MajorAl

Ok, I have just 3 Fridays left to work, 2 weekends and a total of 24 days until I am retired. My wife and I are buying a house in Nicaragua to be near her family when it isn't warm here (Wisconsin). I plan to spend the first 6 months cleaning and organizing the basement. After that little chore, I think we'll be doing some landscaping around the house and lots of camping in the US. I started planning for retirement when my dad retired. I started saving for retirement as soon as I could after I graduated with my BSN. (Mom and Dad retired before I graduated from Nursing school. Talk about planning ahead.) I have basically spent the last 30 years working to get to where I am today. Advice? Start that 401k,403b, 457 and/or IRA TODAY!!!! You won't ever have enough extra money to start one, and after a couple of paydays you won't miss the money you're putting into it. I'm serious, start it TODAY! I mean, could you spare 25 cents? 25 cents per hour times 80 hours per 2 weeks equals $520 per year. That's not enough to retire on, but it's a start. Then whenever you get a raise put most, if not all of it, into your retirement account. Put at least 80% into the stock market, more if you're under 40. If you have the temperment, consider joining the military as a reservist. I'm collecting nearly a grand every month from Uncle Sam due to my 22 years in the military and it helps. Sit down and do the math at 520 per year and 8% return on your money in the stock market. (8% is conservative) and then you'll run to start your account. Just remember, no one cares about your retirement as much as you do. As trite as it sounds, no one plans to fail, but many fail to plan. Student Nurses, yeah you 20 year olds, take this advice to heart and 37 years from now you can be writing this letter. Take care everyone. And if anyone has questions, just message me.

There's some strange mentality in Nursing that says we have to abuse our newbies. I have observed this for the 40 years I've been in Nursing. And I'll admit that I've probably done some of it too, but I think mine was more in the form of a friendly hazing, (sending the new guy for 3 feet of sterile fallopian tubing) rather than having the attitude "you're not as good as I am". Just hang in there and once your coworkers realize that you're as good as you say you are, you'll be accepted. And if they don't, threaten them with me. Take care and have a good career. Alan

Wisconsin is also one of the compact states. My license says multistate not Wisconsin. The understanding is that if I were to move to, say Texas, I would practice on this license until time to renew then renew in Texas. There's a total of 20 or 21 states in the compact. The only time I get a list though is when it's time to renew my license. Check to see if your state is in the compact and it'll make it easier to move. Alan

I agree with "Doc" Viking. I started my nursing career 40 years ago as a HM (8404) and ended up retiring from the USAR as a nurse. The best nurses in the world are serving in our military, of course I'm prejudiced but I don't care. Besides, do you want to end up with a BSN and 40K in student loans? I didn't think so. Go for it and good luck.

BKLPN: YOU have the hardest job in the military, a military wife. You, and the other military spouses, are real heroes. I admire you for what you're doing. I know whereof I talk, because MY wife got to stay home while I went to the first Gulf war. I can only say, keep your eyes on the prize. I know it sounds trite, but December will be here before we're ready for it. I know that you're going through literal hell right now, but what a Christmas present, RN and HUBBY at the same time. I wish I could do more for you but you are an incredibly strong woman. Remember, that which doesn't kill us only makes us stronger. Feel free to email me if you need more support, or have questions that maybe I can answer. (I hate to admit it, but I've been a RN longer than you've been breathing. And, I'm retired Army.) Bless you. Alan

1) Do you do any sort of evaluation on those nurses you precept, even if it's just a note to the supervisor? 2) I think that you should take the attitude with the new employee that YOU are there to help HER, not management. Do you have a union where you work? If so, there should be a union rep present also. I have also precepted many new nurses. Where I work, there are about 80 nurses and I have probably precepted, or helped precept, 30 of them. It is an expectation of the precepting nurse, here, that we communicate with the supervisor of the new nurse how s/he is doing. This is not to put us in a management position, but to give us a stronger nurse in the future. I, personally, would go and present what this nurse's strong points are and where she needs improvement. Good Luck. Alan

Okay, there are a LOT of negative threads on this site, but I bet if you were to go on a site dedicated to plumbers, or auto mechanics, or whatever you'd find the same amount of negativity (as a percentage) posted. I'm not a new nurse, as a matter of fact I'm retiring in August, so I know what I'm talking about. Maybe some of the negativity is because the majority of nurses are female and females tend to talk about their feelings more than us lowly males. Are there problems in nursing? You can bet your bottom dollar on that. But there are problems in any career field especially if you look for them. I've seen most of the problems and I can say that slowly but surely they are being addressed. Wages? Adjusted for inflation they are higher now than when I started as a RN in 1975. Working conditions are also better, but they are not perfect. (Nor will they ever be!) What we need to do is just make sure to take care of ourselves as well as we take care of our patients.

First, you need to learn there is no such thing as a silly (or dumb) question. The only way a question could be dumb would be if EVERYONE knew the answer. Second, you need to trust your boyfriend (unless he wants you to do something your daddy says no to, then say no :rotfl: ) he sounds like he knows you and your abilities. Third, are you willing to habla un pocito de espanol con un paciente? You know a little, try to learn a few nursing/medical related phrases and how to use them. You'll do fine.

As long as the school is accredited, should not be a problem. Most states don't care where you went to school, just how well you do on the boards.

$4.44 per hour in 1975, that equates to $16.64 in today's dollars. My brother in law was making (starting salary) $5.55 at the same time. His job? Working as a mechanic at a newspaper. The best part is I only have 160 working days left and then I'm retired. Take care and Happy New Year. Alan

Well, I am a RN with 35 years of experience and I agree. You have to take a break and take care of yourself. I have been a supervisor and I always insisted on my Nurses taking their breaks. If your coworkers won't cover for you, call your supervisor and demand help. Talk to your supervisor about a hostile work environment. Take care of yourself first to take care of your patients. When I was in the Army, the hardest thing I had to train new nurses to do was take care of themselves first so they would be ALIVE to take care of their patients. Sometimes tough love is the only way. Take care. Alan

Well the article is right. I would like to work a job that gives me every weekend off and no evenings/nights/holidays. But I'm not going to cut my pay by close to 50% to do it.

Okay, I'm an oooooold guy, 60 this year. IMHO calling a patient honey or sweetie when they are over 5 years old and don't live with you is demeaning. I can't remember names either, I've been in mental health nursing since 1970 and have learned to forget names when I walk out the door! I have found an alternative to calling someone honey or sweetie, I use the simple words "Sir" and "Ma'am". In over 30 years of nursing only 2 patients have complained about it. Both said basically the same thing: You're taking care of me and you're well educated. It doesn't feel right when you call me sir. Just my 2 cents worth. And if I might be so bold as to suggest it to anyone who has the habit of calling everyone honey or sweetie, try using Sir or Ma'am instead. Just seems more polite.

Okay, I'm going to show my age here. When I graduated with my BSN, business students expected their salary to match their age by the time they were 30. My salary matched my age 2 years ago for the first time. As I said earlier, you will never get rich being a nurse (well 99% of us won't) but you won't starve to death and you can fund a comfortable retirement and give your kids a fairly good education. (Nothing wrong with state schools, I graduated from University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh myself.)

Depends on which part of the country you're in. Nurses in Wisconsin start about $25/hour, but most of the nurses I know work a 40 hour week, not a 36 hour week. This means they start at about 52K per annum. Of course then there are the add ons, weekend differentials, evening/night differentials, extra pay on holidays, extra pay for being charge nurse, etc. Realistically, you probably could expect to be making 50K plus. (BTW, check your math $27 x 36 hours/week x 52 weeks = 50,544) Also, don't forget things such as health insurance, 401k, 403b or 457 retirement plans. Plus paid time off, where I work, RNs start at 120 hours vacation, 72 hours legal holiday time (used as vacation) and 36 hours personal holiday time and 130 hours sick time per year. Great money, no. Will you have to worry about starving to death? No. Will you work your butt off, yes. Be rewarded by other than money, most definitely. Take Care

I'm going to agree with the majority and disagree with Ruby Vee. I've worked in mental health for the past 14 years consecutively and off and on for the 17years prior to that. One of the hardest things to teach new employees (Nurses, CNAs, Social Workers, Psychologists, etc) in mental health is that sometimes it is best to disengage and let someone else handle the situation. Too many people think that they have to complete what they are doing even if they are verbally or physically threatened. Now a piece of information I picked up back in the late 60's. Some of the biggest guys in the world are frightened to death of a itsy bitsy needle. It sounds to me like your pt is/was one of these guys and the way they handle this fear is to threaten you. If it ever happens again, before you insert the needle for the first time, tell him (always has been a him in my experience) that he has good veins and with your experience you should have no trouble with a simple stick. Good luck. Alan

I just checked for Wisconsin, not just my name but others below mine on the list. The only thing listed is the name, city and zipcode. Since both my wife and I work in a mental health setting, only our names are listed in the phone book and every system that purports to give an address only lists the city I live in, not my street address. So, anyone trying to find me has to go to more websites and hope they get successful. It doesn't bother me too much, but then again I'm a 60 year old male. I would probably worry if I was a 30 year old female.

Interesting that they had call light buttons in the 1700's, which was before electricity was harnessed for every day use. Also that was prior to Florence starting our wonderful profession. And the patients must have been very strong to take 45 minutes to drown! Have a good Independence Day everyone.

Having spent a day or 2 in the military, I have no problem with southern accents. As has been pointed out by others though is the problem some people will have understanding you. As you may know, the only people in this country that don't have accents come from here. (And it doesn't matter where here is:lol2: ) Those people from that other part of the country have the accent. So, welcome to Nursing brother and good luck with the accelerated BSN program. I've been lucky enough to precept a couple of people in that program and I'm amazed that they get to Mental Health without needing a good shrink. Alan

Quick reply: VietNam. I was a medic in RVN and after I got out of the service, I became a RN.

I learned more about charting in one day in court than all the inservices I have ever attended. Some important facts: Lawyers like to photocopy pages, so make sure the patients name and/or hospital number are on every page you write on. Be clear in your charting, and if you must use abbreviations, only use common ones that are approved at your place of employment. If you are unsure, take the extra second to write it out in full. Use generic names instead of brand names for medications whenever charting PRNs. (Read about Tylenol® in the 1970s or 1980s). Remember you have better odds at winning the lottery than being in court, but it's more fun to win the lottery.

I don't remember how many in my class washed out after prelim classes. I was one of 140, one of whom I know has retired. (not me:crying2: ) I plan to retire in about 3 years. This is an interesting idea and I wonder if anyone else has pursued it and published any results.

I have worked mental health for the past 30 years, what the heck is a Baker Act? Where I work, we are smoke free, the most he would have gotten is a nicotine gum. Perhaps you need to encourage your workplace to go smokefree. And if you're concerned about this (or any other) patient eloping, you (at least in Wisconsin) can pursue until the edge of hospital property. Since I work with people who have been found not guilty by reason of mental disease/defect, we have a little more liberty in requesting Police help with elopements than my coworkers who work with civilly committed patients. On the civil side we have to get the MD to authorize requesting police intervention whereas I can go ahead on my own and get the police involved due to the legal status of the patient. When working with the mentally ill, you need to know the statutes of the state you're in to protect yourself. Regarding the right to refuse medication, it all depends on the statute wording. Some of the patients I work with retain the right to refuse medication/treatment, some are court ordered to take medication/treatment. In most juristictions, it is up to the Judge signing the commitment order to determine the patients rights. As far as your refusing to give a medication, in this case you need to check with your Nurse supervisor as to what the policy states. Are you fairly new on the job? If so, you should not be escorting patients until you have been trained in how to do it and how to handle situations like this. Take care. Alan

Well Madam Lurksalot, I happen to agree with you. Now people who have a hard time spelling can still make themselves understood, but what really irks me (in capital letters) are the people who apparently have never learned basic English and apparently don't know the difference between: your and you're and yore; their and there and they're; etc. I understand when someone is posting, especially if they're doing it on their break at work, why they might misuse a word. But I have seen it done in charting by Nurses who have GRADUATED from COLLEGE! I sometimes think that people are either (1) too lazy to proofread their writing, (2) too uneducated to know the correct words to use, or (3) too ignorant to know how they come across to people. As I said, I understand in posts, IMs, etc. using "no" for "know" but I have read CHARTING that does it. I've been working for 31 years to get Nurses to act in such a manner that we will be regarded as professional by other professions (Doctors, Lawyers, etc) and have been told that I'm TOO PICKY! Well boys and girls I'm going to retire soon (a couple more years) and then I won't have to worry about it. Thank you Madam Lurksalot (and others) for being willing to pick up the pen (mightier than the sword after all) and continue my crusade. Madam Lurksalot, I hope your career is as satisfying and rewarding as mine has been. Also, please, please, please become a preceptor as soon as you can so you can help shape our young Nurses into Nurses who know how to write a coherent sentence. Alan