Trixie13

I'm not sure about the west coast, but school nursing was not a "thing" in when I was growing up in eastern Canada. The local public health nurse made sure all of our vaccinations were up to date to start school and checked our heads once a year. That's it. I hadn't heard of that career choice until I moved to the US...it would have completely altered my career path! A quick Google search does not turn up much for "school nurse" in BC...however Ontario has public health nurses (PHNs) in schools. I would try looking for a PHN job assigned to school(s) in BC--maybe they do it that way too. Good luck!

Yes, that is the company I work for--since 2016. Part-time is a minimum of 10 hours a week, no more than 19 hours. No complaints here--their policies are clear and fair and their education has improved over the years. I was winging it a bit at first, but I had done some abstracting of Core Measures in the early days so I was familiar with the process. We work from a virtual task "pile," so sometimes I run out of tasks before the end of the month, but it is "extra" money here, so that's not an issue for me. I gave chemo for several years, but I have learned a lot doing oncology abstraction. I make the same hourly rate as I did doing telephone triage--less than acute but more than clinic. For a side hustle I am satisfied.

The company I work for does not ask us to do much staging; our abstraction is mostly based on physician statement for stage. I just needed oncology experience to be familiar with the treatments and terminology--tumor registrars do abstraction for that company as well. I've been working for them for over four years now.

I see you have oncology listed--my second job is with a company called Flatiron Health pulling data from oncology charts. Minimum of 10 hours a week and those hours are completely flexible. I make more per hour with them than at my school job. ? Something to consider--abstraction isn't for everyone.

Just thinking out loud here...what about a form of team nursing? It's been over 3 years since I've worked in hospital, even longer since I took care of a vented patient. BUT I know my way around the place and could definitely still make myself useful in critical care, maybe helping someone with current experience take on a larger patient load than usual. I'm sure there are others like me that would be willing to help however we can, but I'm guessing bureaucracy would somehow interfere. ?

I think we work for the same company. I found them by accident also. It's a nice side hustle. ?

Why PA continues to dig in their heels about joining the compact is beyond me. I do camp nursing in ME--thank goodness it is my original state of licensure so there is less hassle. But I currently have 3 active nursing licenses (2 in compact states!) courtesy of my PA residency. Ugh.

It depends on where you work. I worked in oncology, so I needed to notify management as soon as I knew so I would not be given inappropriate assignments (none with radiation seeds, etc). Folks at my job knew before half of my friends and family, lol.

I do telephone triage for the same health system where I did acute care. I make more than an office nurse but less than I did as a bedside nurse. The reason I was given for the lower pay was the lack of direct patient contact, which made sense to me. My base start was higher than base start for a new nurse at the hospital though, likely because they require at least 3 years experience.

I'm not a school nurse (yet--longtime lurker ), but I downloaded a nice app from the CDC for when I do camp nursing--it's called Head's Up. Has good info for parents. P.S. Currently I do telephone triage and our protocols state a mild headache (relieved by OTCs) is normal for the first 24 hours after a head injury--it's interesting that the CDC is so vague about it.

Nope, nope, nope!! Policy at my facility is that chemotherapy orders are written/entered, NEVER verbal. Offices that aren't online fax orders. Even if orders are modified the provider does it. We only verify. Pharmacy wouldn't even touch orders without a provider's signature.

Just started a telephone triage job at a call center that services several medical practices in my health system. We work from home, which is wonderful. It certainly can be stressful though. I feel I am learning a new way to "see" my patients. I too hope this board becomes a bit more active. Would love to hear from other telephone triage nurses.

Aside from the "dart" technique others mention, I ask a question and administer the injection while they are answering. Works like a charm--even on dramatic teenagers.

I haven't flushed routinely with heparin in a long time due to HIT--we generally just use saline with our Groshong ports unless we have had clotting issues, in which case we will add low-dose heparin. We do still use heparin flushes on our non-Groshong tunneled catheters and PICCs. Not sure where to find an article, though; our policies don't have resources cited.

Wow, it was that easy for you? Nice! Due to my PA residence, they wouldn't even talk to me until I was fingerprinted for MD. Glad that process is over, and wish PA would just join the compact already!! I now hold active licenses in three states!