JulieW

thanks for the laughs everyone! I agree that all of the above are totally nasty, but I can handle most without gagging (except colostomies, that's gag city). In terms of what 'freaks me out', I really have to say that watching a chest tube insertion just sends me over the edge. It seems when I worked in the hospital I was never prepared for it. The first one I saw shocked me, but even after that.. oh I just couldn't stand it. It makes me squirm just thinking about it.

Go for it, Amy. Only you know what is best for your family. I chose the same route due to the great schedule of office nursing, and found it to be my niche. I love it. It's a wonderful job. You won't know if it's for you until you try it. I only had 6 monts of acute care experience before I took this job. I think hospital re-entry is definitely possible after office nursing. You will be very surprised how much disease info, medication, and lab knowledge you will have. Certain skills may lack over time, but you can always take refresher courses and request extra orientation time, so don't worry about that. Best of luck, let us know how it goes. Julie P.S. Pay is $4-6 per hour less than the most I could make elsewhere.

Go for it, Amy. Only you know what is best for your family. I chose the same route due to the great schedule of office nursing, and found it to be my niche. I love it. It's a wonderful job. You won't know if it's for you until you try it. I only had 6 monts of acute care experience before I took this job. I think hospital re-entry is definitely possible after office nursing. You will be very surprised how much disease info, medication, and lab knowledge you will have. Certain skills may lack over time, but you can always take refresher courses and request extra orientation time, so don't worry about that. Best of luck, let us know how it goes. Julie P.S. Pay is $4-6 per hour less than the most I could make elsewhere.

Hi peaceful2100, I never realized how painful it would be to work weekends, 12 hr shifts (you will NOT see your kids if you work 12's except for long enough to kiss them goodnight), and holidays until I started doing it. I thought having 4 days off a week would make up for the missed plays, back-to-school night, and holidays. I found out I was wrong. I also was pretty disillusioned with bedside nursing. I agree with the previous poster that some of the best parents out there are hard working nurses. I just didn't feel like one. Luckily I found my dream job in an office. I work m-f 9-5, never a weekend, never a holiday, never a night. I love the job, it provides incredible autonomy, many skills, lots of prioritization, pt teaching, and opportunities for building warm, caring patient relationships. Of course, with the exception of school nursing and management positions, m-f positions are definitely rare, but I just wanted to make sure you have considered starting in a clinic, especially because a clinic NP is your ultimate goal. You may find you like it, and it would be a good starter for you before you embark on further eduacation. Of course, as a PNP with her own clinic, you will work an insane amt of hours at first, but that is another story! I will say right now though that the trade-off for such a great schedule is expensive. The money is definitely not in the office. I could make $5-6 more elsewhere but am lucky enough not to have to. Just make sure you've thought out all of your options before throwing in the towel entirely. Best of luck to you, Julie

Well, I haven't heard of that type of program specifically, however, requirements are certainly changing around here. For instance, 30-unit/two semester options for LVNs withOUT prereqs are becoming more popular (only stipulation is that the grad wouldn't be able to transfer their license to another state). Also, just recently I saw a large full page add in our local newspaper advertising new, faster, easier ways to get into the nursing program. With the shortage and attendance being down, I am not surprised by the ads and the schools trimming requirements. I am very surprised at a 6 week clinical though! Scary. Just a few years ago I missed out on enrollment at out local comm. college due to a competitive lottery system. 45 applicants were accepted and over 200 applied. Now, the same school can't get the 45 qualified applicants each semester to apply. It makes you wonder.

good questions chili, I don't have answers, either. I would be interested in hearing a rehab nurse's take on prosecuting/rehabing and who the most common re-offenders (age group,sex,financial class,etc) are.

kday, Thanks for including cigarette smell to the other offenses listed above! I can't stand the smell of someone who has just smoked a cigarette, and someone who chain smokes and has OLD smoke smell on them flat out nauseates me! I can't imagine what it does to someone who is sick enough to be in the hospital. I wonder if these smoking nurses and others that have patient contact really don't realize how bad they STINK or if they just don't care. Jeez. Smoke when you get off work, people.

Reading your post was an exercise in futility. Take english COMP next semester. It'll help.

Reading your post was an exercise in futility. Take english COMP next semester. It'll help.

Well, I love *almost* everything about my new job! But, not being on time is not much fun. Most days we are okay, only running 30-45 mins behind schedule (and that really isn't that bad for us!), but other times, people don't get seen until 1.5 hrs after their scheduled appt. The physician I room for has 2 exam rooms and I always have two pts back. We also have a 'shot room' that we use for injections and BP checks. It's small but I can put pts in it. I'd rather have the pt in a room than fuming in the lobby. Anyway, on these 'behind' days, there is always at least one pt that comes out of the room and has a fit. I feel genuinely bad for them because I know their time is important, too. My question is for those of you who have the same situation at work. What do you tell these people? Do you just apologise and offer to reshedule? Or, do you try to assure them that it won't be much longer (even if you don't know for sure that it's true)? I don't fault the Dr. because he is extremely thorough with his patients and never rushes them out. He answers all questions. I admire him for that, and know that the waiting pt will also get similar tx when it's their turn. It is appropriate for me to ask the front office to allow 30 mins for 15 min appts? I know that the more pts we see, the more $$ the practice makes, so I'm sure they wouldn't want that. Also, by the end of the day, we do manage to cram all pts in. Ugh. Frustrating. I didn't mean to ramble on, but would like some 'tricks' from those who've experienced this! The other internist and PA in the office are always right on schedule because it bugs them not to be. My dr. has been in practice for 25 yrs and it doesn't bother him in the least to be late. Thanks, Julie

I feel for you. I, along with a few hundred others on this board , have gone through the same type of thing. I agree with fergus on the oppressed group theory. My orientation as a new grad was awful. I was nothing more than fresh meat for these awful vulture nurses to attack!! I, too, am quiet and keep to myself. Our personality type is probably the kind nurse-eaters look for. My advice- find somewhere that you can enjoy your new career and blossom into a great nurse. There are so many fantastic, wonderfully supportive nurses out there that will make you feel at home. Keep looking until you find it. You deserve it.

Also Daz remember A-B-C's. Nursing school exams love to see if you can use them to prioritize and you'll see them on boards as well. airway, breathing, circulation. On your softball victim, airway is going to take priority over a rib fx (which she very well could have). Brainstorming with fellow students might be very helpful to you. They're in the same boat as you and talking stuff out with them can be a great help!

Daz, Focus on what unit your class is on right now. Read class notes. I'm sure your homework correlates with the lessons being taught, and if you compare sympoms to those things you've recently learned about, the right thing will click. Another thing you could do is start on the homework by doing it in reverse order. Begin by making a list of all the nursing diagnoses you can think of for each scenario. You don't need the medical dx to do this. Think of all the things you'd do for those people just based on the objective data, and once you have them all written down, reread class notes and you may be surprised at what jumps out at you. [This message has been edited by JulieW (edited February 21, 2001).]

Best of luck!! I did nights for only a few months but do remember what it was like for those first few shifts. I think the most important thing is that you take your sleep time very seriously and defintely have arrangements for someone to take care of your baby while you sleep. If you try to just wing it between her naps, you won't have much success and you'll go nuts. Also, you may want arrange your window coverings to block all possible light before your first shift. A dark quiet room is really important!

haha Duckie! I have worked with ones that would say such things like "it just screamed your name" isn't that revolting?? Anyway, on the floor I was hired to when I first graduated, my nurse manager was awesome. Such a nice lady and willing to bend over backwards for her employees, but not willing to take action against the sour apples. She did have a pet. The pet had been there as long as she has (15+ yrs) and the pet was self-nicknamed 'the princess' and boy, did she sure live up to that title. I won't go into specifics because we all know the type very well, but just wanted to reassure you that the favoritism thing seems prevalent in lots of facilities!