macalania54

Thanks so much for telling me about your experience! Really helpful. I go in for my interview tomorrow!

That's great to hear that you loved it! How did you find the transition to be? Was there a big learning curve adjusting to the outpatient setting or did you find that your inpatient experience really prepared you? I'm a little worried that I'd be going into it with not much knowledge/experience w/ gyn pts, was that hard for you? It sounds like you were able to learn a lot about gyn and I'm excited about that! What were some things you found especially challenging about the clinic setting? Also, can I be nosy and ask why you ended up going back to inpatient? Thanks!!

*reposting from the ambulatory nursing thread because I realized it's probably more relevant here* I just had an interview for an RN position at an ob/gyn clinic that's part of a local large hospital system. I've been interested in doing outpatient nursing ever since I got out of nursing school, but I've been working in inpatient antepartum/mother-baby for the past 3 years in order to get myself some solid experience first. I've loved the inpatient world so far but I feel ready to make the switch. I'm really excited about this opportunity, but at this clinic I'd be the only RN, which makes me nervous! I expressed this to the interviewer and she assured me that they were specifically looking for someone who had current inpatient experience, and they would tailor the orientation to acclimate me to the new setting. I'm so used to having 3-4 other RNs on with me on the unit. Feels like a ton of pressure to be the only nurse! Also, my experience with gyn is limited to a small population of post-op gyn patients at my first job, so I'm worried I'd be a deer in the headlights when it comes to gyn patients in the clinic... I'd love to hear experinces/advice from people who made the transition from inpatient ob to the outpatient ob/gyn. Did you feel prepared after your inpatient experience or was it like learning from scratch?

are there any nurse residency programs offering OB positions near you? that's how I got my current job as a new grad on a postpartum unit. best of luck!

I'm in my first position as a new grad--a postpartum and post-op gyn unit. I love it and I'm so happy about my decision. Lots of people told me to do that magical year of med-surg first, and no shade to med-surg, but I'm happy I went with my heart and took this opportunity, esp since OB can be so hard to get into. Who knows how long it would've eventually taken me to get into OB if I hadn't taken this job and did med-surg first instead? So I say, definitely stay open to getting any nursing experience after school, but if you find an opportunity to get into the specialty of you dreams, go for it!

I work on a postpartum unit, and we wait 8 hrs to give the first bath, as long as the baby is stable temp-wise. Gotta love that vernix! But like others have said, if baby was born to a mom w/ HIV or other bloodborne disease we bathe them right after birth

I work on a c-section postpartum and post-op gyn unit. I've been here for almost 3 months, feeling nervous about coming off orientation soon but I really like it so far. I feel so lucky and grateful

My test was today. I saved up to get a massage, and then spent the rest of yesterday with my boyfriend eating pizza and watching netflix. Throughout the day I did occasionally pull my ipod out to do some practice questions on the NCLEX Mastery app, couldn't help myself haha

I'm in the same boat as you! I'm about to start my final semester of a BSN program in a couple of weeks. I have a job at a collective cafe on campus and it's the best job I've ever had, and I didn't want to leave to get a PCA job even though I knew it could give me an edge. I just figured that since my whole life would be nursing school, I was ok with making this decision for my own emotional well-being and happiness. I did have a hospital internship last summer to get some more medical experience besides clinical, though. Maybe that's an option you could consider? Also, I've heard and read many stories from RNs who got jobs just fine without having PCA/CNA jobs first. For resumes and interviews I think it'll be really important to highlight how different skills you've used at your current and past jobs can still help you be a good nurse (time management, prioritizing tasks, dealing with difficult customers, overcoming challenging situations with colleagues, etc) I've been feeling anxious about employment too, but we'll be ok! :)

I got a pair of Klog brand shoes. I start clinical in a few weeks so I haven't tried them out there yet but I've been wearing them around the house and they're soooo comfortable, but feel sturdy and firm at the same time. They kinda look like a cross between sneakers and nursing shoes, pretty cool. And even better, I got them for 40 bucks

Yeah, I definitely get this. I'm 20 and doing a 4 year BSN program. I'm coming into the third year and I still don't have any actual friends in the program. I'm thinking the main reason is because during our freshman year, a lot of the people in my class chose to live on the "nursing student" floors in some of the dorms, and I didn't live in those dorms, so I didn't have that opportunity for strong bonding. Plus, for the past few years we've just been doing gen eds and don't always have class together, so I didn't even really know who everyone in my class was till this past semester. There are a few people who I'mfriendly with, but all of my friends are outside of the nursing school. I've noticed that I've become relatively more friendly with people in my class the closer we get to our actual nursing classes and clinicals. I don't know how far along you are in your program, but maybe the further you progress in your program, the easier it'll be to connect to your classmates? best of luck :)

Wow, I'm pleasantly surprised at the number of pagan nurses in this thread! I'm pagan as well, and still a student. The only time religion and spirituality has ever come up in the context of school was in an assignment in my Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness class, but I didn't explicitly say I was pagan. I go to school in a very *liberal* area of MA, and I get the feeling it wouldn't have been a huge issue...

Having people in your life who understand makes it so much easier. I have one very close friend who is also in college, but not nursing, and she's very understanding about my schedule, and the fact that I have to say "no" to hanging out some nights. She even told me she arranged her schedule a little so that some of her free time would match up with mine! So, it's great that your husband is an RN and he already gets it. So maybe it could be helpful to just sit down with your other family members and let them know that nursing school is something that's really important to you, and that it's gonna (temporarily!) take up a ton of your time and energy, and that you probably won't be able to see them as often as before.

Hey y'all; I did a search and found just a couple of short older threads on this, and I wanted to hopefully get a wide range of responses/experiences for my question. I start clinicals this September, and haven't gotten my clinical assignment yet. But I looked at my schedule and foresaw a serious conflict with one of the potential clinical days, I emailed my clinical prof. about it and she (awesomely) gave me the option of choosing to do evening clinical instead of daytime, to avoid the conflict. So, for those of y'all who have some clinical rotations under your belt, do you feel like there's any significant difference between doing clinical at evening/night and doing them during the day, in terms of learning/experience/etc? I realize it depends on the person, but I'm curious.

Wow, on a wait list for 2 years! That's patience and dedication; congratulations! I'm in a 4 year BSN program, and this year is my first year of "actual" nursing classes and clinicals, so I think I'm feeling some of the same nervousness that you are. Math has never been my favorite, but this website has been helping me prepare for the dosage calculations test we have to pass this semester. good luck to you!