NenjaRN

Definitely a treasure chest of some sort with coloring books & crayons, stickers, bubbles (which are great for pneumonia/surgical kids that don't understand the concept of IS), etc that they can choose an item from when they come in and/or when they have a poke or something. Distraction is key! I third the treatment room if you can find space for it. Unfortunately, it is never used as much as it should be at my current hospital, but when I worked in peds at a community hospital all IV starts, lab draws, caths, LPs, etc were done in there. The lighting was better and they need to feel safe in their rooms. It will make your life easier when they don't scream every time you walk in the room. :) ASK mom and dad if they want to be present for procedures. Sometimes it's easier with them in the room soothing the child, other times it's awful with them watching over your shoulder and you're sweating bullets...but ask. Many don't know they have a choice. Also...if mom and dad say something isn't right with their child, it's not. Figure it out fast!

Congrats! See you soon!

I don't think he's said in huddle the last few days that they've hired so maybe they're still working on it. Have you heard anything more yet?

Plenty of bodily fluids have made their way to my shoes before and I think it's icky. The needle is probably not that likely, the icky is almost guaranteed. That being said, LOTS of my coworkers have those.

YES, but a different kind and level of stress. Although, I do think at the end of the day I feel I've made more of a difference than anything I've done in school. It's worth it. :)

Honestly, I think we could do this debate all day long! :) I have always worked nights (LTC, community hospital peds dept & now a large children's hospital) except for orientation has always been on days for a length of time. I'd definitely say the friendships and teamwork are stronger on nights - maybe attributed to the fact that we consistently have less resources at night so we really HAVE to work together. Staffing is always worse at night, so you will have a heavier load and as much "in your face" interdisciplinary staff and even just service staff (dietary, transport, etc) seems during the day, I'd loooove some of that help at night. I'm single and don't know that I could afford a paycheck without the shift diff. I also know some people work nights BECAUSE they have kids but when I have mine, I'll be switching to days. Depending how my shifts are scheduled, I'm fairly useless on my "days off" because I'm trying to catch up on sleep. I think I'd be major zombie and not so much the mommy I want to be.

A favorite is when I get the time to snuggle a baby to sleep. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen too often but I love rocking a baby in my arms and allowing the parents to get some rest they maybe haven't had in days. And once they start talking...oh my gosh, kids are FUNNY!

Is this, by chance, Levine Children's Hospital? If so, send me a message and I can give you the scoop. I'm a nurse on 10! It is WONDERFUL. Crazy busy, but I love it.

I don't know for sure...but I think when we had our day where they broken down applying for the NCLEX and licensure and all that...you can apply for licensure for both SC and TX right now, rather than waiting on SC and then waiting for endorsement. I think. I know you don't have to even get a SC license and you can still test in SC. If you're sure you want to move to TX, skip the SC license and just go for TX. That being said...I would not recommend relocating before you have a job. I just had a skype interview for an out of state position, that could be an option for you as well.

I need me one of those (fiance)! haha I'm not trusting enough for Craigslist...I have a friend that lives in Huntersville with her parents and there is a POSSIBILITY she could live with me if she is able to get a job in Charlotte, but I can't plan on it. And living 40 minutes away (plus traffic), when all is said and done with gas costs, I almost feel like I might as well pay the higher rent in Charlotte.

"i hate it at work when people are like "You're young. you can handle it" It doesn't matter how young or old you are, our bodies are built the same and react similarly to situations like this." YES! I want to smack a nurse when they say "BUT YOU DON'T HAVE KIDS! YOU'RE YOUNG, YOU CAN HANDLE IT!" Uh, no.

I do this too!! Haha

I know this is old but I'm bumping this for some feedback. When I decided a couple months ago that I wanted to pursue something different I applied to two positions, one 45 minutes away in Toledo OH and one at Levine Children's in Charlotte. Toledo has offered the position and pays $23 with $1 shift diff and you can get a decent apartment for $500-600 in easy commuting distance. Now, for Levine I was told $4 shift diff but base pay could be just $21. So really just a buck more than here and the cost of living seems astronomical. HOW do you get by making that much in Charlotte when $500-600 looks like you'll be living in the hood? I've worked for the last year while living at home so I have a good amount of savings and I do know that the opportunities in Charlotte are so much more than Toledo but holy moly.

Jumping on board...I'm not a current traveler but would like to in Peds. Any help would be great!

RNs wear navy, lab wears black, respiratory wears brown...I believe radiology wears red. I'm not sure about the rest.