Skykomish

Definitely stick it out for 1 year. Opens a lot of doors. But the great thing about nursing is there are so many different things you can do with it. Maybe you need to be in the paperwork side of it. Doing audits and chart reviews, or research, or preparing legal documents.

I felt exactly like you do at exactly the same point you're at, 2 months before graduation. My mom (who is an NP, so she aught to know better, right?) Really pressured me to apply for jobs every single day and I would get rejected before making it past HR. After I passed my NCLEX I made it past HR about 50% of the time. It was SO frustrating!! I ended up applying all over the country to every Hospital I could find and I got a total of 2 interviews, one of which I got the job. Moved halfway across the country for this job, and they fired me *6 DAYS* later with no explanation. I didn't even have time to be oriented. Then I was desperate. I had spent all my family's money moving for the job, and now had nowhere to live, was in BFE Colorado, knew nobody... a friend in another part of Colorado let me stay with her until I found something, which I did, at a SNF. Never wanted to do LTC and I hated it, but it was work and I got a year in. It's been easy ever since. Here's my advice- if you have a CNA license, use it. It'll give you a foot in the door to your choice facility. Everyone's always short CNAs. Wait to apply for your RN job until you pass NCLEX. Focus on studying for it. It is NOT easy. When you get it, apply to EVERYTHING. Take anything you get. Get a year in. Gotta pay your dues before it becomes a dream job. PS Cheyenne Wyoming needs nurses and hires new grads.

We are not allowed to research patients prior to admit for 2 reasons- 1, it locks the chart so docs & ER nurses can't access it, and 2 HIPPAA. What if the patient dies & I never see them? Or leaves AMA? Not my patient yet, not mine to know yet.

I didn't read all of the comments, but I have actually had several CNAs tell me "I wanted to be a nurse but now that I've been a CNA I'm definitely not going to because of how much you nurses seem to hate your jobs". One even said "I haven't seen one nurse who seemed to like what they do"

I'm doing a presentation for the clinical staff at the rehab hospital where I work. I've noticed that some of the nurses are making errors regarding PICC line maintenance and I wanted to fix them. I've found some research articles and some excellent videos online regarding dressing changes, flushing, etc, but I am missing a piece that I feel is vital to my mission... "tips and tricks". What are some things you've learned from experience (and if possible, an article to provide EBP) regarding the maintenance of PICC lines? There are so many tiny details that can go NOT according to plan, how do you deal with them? An example...Someone wrapped the tegaderm AROUND the picc line. Wouldn't come undone with alcohol OR adhesive remover. But you aren't supposed to use scissors, so what do you do? What if you nick the line? I'm sure you've had experiences like this and learned from them, so if you could please share that'd be much appreciated!

I have about 15-18 patients depending on the day. Sub-acute rehab. With extensive wound care, HBO, dialysis, and at least one trach/Jtube. I often find myself wondering what a bathroom is, and if my blood sugar's going to crash to the point I'm dizzy. Plus admissions, new orders, etc. Its all about money.

My mom is a FNP, working on her doctorate. I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, only that my present career (I used to own a dog kennel) was not going to work out financially. My mom is 100% the reason I started nursing school, I went into it blindly hoping I'd like the work and based on my mom's recommendation. She said I'd like it and it would be stable. She was right.

I graduated a year ago in May with my RN/BSN. I have only been able to get a job with Mollen and in a LTC/Rehab facility. All of the hospitals want at least one year of ACUTE experience... how can I get that without having it to begin with? Should I just apply for the position with what experience I have, even if its not acute care?