lumosnox

My hospital starts at $11.21 plus $1.50 night and $1.75 weekend shift differential for a PCA. I might have switched the shift diffs but one is definitely $1.50 and the other $1.75. Overtime is time and a half and holidays are double time! Edit: Central Ohio!

Hi! I just landed my dream job (as a nursing student) as a float pool PCA at a big, local Children's Hospital. I just finished my sophomore year and thus have not had peds yet. I love kids and currently work in a day care with infants-age 4 and have been babysitting for a long time. I volunteered in one of the 3 NICUs at this hospital so I know what that's like (and I love it!). However I really have not had a ton of experience in peds and I'm really excited to get it, since I love kids and hope to be a pedi nurse after I graduate. What are things I should look out for with sick kids, especially as a PCA? What things do you as nurses really appreciate/like when a PCA does it? Any tips for floating? Any tips for dealing with parents? Thanks so much! I'm so excited to start!

I do want to do hospital nursing, at least for a bit, because I love specialties that are almost always hospital based. My true loves are peds hema/onc, PICU, and NICU. However I also really like flight nursing (like MedFlight) and home hospice care. We'll see how life turns out! :)

A new requirement for the Fall 2012 class is that we all have to have an STNA certification. Is this normal? I was kind of miffed about it for awhile, because it's a lot of time and money for something that we don't really need. Now I'm warming up to it a little, because it will enable us to get PCA jobs earlier, which seem important for securing an RN job you want after graduation. What are your thoughts on this?

I was honestly under the impression the DNP was made for more non-clinical roles. My mom will graduate with her DNP from a prestigious school in May. She works per diem clincially, but she is a full time nursing professor. She is getting her DNP because it's required to teach, not for any clinical reason. Most of the people in her class also seem to be mostly managers/educators/researchers. I know doctorate programs are tailored to each person, but my mom didn't do any specific clinicals for it. I guess it varies, but I've always seen it as a degree of educators and researchers, not clinical nurses.

Ahhh me! I haven't technically been accepted yet, but long story short honors students at my university are admitted automatically if they have above a 3.4 at the end of fall quarter. So as long as I don't REALLY blow this quarter I'm in! I don't really know what I'm taking next semester, my school is switching from quarters to semesters and everything is really confusing. I know microbiology, health assessment and patho will be in there though! I'm so excited to actually start!

Ahhh, I'm with you! Finally someone else who despises bones/joints! I have a serious aversion to them, I'm so sorry you got stuck on an ortho floor! I will rue the day that happens to me. I went to work with my physical therapist aunt once...that was a bad choice on my part.

I'm pre-nursing right now (will be in the nursing school in the fall) and can I just say, I can't believe people have white scrubs as uniforms?! I thought that didn't happen anymore! My school's are BRIGHT red, you can actually spot a nursing student as far as the eye can see, haha. I'm not looking forward to getting up that early. My school purposely prepares us for that though, you have to take physiology in pre-nursing (obviously) and it's only offered at 7:18am, monday through thursday. Losing another two hours is going to HURT.

That's awesome! In our med center, L&D volunteers typically stuff welcome packets and help nurses with clerical and random stuff, honestly. I am a snack pass volunteer at the med center and I love it because I get to really interact with the patients. I also volunteer at the Children's Hospital in the NICU. I rock babies for 2 hours a week! It's awesome. My interest is PICU or peds heme-onc, so I love my positions. I get to snack pass in the cancer hospital and on BMT floors, and the NICU is an intensive care setting. And I love babies. I hope you love volunteering!

I'm in Anatomy and Physiology right now (2 different classes at my school). I find anatomy is pure memorization, I just sit there and lecture it out loud to myself (alone, haha) for hours. My school is huge so we have our own textbooks and our professor has charts in the back with the origin, insertion, action, and innervation of all the muscles. Do you have something like that? Oh, and I bought these flashcards from Amazon and they're AMAZING! If you're having problems studying and have $15, I would definitely recommend them. Amazon.com: Anatomy Flashcards (9781427796943): Stephanie Mccann, Joanne Tillotson: Books

I am in A&P right now! Anatomy and physiology are two different classes at my school. I love them! Anatomy is interesting and easy to study for, because it's just memorization. Physiology is more interesting to me, but the tests are every week and they're pure evil! I'm just so happy to be finally taking classes related to my life though! Haha.

That tip about the three fingers is MAGIC! I was sitting here trying to find my brachial artery forever, I did that and BAM it's right there! Thank you so much!