Love2camp

I had terrific experiences in most of my rotations. The times when it wasn't so good was when the energy of the floor was negative. I found that it was highly dependent on the nurse supervisor's mood.

I graduated May 2014. We were assigned patients and co-RNs. The instructor would talk to the nurses about having a student and what task or meds we would be responsible for regarding the assigned patient. I would do my own head to toe assessment, all vitals, morning care, toileting and any ambulating that was needed. We were to answer call lights and check in with the patient periodically throughout the day. Each semester the work we did got a little more complex. Any meds given or procedures that we the students performed the clinical instructor was there to guide us. Permission would be asked if we could observe on something being done. A-line being inserted, wound vac being placed etc. We would also document meds and progress notes in the system. Any issues high temps, change in mental status etc would be reported to the RN. Hopefully when we were on the floor we would actively lessen some of the work load for the RN. When we were in our maternity rotation our last weekend we took on all the patients on the floor and did all care for both mother and infant.

I am a married mother of 2. I got my ASN last year because I needed to work full time while going to school. I did not find s BSN program that could be done nights and weekends. I was able to get a nursing job and I am working towards my BSN online. I recommend community college for nursing school to keep cost down, if it is a good one.

Yes, I found out weekends are an additional $1 on top of the $3 diff given for the 3-11pm week shift. 😀

I currently have a full time non nursing job that pays well. At some point I was hoping to leave my current job and do nursing full-time. I currently have a mortgage that I pay myself and cell phone bill, gas etc. my husband pays the utilities, childcare, groceries etc. I also pay anything that he is unable to cover as well as any entertainment. I also cover medical for the family. I would be taking a pay cut regardless but my hope was that the pay would be at least $23 an hour here in the Northeast to start. Then maybe as I got experience I would make more. As it stands now it would less per hour than my husband makes which would mean I may not have enough to cover my current mortgage payment. I have had the house since 2006. I owe more than it is currently worth so selling it at this time is not an option. I will ask about the pay when I go back. If they continue to hire me I will just work weekends for them. This way I will gain experience.

The paper that is filled out states shift diff $3.00 during wk, $1.00 wkends. They have day, evening and night shift available as well as casual/per diem. They stated they have openings due to some nurses leaving to continue education.

I have a question. I went for an interview for my first nursing job. We did not talk about pay or benefits. We mainly discussed my availability for weekends, what area in the facility I am most interested in working in and what orientation entails. The DON was not available so I was told she may get in touch with me for a second interview. She did call and I did go in but it wasn't so much of an interview. At no point was I told I had the job but I was handed an employee packet and my identification was copied, TB test was done we discussed everything else that I would need to be up to date on physical, Immunization etc. I was a little confused because I was anticipating that if the facility wanted to hire me they would discuss what is expected, how many shifts I would need to cover and what the rate of pay was. It wasn't until I got home that I noticed the offer on the back sheet of the packet. The pay is quite low with only $1 diff for weekends and $3 for weekdays. It is listed as a Casual Float position. Which I am completely fine with at this time. Is this how the normal process tends to be? Also Is it usual for the weekend diff to be less than a weekday? It does not specify any particular shift for the diff. I understand the starting pay for a new nurse tends to be lower but if I start out as low as it is noted I would not be able to work with this company full time and pay my bills. I will be handing in my completed packet so at that time I was going to discuss how the pay schedule goes once the orientation is over. Any information anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

Well wishes being sent your way Esme. I will keep you in my prayers and thoughts.

If the vial contains 2 mL there would be 100 mg of medication in the entire vial so you would not give all 2 mL. You would draw up only 1 mL in your syringe and that would give you your 50 mg needed for your dose. If the vial is a 1 mL vial and it contains 50 mg of med and that is what the order is for then you would draw up the entire 1 mL to get the full 50 mg dose.

Per every 1mL there is 50 mg of medicine. If would all depend on how many mLs in total are listed on the label for that medicine as to how much quantity you have in total.

I'm in my last semester of school. I work 40hrs a week go to school nights and weekends and have children. It is very doable. If you have supportive people around you and you keep up with the studies you will be okay. I recommend getting to bed at a reasonable hour to help yourself manage the crazy schedule. I am far more frazzled when I'm sleep deprived for more than two days in a row.

Awesome Esme. Thank you for sharing.

I can't comment if it was 2 or 3 shots back then but your Dr's office should be able to do a blood test. They will check for titers I believe. I had it done last year and I was not immune so I needed to get all three shots.

My Eng comp, psych and math etc was still good from 15yrs ago. Human development and sciences usually age out. You may have to retake all your sciences or do a review course on them.

Yes I didn't realize either until a classmate made me aware. I usually put my phone on airplane mode in settings before I start recording. That way my phone isn't vibrating from a text or call while recording on a desk near the professor.

Are you still starting the program this spring? Are you going to orientation Tuesday?

It was a small hand held recorder the size of a digital but it took the small micro cassettes. I used the cassettes in my pre reqs because I wanted to label them with the different material covered for easy retrieval when studying. Without the worry of losing my place from my previous recording that I may of had with a digital. I also have a apple laptop from 4 years ago and at the time I wasn't sure if the recordings from a digital would go on my laptop as seamless as if I had a regular PC. I didn't want that headache.

Click on utilities then voice memo. A big microphone will show up, tap the red button it will start recording that red button will then become your pause button. You can push pause during breaks and then pause again to restart the recording where u have left off. When ever you want to end a particular recording you tap the silver looking button on the right with the 3 lines on it. That will bring you to the list of that and any other recordings and then you just press done. It date stamps it.

Yes I just use the voice memo in the utilities on the iphone. Some of my recordings are over 3 hours long. The only thing I can not do is send the memos in a email because they are too long. I use a apple laptop and I just plug the phone in so the voice memos go onto my iTunes library under voice memos. So when I'm at home I can play it through the computer and when I'm on the road I can listen through my phone. I have the iPhone 4S.

I actually prefer my iPhone as my recorder. It works awesome. Most students in my class use theirs as well. We had to download software for our nursing school to use during clinicals and because I needed a new phone at the time I got the iPhone so I could download the software and the bonus was I could use it as a recorder so it was great to not have to carry an extra recorder any longer. I was just making you aware that a lot of the newer phones if you have one may have a recorder in them so you wouldn't need to buy a separate recorder. Yes otherwise I think most digital recorders would fit your needs. Just make sure you can download the recordings to your computer. That way the material is manageable in smaller portions enabling you to go right to the material that is needed for studying. If you leave to much of the info on your recorder you may accidentally delete it while trying to move forward and backwards to find what you need.

I used a recorder with micro tapes but the tapes can get costly. A lot of cell phones have voice memo that allow long recording times. I currently use my IPhone to record my nursing lectures. I hook up my phone to my computer and the voice memos save right onto iTunes.

I also start the program this fall. I am in the night program. I know a few students currently in the program whom speak very highly about it.

@ frible001 i wanted to give you a big fat congratulations on being accepted into the program. i wish you tons of luck.

That is very beautiful. Congratulations on almost finishing with nursing school and making your Mom very proud. Good luck with all your endeavors and never listen to anyone not even yourself that you can't accomplish your goals or dreams.

Just putting it out there. Have you gone to a chiropractor? I had migraines that mimicked a stroke. Was put on all sorts of medicines topamax being one of them and it did not help. I found out my neck was messed up and that was why I was getting the migraines. I had been in a bad car accident when i was 9. I am migraine free now. If there are times that my neck starts feeling real sore and kinked up I go back to the chiro to get adjusted if I haven't been for a while. If you haven't tried it and your insurance covers it I would definitely recommend a chiropractor. It really has done wonders for me. Not all Drs are created equal so find one that someone you know goes to if you can. Good luck with everything.