Cerebrum

I haven't laughed so hard in a long time until I read this. It is so ridiculous yet something I can imagine management saying. What a bunch of comedians!

Thank you for the prompt reply. So people can possibly work 2 or more HHC jobs. Wasn't sure if I would be "offending" an employer with having to adjust schedules with that of other companies. I have a per diem coworker who works at my hospital who got me interested. We have spent hours chatting about the HHC world. Very informative. It looks like my cup of tea... Thanks once again!

The problem is I want to entirely leave the hospital setting and go into home health yet keep my monthly income relatively the same (I am full time no benefits, night shift). One company wants to start me per diem with a few clients a week and suggests I keep my hospital job for now. In addition I have an interview on Wednesday with another HHC company. I am practically a shoe-in for that one and am told they will also start me off slowly. The bottom line is do any of you work for two different HHC companies at the same time? And is it feasible, practical, and workable?

Many of our physicians will order the house protocol based on the patients needs. Having said that 99% of the time the rate of infusion has been 42ml/hr for the lipids along with the TPN/PPN. so it comes to about 12 hours infusion time. Hope this helps.

Been out of the loop for sometime... The staffing ratio in my Telemetry MEDSURG floor is 5 patients per nurse for the most part. On rare occassions its 6:1. Regarding pay and benefits, with benefits it is $19.00. Naturally, there are extras for night differentials and extra "certification" (for instance 75 cents more an hour for ACLS certification). I work without benefits/per diem so it is $22.00 for the first six months on the floor then it goes up to $31.55 for day shift and $34.55 for night shift. To start of course... 24 paid holidays for those with benefits plus an additional 6 federal holidays. Per diem people get the same amount of days off but are unpaid of course. This is the pay that applies to a new nurse. An experienced nurse friend of mine makes $25.00 with benefits so it all depends on your level of experience. I hope this helps in making a decision. Train to Save

congratulations on passing your boards! i've been gone for a while but i'm back.... the only recent big change to report is that i'm on my own finally... they gave me a push off the branch and flap, flap, flap, i was flying! they have started me with 3 patients... was bored to be honest... they were low acuity so i pretty much went around helping out answering lights... i work at night... well i'm up to 4 patients and doing well... a bad day will come some day so for now am just enjoying my good fortune. i'm physically used to working 12s now. my coworkers have been wonderful and serve as great resources!

it's been a while! been a long 3 weeks with orientation classes and work. finally got my permanent florida license via web lookup. the real thing is in the mail. that piece of anxiety is resolved for good. holmes has been good so far. have greater autonomy at work. my preceptors are many due to that fact they work 12's thus 3 day work weeks versus my orientation classes and 5 8's a week... getting more comfortable with the computer charting and iv therapy. worked my first death in a hospital though i'm not new to them from the nursing home experience. really sad. nursing school teaching kicked in and realized the family was now the patient.... yay for fcc! calling docs with lab results, getting orders, transcribing them and following through with pertinent ones. verifying blood products, learned the hospitals cpm, and was introduced to the coude catheter after cathing a gentleman x2 with no output after a bladder scan i did showed 950ml... coude catheters rock! ng tubes, peg tubes, trach care, wound care are a daily norm... my spanish translation skills are in demand and am hopefully serving this community adequately.... doing discharges and had my first admission... learning the many hospital equipment types, where the buttons for this and that are.... what that ringing, buzzing or pinging noise means... getting my gut used to the hospital food.... oh well... btw the season opener for grey's sucked! i didn't really care for some of the problems some of the characters had... oh well....

[color=deepskyblue]finally got the energy to write! worked three 12's since monday... it was a mistake... was supposed to work 8's... my preceptors didn't know... i didn't mind i'd do 12's the whole orientation if they want... today had that computer charting, qbx, and vocera orientation from 8am til 3am... the vocera is cool and creepy at the same time! they gave me friday off cause of the 12's i pulled... no problem... me feet were killing me! they felt like they were going to explode! at least i'm breaking them in... the preceptors and staff are really kind and make me feel welcome... the night shift crew tell me they are waiting for me and to get ready for some good times ahead. so far i've been doing what they taught me in school and did at the nursing home as an lpn - hanging blood, ivfs, iv push, med administration, assessments, pyxis, wound care... i am by no means a master but am being guided by the pros... 12 more weeks til i'm on my own... the cafeteria could use some improvement... yech! :barf01: except the cashless part... working on my delegation, using the hospital interdiscipilinary team, and time management. going to get some dr scholl's insoles for sure! ernesto turned out to be some drizzle and wind.... tropical storm afterall... met some of the people orienting with us september 11th. none were in 6 west though....

it's all normal... many are for reference. additionally you won't be using all books all of the time and they will accompany you the entire program... the ob, medsurg, psych and peds books will be added later... i hope this cheers you up some! i think the pda software is fine but you'll still need the books. the pda is not as thorough as the books. in my experience and perhaps it won't apply to yours, we have to write action of medication, nursing interventions (and many more things that the pda might provide) that apply to a specific drug for every drug the assigned patient has before showing up to clinical (you probably won't pass drugs til the next semester). transcribing from book to paper or word processor is easier than from pda. sometimes clinical intructors let you just tag the pages with post its for quick reference. pda is better suited to a working nurse but it can and i did use it during clinical (still had to buy the book though)... taber's is great for pda.... but i have the book also out of personal choice.... taber's pda software is fine... nursing diagnosis software - no comment. never had the software nor did i want it.

Hello! I'm a new paper RN starting out on MEDSURG on Monday a little earlier than my orientation group. Starting to get nervous especially after reading many of the posts in the MEDSURG forum. It helps to know that many of the negative thoughts and feelings are common and almost universally shared. That's the great thing about this group, universality. I'm sure I won't feel this way when it happens to me! Have met my manager and preceptor. They seem nice and welcoming... Not much else to say since it has been expressed in some shape or form already... Wish me luck!

that's right. i remember the ones around patrick afb don't charge... i'll be there for the launch i guess... what else am i going to do? well got my temp florida license in the mail today, just waiting for fdle fingerprint clearance... my boss said i can start now if i want. i think i will... been amassing lots of debt... got to keep the man happy... :clown: :clown: :clown: :clown: august 26th update: they're starting me on monday before the orientation class. great! guess my slumber is over... new scrubs... pant legs too long... drop by walmart and get a sewing kit... why can't alteration shops do on the spot alterations? it's not like it's hard to hem pants... ugh! august 27th update: shuttle launch scrubbed due to lightning... been raining everyday too... is lou's blues any good? be honest!:behindpc:

Wow. Very suspect... Corporate education salesmanship. I don't know anything about the quality of their program so I can't comment in those regards... but the "shock and awe" is pretty nefarious... Might be a fine program for all I know... perfectly legal in a capitalist country but they shouldn't have wasted people's time... At least your experience will help others make a decision.

Had same scenario instead it was Johns Hopkins. Felt the same way. Naturally I felt rejected, then angry, then I calmed down and reassessed. I figured they must know what they are doing but at the same time I felt they passed up a good nurse to be... does that make sense? It was my first interview... Oh well, their loss...

disregard, already made the purchase... got the black tatami birks, really sweet thus far... breaking them in...

Thanks for your words. They are reassuring. As a total novice I'm sometimes freaked out by some of the postings in the "First Year in Nursing" forums. Ruben Meinhofer, Paper RN