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Hi Asdf88, I'm a Jehovah's Witness and Registered Nurse. I wish I had seen your thread sooner before you had to endure these misguided posts*because I'm scared this may be your last. :-/ Some ignorant and hateful posts here. Btw, to fellow posters she asked for fellow Witnesses to respond so unless you are one nobody cares about your 'opinion.' it's irrelevant and not to mention off topic.* I have worked CCU, ER, and Hospice. The latter two I still work in a prn and full time capacity. I will tell you handling blood was a very real concern for me as well. Fortunately, I knew fellow witness nurses in local congregations and I got their input/advice.* As mentioned, blood is a very frequent fix in the hospital and critical units. Some medical personnel Jehovah's witnesses are opposed to handling it. Those that are may chose to work in areas were the issue will not come up. i.e. (Doctor's offices,clinics) *But if you want to work in a hospital esp. Critcal care its good that you are making sure this is something you are willing to handle. :) * This is a personal conscience matter. My view is I personally would not take blood as we know it's sacred Acts 15:28,29; however, if the doctor has explained the risks/benefits and the patient/family has given his consent. That is his/her choice and free will to decide. *Similar to being a cashier and working for a store that sells cigarettes. I wouldn't stop a customer from purchasing the cigarettes and lecture him on the dangers of tabacco even though I believe it to be harmful. That person has the right to smoke and I cannot stop him but for myself I chose not to do so.* Does that make sense? *I hope so. Again, it's a personal conscience matter. *My first hospital they asked AFTER hiring During the HRs. paperwork. There was a form asking if you are comfortable handling blood products check yes or no. So I had the option to check no. And if my decision had been no it would have been ok because by law they have to respect your religious beliefs contrary to what some on here have told you!* But, ultimately I decided I'd be ok with it. Because I am not taking it the patient is and that is his right. The same way I would decide not to which is my right. Make sense? :) However, *I always make sure the doctor has spoken to the patient/family and answered all their questions. And the dr has to be the one to get the consent signed. This is a rule in every hospital or facility regardless of the procedure. If a dr ever tries to tell you to get the consent say 'no' and run to your nurse manager that is their job! *Before beginning, I ask if they got all their questions answered by the dr. I wear the proper gloves and and verify everything with my second nurse. And follow the protocols of the hospital. * *I will tell you that as fast paced as the hospital is it's easier to spike it and hang it with a second nurse present to verify. Then to ask someone else to give the blood because as you can see from these posts some people will feel like you are trying to shirk your duties as nurse. Some may not understand that actually it is *because we view blood as sacred and not to be handled lightly. But, if you find you are not comfortable by all means ask a nice and understanding fellow nurse (there are some as you can see by some of these posts :). Again, This will likely be your second nurse who is going to be verifying anyway. If they would at least spike it and initiate it. Then you will do the rest. Vital signs and monitoring. It really is not as troublesome as some are making it out to be.* Lastly, I never ever tell my personal background on the initial interview. An employer cannot ask you if you are married,single, have kids or what religion you are. It has no bearing and quite frankly, as you have sadly found out can inadvertently lead to discrimination if miscontrued or biased opinions are made. Please contact me in the future if you have any questions. **I hope this helps and welcome to the world of nursing :) ** ** **

JillPaige, It does get easier. I have found working nights is better for me because there are less people to deal with i.e management, doctors, and family members. Don't mind the 'supernurses' there are some on every unit. Some people will try to belittle you or make you feel inferior. IGNORE THEM. Chose carefully but you will be okay. Thanks so much for your opinion I do appreciate it!

LoriAngel14, I tend to like the elderly more so than young adults or children. So Geriatric care is also something Im considering. Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it!

Rhone, Welcome to nursing! Glad it seems like you found your niche! Yes, it does depend on where you are working as far as the ratio goes for PACU. The PACU you described sounds like a similar unit back at my old hospital whereas another hospital I worked had a ratio similar to the one Pennyaline mentioned. I think the stress of the unit can be managed based on who your working with but yes, I have heard it is a stressful unit. Some units work better together than others. I considered the PACU at one hospital and basically decided against it because of the nurses being so catty towards one another when I shadowed. But have not ruled it out completely. Thanks for the helpful advice!

Cathy T. RN Yes, more and more I feel this may be my calling. Thanks for your advice. I appreciate it!

Pennyaline, While I appreciate that you are trying to be helpful. I purposely titled this thread to INFPs ONLY. If you are not an INFP there really is no need for you to comment or give your opinion. FYI: All the psychology classes I have taken in the last 2 years have at one time or another utilized Meyer Briggs testing. If you find this type of testing "hokey" again Id rather you refrain from commenting. Thanks but your opinion is just that and is not helpful.

Thank you that was helpful. I appreciate your opinion.

At a crossroads professionally. I wonder what is the best fit in nursing for my personality type INFP. Does anyone else find that the busier units Telemetry, Critical Care, and the ER just drain you and prefer dealing with smaller groups of people or one on one? I find myself thinking about private duty nursing or home health more and more. The autonomy of these positions sounds so appealing! Any suggestions from fellow INFPs on what type of nursing you have found rewarding and beneficial for our unique personality type would be extremely helpful! Thank you in advance!

Yes, they do!! I actually interviewed with the Trauma department but turned it down in favor of Telemetry. You will need to apply and there are three interviews you go through. Your initial interview is a series of questions about how you would handle certain situations. Then you come back to work on the unit to see how they like you. More questions. I think the third you actually meet with the Manager of the unit. So its very extensive interview process but if you really want Trauma go for it!! Oh, and unfortunately, they make you do Day and Night rotation and it is a two year commitment. Hope this helps.

Again, thanks to all who have responded. I agree that I am probably rushing my decision. Upon further insight I have decided to stick it out. I think my frustration lies in that my original preceptor did look out for me and provided multiple learning opportunities. Yes, I know we all most work as a team. And as I mentioned before I don't believe I'm above helping out with any duties. However, my main concern is lately I am not learning but filling in for the CNAs. I do have control of my schedule though and may alter that to work with the Nurses who I know will give me multiple opportunities to learn and participate. Again, thank you for all the advice. I especially appreciated your comment llg about remembering to resolve a problem before running away. And all who pointed out that this is still a learning opportunity regardless of the circumstances.

Thanks for all your responses. I'd feel different if I felt appreciated and part of the "team." But the majority of the nurses don't appreciate the CNAs or myself. More than anything I was really just curious if anyone had this experience happen to them specifically. Thanks again for the replies. :tku:

Hi all, I am looking for help/guidance in my situation. I have worked at a local hospital for 4 years as a unit secretary. Last year during my summer break between freshman and senior year I participated in a externship. It was extremely beneficial and I decided to stay on a Telemetry Unit with my current preceptor and continue learning in this capacity. Recently my manager came to me and said they no longer wanted me to work with that preceptor and that I would be assigned to whichever nurse they felt like giving me to "gain further experience from more experienced nurses." I have noticed that since that decision I am not used as much in my role as a Nurse Extern instead I ambeing asked to help out more and more with CNA duties. Now, I am not against helping the CNAs and most times help out willingly. But it seems that instead of shadowing a nurse and learning I am being asked to do the CNAs job especially when their short. I already did the majority of the CNA work for the patients I was assigned to with my preceptor but more and more all the nurses are pulling me to help them with vital signs, blood sugars, doing their database admisssions, discharging their patients in general anything they don't want to do or be bothered with. Just the other day one nurse asked helped me to feed her patient who was blind, the charge nurse came in and instructed me to stop feeding him and go help with his admission and get vital signs and weight???!!!! Also there was a CNA already getting the patient's vital signs and weight. He just wanted me to do his admission! And Did I mention the patient I was feeding screams when he doesn't get his food right away. The charge nurse told me that this patient was "always hungry and just close the door it would be fine." Meanwhile the nurse who asked me to help was upset with both him and I. I am all about helping out the floor but now I feel as many of my classmates felt that I am being taken advantaged of!! I really don't enjoy going in anymore because I am with my preceptor for maybe 20 minutes before I am pulled into working as a CNA. I hadn't planned on staying there after graduation; however, I am participating in their tuition reimbursement program and receive benefits. With just four months till graduation I would hate leave but I am beginning to despise my coworkers. I have considered an interdepartmental transfer to work as a sitter/CNA companion which would still involve helping the patient with basic bedside care but it would be one patient as opposed to the whole floor. This last semester has been extremely stressful already I don't need the hassel of dealing with department politics to add to my stress level! Has anyone expereinced this and do you have any advice? Thanks for your time in advance.

Thank you to all for your input. I do appreciate your advice and see that maybe this is something that will have to wait until I've had more exposure. Jdcd

I would be very , very, VERY careful!! That being said I will tell you that I attempted their registered nursing acclerated program in Newport News back in fall of 2005/winter 2006 with the promise I would be done in 15 months which does NOT include the 3 months of prerequisites so in actuallity a total of 18 months. I was to be done in April of 2007 The school would not allow me to transfer in my A&P, Chemistry, Math from an accredited university so I took it over again. I passed Chemistry, Computer, Math, and A&P 1 with good grades only to not sucessfuly pass A&P II (WHICH I HAD ALREADY TAKEN AND RECEIVED A B+) and received the news I would have to wait 3 months to pick up the program again. I got the run around the whole-time I was there and several of the people that were my contacts including my advisor, financial rep, etc either left the school or retired. My daytime class started with 30 students only 3 graduated from the original program in April 2007. After six months, I threw in the towel and went to a accredited two year institution some of my friends stuck with the program had to repeat at least 2 or 3 times meaning the majority will be graduating at the same time I will in May 08 or this summer 2008. Even though they have stayed it has only been because they can't really afford to go to a accredited school because no university or community college will accept their credits the only reason I had no problems is because I had been to college previously. So, lesson learned if something sounds too good to be true it usually is. Ultimately, I would really investigate the school and location. (some or better than others) But bottom line is just that all MCI really cares about and ( this is my opinion) is getting you to owe them $30,000. Please do your reasearch before signing on the dotted line.

Thanks to all for your responses so far. I will say that I would love to hear that everyone thinks this is good idea. But the reality is that I need to weigh the pros and cons heavily. I will take all your advice to heart. I most definitely do not want to be put into a situation before I'm ready. And a year can go by very fast especially in med-surg. I have contacted the the hospital to shadow some nurses in home health and hospice. So, I will get a real feeling for the profession before considering it. I do appreciate your wisdom so keep it coming. :yelclap: Thank you, Jdcd: