zecowsay

I was thinking of accepting an offer for a part-time, 30 hour per week, salaried field RN position with a home health company. Since it is a salaried position my concern is that I would end up working far more than 30 hours. So, how many hours is your position for and how many hours do you actually work?

Next Thursday I start my first nursing job after graduating in May. It's at a very small (9 bed med-surg, 11 bed LTC and 6 bed ER) rural hospital in upstate NY. I was supposed to spend 2 weeks on the LTC wing learning the ropes and then switch to the med-surg to begin my full orientation. However, the LTC night nurse has taken bereavement leave and won't be back for a month. I'm going to spend 2 days orientating and then covering for her until she returns. It's a pretty small load compared to a lot of the LTC ratios I've read about, but I'm still pretty anxious. It's going to be me and 3 CNAs from 11pm to 11am (with 3 other RNs just down the hall if I need help.) Does anyone have any advice or tips on surviving the 4 weeks without making a total fool of myself? I feel like I have no idea what I am doing.

My adviser told me something that really helped during my first semester: If it will help save someone's life, know it. If not... it's nice to know, but don't kill yourself over it. I don't even begin to try and read everything. I skim the chapter and keep an eye out for anything that looks important and make sure to focus on that. I also use the end of chapter questions to help pinpoint what I need to focus on. I'm not going to lie, those techniques only netted me a B+ in Fundamentals. I'm fine with that. I'm not sure if you are.