mama.RN

I may be in the minority, but I say go ahead with the baby making. School can wait if need be, but there is a finite window for the babies and even good fertility numbers are no guarantee, take it from me. I started trying in my mid-30s, finally had a natural viable pregnancy at age 39 during nursing prereqs. After that, despite absolutely perfect fertility numbers, a second baby was not to be. On paper, I continually looked like a 20 year old, including FSH. So, you never really know when the window is going to close. Looking back, I'd not have wasted all my fertile years assuming I had more time to have kids.

I bought several of my books on Ebay. Some were international/current editions -- the only differences with those were that they were usually paperbacks, and sometimes were in black and white instead of color. In several cases, they were approx $25-50 each instead of $100+. I just made sure that the ISBN numbers matched.

Well Done.

I was just wondering if he is still within a probationary period (isn't it 3 months, usually?) where the employer gets to decide that it just isn't working out. Given that that is usually the case with any new job, it makes no sense for someone starting a new RN job to act this way. There are plenty of deserving new grads that would be easier to deal with and happy for the job. We've had a couple of people come through the doors at my work who have had attitude issues, and they were set free early on. No tolerance for that which creates a difficult work environment, especially when there are lots of nice people willing to do the same work just as well if not better.

I'm right there with you, as a fellow introvert. In line with TheCommuter's advice, I'd recommend finding a nursing job where you don't have the constant exposure to these situations that are so draining. A position where you're working alone or one-on-one with patients for a majority of the time, something with a lot of autonomy. You might find that to be much more enjoyable, where you can practice nursing, but without the rest of it that you don't like. Trust me, it makes all the difference.

Interesting, I hadn't read that, will check into it though. We've actually had several patients whose positive PPD was attributed to BCG vaccination >10 yrs ago, after follow up IGRA testing was negative.

One point regarding the TB issue is that if your friend spent her childhood in the Ukraine (you said she was born there, so unclear), then she would have likely received two doses of the BCG vaccine, for TB. In that case, it would not be surprising for her to test positive with the PPD skin test (vs. an allergic reaction). It is best to be evaluated by an infectious disease physician, who can evaluate her, review her possible BCG vaccination history, history of any possible TB exposure(s) and do additional testing via Quantiferon Gold or a T-Spot blood test. Depending on the results at that point, a chest x-ray may not be necessary (if blood test negative). It should be noted that a PPD should never be done on anyone with a possible history of a positive PPD as it can result in a severe skin reaction up to and including necrosis. Regarding the vaccination issue, she should probably do some research on the subject on cdc.gov.

I had a similar run in with a professor during nursing school, minus the religion comment (which I think may have been tongue in cheek anyway possibly). So, in my case in the end, I agreed to disagree with my professor, and moved on. Long story short, I could have consistently excelled in class and clinicals, but had to spread myself very thin between school, studying, work and family. I was chastised and told that I should neglect my family concerns, as they would still be there in a couple of years. I disagreed with that, so I just lived with getting only a few hours of sleep a night to make it all work. I wasn't the top student, but I did well. We make our own choices and move on. I can live with that, and I didn't miss my kid growing up.

Loved it, thanks for sharing.

I would agree with the other poster that you should have some baseline fertility testing done and not assume that all is ok. It would be helpful to find out now, not later, if there are any issues with fertility in order to make the best decision.

What I like vs. what I don't like, compared to what I expected. For example, the other day I was packing a deep, tunneling wound. I would not have imagined that I'd ever be able to really stand doing that, but I truly don't mind it one bit, in fact I get a lot of satisfaction from doing it well. On the other hand, I thought I'd love working with kids, since I love kids in general. But, as it turns out, it's not something I love. I hate to see them in pain or upset or to cause them pain, e.g.. vaccinations, etc., so not my favorite thing. I'd just say be open to letting yourself figure out what you really like to do even if it takes you on a different path than you've planned.

I am not a school nurse, but just wanted to wish you well as this is resolved. Also, wanted to mention a policy of my son's school nurse in case it may be of any help to you. He has a medication (set of 2 Epipen, Jr. in box) that is kept at school. The nurse requires that an a official pharmacy label and a recent photo of him be attached to the box. Not sure what she does for kids with several meds or with particular med containers/bottles that make this difficult to do. Possibly one separate container to store them so there is label for each but only one photo for all.

Maybe you haven't found your niche...I work in a small specialty clinic where we see patients one at a time. We have some regulars and some patients I'll see once and never again. I work alone about 50% of the time doing admin type work. It gets busy and I have to keep up with the latest info. I have a lot of autonomy, and there are many facets of the job so that it usually isn't boring. Sometimes I'm managing several short-term tasks or projects at once, but it's doable. Overall, it is a low stress, peaceful existence, the hours are 9-5ish, no holidays or weekends, and I make about the same as the nurses working in Med-Surg in the nearby hospital. Just a possibility to consider.

I will admit that I was chronically late to most everything in my past (pre-nursing career) life, but I will tell you it is not because I had no respect for other people's time. Truly, I felt horrible always walking a few minutes late into work or appointments, and getting that look of disdain, where you know people are mad or now view you as less competent. I always truly thought I would be on time, but didn't leave enough time to get places, or always thought I had time to do one more thing before I left, always so busy. What fixed it for me was my first week or two of nursing school (second career), where all the important and valid reasons for being on time were drilled into us. In addition, if we were even 1 second late for class, the doors were locked and that was it, no getting in. If we missed a few classes we would fail that class. Same with clinicals, if we were late, we were sent home...miss two clinicals and we would fail that semester. There were acceptable reasons for missing classes or clinicals, but those were very limited. Magically, I was suddenly able to be 15+ minutes early for everything. With a little training, people can change.

Can wear whatever I want.