JMF7755

You didn't mention your exact age, just that you're "older". Well I was 36 when I graduated with my ASN, with Honors to boot. I moved to three different states chasing after that elusive first nursing job. Could not get hired to save my life. Meanwhile, several of my classmates who are knee-deep in their 50s got hired on the spot, right here locally, one of them in a pilot ICU program (a mistake in my opinion to start new nurses on that floor). Go figure. I did, a year and half after graduation, get a job in subacute care and yes, it is hard and often dangerous at times. I'm grateful for it. It was all I could get for now, but it taught me a lot, not just what to do, but what not to do. My advice, take a break from applying for awhile. Just like they say a winning attitude shines through, so does a depressed, desperate cloud hover. Just take a breather, keep doing the job you're at to keep the bills paid and to show nursing longevity, it does count. Once you feel your ambition coming back, which it might after a break, try applying again. Aim for med-surg. I know there are those lucky few who get their supposed dream job right off the cuff, but most of us have to do our time in med-surg. And it's not so bad, it's the foundation of all nursing practice. I just got hired at a hospital on a med-surg floor, nearly two years after graduating. I'm in my 39th year now, so if that's old, then I guess I'm old lol.

I am not at all surprised you are making some mistakes, albeit rather large, dangerous ones. You do not have enough experience to be working in home care. I am really surprised that a home care agency would hire you without any nursing exp. As a home care nurse you have so much autonomy and need to be quick on your feet, there are no veteran nurses within an arm's reach to come rescue you. This does not mean you should quit nursing or that you won't be a great nurse. It simply means you need to get a med-surg or subacute care job for at least a year to get some much needed experience. Let these mistakes be a lesson as to what not to do. Good luck to you. All nurses make mistakes, and the ones that claim they never have are lying.

Hi all! I graduated in May 2013 with my ADN-RN. Got my license that June. Well...it took me almost 16 months to find an RN job. I finally got one in a sub acute care/rehab facility last September. So I've been working in the field for almost 5 months. I had been trying to get in a hospital for almost two years now, and guess what? Now that I have some RN experience a hospital offered me a job!! I was so excited and elated until...I got nervous. I am wondering if I can handle it, if I'm going to do well in the job. The job I have now is hard. I have 24 patients, and frankly they are like med-surg patients. They get transferred to us from the med-surg, tele and ortho wings at the local hospitals. Many of them are s/p surgical, have a host of comorbities, are sick with this year's flu/pneumonia, psych issues, very needy in general. I bust my butt!! I work full time nights, 3 in a row. I do wound vacs, dressing changes, hang IVs, lots of monitoring, PICC line care, and supervise 1-2 CNAs, and lots of other stuff. This new job is day shift, full time also. It's on a med-surg floor in long-term acute care for medically complex care, and CCIS which I learned is Chronically Critically Ill Syndrome. They don't really teach you about this syndrome in nursing school, at least not where I went, and our program was pretty thorough. I will of course, have an orientation and be working with a preceptor at first. I am so nervous and sick over this, I get anxiety and heart palpitations wondering if I can handle this new position or if I'm making a mistake and should stay put where I am. I already gave my notice though. Advice please: for you more experienced nurses out there, do you think, based on my limited past nursing experience that I will be okay or what? Thank you so much!

@ ceccia, That does sound very reasonable and having a med tech is an enormous difference!! I can never get the all the med pass/accu checks done on time for all 30 by myself. In my place the CNAs are very limited on what they are allowed to do, for instance in the hospital they are allowed to do the accu checks for us, in subacute they are not. It's comical how me as the RN is running my butt off, and the aides are sitting around at their station texting and eating. I have to frequently ask them to do their job, like the pungent odor of feces appears and she's still sitting there, and I'm like, "Can you please go take care of so & so? I try to hopscotch around to get the diabetics covered and those in pain/distress at least give them their pain/anxiety meds, and then round back around with routine meds so they are at least not in 10/10 pain waiting on me to finish with the other 25+ people. @ OP this is an old thread so I don't know what became of you, but to anyone else out there as well, my facility is a sucky place that has a really hard time hanging onto staff, that's why they hire new nurses because we come cheaper and don't often know any better. Most other subacute rehabs are similar to ceccia's, you have a dozen or more pts, your own CNA and maybe even a med tech, so I still suggest subacute care to new nurses like me, because in the short time I've been there, even on night shift, I've learned sooo much. I've done wound vacs, suprapubic caths, Foley caths, dressing changes, drains, comatose pts, PEG tubes, IVs, IV meds, seizure pts, just to name a few. And even though I feel they overwork me, I'm still grateful because I will feel sooo prepared in a year for the hospital environment and won't balk at the 6-8 pt load they typically have in the hosp. When I was in clinical I worked with an RN who was rather new, she had been on tele for a year at the hospital I was assigned to, and she had never done a catheter on anyone, or dealt much with wounds, per her own words: she basically pulled meds and did apical pulses. So like I said I do feel grateful and think this work experience will get me prepped for a multitude of pt care situations.

@ chelynn You go girl! So true!

This is an old thread, but I found it tonight, so maybe others are looking at it too...like the OP I am a new RN and I just got my very first nursing job 18 months after graduating with honors from my program. With that in mind, any new nurse offered a job, take it, you need the experience, and jobs in general, but especially for new nurses, are hard to come by if you haven't noticed. My GPA, my volunteer work, my ambition didn't mean squat to anybody. Truthfully, I landed this job because the facility has a hard time keeping people. I will tough it out for a year for the experience and then doors will hopefully open for me. Second, I want to slam the poster that claims night shift is "easier"...uh yeah, no. I might be new at nursing, but I DO KNOW when I'm busting my @zz. I work 7p-7a and although a half hour "lunch" is deducted from my time, I NEVER get one. My lunch break consists of shoveling a chewy granola bar in my mouth while hiding behind a file cabinet. A chewy one because crunchy takes too long to eat. I am lucky to get a pee break, and maybe go outside for five minutes. I am on my feet the entire time. I have about 30 pts, and they DO NOT sleep all night. They are no better in my facility than they were a night ago on med/surg in the hospital. $$$$ dictate discharge. A pt may be marginally improved when they get the boot and end up with me in subacute care, they are by no means "well". I often feel they still belong in the hospital. I have pts with a wide array of acute issues, not to mention a host of comorbidity issues. At least half of my 30 are diabetics, poorly managed. I honestly have never worked so darned hard in my life! And I am a very hard worker at anything I do! My pts do not sleep all night. They ring their call lights, they are in pain from s/p MVAs, surgeries, fxs, TKR, etc...they are vomiting, they are scared, lonely, some are drug seeking. I sometimes don't get to my charting until dawn. We have to do the labs, the pharmacy call ins, treatments, dressing changes and whatever day shift was too busy to get to. Both shifts are HARD and have their challenges. Please do not ever call night shift in subacute care the easier shift, that reflects so much ignorance on your part. Take a subacute care job, you will learn sooo much, and your time management and prioritizing skills will become second to none. So when the hospital job doors open, and you get your 8 pt load, it will be nothing doin' for you. Subacute care is nursing boot camp, take it, learn, and then take the many skills you will acquire wherever you want!

I'm considering the sponsorship, but I'm not sure. It would be nice to have a job lined up as a new nurse, and possibly have a job as a CNA while I'm in school. I have my CNA already. Plus, I'm pretty sure you get to keep your PELL and loans even though you're on sponsorship. On the other side of it, you're committed for 2 years. From what I understand, no one can start the process yet. The meeting on Monday is to inform us of the particulars so we can decide if it's something we really want to do. You also have to qualify based on household, income and the advanced degree would be a Bachelor's or Master's. The August 5th event held at Career Central with Beth Hamm is the intake process day for those who qualify and want to committ.

i don't get on here very often, but i wish i would have sooner. in npr on forest ave right behind morton plant north bay is premier family clinic. 727-645-4185, press 5 for the new port richey office. they go on a sliding scale fee basis for those uninsured, it's a little bit of formality. you have to provide your income and living expenses with proof like pay stubs and such, but you can get your shots, titers, tb and physical for way cheaper than a walk-in clinic or even the health dept. i would recommend getting the tdap vaccine for your tetorifice, it will also protect you and vulnerable patients from whooping cough which has been on the rise. before subjecting yourself to the mmr vaccine which can cause a fever in some people, get your titer first. more than likely, you're still immune from the shot you got as a toddler. same goes for chickenpox (varicella). it only takes a day or two for the titers to come back, as the clinic draws the blood right there. good luck to all! can't wait to meet you guys on the 2nd!! i would appreciate any advice on where to find reasonably priced supplies.

Tinkkey04: Hey, orientation is August 2nd, not the 3rd!! Just don't want you to miss out!! lol

:redbeathe:smokin: i got my acceptance letter to the rn program on july 1st!!! i am so totally excited!!! i'm going to be a registered nurse!!!! this is the best thing to happen to me in such a long time, maybe ever ,with exception to my child!!!! congratulations to the others that got in, and good luck to those still waiting!!!

What do you mean by TEAS 4 score? I only took the TEAS one time in April. I didn't figure I would get any higher, so it's this one or nothing. Most people I asked that were willing to disclose their scores were about the same or lower 80s, mid-upper 70s, so I figured I was in the "safe zone". But we'll all know in a few weeks...

Hello All! I applied to the RN generic track for this fall. Since they extended the due date for apps to June 15th, we probably won't get our letters until the second week of July, maybe slightly sooner. I have a 4.0 GPA and got an 85 composite (90th percentile) on the TEAS. Not sure if it's good or bad...I've done all the classes for the program, just need to do the actual NUR courses, and I'm only two classes from my AA. If I get in, I hope to transfer to UCF for their accelerated BSN-MSN program after graduation, and work in a hospital in Orlando. I actually want to work in public health. So what is everyone else's plans? And do you mind if I ask how each of you did on the TEAS? It's hard to know what's competitve as far as scores go. GOOD LUCK TO ALL!! LET'S KEEP EACH OTHER POSTED!!