thnkr917

I would agree with everyone else, it would be best to wear interview attire. That being said, I have actually worn scrubs to interviews and gotten the job and no, it was not an in house interview, either. If you really don't have any good interview clothes (gained weight etc) you may be able to get away with it, but why take the chance. The most important thing, however, is that you are clean and groomed and your resume looks good and you are confident and knowledgeable. I don't thing wearing scrubs is nearly as bad as wearing unprofessional interview clothes, such as wrinkled or ill fitting clothing.

NO just death by simulation.

I'm a traveler. Take part one online. Believe me by the time you do all their scenarios a few times you will have it all memorized. Anyone know how to find someone to do just the skills checkoff for part two?

Just for the record, I took that online part and finished it last night. That is no easy course. I started it in May. I thought it was too hard quit and scheduled myself for the live class. I ended up missing the live one (that's another post). I went back to the online version and spent an entire day 12+ hours on it. The simulation fails you for EVERY little thing. Real life instructors can prompt you or even just reword a question. Because it was so particular I ended up going through every scenario 4 or 5 times. Believe me I am now ready for the skills checkoff. Anyone who doubts the effectiveness of this online version should check it out first. I think the negativity is more because of the venue (pc-phobia) than anything else. As for that ACLS instructor, your comment is ignorant. I never even bother to open a box from the correct end. I rip the crap out of it. It's a code for crying out loud. Get a life. I also do not need the colors because I can read the big black letters on the box. As previously mentioned, I just read the whole 2010 ACLS book and there is no mention of passing ACLS being based on opening a box or knowing the colors of the med boxes in the crash cart. You could, however, petition the American Heart Association to include it in the next update if you feel it will increase the survivability of the patient. In other words,that poor nurse that told you she already knew ACLS made the fatal mistake that I learned in college not to make. Let the instructor think they are teaching you something or they will target you. She should have played dumb and fed your considerable ego.

Tell me about it! I have been a night shift nurse for 17 years. It must be finally catching up with me. I am so tired all the time that I sleep all day the first day off then get up to eat and relax for about an hour then go straight back to bed. My second day off is my first real day off. The more days in a row I worked before and the more stressful they were, the more tired I am on my first day off. Heaven forbid if I have something in the daytime to do. I missed ACLS that I paid $160 for this weekend. It's only been expired for 6 months! I simply cannot be up for a 9 am class. In this case I had a rough week and was simply unable to get adjusted. I ended up signing online later and taking the first part of the class online and now I'm looking for an afternoon skills checkoff! Once again I missed an opportunity to network with other nurses outside of the madness on the floors. Meanwhile I blew all that money for nothing and I look like a flake to my coworkers... again. It gets worse as I get older, this inability to adjust even for short periods of time like this class. A 9am class for someone like me is like having an all night class in the middle of the night for anyone else. It requires a whole process of switching my hours the night before to get functioning. Thus one day of a day shift class means changing my sleep pattern around the day before then again the day after. In other words my sleep is affected for the better part of a week. I try to take vacation time for things like ACLS for this reason.. and there goes any thoughts of a real vacation. Half of all healthcare workers work nightshift but no one ever schedules afternoon CPR and ACLS classes. Thank God for the internet so I can at least take half the class online. Try running errands and making appointments as a nightshift worker. Everything you need to do needs to fit between 3pm and 5 pm when the rest of the world shuts down. Thank God for Walmart, IHOP, Denny's and the few all night stores in the world or I'd never eat. I shop at 2am. I watch vampire movies and have a lot more empathy for vampires than the rest of the world. I mean, really, I am one accept for the blood drinking! I'm pasty, dead looking and I rise as the sun goes down. I can be found wandering the streets in the middle of the night hungry (where is that Wendy's?). I tend to hang with other vampires. I miss the sunshine but it burns (my eyes). Yup, I'm a vampire. In order to adapt through the years I have had to turn my entire schedule around. It has killed my social life to the point where I have no friends anymore. How can it not kill your social life when you must change your schedule around the night before just to be able to be awake for any event that doesn't involve a late night bar. Lucky for me, most of my immediate family is on a night schedule as well. Somewhere I read that there is a hereditary tendency to be able to work night shifts. Being from one of those families, I can explain that. Even my family does better getting to sleep by 4 am. On my days off that is the witching hour. I'm not sure we really have a different chemistry than day shifters. I think it is more learned. My mother and I are both healthcare workers and my brother is a cop. All of us will claim we simply have no choice. That is what was available for work and now we are used to the shift. My father and son are just night owls. They tend to stay up until 2-4 am. Even the night owls are asleep before the sun actually comes up. I'm a person who prefers to find an answer rather than needless complaining, but on this one, my only choice is to change shifts. I have done nights almost my entire career now and frankly, day shift scares me a little. There is no real solution. I worked 3-11 for about a year and that changed my whole perspective. I even liked nursing again. I am still not sure if I loved that particular job or if the change in hours was the reason for my attitude change. Alas, I was forced to leave that job to move. Afternoon shift jobs are scarce in nursing. I don't know what to tell other night shift workers that would be helpful. Find night shift friends. Develop a drinking habit or an interest in video games and internet, because the ONLY thing to do at 2 am.

I have gotten as little as 4 hours and as much as one week. I think 2 days is plenty for me. I need one day to review policies and computer and one day to follow a nurse on whatever shift I will be working and I am done. First of all, I always err on the side of caution. For instance if a blood transfusion policy for vitals is "prior, at 15 minutes and at completion" but most places I have gone is every hour for vitals then I do every hour in addition. It's time consuming but it covers my butt. Generally, if you do that, it saves you. I usually feel a lot more comfortable and organized in a facility when I get a better orientation. Also, it, hopefully, gives you a chance to bond a little with your preceptor so you have one go to person on the floor. I got 4 hours orientation at the facility that I'm at now. Traveling can put in the middle of some messy units with bad habits, but if you have a good strong background just practice the good methods you learned. This short orientation thing is why I tell potential travelers to at least have 2 years of experience before traveling. It's not that you don't know what to do sooner, it's that you need the confidence to hit the ground running and be able to just practice the way you know you are supposed to, despite how badly the other staff is practicing or how little handholding you got. In short, 2-3 days is ideal but get it in your contract if you can't handle less, because they will try it.