Loves2scrub

I splurge on travel. I try to take a long weekend getaway every 3-4 months with my husband. I've found that it recharges my batteries, and my marriage has never been happier.

In the renal transplant clinic I work at there are currently 3 pre and 2 post transplant coordinators. We do see our patients in clinic. The post coordinators also work up living donors.

Before I was a nurse, I was a surgical technologist. I went to a local community college, and got my certification for under $5,000. I couldn't imagine paying the amount you quoted. I would encourage you to research the starting salary for a surg tec...

I hit the wall hard in my third semester of nursing school. Like many people, I had a family and a full time job. The days I thought about giving up far outweighed the days I didn't. I got through it by giving myself small goals to reach. Sometimes m...

I am a new renal transplant coordinator. I see some room for improvement in our clinics relationships with dialysis centers. We currently update the centers with patients testing schedules, an update letter with any referrals that have been made, and...

i really like this suggestion. I would love to have some some face to face time with our centers. I'm going to suggest this at our next meeting. Thank you so much for replying.

This is a great idea. Thank you so much.

in the OR I was in, new nurses were brought in through the peri-op nurse intern program. These nurses would train to circulate first, then learn to scrub if they wanted too. We did not work in holding, or the PACU. My facility originally would train ...

I agree with previous posters about finishing your BSN. I was a scrub tech for 12 years before I went to nursing school. I loved it for many years, but the day eventually came when I wanted to do something else. If I had never became a nurse, I would...

Some hospitals may choose to give you half credit for your time spent as a surgical technologist. For example, I was a surg tech for 13 years, and my facility started me out as an OR nurse with 6 years experience on the payscale. It's definitely wort...

I was a surgical tech for 13 years before I decided to go back to nursing school. I was bored with the repetition, and felt there was no room for growth. Getting my BSN was one of my proudest accomplishments. It was difficult with a family and workin...

I was a surgical tech for 13 years before I graduated nursing school in May 2014. I was happy scrubbing for a long time. My starting salary was $16, and I ended up at $21 and some change. I specialize in cardiac, and it is mentally and physically cha...

My CVOR team is like family. We are a small group that spends hours upon hours together. Sometimes tempers do flair, but almost always at the end of the day, it is behind us. I have heard from new people that it can be tough to break into the group, ...

If I could wave a magic wand, and change anything about the OR I work in, it would be how cases are scheduled. I work in a cardio-thoracic OR with 6 surgeons. Cases are boarded inconsistently. By that I mean, have a ton of cases on one day, and none...

I was a surgical tech for 12 years before I went to nursing school. In my case, I was offered a job as a RN in my OR after graduation. The hospital I work for also gave me half credit for my number of years worked as a ST, and I started out as a nurs...

The scrub tech orientation in our OR is 12 weeks. We do cardiothoracic cases only. If the tech has no cardiac experience, the orientation period may be extended. They are typically assigned to one main preceptor and one back up preceptor. Our facilit...

I only used Kaplan, and passed with 75 questions. I felt like the Kaplan questions were harder than those on my NCLEX. Good luck to you!

On my very first clinical day, a classmate and I were attempting to remove a bedpan from beneath a very large patient. We were reminiscent of the three stooges as we played a twisted version of tug-of-war with this bedpan. Finally, it dislodges and...

I can empathize with how you feel. Committing to nursing school is a big deal. Like you, I had a career that I had gone as far in as I could go. I liked the job, but I felt trapped with no room to grow. I had contemplated nursing school at variou...

I can completely relate to your feelings. Last semester (my third) I hit a rough patch with school. I seriously considered taking a year off. I cried a lot, but I made myself stick it out, because in my heart I really think this is what I'm meant ...

I had my last first day of class today! I am surprised to find myself excited about this semester starting. I had been suffering from serious burn out last semester. While my feelings may change next week, or heck even tomorrow, at this point in t...

Some advice given to me, that I frequently fall back on, is to be nice to yourself. Nursing school is hard. The chances of a person doing well on every test or skill is small. You have to learn not to beat yourself up, and to shake off the bad thi...

I've been a scrub tech for almost 12 years. When I graduate nursing school in May, the hospital I work for is going to start me out as a RN with 6 years of experience.

I am so excited to be graduating in May! We are beginning to talk about pinning and graduation, it seems so surreal! I already have a job, so I just need to focus on getting through the upcoming semester. I am nervous, but can't wait to see what th...

I find myself lacking in motivation as well. I have two semesters left for my BSN. Some things I've done to try to raise my sagging spirits include printing of the transcripts from classes I've completed on this journey. Looking back over ten seme...