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You are correct. This incident should not have happened. It is a shame that the chain of command failed her

I am also in Utah. All of the local colleges have moved away from the traditional "waiting lists." Now the best students get the positions. After training many new nurses and working with students I can tell you that I personally notice a difference between different programs. My advice is to take another look at local colleges - specifically the University of Utah and Weber State programs. SLCC seems to be a little more difficult to get into and Westminster is expensive. Also, many of the local hospitals will now pay for your BSN after you get your Associate degree.

Always dress up for an interview

It is optional at our hospital for RN's to learn to scrub, although on the neuro team about 40% of our nurses regularly scrub.

I just went down to SP and asked to borrow one of their books. After a couple of weeks of studying I paired up with a scrub and he quizzed me for the next few weeks. It worked great. I personally love Dansko shoes .. after the month long break-in period. Unfortunately trial-and-error will be the only way to find out what works for you. Good luck and congrat's on the new job

If you decide to make a change in your specialty the OR is a great place to work ... but not for everyone. I also work in a county jail as a nurse which is completely different form both the OR and the floor. If you look around you will find many specialties that can hopefully get you back into the game. School nurse? :)

I agree with ORoxyO - Find the closest teaching hospital and go through their internship program. That is what I had to do before transfering to a private hospital. Good luck!

I am in a Trauma 1 hospital and we have 1 circulator and 1 scrub with the exception of bad trauma cases. The pediatric hospital next to us always has 2 of both.

I live an hour away from the hospital. For the first 3 years I didn't mind the drive at all (three 12 hour shifts a week) and the unit was okay with the travel time for call shifts. A few months ago I switched to PRN and took a new job closer to home. I really like the neuro OR, but I am loving the extra 2 hours that I have with my daughter. The commute isn't bad ... but you need to love your job to make the sacrafice.

My best advice is to ask your preceptor if there is anything they do that they feel strongly about. This helps them feel like you are willing to learn and will most likely get them to back off a little. Putting in a foley can seem like a small thing, but when it comes to infection all circulators should be overly cautious. I do a significant amount of training in our OR, and I feel that the hardest students are those that come in thinking they know everything already. Look at each new preceptor and situation as a chance to see things from a different point of view. Good luck!

$2.50/hr to be on call. 3 hour minimum if called in

That is a tricky question. What are your concerns? Are you feeling intimidated, or just unhappy while at work? I have found that I love to work in certain services and dislike others. Give us a little more info and I am sure you can get some useful advice

Safety depends entirely in the facility you are planning on working at. I feel completely safe at work. You are going to need to spend a significant amount of time reading posts on this forum to find out individual opionions concerning correctional nursing - as always nurses are very opinionated :) good luck

In addition to good documentation I would suggest keeping a written journal at work. This can provide support for your claims if you ever need it.

In my opinion, nursing is not necessarily proficiency in a certain set of skills - but instead it is a way of thinking, problem solving, communicating, and knowing where/how to find answers. All of those traits are used constantly in the OR, plus you will learn new skills that most nurses will never be exposed to. You can always get a refresher on placing an NG tube later :) At the very least if you come into the OR for awhile and then change depts, you will leave with a better knowledge of anatomy and physiology than most of your peers.