RunningRn24

I was an extern last summer. My commitment was full time for the summer and I followed one preceptor the whole time. Basically the job description I had was mostly like a PCA (I took the clients assigned to my preceptor) but I also passed meds, did IVs, and did assessments. I got to follow patients wherever they went in the hospital if they were getting an interesting procedure (this was on a surgical floor). My preceptor was fabulous and she took time to explain things to me and to go over the science of stuff, which was awesome. Overall it was stressful, because it was my first job in the hospital but I learned so much. I spent a semester precepted in the SICU during school and I had only 1-2 patients because SICU nurses at that hospital had a max of 2 patients. I'm guessing the CCU is similar. I hope this helped and I hope you have a great experience as an extern. I sure did!

Thank you both for your feedback! I actually ended up with two offers, one at rehab/LTC with practically no orientation, or the DD job with a well structured training. I had a really good feeling about the DD job and I accepted it today. I'm pretty excited! Good luck to all those on the job hunt!

Yay for you! Today is your day! I'm not in Virginia but I got my certificate about 1 week after passing.

Hi Kylie! You have some valid points. And you are right in that nursing can be draining, and some days it does suck the life out of you. But the good thing about it is that there are so many avenues to go down once you are done with schooling. If one thing doesn't work out, try something else. My best advice to you would be to get the most out of your clinicals. Have an open mind and give 100%. You will probably be surprised what you like. I am very sensitive and I spent nursing school trying to develop a thicker skin to deal with the tricky and sometimes heartbreaking situations that are pretty much every day occurrences in nursing. I worked as a tech, and when I got to pick my clinicals in my last semester I chose what I believed was my weakest area to challenge myself. There were days during that clinical where I literally left sobbing. I still have hard days, and I'm sure I always will. Remember that you can't control what people do but you can control how you respond. I think you will find that the gratification that you get from helping patients makes it all worth it. Being sensitive is a quality that can make you a very good nurse, you just have to make sure you take care of yourself. Good luck! And know that when you feel like the world is crashing down around you while you're in school there is an end in sight!

I'm a really new nurse and I struggled with this healthy perception issue all throughout nursing school. People in my family and my friends started coming to me for health advice and I felt like such a fraud because I spent my last year of school in a bulimic haze. I managed to finish school and work my tech job on the side, but it just seemed like incredible pressure to be the picture of health to set an example. But since then I've learned that (surprise!) even nurses aren't perfect and that is totally ok. As long a we can take care of our patients well, I don't think our personal stuff matters so much. And it certainly shouldn't matter to other people. ps I'm glad to report I'm doing much better.

I'm shy too! This might sound kind of silly but I look to Beyonce for my inspiration about how to combat my shyness at work. I heard that she has two personas, one is her normal self aka Beyonce, and two is Sasha Fierce, her stage personality. I try to put on my work face when I'm at work to be more bubbly and friendly because in my experience it is comforting to patients. It also helps to deal with tough days by having this mentality because it separates my home self from my work self. Good luck!

Hi! I am on the hunt for my first job as an RN and I'm unsure about where to go. I just moved to a new city, far from my nursing school and my contacts from my tech job. I spent one year working as a tech on a surgical floor, did a nurse externship, and did 4 months as precepted SN in the SICU of a level one trauma center. I really tried to like working in the hospital, but every day was a stressful struggle and it left my nerves frazzled. I went to nursing school with the desire to be a psych nurse and get an DNP eventually. I loved my psych clinicals and I really felt in my element during them. This made me feel pretty weird since all of my classmates seemed to hate psych and everyone discouraged me from pursing it. I originally got a BA in psych, so I attribute it partly to that. So now in my new city, I know hardly anyone and I've been applying for a ton of jobs. I had an interview with a group home to work as an RN for clients with DD. I'm starting to think that this might be a really good fit for me. My issue is that I'm a little worried that this will limit me later on in my career. If I want to stay psych and go back to school I feel like working there kind of makes sense. That being said I probably won't get that real med/surg experience (that I don't really want, but everyone says that I should have). Do you think that it matters considering my interests? FYI I don't have an offer on the table yet, and I don't have any other interviews. Just trying to do some soul searching in case I get offered a position and have to decide. If you read this, thanks! Have a great day wonderful nurse!