TinaNewRN

I've worked the overnights for about a year and a half. The big thing I've found I've had to do is maintain the same sleep schedule on my days off. I was originally trying to swap my schedule around to suite my friends and family on my days off, but I was just tired all the time and it made it really hard when it was time to go back to work. On my days off I stay up until at least 3, but I try for 5. I have room darkening blinds and earplugs. I've recently started commuting for my job as well and I'm having a lot of difficultly with the drive home and being tired. I splash a little water on my face before I leave my job and keep my car really cold.

I have an ADN and I've found that a lot of places are requesting just BSN nurses. Others ask for BSN nurses or nurses with several years of experience. A friend of mine got her BSN at the same time. Our courses were basically the same, but she had longer clinicals, a few extra classes, and had to take more generals. The NCLEX you take to get your RN is the same for ADNs and BSNs. If I had it to do over I'd go for the BSN. You also get paid more as a BSN nurse.

I had a bad job experience recently. It involved several encounters that I was uncomfortable with, a boss that made her distaste for me plainly evident, and wrongful termination. It was only a fill in position and I had a full time home-care job at the time so luckily I had a fall back, but it's really made me wary of applying to new places. The people that work at my current job are very nice, but I don't get health benefits, it's very hard on my back, I commute an hour each way without mileage reimbursement, I earn a very low wage for an RN, and I work overnights. I'm getting nervous about the commuting in winter time. I've been on a list for a different client closer to home at my current job for 6 months and nothing has come up and so now I think it's time to start applying to other facilities. I tried this new fill-in job as I was told it would be a way to get my foot in the door at this new place and the entire experience was really discouraging. I'm nervous about leaving the stability of the job I have, even though it's not ideal, and risking going through the same experience. I'm a hard worker and I do my job properly, but there's no guarantee that the people that hire me are going to be nice, like me, or be professional. I live alone and I can't afford to be out of a job with no fallback options if something similar were to happen. The only jobs available in my area are Med-surg, which I've never worked. I'm a relatively new nurse that's worked in a nursing home and in home care. How does the stress level compare in the two jobs? If I've worked in a nursing home with 18-30 residents. Med surg has more critical clients, but a lot smaller case-load as well. If you've never worked in that are do they give you a lot of training before they leave you on your own or do they just assume you know what you're doing and throw you out there? Is it generally a professional environment or do you see a lot of catty behavior between nurses? Has anyone else had bad experiences with bosses and other nurses making your job difficult? I was talking to another nurse I work with and she was treated poorly at the same facility that I had worked in, and eventually wrongfully terminated. Is this just a really bad facility or is this common? I know that a nurse at the nursing home I worked with felt that her boss made things really difficult for the people that she didn't like and some other nurses confirmed it. Sorry for the long post, I jammed a lot in to it.