KJ87

I’m curious as to what you’re doing during these visits that only take you 10-20 minutes to complete. From my own experience, and reading others’ experience, 30-40 visits a week is full-time work. We are usually in the home for 30+ minutes per visit (regular visits). Unless the RN is doing a HHA supervisory visit only, for those we were only required to be in the home for 15 minutes. $24/hr sounds good. Mileage reimbursement is a plus, and helps boost paychecks. I have not worked for an agency that didn’t reimburse mileage, and wouldn’t. Bottom line: I think this company expects your visits to take more time to complete than the 10-20 minutes you say you’re accustomed to.

Graduated in May 2010, applied for all new grad OB jobs within a 2-hour radius...nothing. Got discouraged, didn't take my boards until December 2012. Got my first job a year later at a rehab/ltc facility, worked there for 4 months, then took a camp nurse job in another state. Couldn't get on at any of the hospitals in my new state, So I went back to the rehab/ltc facility for another 5 months. Accepted a med-surg position in the state I had the camp job. Been working in med-surg for 8 months now, and today I was offered a transfer to L&D. :) So it took almost 6 years to get where I wanted, and I'm nervous, but so very excited to have finally landed a spot in OB!

When I get off in the morning I fight my sleep until I pass out, typically before noon. Then I wake up between 3-6pm and am in zombie mode until about 10:30pm, when I finally become alert and functional. I'll stay up until about 3am and sleep until noon the next day. Night shift is hard, those first nights off are totally wasted.

Of course, thank you for your responses. I was just wondering if people are generally advised to not move around much to prevent further brain swelling. It just sounds crazy to me, and we're not sure if my cousin is making stuff up to fit her agenda or not. It's a mess of a situation, and our focus is giving my grandmother the freedom and memories she never had before. Thank you again, I appreciate both of you taking the time to respond to my post. :)

My grandmother was diagnosed with GBM last month, had surgery to remove what they could of the tumor, and just had her first radiation and chemo session a few days ago. Her doctors say the swelling hasn't gone done, in fact she appears to be right where she was before the surgery. My cousin is her primary caregiver right now, so most information we get is passed along by her. She's saying that my grandmother basically needs to be bed bound to prevent anymore brain swelling. Is this typically what's suggested? No cooking, no walking, no standing, no car rides? Are these people expected to sit in a chair and waste away?

There's no harm in sending one, of course, and maybe they do help in certain cases. I didn't need thank you notes for my jobs, and it feels unnatural for me to send one, personally. So I choose not to. Again, like the above poster said, thank you's and appreciation are given during the interview. I don't see the need to reiterate the same sentiment in a cheesy note. It's obviously a personal choice whether you choose to send them or not, but I don't think they're that big in deciding whether or not you get the job.

I tried the thank you note thing for one interview. It was the weirdest thing sending it. I had already said what I needed to say after the interview, so to say it again in a stupid little card was pretty pointless. I see why some are in favor of them, but I probably won't send another one.

I'm not mad at nurses or anyone else, just the comments saying "oh I wish I only had 50 residents...." I don't know, it just really irritates me. And it was the biggest reason I left the LTC facility I worked at. I thought maybe it was just that I was a new nurse, but even the seasoned nurses struggled with the residents we had. Why am I not surprised it's a money thing? It always is.

I don't get why some people act like this patient load is okay, because it's to be expected in LTC. I think it's incredibly wrong. Patients are suffering because of these ridiculous staffing numbers, and so is the staff! It needs to change.

Well, no one is making you keep 8 licenses active.

I definitely would have done things differently knowing what I know now. However, I received a great education and had a wonderful experience that I do not regret. This is how I picked my school. -soon to be graduating from high school in FL- Parents: We want to move to southwest VA. Find a school. Me: This is scary.... *drags heels* Parents: Here's a school in VA and one in NC. Apply now! -two acceptance letters arrive and we visit both campuses- I chose my school based on the size and feel of the campus, smaller and friendlier. Prettier too! My parents didn't end up actually moving until my last year. >_> Could have gone to community college for two years. Oh well. I would have started as a CNA too with this 20/20 hindsight. Live and learn, and keep your kids from making the same mistakes.

Totally jealous, but also very excited for you. Wishing you lots of luck, hope you get this!

Thanks, I needed that laugh.

My parents begged me to move back in with them. Having a car and job make it much more tolerable for everyone. I had to move 230 miles away from my boyfriend, which sucks, but we're making it work. Living with the parents isn't a horrible thing, unless you're draining them. If my parentals weren't as kind as they are to let me live with them while I pay off my loans I would be in a craphole of a situation. Also, it took me 6 solid months to find my first job, in another state, at a nursing home. Perhaps your area is much different and you have better opportunities, but I wouldn't assume it's going to be a piece of cake finding a job after graduation. Just be prepared for that, though I really hope it is that easy for you to find something you like. :)

I didn't go to an insanely expensive school, but I was an out-of-state student up until my last semester. I needed room and board each year, which was more costly due to my request for a single room. I also stayed for two summers to get more pre-reqs in before I started the nursing program, more tuition, room/board, and books. My debt for 4 years with those two summer semesters totals $80,000 in student loan debt. My monthly expenses for just those loans averages $710 each month. Two or three of those loans are increasing due to high interest rates. When I was working full-time and making $21.25/hr I had enough to pay a little extra towards each payment, but I was not able to afford rent and utilities on top of my car payment, gas, and groceries. I am also living with my parents until I pay off my loans. It's the most frustrating thing, especially when it's so hard to find any job, much less a job you want and actually enjoy. But I figured if I could pay double the minimums each month I can be debt-free in about 3-5 years. That's after already having been paying on them for 4 years.

Of course I felt guilty about that for a week or two, but that has passed.

At my last job, the favorites were given weekends off, no one else was offered the same curtesy for picking up their slack. Staffing got really bad in my last month there. So glad I left.

Congratulations by the way!

Now I see why teachers love students. So full of hope and excitement. It's refreshing. Those days seem so distant to me now.

I've only experienced the death of two patients so far, but they'll always stay with me. During my senior practicum rotation they had me watch the heart monitor for a man on the unit who was passing. I'll never forget watching his heart rate slow to 25 before flatlining. I cried. Then, a couple months ago when I was working in LTC, a woman was dying on my hall. Her respirations were 5/min, her mouth was open gasping for air, her skin colorless but mottled in some places. I had been taking care of my 29 other residents, constantly looking in on her between each one. Just as I finished with my last resident round my CNA told me this woman was no longer breathing. I felt terrible that I wasn't able to be there with her. It was a very different experience from the first.

What a horrible mandate. I'm sorry your employer is severely limiting your brand options, that really blows. I do not like any of the Cherokee brand scrubs I've bought. Wonderwink Flex is the best brand I've ever worn. They're thicker, softer, and stretchy. I don't think I'll ever wear another brand.

Where do you live? I need to move there!

We had PBR and whiskey in our med fridge for one of our residents. And a prn order for a glass of wine for another. Some nights I was tempted to pour myself a shot.

I feel like Kaplan was a waste of time and money. I did poorly with the Kaplan review course. SATA questions are hard and intimidating when you're trying to make sure you get each answer and not too many. I just dissected the questions and ran through each answer choice to see if it fit. I think keeping in mind that it is okay to fail your first time and that all is not lost if you do really helps take some of the anxiety away, which is very important. It's hard to test well when all you can think about is whether or not you'll fail.

Just curious. Is it normal to feel like you're finding your groove after about three months and then getting hit with worse stress and anxiety soon after that? I ended up quitting my job at a LTC facility after 4 months because every shift I had a panic attack or felt nauseated and had to run to the bathroom 3-4 times which seemed impossible. Staffing had gotten worse and there was more anxiety about being forced to work longer hours to make up for the lack of nurses. I couldn't sleep, I would hear call bells and phones, I'd have nightmares about things going wrong at work. I'd be terrified at the possibility of my phone going off, with work wanting me to come in or being talked to by the DON about flaky CNAs. I was sleep deprived, living off of water and saltines, and just completely overwhelmed. I just wonder if I didn't stick it out long enough, or if the job really was a bad one. I think my new job as a camp nurse will be much better. Even if I do have 530+ kids in my care at a time.