hollykate

you know, I still give up my seat for an MD, IF there is no other seat available and the MD needs to do some writing. Usually I'm right in front of the computer where the MD wants to check labs. But I don't hop right up...

Apply now. Not later. Most students are interviewing right now for the jobs. As far as how hard and easy, it depends on you, what type of position you want etc. I foudn ti easy to find a job but I have seen some posts where people have had a very hard time...

my 88 yr old Grandmother went to Nursing school at Syracuse University probably sometime in 1930 or so. She describes all sorts of things, and is even impressed that I am allowed to take a blood pressure and assess heart and lung sounds. She went to a three year program and was quite annoyed because the next year they came up with a bachelors program, and she wanted to do that because it would have allowed ehr to take the English classes (She is a big reader). She recalls things like sharpening needles...and also sterilizeing them for reuse (eeks!! ) and she describes some strange provess for preparing narcotics for injection, but it could just be her alzeheimers kicking in. Much emphasis was put on appearance. and of course in her program, one could not be married.

I'd recommend you head to the hospital that does the most, with good outcomes. 1-2 a year is not enough. 300+ sounds nice, but is it over the past 30 years or is it over the past 8 years. I used to take care of people with the Chiari malformation (not kids). They usually did quite well after surgery. However, it was a teaching hospital and it seemed to depend a bit on the resident as well. Best Wishes with your huband, I can tell you are going to get him the best care available!!!

Well, a pacer and a port are sometimes in similar locations and both usually appear as a bump under the skin. I suppose it might be easy to look at them and make the error. However, before trying to access something, the nurse should have checked the patient record to see if the patient had a port, or any other device.

Depends on the situation. Some people are snide and silly: example is one doc who walked out of a room and told me to go in and ask the able bodied pt to put on a gown. She informed me she didn't go to medical school to ask patients to put on gowns. (She had issues with being a female physician and was taking it out on many people... Then though- there are physicians who are actually being nasty and trying to intimidate nurses and other staff members. These physicians make it difficult to work. In one ED i traveled to, they just lost 3 nurses because they do not like to work with one physician, and the manager finally noted that when doing self scheduling everyone was trying to schedulethemselves off on the days he works... it was pretty wierd. Thsi type of physician needs to be confronted by management as they detrimentally affect the department.

I don't think this has anythig to do with IV teams or not. It is more one nurse, who was incompetent.

I shadowed a nurse before I went to school. I will say it was a completely useless after noon and did not help me decide that nursing was or was not for me. The school set up the shadowing experience for me even though I was not their student. Unfortunately, watching someone do something is very different than doing it yourself, which is why the afternoon was pretty much a waste of my time. I'd recommend doing something like a CNA class, rather than shadowing. If youenjoy doing the basic nursing care that CNA's provide, it is highly likely you will be a great nurse.

your pay is going to be a bit lower in the carolinas. But the Cost of living is also less that Long Island. You probably had that figured out though. I've never worked anywhere excpt the piedmont, Eastern NC region so I can't help you out there.

Depends on what you want. Really think about what you want/need based on money considerations, and job responsibilities, and opportunities. Some areas, LPN's will not be hired into psych. In other areas of the country LPNs have broad opportunities. Whatever you decide, enjoy your nursing career, and do not let anyone tell you what is right for you.:roll

Once you get more experience, you will realize that there are not that many things you "SHOULD" know. (Except perhaps how to recognize V. Tach on a monitor and act appropriately about it. ) There are billions of medications out there, and it is impossible to know them all- which is why we have pharmacy and books and stuff. I have 6 yrs experience, and I indeed ask a ton of questions. What is interesting is that many times I ask a question and none of us know the answer. So we all end up looking it up, or calling the pharmacy. It is hard as a new grad though, because some people wil make things tough as you ask questions. Try to avoid saying things like, "I know I should know this..." because there are a ton of things to know and if someone gives you a hassle about your questions, remind them nicely that you could not ask at all, and how would that be....

It seems to me that it is beyond just the preceptor. One can have a great preceptor, but if the rest of the department is making catty comments and being snotty it's almost a given that the nurse will fail. If it is only some nurses, it is probably worth having a one on one talk with each one personally. Most ED nurses feel undervalued all the time. Explaining that you value them for their experience, but you do not understand why they must behave in such a way to new staff. It happens also to new staff, not just new grads...This might give the experienced RN a chance to actually vent to you, as well. It is honestly very tough to have a department that has a large percentage of new grads/inexperienced people. In one ED I was in the number is approaching 20% and the staff are starting to react as if under stress. By talking to them personally, you are making it clear that it is their behavior and not another persons. You also have the opportunity to explain your expectations, and an opportunity to listen. SOme of the experienced nurses complaints maybe valid. Doing any sort of blanket meeting and announcement, generally is an invitation for everyone to ignore what you are saying. Best WIshes.

I hate it when there is a screaming patient in one room and my patient wants to know all the details. In some ways it is very nice that they show any concern for someone else, but it is usually just morbid curiosity.

Have you considered a BSN program? I wanted to go to GTCC, but went to UNC because it had less of an applicant pool. I then got a NC nurses scholarship which paid for it. As an in state student the University is not too bad for costs. It might take a year longer, but you'd get in and be able to start on your career.

Incision and Drainage.

I think you might find it easier to be pregnant as a student, as you are already used to being a student. Being a student is stressful, but not as stressful as being a new nurse. Only advice is to take NCLEX before you actually have the baby, once the baby comes it will be hard to do studying! A friend of mine did this, but it was her second child and her first was a relatively easy pregnancy, so she had less "unknowns" Good Luck in whatever you decide to do!!!

How does your ED manage patient assignment??? I've recently started traveling and am on my second ED assignment. The ED I came from (A largeish Level One trauma center 50 beds plus we unfortunately usde hallways) has us responsible for our own assignment with the team leader coming down on you if you weren't picking up enough patients. There was a high peer pressure factor, and if a nurse couldn't/woudn't pick up patients in a timely manner they were essentially "shunned" (New nurses of course are helped in this matter, and not shunned, but the person who has worked there for 8 years and is trying to get away with taking care of 2 pts at a time all day is not appreciated) Occasionally we did have problems with repeaters coming in and no one wanting them, but generally the team leader then just put the patient somewhere and we all sucked it up. I'm now on my second assignment where I've been assigned rooms. At the first ED it wasn't too busy (Don't let them hear me say that!) and the ED I am in now it is still not that busy, so it isn't that bad. But, I do find it unsettling to have been in a room for about say 8-10 minutes to: Put a patient on the monitor, start a line and draw labs, get the history and do an assessment, and maybe say, put in a foley. and when I come out I'm needing to get an xray and an EKG, and send off the labs and there is some guy from triage sort of groaning away... usually it's fine, but when I discharge 4 out of my 5 patient and get 4 new ones right away, I find it a bit unsettling. I see the benefits of a fairer workload with assigned rooms, but I also see the side of not knowing what is really coming (Knee pain guy turns out to be also having Chest pain for a few days, and looks odd on the monitor...LOL who fell seemed OK in triage but back inthe back appears to actually be having a TIA or CVA...) So, I'm wondering how do you do it? Do you assign rooms? Who decides which patients go where, and when. And how does it work? I heard recently that my old ED is trialing room assignments, so I guess it is the wave of the future (Or maybe we were very behind the times and its the wave catching us up??) And for all of you room assigned people, any tips for keeping up with the patients that magically appear in the beds? They say I'm doing ok, but I can tell I'm a bit slower than the rest!!

I think with low vision, you might have some difficulties in doing certain types of pediatric nursing- such as critical care. There are just so many monitors and medications that have small printand then there is a need to move quickly and not have to pull out a Magnifying glass each time you need to read. However, if you would be interested to work in Pediatrics in another setting, perhaps in specific peds clinics, or something like sleep study labs. I think there will be a lot of challenging options out there. I'd talk to the dean of the school of nursing, as well as your physician. I think it's possible, but those insulin syringes are surely small...

I find your post interesting. I have yet to find "The job that everyone wants" or an actual "run of the mill" job in nursing. My best friend and I do totally different things. We both think what we do is pretty cool, and there are a lot of people who tell us daily "I want to do what you do" (She does L and D and I am a traveler.) but I do not want to do what she does and she doesn't want to do what I do...it's just that way. Nursing is full of many different opportunities for many different types of people. There is no one "Job that everyone wants" So, I suppose the best thing to do might be to concentrate on getting the Job that you want, and not to worry about what everyone else wants.

Darn... I could never deal with an OCD type dog. You surely have a lot of patience! Those are some lucky dogs. I'm definitely not going to recommend you move into a new place, and then get a dog the next day and go to my first day at work... But it doesn't hurt to start thinking about it and planning ahead... As far as Pierre, seems like it would make your life easier if you took an obedience class with Pierre-so he can learn to walk on a leash and other fun things. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

I think a PDA would not be helpful to a CNA. I don't even have one as an RN...but I have been leaning towards one, I'm still preferential to paper information, even when I look up stuff on like, micromedix, I like to print it out... I'm not sure that a PDA is something that is all that comfrtable to study from (I mean the screens aren't all that huge etc). I'd invest in some good books prior to a PDA, because of course by the time you graduate from Nursing school, the one you bought as a CNA will be hopelessly outdated. Of course, if you have spare cash, then, why not?

I'm not with CCTC, so I can't offer any advice on that matter. When I was choosing a company, I was very confused. A more experienced traveler told me to go with my gut, and to read carefully. He explained that most companies are essentially the same, and usually they aren't out to cheat the traveler. But a lot of times, we get to trusting the recruiter and overlook stuff like a clause in the contract saying "Will float to all units of the hospital" or Must be on call 2 nights per week, or the housing states "Extended stay housing". Then its easy to get angry and disappointed. And some hospitals are not so great to travelers... For the most part, I think recruiters try to make a traveler happy. One thing that is hard is that most recruiters are not nurses so they don't have a clue about experience levels- say sending someone from a low activity/low acuity L and D suddenly to the high riskL and D unit. SOmetimes that works, and other times the person is overwhelmed. SO it's best to judge your own ability, as they see you as interchangable at times.

You will note that it says free housing or housing stipend of x amount of dollars. This is part of your benefit package and part of your salary, even if they do not say so. The hospital is paying for your housing.They pay that amount to the agency, plus your salary and then they give it to you for "free" So, then when you miss work the housing has to be paid, and it is then deducted from your check. The rent is not taken from your paycheck, you never see it. But it is definitely something that is not free, if it were totally free, there would not be a deduction for being sick and missing your shift. It is one way that the agency can help to gaurentee you won't call out a lot. The same for free health benefits (again taking health benefits also lowers your pay rate) and the rental car. When I ask about an assignment without a rental they tell me the pay is 40 an hour. When I ask if I want a rental they tell me the pay will have to go to 38.00 an hour. Nothing is truly free. It might be confusing to you , but once you look at a few contracts and talk to a few recruiters it begins to make more sense.

I agree with Suzanne. I also want to say, don;t sell yourself short. Get some good experience before traveling and this experience will help you to be successful. They really expect you to start out and function from day one, and without solid experience behind you, there are questions you will not know to ask. I waited for 5 years, and I'm really glad I did. My first assignment went great, but another traveler started a week after me, she had little experience and failed, which was really disappointing to her and the hospital and the agency...

Anything is possible, but most hosptials hire travelers to fill staff shortages and are going to want at least 36 a week, for the expense and risk they take in hiring a traveler. Your housing is deducted from your pay, it actually is never free, (When you get a contract it will tell you how much is deducted from your check for housing per hour if you miss a shift - for me its about 10 bucks an hour deducted, which means I am actually making 10.00 more an hour than is stated on my check). I have never seen a contract advertised that was less than 36 weeks, many are giving 48 hr gaurentees, which is what many many travelers want (as they want to make some money). Nothing is really free, thats the best thing to keep in mind when traveling. You pay for it somewhere.