Quicksilver77

You have been grossly misinformed. I did Ortho nursing for 5 years and I took care of patients with a wide variety of medical issues. Yes, they were primarily there for an Ortho-related diagnosis (i.e. knee replacement), but this didn't mean I could ignore their extensive cardiac history, for example. I had to draw on my knowledge and treatment of a wide range of diseases while also keeping the patients on telemetry monitors. I had to deal with trachs, feeding tubes, developmental delays, unruly teenagers, fistulas, and telemetry. I also had to go to ICU units and help the nurses set up Buck's traction or handle wound vac machines for them. Most of all, I had to admit numerous ER patients so I had that experience as well. The point of my rambling is that Ortho nurses have to deal with many high-stress situations while juggling up to 8 patients. Have you ever had to admit 3 patients and discharge 3 patients in 1hr before? I have and so have my former coworkers. It was a very common occurrence. Ortho is an extremely fast-paced unit since you usually don't have patients that will stick around for weeks like you would in an ICU. There are constant admissions and discharges. To claim that an Ortho nurse or med-surg nurse wasn't good enough to work in ICU is absurd. It is merely another specialty and is no better or worse than working in ICU. There are plenty of ICU nurses who cannot handle Ortho and vice versa. Whether you can handle a particular specialty depends a lot on your personality, skill set, experience and comfort level.

No. You need to get some clinical experience. Most of these positions require a minimum of 5 years of bedside experience. I recommend getting at least 10 years of experience at the bedside and work as a nurse manager (i.e. higher level than charge nurse). It is very mentally taxing. All of my colleagues are on anti-anxiety meds because of it.

Thank you very much for your replies! I appreciate your advice. I currently work at a 5-star orthopedic hospital and I make $25/hr (4 years experience). I'm very comfortable with orthopedics and I prefer to continue working in this specialty. I just looked at the employee reviews for Tanner Medical Center....the reviews are quite cringe-worthy. Multiple nurses say there is a high nurse-patient ratio, which is alarming. Currently, I take care of 5 patients. Occasionally it is more (6-7), but that is rare. There are many complaints about management and backstabbing. Eek! I'm currently quite spoiled where I'm at (there is no backstabbing and we are all like a family). Does anyone have experience with working at the VA?

Due to some family circumstances, I may have to relocate to Georgia (Carrolton, specifically). I currently have 4 years of nursing experience in orthopedics at a hospital and I am still employed in Indiana. Just so I can have a better idea of what I am getting into, what is the hourly rate for a nurse with experience level? I am a registered nurse, by the way. Also, does anyone have any experience with Tanner Medical Center? What is it like? I'm also embarrassed to admit this, but I do not know how to start an IV (haven't done it since nursing school since my current employer requires that the IV team start all IVs on most units...ICU, L&D and ER are the exceptions). I'm not sure how to mention this during an interview. It's awkward since I am not a new grad. Thank you in advance for all of your help!

I know how you feel. From elementary school through college, I've always been stuck doing all of the work for group projects. It's simply not fair. What you can try doing is making yourself the unofficial leader of the group. Divide the work equally among all group members. Give everyone a deadline of when to have their part of the work completed and agree to meet up. This deadline should be made well in advance of the actual due date. That way, if the work isn't done or is of low quality, then there will be time to correct it. If your group is not even making an effort to carry their own weight, then speak with your instructor. Tell your instructor that you've attempted to get your group to cooperate, but all they do is come up with excuses. Also tell your instructor that your classmates won't learn anything if they feel they can simply have you do all of the work and get the same grade as you without having to do anything. It's not fair to you or them.

::hugs:: I'm sorry you got overwhelmed! Learning that even the most seasoned nurses become overwhelmed and need to cry at times was one of the most surprising things I learned during my first year as a nurse. Nursing is very demanding and it can be difficult to juggle many patients, admits, discharges, etc. Thankfully, now I have two years of experience under my belt. I'm still working on the same unit. My coworkers are much better now (there has been some firing and hiring since my original post). My unit has become more like a family. I'm now a charge nurse, which brings a whole other level of stress, but so far I'm managing it. I still have days where I feel overwhelmed (7 patients-3 of which don't speak English), but I've survived. :) Given my rough orientation, I make it a point to always make time to help my coworkers, especially the newbies.

Ugh, changing preceptors all of the time does suck. Yes, it does help to see how different people work, but it is tiring having to update a new preceptor on what you've learned and can do. I'm glad things finally settled down for you. The hardest part is trying to get a routine down!

Thank you so much to both of you for your kind words. I'm doing a lot better now. I can juggle 6 patients quite well, though there is still a lot that I have to learn!

I'm a new RN in my 4th week of orientation. I'm feeling so stressed and overwhelmed. My preceptor expects me to perform like a seasoned nurse at this point, and I'm just not there yet. There are no techs during my shift, so I don't have any help in toileting patients. Don't get me wrong. I do not think that I'm above toileting patients, but when I have new admits, tons of meds that need to be passed and a million other things to do, it becomes overwhelming when I can't delegate tasks to anyone. The other nurses are busy with their own work and my preceptor is never around when I need her. What's sad is that the doctors on my unit are much more supportive of me than the nurses. I broke down in tears for the first time today when I returned home. I'm starting to question whether I can be a nurse and juggle a full patient load. I feel like I know absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things.