nursed40

I am currently in the Navy but I am getting out in 2 months and also starting school this summer. The Navy reserve has some good options. There is the TMS option where if you agree to 6 years of reserve service once you are done with school, they will give you 2 grand a month during your schooling as well as a 50K loan repayment. so if your school is 30 months long, you will get 60K plus the 50K loan repayment for a total of 110K in return for 6 years of reserve service once you finish. With this option, you do not have to drill during school which is really nice. Or you could always join the reserves when you are done with school and sign up for a shorter duration like 3 years. Maybe the bonuses will be higher in a few years?? I almost opted for the TMS option, but I decided I wanted a clean break from the military and will reevaluate things after I am done with school. Hope this helps!

To make it easier for those that can't PM, my email is [email protected]. Looking forward to meeting everyone =)

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your nursing care. It definitely takes a special person to care for sick babies all day!

Congrats BTCRN!!! I'm sure the next 3 years will be a new challenge but definitely worth it! No, I did not interview on the 9th so I am pretty sure we haven't met. I'll send you a PM with my info.

Just wanted to start a thread for networking purposes for those of you who were accepted into NEU class that starts in September 2014. It's starting to sink in for me that after all the hoops I have jumped through, I will be in CRNA school this time next year :)

I was thinking of applying for next year, but found out I got into Missouri. Good luck

I just sent you a PM.

I agree! Most hospitals won't look at you without the BSN.

Be careful when giving IV phenergan to elderly patients. 25mg could either make them sleep for 8 hours or start hallucinating!

After working ER and medsurg, I would say ER is where you want to be. Every day you see different pt's and you get instant gratification helping people with acute problems. While on med surg i felt like all i did was run around pushing meds and answering call lights.

Where did you go to anesthesia school? Did you still drill during your CRNA program?

I lived in JAX for 2 years as a Navy nurse. I loved it there! If you like night life then live in Southside since its about half way in between the beaches and the hospital. I lived near orange park when i first moved there and hated it due to heavy traffic. Good luck!

I like working with smart women who are caring. If you are looking for a girl, the hospital is a great place to be!

Make sure you get scrub bottoms that either have cargo pockets to carry more things like flushes. You could also consider getting a stylish fanny pack and keep things you use often.

Try checking out icufaqs.org. It goes over all the things a new nurse will need to know!

I am an ER nurse. Could an experienced NICU nurse describe for me what a typical day is like?

I think ICU requires a wider knowledge base. Some patients that come in to the ER will eventually become ICU patients if they are sick enough to be admitted, so you will need to know some critical care interventions if you work in the ER. You won't know what you like until you try it. I suggest doing some shadowing on both units and see which one you enjoy more.

Working in trauma can be stressful at times so sense of humor is a must! Also try not to get to amped up and yell while taking care of your pt because yelling just stresses everyone in the room and doesn't help your team perform better.

I also wanted an ICU position immediately after nursing school. I was bummed when I began working on med- surg because I thought I was wasting my time. I could not have been more wrong! Working on medsurg I became excellent at placing IV's and priority managing. You will also get a feel for the flow of how different departments in the hospital work together. Now that I work on ICU, I realize that all the things I learned on medsurg only made me a better ICU nurse. Good luck in your nursing career!

Check out this awesome website...icufaqs.org. Lots of great info for any ICU nurse!

Being in the ICU, you will have a ton of things to learn. In the ICU I work in there are some stellar nurses with years and years of experience and compared to them sometimes I feel like I have so much more to learn. One thing that has helped me is this awesome website...icufaqs.org. The website was made by an ICU nurse with 20 years of experience and he breaks down in easy to understand terms some things I thought were complicated. Every day you continue to learn and grow in your experience so don't be so hard on yourself. You will be amazed how much you can learn in a year!!!

I used to work in JAX Vincent. Did you work at Shand's?

Hey I also have an interview this saturday at MSU! Where are you coming from?