Bouncyball

I guess I'm the odd one out. I hated nursing school and am so happy to be out in the real world. I have not missed school for one second. It was high school all over again and the instructors were awful. I'm dreading having to go to a Rn-bsn program too.

I did not go to my graduation either. Nursing school was awful, I did not want to spend any more time there than I had to.

Thanks for all of the input, I did not think I would get so many responses. To clarify I work days, and I am lucky because the hospital is very close to my house (10 min). I don't have kids yet, but do have cats and a very supportive husband. I would like to get debt paid off before I have kids. I think I may start with 4, and I can always pick up an extra day if I feel like it. I do eat healthy and get good sleep, but have no energy to excersise! I have the motivation, but not the energy or time to work out. How does everyone find the time when working overtime and 12 hour shifts?

I'm working days.

I work 12 hour shifts and am able to work as much as I like. I am grateful for this because I have some debt I want to pay down. I do not want to get burnt out. How many shifts per week is too many? I am thinking between 4-5. Just wondering how many shifts per week you can work without over doing it? What works for you?

At one of my jobs we use a med cart. We keep each pts meds in a brown paper bag. I pull the bag out for the correct pt, dump it into the top of the med cart and dispense the meds. You will still have to squat down, but only once per pt.

I agree, take the sure thing. You can always quit if you find something better. You need to lookout for yourself and do what's best for you.

Just get them in areas where they can be covered with clothes and you will be fine.

I have had asthma my whole life. Took a few tries, but I am on a med that really keeps me controlled and I don't have any issues at work. Is your asthma controlled?

Hi, I am also new to psych and feel the same way you do. I am happy to hear I am not the only one who feels this way. Most of the other nurses I work with are so rude and snippy to the patients. I can't believe they way they talk to them! I do not seem to have a problem with setting boundaries with pts, but go about it in a different way than the other nurses. Seeing how different I was than the other nurses used to make me wonder if I was going about things all wrong. Then I really started watching how the patients were reacting towards me. I noticed the patients were responding to me really well. For the most part I have a good rapport with my patients, and they seem to open up to me and will tell me about their delusions or SI. I frequently have other nurses patients open up to me and not want to talk to their nurse about things. I decided not to let the way other nurses do things affect me, since I seem to be doing my job just fine. Just keep doing what you are doing and don't worry about the other nurses.

Thanks for the feedback. You helped confirm my suspicions. I'm running now!

I am not passing out meds, they have unlicensed employees doing that. They told me (and i have it in writing that I have nothing to do with dispensing, or supervising med dispensing). There is a medical director and a MD that I will be collaborating with on the policy's. They are trying to tell me the unlicensed staff "store the meds, and just set them on the counter for the pt to self administer". This seems questionable to me.

Hi Everyone, I found out these details after I got hired: I was hired on as a RN for a residential rehab facility. They do not have any other nurses working there, just me and unlicensed staff. The role they want me to play is not a management or supervisor role over the unlicensed personnel. They want me to help them organize everything, make their policies better, take orders from md, transcribe orders into mar, chaperone patients when they are seeing md, and inventory and ordering. I am worried because I tried to search online, and saw they were not licensed. Could I get into trouble for working here? Any ideas or thoughts? Thanks for your time.

How long did it take for you to hear back and get hired? I have not heard anything and am going to try to follow up today.

I am applying first thing in the morning! I am glad I saw this, I have been looking for a full time Rn job in psych. Have you started yet?

Lol! I am new to this field but already had a moment. I had a heart attack when I was unlocking the front door to my house because my personal key ring does not have that many keys on it, and I'm used to carrying around a HUGE key ring at work. I started panicking and patting all my pockets thinking I somehow lost the work keys and what if the patients get ahold if them. I finally realized I was not at work when my neighbor walked over to see if I was ok.

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who responded! I am happy to hear it is ok to wear polish to a interview. I think it must have been school that drilled it into my head that nail polish is never ever ok. I just got my interview outfit ready for the morning and did my research about the company. I'm going to do my nails next : )

I know nail polish is usually a no-no at work. I work part time in psych and my facility allows nail polish. I have been taking advantage of this because a proposal is coming in the near future (don't know when) so I am keeping my nails and hands nice at all times. Is it ok to wear a light colored pink almost nude nail polish to a job interview (psych)? I can always take it off then redo my nails, but figured if I can save myself some time I would. What does everyone think?

I do and it's not that bad. As long as I have my music I'm good to go. It's actually kind of nice to be able to decompress on the way home from work, and not be thinking if work at home .

I took the nclex on a Tuesday at 1pm and my license number was on the website at 5:30 am on Thursday. So, not even 48 hours later. All of my class mates said it took 2-3 days to show up. Good luck!

When I got hired at my current job, they gave me the offer letter when I came in to fill out the employment paperwork.

Kaplan was the best book! It teaches you how to answer the questions even if you don't know the content.

I had a really hard time finding pulses when i first started. Ask a family or significant other to practice finding the pulses on them. I practiced finding every single pulse on my boyfriend everyday for months (we live together). Every time i saw a friend or family member i would also practice finding pulses on them. At first, i couldn't even find most of them, or it would take me forever. I would also tell every patient i had that i needed to check their pulses. If it took more than a couple of minutes, I would apologize and tell the patient "sorry sometimes it takes me awhile to find the pulse, but im trying to get faster" and the patients were ok with it. Most of the time they would tell me not to worry and take as long as i needed. Another thing that really helped was me pulling my clinical instructor aside and telling her I was having a hard time finding pulses. I asked if she could come with me to my patients room and stand there as I tried. If I could not find a certain pulse she would find it, then help me find it, then we would move on to the next pulse. She actually had to put her hands over mine show me how hard to push to find the popliteal pulse (I was not pushing hard enough and that was the first time I had ever felt it). It gets easier over time. Don't feel embarrassed or bad about needing help. No one just knows how to do everything, that what school is for- to learn. I bet some of the other students are having a hard time too, but just wont admit it. Ask the instructor for help when you cant find a pulse, or don't know how to do something. Trust me, ask for all the help you can get now because when you get your license your on your own. The only way you get better is with practice, so keep practicing! I

So I went to a interview for a RN position at a doctors office. I was the only one in the waiting room when a woman walked in wearing a tshirt and leggings, and had her screaming infant and husband with her. I assumed she was a patient but she walked up and said she was there for her RN interview too! I was shocked! Who brings their baby and husband with them for a interview? They should have waited outside or in the car. It gets better, the baby finally stops crying after 10 minutes or so, so the husband pulls out his phone and starts playing video games with the volume turned all the way up... Everyone that worked there took turns to walk by the reception desk and glare at them, lol. But it gave me a confidence boost right off the bat. I was dressed appropriately and came by myself! Just wanted to share. Does anyone else have any inappropriate interview stories to share?