lefthander1975

It does not cost a thing. You are hired as an employee and are paid while you train and then you have another year commitment after the year of training is done.

No that is not the only way they hire.If you have hospice experience and there is a job posted then you can apply. This program is mainly for nurses new to hospice and yes it's paid.

Giving report on our unit is sometimes a sick game as well- days vs.nights. Especially when I (the newer nurse with one year experience) has to give report to the nurse with 10 to 20 years experience. At first I was terrified of giving report to some of these meanies but now I just don't care. Now when they ask me ridicoulous questions -I just tell them it's probally in the chart and that since it's the beginning of their shift they have time to look it up-but for now I am going to give report of the most current, vital information. Believe me that has shut up most of the those mean nurses that they just leave me alone There is one that was still picking on me until last weak when she made a rude comment to me and I just told her that it's funny how when she gives report she leaves out important stuff and that I have even caught some things she misses but I am a bigger person not to make huge deal about it. She has since left me alone. I now realize that they are 1-burnt out or 2-pissed off because I came in with better pay than when they started off. Not my fault and Not my problem!!!!!!!!!!

I have been a NICU nurse for 1 year and I can't say that this is what I want to be doing. Working with the babies is nice when they are stable enough to hold but I don't think this is a good fit for me. It has been such a frusterating year because I am still searching for what kind of nursing would fit me best. I envy some of the nurses I currently work with because I can see how being a NICU nurse is their PASSION. I hate to admit that I don't have that passion-I just view my job as extremely stressful. I have tried talking myself into giving it more time but I then look at the other nurses who don't have the passion for the job and see how burned out they are. It has just become a paycheck for them and they are too comfortable to make a move to another job. I don't want to be that kind of nurse. So for the past month I have been applying to other units like PICU and maybe even considering hospice.But I still don't know what I want to do in nursing. I have to constantly remind myself of what it was that drove me to become a nurse and it was when I saw my sister giving birth to her son. I just fell in love with how amazing the L&D nurse was and how she made the whole experience for my sister special. Perhaps being an L&D nurse might be for me? Still searching....................

I have now been a RN for 1 year and 2 months and I think I still feel like a student-lol Kidding aside I think it was more like 6 to 8 months. Things were starting to click more and I felt just a tab more confident. I was shocked at how hard it was for me to let go and realize that I am now the RN in charge of the patient. I work in a busy NICU and they keep telling me it takes 2 years before you really feel like you know what you are doing. I guess I have another year to go

I am looking into becomming a hospice nurse and applied for a one year residency program that San Diego Hospice does 2 times a year. For one year you get to go into the different areas of hospice and at the end decided which place fits you best. I was wondering if any hospice nuse in San Diego has gone through this program and how they like it.

I thought that Scripps La Jolla was no longer hiring travlers because they were going to get magnet status? I think it's called magnet?

So you are looking into getting a job at a NICU in San Diego? My advice is to look into the training programs. That is so important and also what kind of support you will have after your training is done. I currently work in the NICU at Mary Birch and it's been okay but originally I started at children's nicu. Oh by the way the recruiter loves to tell new grads how hard it is to get a job there(children's) but trust me-it is not. I did not have a good experience there and was very dissapointed.Anyways if you want more details email me. Oh and as for Scripps- I think it's a GREAT hospital. They have really got their new grad program down and have great support. They don't just throw you out there once your training is done. They actually want you to suceed. I have found that at other places because they are so short staffed, they are more eager to get you trained fast and forget that you are still a new nurse-it's all about the numbers.

I can't really say that ALL doctors treat nurses like servants. There are some really nice docs and ones that realize how important nurses are.I have even had several docs remind me of how much they listen to my opinion on things because the nurses are the ones at the bedside. On the floor that I am on in the NICU, I can only say that one doctor is known for being mean and she is mean to alot of people in general-even other docs. Some of the nurses think she is nuts. Anyways I have not had any problems w/her YET but I do know that when I do, I will just have to deal w/it and let her know she does not scare me. Just learn to stand up for yourself and let the docs know that you are not scared and most of them back off. It's the nurses that show fear that the docs love to push around.

I am looking into going to Esthetican/Massage therapy school. Skin care has long been a passion of mine and I have even dreamed of opening up my own spa. My parents had convinced me that being an esthetican would not be any kind of career- so since i enjoyed the medical field I went into nursing. I have only been a nurse since January and even though I like being in the NICU- I just don't love it. I just don't think I am into hospital nursing and dealing w/all the BULL. I hate politics and even more I hate doctors and the attitudes toward nurses.

To the original poster: I cried when I read your post because i thought you had read my mind. I graduated in July of 04 and then waited to take my boards and passed in January of 05. Anyways I was so excited to work as a RN and when I was hired at my first job at a children's hospital to work in the NICU-well how could I pass that opportunity. I loved the idea of working w/babies.Everything seemed so great because I was told I would have 5 months of training and a bunch of classes. I was also told that after my 5 months if I still was not comfortable that they would extend my training. Once i started working at this hospital, I quickly realized that management was bad and that most of the fairy tale I was told during my interview was that-a fairy tale. The nurses love to eat their young, especially on the day shift. I had several run in's with some nasty nurses-that even told me that I was not tough enough to be a NICU nurse. I started to believe them and it started to bring me down alot and my self esteem went out the window. Then when I realized that day shift was not for me and that I preferred the people on nights, the manager refused to let me go to nights and then proceeded to tell me that I better be ready to be on my own after orientation because there was no more money to spend on me for training. After that lovely statement, the rumors being spread about me and other stuff, I decieded I had had enough. I can only take so much.Maybe I should of seen the red flags w/the amount of turn over the unit has had before i got there and while I was there. I am now at another NICU and still feel such a lack of confidence in my self as a nurse. I still don't even know if I have what it takes to be a NICU nurse. I have even questioned if I should stay in nursing. The last job left a bad taste in my mouth. Even though I am not a young 20 year old, I too was very green in regards to how nursing is in the real world. I was shocked to see how cut throat it is and how unsafe it can be to the point where you worry if you are putting your license on the line. I also now regret NOT making myself do a year of med-surg nursing. Maybe I needed to do that first? Who knows because when I talk to friends that did med-surg they quit those jobs after 6 months because they hated it. Anyways I am so sorry that you had that bad experience but I am glad to know that i am not the only one.

I am still in my orientation and have noticed the huge difference between day and night shift. Where I am at, the newbies have to do rotating shifts for a year and then we go to straight nights. I hear they want us to do day shift so we can get more experience. I do agree that you do see more stuff on days BUT as a new grad I am over whelmed and feel sick to my stomach everytime i am driving in to work on my day shifts. The stress is huge and I don't feel like I get enough help from others like I do on nights. On days people are doing their own things and don't help each other much. I have even noticed it w/the charge nurses. I am dreading the day when I am off orientation and have to be on my own on the day rotations. I have even begged the manager if I can just go to straight nights and she has said no every time. I am now thinking about going to another hospital. My health comes first and I don't want to feel sick w/GI upset everytime I have to work day shift. I need to love my job. The sad part is that I do love the NICU as a job-I just can't stand the attitude on the day shift. On nights I feel like even though I am a new grad, that I can do my job but when I am on days I find myself feeling like a stupid idiot who should not be a nurse. I also get that vibe from some of the older staff. When I was in nursing school I use to think that the older nurses would love nothing more than to give the torch off to the newbies and share their years of wisdom. For me at least this hs NOT been the case. I also think some of the hostility for use newbies has to do w/the pay we are comming in with. We are making as much if not more than some of the nurses that have been there for a couple of years. I agree this is wrong BUT it is NOT my fault!!!!!!

autumn- i feel the same way you do. i am also a new grad and my orientation will be over in a couple of months and it feels like time is flying by way to fast. on the days when i feel like i can do this-the next day i will have a bad day and think i suck as a nurse. i constantly ask questions and feel like i am driving my preceptors crazy but i don't care anymore. i am sure i even repeat some of those questions. i just always want to make sure i do everything 100% correct. the other thing i am still struggling w/is the transition from student nurse to rn. i guess i still feel like a student because i have a nurse next to me to help me. anyways-good luck to you and keep us posted on how you are doing. caroline

I passed!!!! YIPEE!!!!!!!!! I can't believe it!!!!!! I passed- THANK GOD!!!! Just rememberfocus more on the questions rather than the content. Do at least 3,000 questions. Good luck to all of you waiting for results, taking the exam the first time and the repeat test takers. If I can do this anyone can!!!! Caroline

I just finsished taking my NCLEX exam for the second time and I feel that hopefully this time I passed due to the different way I studied, compared to the first time. I chose to only study content from ONE book and really only looked at stuff I felt I needed to freshen up on. I chose the book "NCLEX MADE INSANELY EASY". I then did close to 3,000 practice questions before taking my exam. I used the NCLEX 3,000 CD and Saunders CD and MOSBY'S CD. I also got several other CD's from friends who had already taken the exam. Anyways the first time when I studied for my exam I took kaplan and focused way too much on all the content videos. I watched them over and over and thought I knew all my stuff pretty well but I only did like 500 questions because I had run out of time from studying so much content. The key to this NCLEX exam is really knowing what they are asking you in those questions and believe me that if you just memorize content it won't help you pass the exam. Understand the content so that you can critically apply it to those questions on the NCLEX exam. When you do practice questions don't focus so much on the percentage you get and try to graph your test out and see if you stayed above the passing line. I don't know if you know what i am talking about here but in one of the seminars I went to which is very popular the instructor helped me look at the test in a different way. After i did a practice test I would take some graph paper and draw a line in the middle and if I got the first question right, I would put a dot on the line. If I got the next question right I would put a dot in the next colum for question #2 above the middle line. If question number three is wrong then I would put a dot below number 2. I think kaplan also shows and talks about how the NCLEX is graphed. It helped me alot because if I scored a 64% on a test and then graphed it I could see if I was able to stay above the line. One last thing while you are doing your practice questions, is that really spend time going over the questions you got wrong and even the questions you got right and read the rationales for every questions. This also can help you understand where you might of gone wrong w/the answer you picked. Anyways I hope this helps a little and good luck to you (= Caroline