pgnurse79

I understand how you feel more than you know. I've hopped from hospital to hospital hoping to find a place where I can be happy. Then I learned something: agency nursing or school nursing takes one away from the management bureaucracy. With an agency, you show up to work and do your job. Then you go home. I work for four agencies now, yes four, and work whenever I want. For two of the agencies, I have never even met my boss/manager/supervisor in person. We communicate by text, phone calls and emails only. Also, I love school nursing. When you are the only nursing in the entire building one receives a lot of respect from staff, students (patients) and parents alike. Do not give up on nursing, there are so many specialties you can delve into without ever having to step foot into a "facility" every again. Good luck. :)

My advice: Continue being a tech until you find a job somewhere else as an RN. When you find an RN job elsewhere, QUIT! A tech who has the knowledge of an RN is cheaper for the hospital. Also, increases the level of care. A hospital spends a lot of $ to train a new grad. Sounds to me that they are trying to save some $ by playing this little politics game with you. Apply somewhere else and quit. You just can't wait a year...future employers will notice that as well.

C difficile!

It appears that the honeymoon phase of nursing has passed. It scares me when I hear a nurse say they are "uncomfortable" with PICC lines or IV antibiotics or wound vacs. Why run away from a skill or task because you are uncomfortable with it? It these skills appear in home health, which is what you specialize in, then apparently it is not going away. Perhaps you need the hospital experience. Perhaps you getting the internship at the last minute is a blessing (or luck if you are not religious). No, it will not be easy, but luck will not last forever and one day you will be called upon to use these skills. After all, you are a nurse. Not a CNA (no offense to the CNAs out there). In any given profession, there are things you may enjoy doing. Like interacting with pts for example. There are also things that you must do that goes with the job which you may not like doing. Like time management. Every job cannot be a dream job. If you want to be paid in this competitive job market, in this challenging economy, you must take the good with the bad in your chosen profession. In conclusion: Suck it up and learn the skills. Its only for a year or two. Be glad for the opportunity and once its over, you will always have the knowledge you learned at that horrid hospital in the midwest. :)

Have you saved anything from prior jobs? 401k or life insurance? If necessary, you can tap into those although there is a heavy tax penalty. I hope things work out for you and your family.

I think the job market for new grad RNs are different from state to state. I say this because in Chicago, hospitals offer new grad RN programs where they partner you up with a preceptor.

Beware the orientation. I did a week of orientation at Kindred. Then one day, "Oh we're short staffed today, we're going to give you an assignment." And just that fast, orientation was over.

i currently work at a kindred in the midwest area. i was hired in 2008. i was a nurse on days (12hr shifts) for 2 years, before being promoted to case manager in 2010 then i worked that for 2yrs. and just 6 months ago, i resigned from that position and took a nursing position for night shifts. with that being said, i'll mention the positives and the negatives, but remember this is my experience with one kindred location. positives: if you are looking for experience, you will definitely get it here. it may be tough for a new grad though. although, i've only been a nurse since 2007, i had already worked at three different hospitals, trying to find my niche. but i digress....anywho, experience....complex wound care including negative pressure therapy, trach to vent pts, paraplegics and quads requiring complete care, tpn, gtubes, pscyh pts who are combative....all in one shift! (no joke this was my assignment just a few hrs ago). next positive: opportunities to move up within the company. on day i came to work and i was assigned to the icu, although i am not acls certified....how fun! also, i became a case manager with no experience and almost became the director of the dept. next positive: for the most part, my co-workers are pretty cool. there is a kindred family. next positive: best hourly rate in my short lived nursing career and ot is plentiful. now the negatives: the equipment is very outdated and the buildings are old and in dire need of repair. high nurse to pt ratio. 8 pts max for an rn; 10 pts for an lpn. 1% annual salary increase. no match for the 401k. expensive health insurance. (but they will give you a bag or umbrella with their logo.) and if you take a different position, you will have the same pay. (hourly pays more than salary. with shift differentials for working weekends, nights and ot.. which is not an option with salary.) politics, politics, politics. and is it really safe to have a nurse working in the icu who is not acls certified? that's it in a nutshell. i tried to keep it short. :)

I currently work at a Kindred in the midwest area. I was hired in 2008. I was a nurse on days (12hr shifts) for 2 years, before being promoted to case manager in 2010 then I worked that for 2yrs. And just 6 months ago, I resigned from that position and took a nursing position for night shifts. With that being said, I'll mention the positives and the negatives, but remember this is my experience with one Kindred location. Positives: If you are looking for experience, you will definitely get it here. It may be tough for a new grad though. Although, I've only been a nurse since 2007, I had already worked at three different hospitals, trying to find my niche. But I digress....Anywho, experience....Complex wound care including negative pressure therapy, trach to vent pts, paraplegics and quads requiring complete care, TPN, gtubes, pscyh pts who are combative....all in one shift! (no joke this was my assignment just a few hrs ago). Next positive: Opportunities to move up within the company. On day I came to work and I was assigned to the ICU, although I am not ACLS certified....how fun! Also, I became a case manager with no experience and almost became the director of the dept. Next positive: For the most part, my co-workers are pretty cool. There is a Kindred family. Next positive: Best hourly rate in my short lived nursing career and OT is plentiful. Now the negatives: The equipment is VERY outdated and the buildings are old and in dire need of repair. High nurse to pt ratio. 8 pts max for an RN; 10 pts for an LPN. 1% annual salary increase. No match for the 401k. Expensive health insurance. (but they will give you a bag or umbrella with their logo.) And if you take a different position, you will have the same pay. (hourly pays more than salary. With shift differentials for working weekends, nights and OT.. which is not an option with salary.) POLITICS, POLITICS, POLITICS. And is it really safe to have a nurse working in the ICU who is NOT ACLS certified? That's it in a nutshell. I tried to keep it short. :)

This is so eerie but what you described was my shift last nite. If we aren't "hardened", nurses will have a nervous breakdown the way pt's and families treat us nowadays! I used to cry after my shift when I was a new grad.

applause!! well said....

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Life is too short when dealing with office politics. I go to work, put my head down and do my job, keep my mouth closed and go home. If this doesn't work, I find a new job. I've been bullied on the job and I quit that job. There's politics no matter what you do for a living. You just have to be above the bs.

Regarding LPNs. They are nurses with a few exceptions. They cannot hang IVs on central lines. No blood transfusions either. An RN must cover for an LPN. Also, during shift change, an LPN cannot follow an LPN. A RN has at least one more year of schooling, an associates (2yr degree). An LPN does not have a 2 year degree. I believe its a certificate program "(I could be wrong about this.) BUT an LPN must pass NCLEX just like an RN in order to obtain a nursing license. (I'm an RN working in Chicago who works with LPN in an acute long term care facility.)

Why do you say that? I've been offered an utilization review job at an insurance company. Trying to find out what its all about....