Eric Cartman

I second the notion of talking to a lawyer. Urine tests for drug screens have been known to show false positives occasionally, if the person is taking certain OTC medications. In a few specific examples, I've had patients test positive for PCP, but the only medication they were taking was the OTC allergy medicine, benadryl.

I don't think you will have any issues with melatonin. I take it occasionally myself.

You bring up a legitimate concern, but was the labetalol a new medication or one that the patient had been on for some time? Also, was the high BP past medical hx or new?

Fall prevention is a hot topic right now at many acute healthcare facilities. As has already been mentioned in others posts, the biggest questions are why did the fall occur and were all interventions in place to prevent the fall? In my experience most falls seem to have a contributing, controllable factor which is really annoying. For example slip resistant socks were not on, bedside table was too far away, telephone was too far away, call bell fell onto floor, patient was scored incorrectly on the fall risk assessment scale, patient on BP or pain meds, new onset of confusion, family turned the bed alarm off because it was annoying and so on... All falls seem to have a cause, but is the cause always preventable? That I can't answer and don't know if anybody else can. I guess that is the purpose of root cause analysis when we do have falls, especially falls with injuries. Just out of curiosity, what fall scoring system or scale does your hospital use HouTx? Last year our hospital just adopted the Johns Hopkins scoring system. I can't tell if it has really made a difference or not.

I work on a neuro/ tele unit as well and typically it is a 1:5 or 1:6 ratio for night shift, and 1:5 for day shift. Nights were the patient loads are a good mix of neuro patients and med surg/ tele patients are not bad to deal with, but nights with 5-6 actual neuro patients, who may or may not be confused can be quite challenging. I hear bed alarms so often that some times when I get home I still I think I can hear them going off. It's a tough unit in my opinion, but for some reason I really like it.

Supposedly University of Penn, Health system, is BSN, or nothing. The other hospitals that I listed are supposed to be the same, but I could be wrong. I am only going off of the accounts of people that I know who work for those hospitals. Now what I don't know is how many years of nursing experience they are willing to take into consideration before waving the BSN rules. The BSN requirement, to my knowledge, is for new graduates and nurses with minimal experience. I do not know what defines "minimal experience" by these hospitals standards. I do know a few nurses who have been hired by the hospitals that I listed in the first post, who were only ADN nurses, but have over 5 years of experience. All I can say is apply and see what happens.

This is all true and I am aware that this needs to be done. What is unclear though is how the federal funding would be distributed. UTA requires that classes must be paid for, in full, prior to starting each class. I am under the impression that you can register for multiple classes, placing a student at full time status, and maximizing the eligible amount of federal aid, but UTA will only remove the cost of 1 class, from the lump sum of awarded aid, at a time. What happens to the rest of the money? Does UTA hold onto the rest of the federal aid, to be utilized for the next 8 week class, or does the college issue the rest of the money in a refund, and it is the student's responsibility to utilize the refund to pay for the next class? I'm only going by what a financial officer told me and unfortunately I did not get a chance to finish my conversation with the officer, due to being at work when I called and having to divert my attention toward a pressing issue within the office I work. I'm just a little confused at the moment and prefer to have as little hang ups as possible while attending this school online. Thanks for your comment lilkimball05.

University of Pennsylvania, Presbyterian Medical Center, Pennsylvania Hospital, Jefferson Hospital, Methodist Hospital, and Temple Hospital, all require BSN, or a few years of experience. These are the best hospitals to work at in the city. 2 years might not be enough experience to secure a job, but I guess it depends on who catches your resume. If I had to take a wild guess, I would assume that you might have a tough time finding a position, because you do not currently have your BSN. But I could be wrong. It won't hurt to apply, but do so prior to moving.

Congratulations to all who have secured positions at Inova. Hopefully I'll get to meet some of you someday. I'll be starting at Fairfax Hospital at the end of July, on the Neuroscience unit. Say hello if you happen to see a tall, lanky, redheaded guy in his 20's, who is almost always smiling, when you come through during the EPIC EMR transition.

Does anybody know if you can use Federal Student loans to pay for the classes at UTA, for the RN-BSN program? I only ask because I know that prior to starting each class, you must pay for each class in full. I'm not quite sure how this would work with Federal Student Loans.

Depending on what hospital you choose to seek employment at, average new graduate pay is between $25-$28 base rate, an hour, which is not including shift differentials.

Well I was able to negotiate, but not the base hourly rate. I was able to negotiate "X" amount of dollars in a lump sum, after working 90 days. I guess you could call it a sign on bonus, or relocation bonus. I accepted the position because it is on a unit that I would really like to work and money is not everything. Money certainly helps though. Moral of my story, it's okay to try and negotiate compensation. It's a fine line between judging when to push a manager or recruiter harder for something you would like and knowing when to quit, or settle. I have never had to negotiate compensation with a nursing position before, but I have negotiated pay salaries in the past for other positions. That's is why I started this thread. If you are unsure of something ask questions. Also, it may helps others who are in similar situations as myself.

I bet you could.

Well I was offered the job at Fairfax Hospital. Now I just have to decide if I want to take the position. Unfortunately what they are offering me is actually less than what I currently make. On a positive note, it's on a unit that I would really like to work on. Decisions, decisions.

Check out Inova health systems. I just had an interview with them and they are doing a large hire throughout their system. They are based out of Northern Virginia, but it is still basically the DC area.

So I was offered a position in another state yesterday, right outside DC (Virginia side) which is very exciting; however, their initial offer is less than what I am making now and the cost of living is slightly more where I am moving to. Can someone please offer me some advise as to how to go about submitting a counter offer, regarding the rate of pay to the HR department? I have not accepted the job yet and informed the HR department that I would need 96 hours to make a final decision. Some help would be great! Thanks

I've been on interviews before for RN positions; however, this position that I am interviewing for tomorrow I would really like and want to do all that I can in order to nail the interview. My question is, what should I wear. Here is why I ask. About a year ago I went to an interview wearing a black suit, white shirt, red based tie, black dress shoes. The manager who interview told me that I overdressed for the interview. Now a similar outfit (suit, shirt, tie, black shoes) I had worn during the interview at my current job and my manager commented on how professional I looked. The manager who told me that I overdressed, was an inpatient manager, at a hospital with an "ify" reputation, while my current manager, oversees an outpatient clinic. Any suggestions as to what might be the most acceptable choice of attire, for interviewing with a nurses manager of an inpatient unit? I am planning on wearing a black or grey suit (probably grey), blue shirt, black designed tie, black belt and shoes. And I don't wear cologne, so that won't be an issue. Input would be great.

Here's a few tips. Your wife needs to take and pass her NCLEX, before she can expect to even land an interview at a hospital. From my own experience, it took me about 10 months to find my first nursing position and I took the first one that came along, despite the pay not being great. Experience is experience, in some aspects. It's easier to find another nursing job, once you have already been employed as a nurse. Getting started though is an uphill battle in my opinion. there's just a lot of competition in Philadelphia for nursing jobs, because of all of the surrounding nursing schools. I would recommend also looking into LTCF as a good start. Some of the facilities will hire new RN's without experience. Try to tell her to stay away from Manor Care though.

Only ask questions that you want to know the answer to. What I mean by this is ask sincere questions. Don't just ask questions because you feel like you should in order to sound interested in the position. What's the point of asking "the nurse to patient ratio," if you are not interested; although I do think that is an important question, since the patient ratio will affect the nurses work. Items of interest for me during an interview: -nurse patient ratio -is being on call mandatory -does the hospital provide continuing education for nurses -(for a new unit) duration of orientation -is it required to be pulled to other floors in the event of a nursing shortage If you do not have any questions regarding the position, I would suggest going online and reading about the facility, seeing if you have any questions about the organization, or hospital. It's good to have questions for your potential employer in my opinion. Check out the health facility's website and see if they have a section of their website that is devoted to nurses. Read over the information that is posted and see if that evokes any potential questions.

That is great advice! Thanks for sharing. :w00t:

I can't answer your questions from a hiring managers point of view, but I can answer it from my own experience, based on the practice where I work. Customer satisfaction is very important. Patients coming in for treatment where I work, allows me to have a job; that pays quite well. If patients are not satisfied with physician care, overall health outcome, scheduling satisfaction, nursing interaction, and so on, what is to stop the patient from seeking healthcare elsewhere? The other important factor is that health care is not cheap! It costs about $350 for a 1 hour patient appointment with the doctor. If you had to pay that much money out of pocket (let's forget health insurance for a second), I'm pretty sure you are going to want quality care, organized staff interaction, punctuality of the physician and nurse, and a friendly environment. If you don't receive what you are looking for during your appointment, I would assume that you would go elsewhere for care. Without satisfied patients, I wouldn't have a job. Healthcare is a business. Even though I work for a nonprofit organization, there are still many expenses that need to be covered, so we can offer top notch care to the patients we serve. That's my opinion. Hope it helps.

What unit will you be working on SugarPlumRN? I have an interview there on Wednesday for the neurology unit, which I am quite excited about.

When I was a new graduate, I had a panel interview at a VA hospital. There was a total of 6 people present for the interview, who each asked me select questions. No NCLEX material. Very typical interview questions and work place scenario interventions. Here are a few examples: - What will you be able to provide our unit? - Please elaborate on this part of your resume. "Caring and compassionate work ethic" - Is it a problem to show up for your shift 2 minutes late? - How do you handle a coworker who "YOU" believe is violating a patients rights? Then later in the interview I was asked - How do you handle a coworker who "IS" in violation of patient rights? - Why do you want to work on this unit I was asked about 30 questions and I can't remember them all. What I do recall is the tricky questions, or the ones that had plays on the wordings. I didn't get the job after 2 full panel interviews. But hey, I made it to round 2 being a new graduate, so I felt pretty darn good about making it that far in the interview process. Best advice, keep researching nursing interview questions and think about how you would answer them. That's the best way you can prepare. Also, know what your resume says and why it says what it does. Don't just have something worded fancy because it sounds professional. Be able to explain why you have written what you have.

I had a job interview last year where I was asked to come in for a follow up interview and shadowing experience. It's a good sign if you get asked to come in for a shadowing experience, but it does not guarantee you the job. I did not get the position after my shadowing experience. I was a little bummed I must say.

Yes I do have experience in health care. 2 Years as a CNA and currently I have been working for the past 16 months as a Clinical RN Coordinator for a neurology outpatient practice in Philadelphia. The clinical position was the first job that I landed when I was fresh out of nursing school. I am looking to relocate to the DC area and that is why I am interested in Inova. I was confused by their job postings because it states that they prefer BSNs or MSNs.