mcpheenom

Great. Thanks for all of the advice.

yeah, I plan on taking the job regardless. I'm just feeling like my two years of RN experience should be acknowledged and if it is not I will want to negotiate. If they say "we considered your 2 years of experience and decided to offer you 29 or 30" I'll just take it and be happy. I'm wondering whether the argument that two years of psych experience should be included in the calculations for pay.

I'm about to be offered a new job. I will be going from 2 years of Psych Nursing to a Med Surg. Floor. I'm not sure if they're going to include my Psych Nursing experience when they calculate my offer. I have a friend who graduated with me and got a job at this same place at the same floor I'm going to. I know she was offered 27$/hr to start as a new grad. I told them I would like at least 27-28$ just so I didn't price myself out. My question is...if they come with an offer for 27/hr should I try to ask for more based on my 2 years of Psych Experience? What if they say it's not relavent because it's Psych? Any other tips on this matter would be extremely helpful. Thanks.

I work full time but since I don't drink and don't have a ton of friends in the area I have decided I would like to volunteer my time more. The thing is, I can't seem to figure out how to do this. I assumed there would be loads of opportunities where institutes would jump at the opportunity to have a free RN at their disposal but I really haven't found any opportunities all that easily. Quick searches on line have yielded loads of non nursing volunteer opportunities but I figured it would be a shame not to put my license and skill set to use. Has anyone had this experience? Does anyone know of a good way to volunteer ones time? I never thought giving away my time and effort for free would be so difficult haha. Thanks in advance.

I want to get involved in some sort of bioethics programs after I finish my BSN. I currently have an associates and have been working as a psych RN for a while. I'm trying to figure out a possible education pathway and am wondering if I will have to go back for a different bachelors in order to get into some of the non nursing graduate programs I'm interested in.

So I would really like to do some travel nursing and stay with in the psych field. My questions are in relation to the amount of jobs out there for travel psych RNs, and what happens if you find yourself at the end of a contract and there are none available or no one is choosing you? Are you just S**** out of luck? No work for a while? I realize traveling would be easier if I was a highly saught after specialty but I like pscyh and it's where I want to stay. I also love traveling though and would really like to mesh the two if possible without ending up broke and jobless. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Mike

I live in MA in it is next to impossible to find a new grad job around here. I have done job searches in other states and found numerous positions which encourage new grads to apply. There is nothing of the sort when I search my home state. I would happily relocate just about anywhere for a job at this point but the process is expensive and not guaranteed. The only way I can see this being done is by paying the large fee to register in a new state (a fee and I can't afford to pay and end up not getting a job in whatever state) and then beginning to job hunt. There doesn't seem to be any way to apply for jobs first, get an interview, and then register which is understandable on the employers part. Does anyone have any suggestions? Barely scraping by. Need money and experience before I go insane over the fact that I just spent 4 years in a school I hated for a degree I apparently can't use. Thanks ahead of time. ...I've considered taking out a small loan in order to pay for the state licensure fees in other states. This seems like a ridiculous idea to me but I can't really think of anything else.

Hey all. I'm a new grad RN who has not practiced yet and is instead backpacking through southeast asia for a few months before I begin working. I recently had a spill on a motorbike in Malaysia (I'm ok...no structural damage, just some bad scrapes) and need some advice on taking care of my wounds on the road. My question is regarding whether I should let my wounds dry so that they scab over which hopefully provides a protective barrier against infection or not. I am not concerned with scarring at all. I mostly have abrasians on my hands, R knee, and R shin. Dressing the wounds every day is pretty expensive and cumbersome over here especially because there are a lot of small abrasions scattered around. There are a few that are a bit deeper than the rest but even they scab over pretty well if I let them dry. I dressed them and applied antiseptic for the first 3 days but then ran out of my supplies (which broke the budget quite a bit) and am now wondering if letting them dry and take longer to heal may be a more convenient way for me to deal with this. I figured I could shower and wash them at night which would moisten them up and remove some of the dry pus and then let them dry out again while I sleep/throughout the morning. Any advice would be great. I didn't get a whole lot of experience with wounds in school and certainly didn't receive much training on dealing with them outside of the hospital while backpacking in foreign countries which can be rather dirty. Thanks in advance. Mike

haha, yeah it is obvious but thanks anyway.

thanks for the tip. I was thinking of trying Colorado if I do end up moving. I don't know what it is like there for jobs but I've always wanted to head out that way.

its says you have been a non-practicing nurse for a year...is this because of difficulty finding a job or for other reasons?

dang, I new it was too good to be true.

I am a man and just passed the NCLEX. Although I don't necessarily think it is a fair I am often told that I will have a much easier time finding a job than new grad woman. I can certainly see the benefit for certain units to have a male presence among the nursing staff (especially on psych units where patients can become aggressive and violent). My question is whether or not this is the case. I am asking because in Massachusetts it is apparently very tough to find good nursing jobs right now. Everyone I know (woman) are having a hell of a time getting into hospitals. I'm considering looking out of state if this ends up being the case for me. I'm just curious about others experiences with this both for hope and just so I don't feel like I'm wasting my time trying to find a solid nursing job where I live.

great thanks for the info. Where do I find my renewal date and what do you have to do to renew your license? Is there another test or just a fee?

I just passed my NCLEX a week ago and am about to go backpacking around Southeast Asia for 3-5 months. I was just wondering when it is required to do your first continuing education courses. Is it sensitive to the state you're in? If so, I am my license in MA. Do I have to do anything within this first year of having my license?