursing school, at my expense, and wish I had opted for the BSN program instead, eventhough the ADN program in my area put out a better nurse, and was the preferred school of my hiring manager because of this. And now, at 35 I have zero interest in going for anything in higher level nursing, and if I go back to school, it will be a pharmacy or perfusionist program

1. DC 2. 3.5 3. Cath lab 4. $30.03/hr 5. I honestly can't remember the differential. I think its 20% for night and $5 for weekends. 6. Unionized, mandatory by city law. Dues are 2.5x hourly wage/monthly. Studio apartment in decent building across from Metro $1800/month. That includes uncovered parking and water. 1. North Fl 2. New grad 3. Cardiac step down/CCU 4. $21.84/hr (same hospital 3 years later pays $24.08 for new grads.) 5. 25% 2300-0700 15% 1500-2300 and $5 on weekends. 6. No union. 3br/2ba condo in upscale community 10miles from beach $900/month.

I am not certain how networking gets you your first nursing job. The only person I graduated with that got a job from networking was a girl who was a waitress and she just so happened to do a great job while waiting on a nurse manager of a CV unit. In our "pod" of 24 students (we had 200 and something graduate so I dont know their stats) there were only a handful, like 5 or 6, that immediately found jobs after graduation. In fact, my employer, somewhere that makes you do a rigorous nursing residency, made a seperate hiring of new grads. There were 10 of us, we all were already employed with them and all had graduated within a term of one another. We did not have to do the residency program. The first term of nursing school is nothing but CNA work. If you already are prepared and comfortable, you could potentially spend you free time else where studying, instead of practicing putting in foleys on dummies, or giving a bed bath, or when the instructor needs to be in two places at once, you can show your peer how to shave a man's face, and she can do more important things. True story. If beign a CNA first will burn you out on your career faster, you are in the wrong field.

Another option for a clinical site may be a daycare for special needs children. I spent a day with babies with peg tubes and other issues that required specialized daycare. It was by far the best day I had during nursing school. I rocked a baby with downs all day. If you call the local medicaid or wic office they may be able to give suggestions.

Plus its the best way to be hired when you graduate. I tell everyone who tells me they are in nursing school.

I am just curious, how many cath labs out there staff with one nurse and two techs? Do you feel safe?

The last time I was able to fluff and buff my patients was a night when I miraculously had 3 patients. For one particular patient, I was able to rub lotion on his itchy back not once but twice. The lost art is 100% to be blamed on the financial bottom line of hospitals. Sure there are nurses out there who haven't a compassionate bone in their body and will never be a "good nurse". I once worked for a world famous institution, who had more money than God. My ratio was usually 4 or 5 to one on night shift, but we also had hard working PCTs with 7:1 ratios, 24 hour phlebotomy, and a charge nurse without a patient. I always started my shift with a quick intro and assessment of each patient, and then at med pass, I was able to spend time getting to know my patients, taking care of their mental and physical needs, and safely passing meds, and I was also ableto document in the room while doing this. By midnight, I was 100% done with my charting and med passing, and my patients did not feel ignored. We believed in continuity of care so I usually had all of my patients for all 3 days. This wasn't an easy floor, it was 1 day post op CABG, fresh thoracotomies, carotidendarectomies, fem pops, etc. We had tubes and drains and drips. I clocked out every morning at 0708, after doing bedside reporting/rounding. Now, in the crap facility I work in, I put out fires all night long and can barely keep my head above water. I just barely keep this hospital from killing my patients, and I clock out late every day so that I can finish documenting. It isn't me, its the facility, and their cheapness.

You know what's funny about the prefilled saline syringes? I have now worked in two facilities where you cannot find a 10mL vial of saline anywhere. So basically the hospital encourages this use of the prefilled syringes. Cutting corners at its finest.

I think in theory, nursing unions are great. I feel that they are key in pushing important things like patient ratios into public spotlight. However, I feel that in my hospital's case, there are a lot of trouble makers. I have no problem with our medical benefits. I have had much worse, and our plan is pretty good, yet the union has made a big stink of it. Our education benefits are amazing, 10k a year, what more could you ask for? I also feel that the facilitate a poor work environment. I am acquainted with a few shop stewards, and I find a lot of their work ethic questionable. One of them is a holy terror, and gives new meaning to the word bully. The other never gets off her ass the entire shift. All of this makes me not want to be a member, unfortunately, I was told that in this city, there is legislation that if I benefit from the union, I must join.

As a new grad in North Florida, 2 years ago, I was making 21.84/hr in a CCU. I was working for the 2nd best payer in the city, my friend who worked in PICU had been a nurse for 6 years before she broke 22/hr. Its a true story, the pay stinks. But, at least in North Florida, the cost of living is way lower. I was living a lot better on 22 in FL than what I am making in DC.

I have always thought that if it is not your patient's chart, you cannot legally be in it, unless you are rendering some type of care ie. passing a med to help another nurse catch up, starting an IV, etc. At previous institutions, particularly a very prestigious one that I worked at, audits were run. If your name popped up as accessing an electronic chart, and you did not have a clear role, there would be an inquiry of why you were there, and you would be terminated for just nosing around. a few of my coworkers are completely paranoid, and very concerned with what the other nurses write in their notes. I have a feeling that they use them as a reference in case their own notes are called into question. A couple of them go through every patient's chart and see what we are saying in our PIE notes. Last night, I held a med due to patient request, and documented the reason why in my note and another nurse brought it up and why what I did was wrong. What I really want to say is get the hell out of my chart, what I do or do not do is between me and the patient and the physician. My nurse manager knows that this goes on, as one of them prints out the notes to tattle every morning.

That chart is not really accurate given your years of experience. With a year more than you I make around 65k a year, give or take a couple thousand. That's not including overtime. I live in a suburb, which is Metro accessible, I haven't driven in the city in 5 months. Parking in my building is $75, which is very cheap for the area. My rent is 1655 for a studio in a building with concierge, 1 block from the Metro. If you want to private message me, I can give more specific details, and help you decide where to live/apply

Google the Union contract between the nurses and whc, on the last pages it gives you the salary range for whc according to experience level, which probably translates to all medstar facilities. DC does not pay as well as you think for full time RNs. I only make $7 hr more than I did as a new grad in FL. I have contacted an agency for a specific long term contract and the rate is $42 an hour. Quite a jump from full time wages. Stick with per diem or agency, unless you need the insurance.

I am at my 3 year mark and I am done with the floor. What resources do I use to find a non-hospital job? I have looked on Monster.com and Craigslist, but those can't be the only jobs out there. I live in one of the largest metro area of the countries, the only reason I prefer not to do home health is the traffic and that seems to be the biggest online ad placer, well that and travel nursing. Thanks.

This is an old thread, but I would like to reiterate the importance of keeping a job while in nursing school. I was a PCT/Telemetry tech in school. Out of my little pod of 24 students at my school, there were 4 of us who got jobs after graduation. The common thread... we were all hospital employees. Having a hospital job while in school is way more important than GPA. My friend who was a freak about being a 4.0, just recently got her first floor job. She had been home health for the better part of 3 years. I think there are still some of our pod who haven't made it to employment yet. GPA is important for higher education, so keep it up, but there's no need go crazy.