psullivan95

There's no "you live in a hurricane prone area" here. This hurricane is unprecedented. It is levelling islands. These patients should be evacuated. If the facility decides not to then they are deciding to put them and you in harms way. Go take care of your child.

I am in the same field and I love it. I work nights and I've learned quite a few lullabies to comfort them.

I don't but I just went to a Dave Gilmour concert in NYC (Pink Floyd) and MAN did it smell wonderful in there. I was a bit jealous that I couldn't.

I have a big bust, broad shoulders, thick arms, and wide hips but everything else is shapely. So I can either get a size too big and it looks bulky (slovenly) or wear a size that fits everything else but is tight at the top. I have no in between and I can't afford tailor fitted. and I am short

This is what you do... Macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles hot dogs and beans. Simple meals with paper plates. Nutrition can wait 9 months. Laundry, dust, dishes, crumbs on the floor, nieces and nephews birthday parties, all take a back seat. Immediate family, work, and school are your only priorities. Focus straight ahead and keep repeating "I can see the light at the end..."

Home health. The hours are flexible and the pay is decent. PSA or Shriver Nursing are two examples of agencies.

I know I am late to the game but... clinicals mostly taught me to read, write, and think about care plans and interventions. This turned out to be vital in my career as well as being able to critically think on your feet. Textbook information came in second. You need to know WHY you need to do something the way it needs to be done. Anything else can be learned on the job.

Best...answer....ever

Also, we were told not to wear them around our neck in case a patient becomes violent and tries to strangle us. If we wanted to wear an ID around our neck it couldn't be a lanyard type. It had to be the rope kind that detaches with force.

Do a chargeback through your bank to get the money back. "services not rendered"

Old post but I have to share this... It was during my clinical days on an acute care floor. One morning firemen and two police men appear on the floor asking for Mrs So and So. The staff had no idea what was going on and led them to her room. Apparently, this adorable little old lady had a question about her ambulance bill and figured that, in order to get her answers she would call back the number she called to get the ambulance... 911. The policemen were quite gracious and stayed behind to go over her bill with her and figure out who she actually needed to call.

They Don't Care About Us Michael Jackson

Just Lose It Eminem

Under Pressure David Bowie and Freddie Mercury

Oh, and anxiety is fine but don't turn down a job because of it. Go to the training and ask all the right questions. Research ahead of time. Make sure you are comfortable before you start a shift alone. Most families make sure one parent is home to help new nurses until the parents and the nurse are comfortable.

When you are caring for a patient in their home you have more time to learn to care for them. It's a much slower pace which is great and you have time to learn their disease process and how every aspect of their disease affects them. Do your research ahead of time. Look up their main diagnoses, read and understand textbook interventions. Ask to look at their individual care plan. Ask the patient (well, usually the parents) how they prefer their care, what works and what hasn't worked. I took a private duty ped HH job out of nursing school and I was petrified. Now, one year later, I feel like it would be much more terrifying to care for 20 patients a shift than just one. Another great thing about peds home care is that other nurses who care for this patient tend to have a very high interest in the care of the children they care for. I had great nurses give great training because they had a vested interest in me give quality care. How would you feel if you were a nurse who cared for a child for years and another nurse comes on who doesn't know enough to keep your patient stable and comfortable? Remember that these are kids/adolescent who are bed/chair bound. Imagine being a child who can't get up and run around, have friends, go to school etc. Psychosocial development is just as important as any med. Lastly, be able to understand that parents are a key resource. In my cases, these children have parents who have worked hard to keep their medically intense children alive for years (sometimes). Don't dismiss what they have to say just because you think you know better. Understand that some parents may know more about caring for their child than any experienced nurse. Don't be afraid to ask questions because parents would rather you ask than do it wrong.

I graduated July 2011 and I did not get hired until July 2012. I went to 18 interviews and I was turned down 17 times. Unfortunately, there are many people applying for the same jobs and most have experience. Do not give up though! I kept going and was eventually rewarded with a job doing private duty for pediatric patients in their home. It was well worth the wait. I love caring for kids 1:1 rather than dealing with the horror stories I hear from classmates who work with ratios of 1:20 and don't get to leave until 2 hours after their shift ends because of paperwork. I went the long way round of saying "stick with it". Take a job with the job title of "nurse" even if you are mopping floors. Because 6 months later you will have 6 months experience on your resume.

I've found that, in caring for the patients in their home 1:1, there is so much more to know than just meds, dx, and hx. I do peds and understanding how they've been cared for before thus far, what works and what doesn't work, likes and dislikes, family dynamic, rules of the house, etc. It's so much more personal caring for people in their home.

My agency would fire me on the spot.

I hear you. I also do ped home care and some shifts feel like they drag on forever. What exactly bothers you? "feel like you're not doing more" does that mean you would prefer the hustle and bustle of floor nursing or do you feel like there is more care that you could be doing? If it's the latter, just remember that socio/psycho/spiritual care is just as important as ADLs and meds tx. I always keep in mind that my patients are adolescents/teenagers who are bedbound. Just reading to them, having conversations with them, and watching their favorite shows with them can be as therapeutic as any med. I try to keep up to date with the Disney and Nickelodeon shows they like so I can talk to them about it (they can't communicate but they are in there!). Also, simple things like PROM and massages are great. Take your time with it. Who doesn't like a good rub down? (LOL) Lastly, I do all I can to try to include them in what their family is doing... even if it's getting them in their chairs and bringing them out during a family dinner or out in the backyard where their family is swimming and BBQing. The family loves having their child participate in the family dynamic and it's wonderful for the child's well being.

You can work in any field and get awful/scary/angry/impatient coworkers or bosses. And you can lose your job or get scolded for offenses in any field. Just sayin'. I'm being serious here... I read AN to keep me grounded. I see that everyone else goes through the same things and, not only am I comforted, but I find really good advice. As other people have already stated, there is so much more to nursing than med/surg, ER etc. Also, doing something stupid or neglectful PETRIFIED me but I could not let all that hard work and schooling go to waste because of what MIGHT happen. As someone had previously mentioned, you can look up people who have had their licenses suspended or revoked and the reasons are serious offenses. I do pediatric home care for medically intense children and I love it. I don't really have coworkers (except for shifts that "touch"), I don't have a boss breathing down my neck (sometimes the parents can be overwhelming but over time they have learned to trust me), and it is SO REWARDING. 1:1 time where I admin meds, check VS, CPT and other tx, chart, AND have time left over to care for them socio/psych/spiritually. I get to cuddle them, make them laugh, read to them, and help them participate in family events. I also make sure the family is ok (one family has two working parents and three other teenagers to raise so I do whatever I can to help make their lives easier). Just by us nurses being there, these children are able to live with their family instead of in a facility. I love that I can help make that happen. I know it's a tangent but I had hoped to paint a picture of what nursing CAN be. I started this job straight out of an LPN program (I just got accepted to an LPN-RN bridge program...yay!) and I learned very quickly what I needed to in order to care for them competently (sp?). It helps that I only have two cases and I know everything I need to in order to care for them. Being alone by myself was frightening as a new nurse but the nurses who trained me to care for these children have a vested interest in me doing a wonderful job. When you spend 1:1 time caring for someone you can't help but become attached. Not once has someone scolded me for asking questions or asking for clarification. I wish I could have been more articulate but it's late and your plea really touched me. Hang in there and don't let your fears overwhelm you. We all had/have them and most of us made it out intact.

Get the "Test Success" book. You may have seen an adage along the lines of "All of the answers are right but which one is MOST right?" It's very true. 1) Get tips on test taking 2)use workbooks, CD roms, helpful websites, case studies -that come with the textbooks 3) Get a good organizational system going (color code, binders) 4) learn how to say no - no, you can't help your friend move this weekend; no, you can't go to your niece's dance recital the night before a mid term; no, laundry will have to wait - and don't feel bad about it! 5) figure out what kind of learner you are (your learning style) auditory, visual, mechanical... this helped me greatly. Draw pictures, watch videos on youtube, record the lecture, go to every class and be attentive. Buckle down and keep your goal in your sights. It will be so worth it in the end! Best of luck!

Still waiting for that letter from Massasoit Community College. Ugh! Oh, and congrats! :)

Look at it this way... you had to work harder to earn a good grade. I took statistics and the professor was a great mathematician but admittedly not a statistician. She would roll her eyes when someone asked for clarification and talk to us like we were idiots. I ended up with an A- which killed my 4.0... but you know what? I had to teach myself statistics and I earned every bit of that A- with no help from her. So be proud of that grade.

I'm going back to school part time and working part time. I am a full time mom, sister, aunt, girlfriend, and daughter. I do pediatric home care for medically intense kids and by the time I get home I am dragging myself up the stairs. I lost contact with people when I took the LPN program full time and I haven't had time to repair social contacts. I am 35 and I feel like I'm 50. I miss the old me.