RNMA15

"I know how you feel" may sound too cliche, but I just want you to know I have been there- at least 3 times! And I am HIV free. The probability of getting HIV from a real poke- like the ones I had- is quite low. The first time, 2 decades ago in Africa, there was no treatment yet, no fancy safety-guarded needles, no protocols, but lots of HIV. My workmates pretty much comforted me with what sounded to me like "advance condolences." It was a real poke, I squeezed it out to bleed it more and scrubbed my finger with anything within my reach. I was scared to check my HIV status for years, and had tons of nightmares about testing and waiting for the results for ever! When I finally did, I was negative, but still repeated it somewhere else to make sure. Waiting was tough, each time. The next one was from a patient with advanced HIV/AIDS,on medication-she violently moved while I gave an IM and I got a real poke that bled. But this time there was a protocol, and each time the test came, it was a horrible feeling. But I was OK. The 3rd time the patient was HIV negative, but the process was still scary! Take a deep breath, and get yourself through the process…there are more chances you will be fine than not! Hope you feel better!

I am glad Suzy12 and silverdragon102 have great answers for you! I have never worked in the UK, but have friends with training like mine that have. There's nothing to fear concerning your US training- most nurse training is basically similar in content around the world. That citizens are considered before foreigners should not scare you, either. Every country has that clause, including the USA. I am an RN licensed in 2 African countries as well as the USA and Canada. I was initially African trained as a diploma RN, and my education and experience was sufficient. An RN can work anywhere they want in the world. However, I would get some experience before I venture out. Usually, the process of moving to another country is lengthy- take time learning more about nursing in the country, go to their website, call them, and google as much info as you can, to make sure you know what you are getting into. There is a whole lot of differences in practice and health care cultures around the world. You will be better served to expect that! Best wishes!

I have read a number of responses to this thread, and I am disappointed at the seeming silent acceptance of this alleged "online learner" discrimination! Most suggest to avoid online schools in order to be recognized, and I think its a lot of BS. There are great online programs and lousy B&M programs, and its wrong to categorize all of them the same way. Having a teacher in front of you in order to learn does not make you a better scholar or nurse- infact, for some, its not the preferred method. Since I was in high school, I wished for more independent learning, I do best that way and prefer it! Secondly, some online nursing schools accept only experienced nurses. That was the case with me, too, was already a non-BSN RN and did not need another RN license, so I did a great online program to complete my BSN and I am proud of it! Also, I find it too simplistic to think that teaching at the university can be all about whether your degree was online or in a B&M school, as many other things are considered. There are people with Ivy league labels who have produced nothing to their name since their degree paper! An online degree holder with a great CV can be more competitive, IMO. For those looking to pursue university teaching, learn to "grow" your CV by show-casing your research interests, join scholarly communities, attend and participate in conferences, write professional articles, create your own networks with people of like interests, be involved in change initiatives in your workplace etc on top of your online or B&M degree. That is the stuff employers are really more interested in- someone who shows initiative and greater potential for contributing to the profession's advancement, not whether you learnt stuff from a brick classroom or from a computer screen! Its what you are capable of doing with the material you learned! If there are university employment laws that actually discriminate based only on those silly grounds, they need to be called out of their ignorance, not protected and defended, its ridiculous! This career is lagging behind others in its scholarly prowess and cannot afford to limit potential scholars because they are online grads.

Great response!

@ SionainnRN, I think you are taking this too personal…yes, the OPs perception of your comment may have sparked this thread, but its enough that you explained what you meant! She didn't have to ask you privately about it- anytime you make a comment on a public forum, be prepared for the fact that it will mean different things to different people. This thread has brought about a new topic now- Depression and Assisted Suicide, let it flow without you feeling such need to defend yourself! Whether or not it was intentional on your end, or whether you were misunderstood or not, is no longer the issue…

FYI an American citizen is to blame for taking Ebola to Nigeria! Thats why the blame game is meaningless…I don't understand why you think "He shouldn't of" (I suppose you meant "He shouldn't have) given your later argument about whether he knew he was at risk??? If he didn't know he was infected, which is most likely, there's no reason to blame him for doing something thats within his rights- travelling to the USA with a valid visa and passing the current test for Ebola on travellers from west Africa! Or for reporting to a hospital when he fell ill in the USA and responding to all the questionnaires he was given without raising any red flags... However, I am glad you are determined to complete your nursing program- because you will come to learn that Global Epidemics are inevitable in a globalized world, and that healthcare has known for years and has been preparing for such epidemics! At the least, we have something to learn from our mistakes as a system, going forward. I must say I am impressed with your attitude toward figuring out how to deal with it henceforth. This should not deter anyone from pursuing nursing, it should be an opportunity to grow our career and be able to meet new and emerging healthcare challenges! Go for it!

THANK-YOU, elkpark! I was relieved at the end of that article to learn that the writer never got to say the Nurse's pledge! It would be too scary...

PrayeRNurse, 2 decades ago I was a student nurse in the sub-Sahara when I suggested that nurses were just as much heroes in the war against infectious diseases as soldiers in a war zone- and I still remember how people thought I was out of my mind! There was rampant TB then, no protective clothing or adequate respiratory isolation rooms, HIV was at its heights- a death sentence before retrovirals would become available for Africans, and there were also Cholera outbreaks- with isolation camps & regalia much like those we are seeing in the fight against Ebola! Now Ebola has just illustrated how nursing and other frontline health care careers can be just as dangerous... I thank your local News for commending this heroic nurse infected in the line of her duty to save a life! And finally I am so happy to hear the voice of nursing in this fight! Thanks for your contribution- I agree all nurses need training, even those not affiliated to hospitals...

Finally, Nursing speaks, and CDC apologizes=thats what I am talking about! We need some visibility, and support from our "Generals!" Nurse union defends Dallas Ebola patient | MSNBC

Interesting take, @ TC3200! Personally, I wouldn't like to blame individual nurses or hospitals, or even the patient himself, because it does not help! If Duncan- whatever his personal life is- should take any blame, so should the Americans trekking to the danger zone knowing they might contract the disease and infect others when they come back, and so should the American citizen who introduced Ebola to Nigeria, potentially putting at risk Africa's most populous country!- it doesn't make sense, because people have the right to travel to & fro as they please, and they will. Duncan was not illegally in the country either, and its unclear that he even knew the woman he had helped in Liberia was a case of Ebola- It has been reported she was initially diagnosed as a Malaria case! He (Duncan) had secured the visa to visit the USA long before his contact with Ebola! The point of interest here is that this case has brought to our attention just how unprepared the system was for this well media-hyped possibility! In a globalized world, diseases are going to cross borders, and we need to learn from this experience just how deadly things can turn out. If anything, the "migration" of Ebola has exposed just how unprepared the world is for deadly epidemics, and just how inadequate our healthcare systems are in the face of 21st century realties, even as we gasp at the broken systems in the epicentre! As a Global Health & Medical Anthropology enthusiast and student (and Med-Surg nurse) I see an opportunity for nursing to play a bigger role in modern day global health than we are. The importance of our role has clearly been hilighted in both the USA and Spanish Ebola cases' management. What I find most astounding is the silence from the nursing profession- the scholars, the professional and academic pros have been eerie absent from the debates in which their own have been centre & front! As far as I see, whether it be in west Africa, Spain or USA, nursing is the most "endangered species" within the global broken healthcare systems in this epidemic, and we should have a voice…. Well- leave it to CDC!

yes, that too! LOL

Hating nursing does not necessarily translate into "Bad Nurse!" There are many great nurses who still don't like nursing for various reasons. People who know my dedication to my job get shocked when I tell them I do not really like what I do, because you couldn't tell! I am living off it now, as I chart my way out, and I am human enough to treat it with respect! My patients are in much better hands with me than with some "Born Nurses!" It doesn't mean we hate our patients, we actually have a lot that we like about nursing, but we don't feel challenged the right way, or do dislike a lot more stuff than we like about the career or particular job! Many of us are trying to leave, shift into another specialty, job or new career altogether sensibly, not blindly Asap as you suggest. Many who ask for help here need to be assured there's a sensible way out, and that its not abnormal, criminal or evil to feel that way. There are just as many nurses entering from other careers they failed to warm up to- thats part of life!

Great, @Chiandre, thanks for sharing that algorithm! True, every infectious disease comes to some level of containment, eventually. However, how fast and efficiently it is tackled does affect the extent of "collateral damage," which often lasts much longer, even forever after.

Thanks for that article @ herring_RN, its quite eye opening, and hope this info will provide basis for improving preparedness.

Interesting topic! I have a foreign accent, and I pronounce "Bird" and "Bed" much the same way:rolleyes:… However, I can't get over native English speakers who say, e.g. " I could have went back to school.." And this is very common both in the US and Canada! :) Sometimes people just get used to the common way and don't think much about it, but its very noticeable when you are new to the area..

So, the first US Ebola patient visits the hospital, informs the nurse he has recently travelled from West Africa- the epicenter of the deadly Ebola epidermic, and is sent home on antibiotics. According to Hospital sources, this information failed to reach all concerned. Random public reactions include calls to stop flights from the region. Some blame the hospital for missing the opportunity to contain the infection 2 days earlier. What do we learn about surveillance as nurses, global health, international travel & deadly infections. What is your individual role as a nurse in helping communities and individuals understand Ebola? Have you taken time to understand it enough?

Hi Bubblesmile, There's an old thread here that got over 200 responses, I think it would be good to have a look! So many nurses feel exactly like you do, too, but you might learn a lot from this thread:https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/burned-out-hate-830112.html

Good for you, RN1023, thanks for this update!

You are welcome, Sweetsugarrush! I wish you well- keep on working hard and make use of every opportunity in your way without fear! You have come a long way, and we who have walked in your shoes understand:yes:...

Thanks for this beautiful article! I always thought corrections would be interesting, and adventurous- and you made it real! I hope many yet uninformed aspirants find this post inspiring! I also hope more nurses in misunderstood, and little known specialties will take time to educate other nurses on this forum-I find that "high end" hospital nurses in particular, are more likely to dismiss "other" specialties as "real nursing," and I wish we would all be proud about how far reaching our career is! There are many people out there who would enjoy a non-hospital nursing career, and this should be eye opening!

Yeah, CGFNS is some journey- but its doable. Good thing you hv yr LVN to hang on to while u complete it. Best Wishes!

Kamusta, Steppybay! LOL. I have lots of Pinay friends! I am proudly African:laugh:, Nice "meeting" you! Are u in the US or Canada?

Thanks for the detailed explanation, Steppybay! Wow, back in the day CA was considered the easiest state for foreign trained! I actually regretted going through Michigan via CGFNS, while those who went the CA way skipped the CGFNS. In addition, I met yet another obstacle when the Visa program for foreign trained RNs and PTs expired on me! "Seasons" keep changing, don't they?

Lizette09, I don't have all your details, but What do you mean by "concurrency" issue in California? I took the CGFNS in 2005, and NCLEX the following year.

Joanna73, I agree with everything about the state of nursing employment in Canada at this time, as you might tell from my heartfelt and factual advise for Sweetsugarrush! And I am aware of Canadian history of welcoming foreigners. I am grateful for the opportunity Canada has given me, and I work hard, pay my taxes and raise this country's flag. 5 years ago when I came in, I was just a Diploma RN, and now I have a BScN and I am a Graduate student! I have never needed to use any free grants or social services, thankfully. But what made this possible for me is a matter of national policy,it does not mean that all individual citizens necessarily understand all that an immigrant experiences, nor that they even like the idea of foreigners living in their country! You just have to be one to fully appreciate what it involves, and why pipo take such risks to come to foreign countries, even if you may be genuinely sympathetic. Many of the comments in this thread clearly show the lack of understanding- and I do not blame them. My own country is very open to foreigners from worse off countries too, and I have lived, played, worked and gone to school with foreigners in my country throughout my life, but it wasn't until I found myself in the situation that I really understood. However, I made the comment to comfort and advise someone I can relate to, I am not asking for any sympathy, and I am not struggling anymore than any other Canadian, I am just as Canadian, too!