adjowakim

most importantly.... always be yourself. always treat them with respect no matter what names they call your or what they may throw at you. never ever act like you are on a power trip or they will never respect you. i earned a lot of respect from some of the most behaviorally challenged kids using just these rules, although it did take time. try to find the root cause of a behavior. kids do a lot of strange and aggressive things because they are scared and/or just testing your strength. try to always follow through with what you say. when you set limits, stick with them! dont wishywash, they will manipulate you. try to always remain neutral and calm in any situation. you know that you can do this well when outsiders say to you " i never know what youre thinking" "doesnt that bother you?" good luck! if you can stick with it, this is a very rewarding population to work with!

thanks for that advice. i was wondering about that myself especially since i was working at a community hospital in my own community and may have to utilize its resources someday. i cant help but wonder though, when is the treatment of new grads by some of these hospitals going to change? when are these hospitals going to realize how hard it is for some new grads to adjust to some of these downright hostile environments?

hi, i lasted 3 months on a tele step-down unit. i also had at least 8 different preceptors due to half of the staff being out on maternity leave or some other leave. and there were 10 of us orienting at the same time! the nurse mangager didnt have much to say when i went to her with problems with my schedule besides "dont worry about it." i was treated badly by one nurse which i went to her about, but when it happened again with a different nurse i didnt even want to go to her about it because i realized that the mistreatment was running rampant on the unit. i couldnt believe how the nurses treated eachother, back stabbing, cliques. they drove out my friend who oriented with me. the supervisor told her she "asked too many questions." and always believed her preceptors opinions of her without asking her how she felt about her orientation. she asked for specific help doing admission paperwork and administering cardiac drugs and the nurse educator and mangager refused to set up a teaching plan for her. isnt that their job? the nurse mangager told her that she was pregnant and it was too hard for her to address the needs of all of her new grads. so, unfortunately you are not alone in your experience. i just accepted a new position working with developmentally delayed adults and kids. its a small residential school environment in the woods. the nurse manager spent a lot of time with me to decide how she could support "me" to get ready for the job. everyone i met was so helpful and i know they didnt just hire me because i had an "RN" next to my name. i have 6 years experience working with this population and cant wait to go back. it starts off paying a little less than what i was making in the hospital, but with opportunity to grow into a higher paying position. theyll even pay for me to attend educational seminars! so, just wanted you to know that there is more out there for nurses and dont lose hope on your nursing career! hey i dont have to work weekends or holidays either. how crazy is that!

thanks guys for all of your support! i ended up taking the job! actually, the nurse manager offered me a supervisor position a little less involved in terms of managment skills. its more like a growing position for me with the hopes that i can prepare myself for the more involved supervisor position. she made me feel great. like she really considered me as a person, with my strengths and also the skills i need time to work on. i felt like she really wanted me as an employee, and that she was willing to really support me and allow me to grow. i think im really going to love this job!:):):):)

if youre interested in working with kids i know of so many schools and residential programs working with developmentally delayed kids in or around Boston, MA. let me know what youre looking for.

im struggling! i just finished 3 months orientation on a cardiac step down unit. i like the fact that im learning a ton especially fine tuning my assessment and organization skills. ive been exploring other job options, mainly working per diem with kids with developmental delays and behavioral problems. i have 6 years experience working as a mental health counselor and a supervisor on a residential program. i worked closely with the residential nurse and know that role well. im passionate about working with this population. well, i finished nursing school and decided to work in the cardiac unit because i worked there as a nursing assistant, and i knew i would get a good orientation and really develop my skills. well, i did get a great orientation but i realize that cardiac nursing isnt what i want to do? not to mention, the unit im working on is so rough. some of the nurses have been so rude to me, one of them yelled at me for not answering a call light after he ordered me to! i felt so humiliated but didnt have the confidence to speak up. there are some real tight cliques on the unit and if they dont accept you, then they drive you out. they drove out a friend of mine who oriented with me. the nursing supervisor actually told her that she asked too many questions. i recently got this amazing job offer working as a nurse supervisor at a school for kids with developmental disorders. id be managing lpns, and coordinating all aspects of care for these kids. its full time, no weekends, no holidays, 9-5 pm, and it pays more. the nursing supervisor who interviewed me said that it would be a lot of training, but she was impressed with my previous experience and would be willing to train me and support me as much as necessary. if i stick with the cardiac unit, i may miss this wonderful opportunity to do what i love. this is a small school without a lot of nursing turnover. if i leave the cardiac unit now, i may be missing out on a lot of skills to be gained. im so unhappy on the cardiac unit but should i suck it up for the experience? im seriously torn over this. please help!!!!!

..i just finished my last day of a 12 week orientation on a telemetry step down unit and i had the worst shift of my life! i thought i was ready to be off orientation, but this shift just threw me off track. after i listened to report on my 4 patients and organized myself, i ended up having to discharge 3 of those patients and take 3 new patients all around the same time! i just lost all of my organization. one of my patients was confused and had a lot of IV meds, another one told me she was having chest pain and it turns out she was going into failure with crackles half way up her lungs when her lungs were clear a few hours ago when i admitted her! my preceptor had to call the Dr. and get some lasix on board cuz i had my hands full with my other patients. i felt so out of control of my assignment. im so discouraged to be on my own now!

im a new grad nurse just starting on a telemetry unit. ive been orienting for a month, but we have a minimum of 12 weeks orientation before being on our own. this includes numerous critical care classes that we have to attend. i just cant imagine having just 6 weeks orientation on a tele unit. thats not right!

thanks! you rock!!!!!

I currently work on a residential program for kids age 8-18 diagnosed primarily with PDD and autism. It makes things interesting having such a wide age bracket, but the kids are all developmentally delayed to some degree. Right now im planning a Halloween party and organizing activities for the younger and the older kids. In general, we use more simple directives and short-term consequences for the younger kids and do a lot more verbal deescalization and have more involved behavior plans for the older kids. Most of the kids have additional diagnoses in addition to PDD/autism. I see more differences in kids according to their diagnosis/family background and cognitive age than i do according to biological age. Are you looking to work with a different population? Or, in a different setting like residential program vs. locked unit, short-term vs. long-term? I definitely want to work with children and adolescents in a hospital setting. I am working as a student nurse aid with adults on a telemetry floor and i know its not for me. I also work as an aid on 2 rehab floors having kids on vents, with trachs, g-tube feeds, brain injuries, paralyzed etc. and i also enjoy that because there is a lot of psych involved with kids having to deal with long-term injuries. Im currently dealing with the dilemma of should i work in med-surg first before psych? Id like to do both med-surg and psych with kids at the same time so im looking for a hospital that has both.

hi, I have been working in child psych for 5 years as a mental health counselor and residential supervisor. I absolutely love it, and the only reason im going into nursing is that a counselor position doesnt pay and there is not much room for growth aside from your own personal growth. I have worked with kids diagnosed with autism, aspergers, adhd, bipolar disorder, schizoprenia, ptsd....just to name a few. Honestly, i dont pay much attention to dianoses in kids because most of them are rule out, and child psych diagnosis is not as clear cut as with adults. We use a lot of behavior management techniques. I suggest you working as a floor staff or observing a psych unit or residential program for a while before getting a job as a nurse. I think the best psych nurses feel comfortable with their population and are able to really get involved with their patients to help them through crises. Its not just about passing meds, which is a common misconception. It takes a lot of creativity to be a psych nurse because you are constantly trying new approaches to deescalate a patient in order to avoid restraints. I once worked with a child who could snap out of a crisis if we provided him with certain smells, deoderant, perfume etc. Hope this helps!

hi, I am currently a nursing student at a school in MA. I would like to take the NCLEX in MA and then apply for reciprocity in RI. I know that there is an application process and a fee of around 90 dollars. Has anyone been through this process? Is it fairly quick and easy?