lrwilson26

I am a registered nurse and have been working at a LTC care facility for 10 months and am wanting to be in the hospital so bad! I want to use my skills more and grow more as a nurse and I don't feel that this is the atmosphere for this. My dream job is working on a mother/baby floor and I brought my resume to a manager last week for this type of position. The job was offerred to someone else. I have heard that going in person and handing out your resume is the best strategy. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do? Or do I need to be in med/surg first before working as a mother/baby nurse?

I am right there with you. I am working at a LTC facility and this is my first nursing job. I have been working there for about 10 months and I have gotten quicker, mostly because I have become really familiar with the residents on our floor. I have learned a few tricks that have made me a little quicker. Our CNA's don't do our vitals for us either, so I would say before you start your first med pass and do your accuchecks, take as many vitals as you can so that will be out of the way. Also, cluster your tasks together, this really helps. Keeping your med cart stocked so you won't have to go back and forth for supplies will help also. Also, if I know a patient will be difficult, I usually try to get everything done with them in one shot..like morning accucheck, morning meds, and vitals. But don't feel the need to rush. Like you said, you don't want to make a medication error. Like my trainer told me, speed comes last. Accuracy is the most important:) Hang in there!