Sammi15

In 2009, the per diem rate for RN was $48 for day shift and $50 for night shift. I'm sure they increase it every year. Good luck!

Hello all, I'm about to start my FNP program in 1 week and I was wondering if you guys enjoy being a NP compare to a RN. I have been a RN for two years now and by the time I'm done with my program I should have 5 years RN experience, do you think that's enough to become a NP? I have always wanted to be a NP since nursing school and hopefully the job safisfaction as a NP will be better compare to a RN. Thank you in advance for all your feedback!

Thank you for your positive feedback! I'm so happy to hear that you enjoy being a NP. I'm currently an outpatient chemo nurse and although I love what I do most of the time, I feel there is something missing, autonomy maybe? Even though my hospital has nurse ladder for RN, I still feel that getting my NP will give me more opportunity and satisfaction. Next month, I'll start my FNP program and I so looking farward to it. Like you said, it's going to be tough and hard but I know it'll be so worth it at the end. Thanks a lot for your words of encouragement!!!

Really, which floor(s) are you hired for? After the orientation, I actually never return for more per diem work. I guess seeing how they function kinda kept me away. After working for few hospitals that have so many resources (ie, supply, supporting staff, pharm, no IV team, etc.), I was kinda spoiled and don't think I'll like working for NYDH. Therefore, I decided not to return. The only things that I like is the nurses, they are really nice and helpful when I was there. Are you doing per diem in addition to full-time elsewhere? Good luck!

Hi, Bklynbaby Thank you so much for your continuous guidance! You are right, I shouldn't take Patho in the summer, it too much material to absorb in such a short period of time. Therefore, I'll go with my original plan and take 621 & 624. I think I'll do one class each semester after summer b/c the rest of the core classes look pretty intense. It'll take me a little longer but I rather go slow and get the most of this program than cram and learn nothing at the end. I think I might finish this program in 3 years. How long did it take you to finish? How's your new NP job so far? Thank you once again for all your continuous advices! U R AWESOME!

Hi, Bklynbaby I just got accepted to Pace's FNP program for this summer and I want to take 2 core classes (NUR 621 & NUR 624) which are offer for 5 weeks only. In your honest opinion, do you think it doable while working full-time or it's too much for the summer's semester. Or I could just take Pathophysiology only. What do you think of my plan? Thank you in advance for all your feedback and advices!

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I'm so glad you graduated from Pace b/c I applied to Pace for summer 2010's semester and expecting a decision soon. In the meantime, I work full-time and thinking of going to school part-time. Do you think it's doable if I take two classes / clinicals per semester (even summer)? Do you like being a NP more compare to being a bedside RN? Any advices / tips on surviving Pace FNP program? Thank you once again for your feedback!

If you don't mind me asking, which school did you graduated from? Did you have a difficult time getting a FNP job? I'm in the process of starting FNP school soon and I would love to hear the future prospect for FNP! Thank you in advance for your help!

If you get hired, make sure you don't go to, 3 North (med/surg, post op), one of the worst floor in the entire hospital 4 North (tele) 3 Main (the entire night crew RN quitted due to poor management) Otherwise, good luck!

Great News!!!! I'm happy to announce that I'm leaving my current job soon and will be going to work for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as a outpatient chemo nurse. My intention was to continue working inpatient but there was NO position availabe @ Sloan and the HR offers me a outpatient chemo nurse position only b/c I have background exp on oncology and have administer chemo on my current floor. Of course I'm will to take it! I interview with the nurse leader and nurse manager @ Sloan. After a long process, I was finally offered and accepted the position. I'm so happy!!!! Sloan is so awesome in so many way. I think I'll spend the rest of my nursing career at Sloan.

Hello all I have a question and I hope one of you guy can help me out! I plan to take the OCN test in 11/2009 but need to apply by July 8. I'm applying for the first time and trying to get everything together such as 10 contact hours of oncology nursing CE and letter of attendance (1 year nursing experience + 1000 hours of oncology). My question is, do I need to ask my nurse manager to type up a letter of attendance to submit to OCN or they'll call to confirm my attendance? I find it really confusing and hope you can help me out! Thank you in advance!!!!

I think most hospitals in the city will pay for tuition after 6 months to 1 year of employment. If you don't mind me asking, which graduate school will you be going?

Thank you everybody for replying! I actually got the per-diem position already and awaiting for orientation to start soon. The nurse manager said the orientation will only be 2 days. Basically is to orient me to the floor like where eveything is, charting, computer system, etc. This hospital is much smaller (180 beds) compares to my full-time position where they have close to 600 beds. I'm hoping it will be easier and less crazy since it's a smaller hospital. Since it's a per-diem job, I feel like I can give up anytime I want to. Really NO commitment.

Hi I'm NYU alum of class 2007 and I love NYU nursing school. I spent a fortune for my nursing education but worth every single penny. Now that I'm ready for graduate school, I applied to Hunter for Fall 2009's semester. I applied before their deadline (4/1) and have yet to receive an answer from Hunter. Everytime I get in touch with admin ppl, they always give me the run around. I guess this is expected from CUNY. I agreed with a lot of ppl that Hunter is a great school and since my employer will only pay limit amount for school and I don't want to add more debt on top of my NYU debt and for that reason I decided to try Hunter. I feel like Hunter is already giving me a bad first impression from the start and imagine if I'm in the program. If I do get accepted, I really have to think hard if I want to go through with their program. If my employer will pay for 100% tuition, I would go to NYU in a heartbeat! Just my 2 cents!!!

How much nursing experience do you think I need in order to work as per-diem? I have a full-time RN position on an oncology/med-surg floor and will reach my 1 year mark on June 2. Do you think I'm capable to work in a smaller hospital as a per-diem nurse. I plan to work one shift (12 hrs) per week. Thanx so much!

The reason I went to the job fair is to provide moral support to my friend. We work in the same hospital but different floor in LI and she desperately want to leave in ASAP and we were hoping the job fair will provide a great opportunity but turn out to be a complete waste of time. My friend has only 10 months exp and everybody said they want that 1 year of med/surg. What a shame! Like I said before, I only want to apply to Memorial Sloan Kettering but will consider other if I don't get a position there. I hand my resume to Mount Sinai, NYU, New York Hospital Queen (close to my house) and will apply to NYP later. We were on Contium line too but gave up after 30 minutes wait. I think they're hiring a lot of nurses. I must admit it's a difficult time to apply as a new grad to any hospital, where I work they're already having a hiring freeze since March and even if they hire anyone, it will from within first. Good luck with your search!

I went with my friend and I found the job fair to be a waste of time. I think every hospitals or home care agencies we talk to require 1 year of med/surg experience. I'm lucky to have my one year experience but what about all the new grad with zero or few months experience. Some hospitals like NYP or LIJ don't even want to take your resume and just said apply on-line. I think the nicest nurse recruiter is from NYU. He actually encourages me to apply to their BMT floor at the end of the year if I don't plan to leave ASAP at my current job but I still have my heart set on Sloan (my #1 choice). What hospitals did you applied to? Good luck with your job search!!!

Hello all, I applied for a RN per diem position at New York Downtown Hospital and HR called me for an interview in two week. I would love to know the working condition at New York Downtown Hospital for nurses. Any insights are welcome! Thank you in advance!

Thank you desta for your reply! I'm seriously considering trying out home care nursing after 9 months (med-surg) in the hospital. The stress of bedside nursing is killing me. I would like to try per diem first and see how I like it. If you don't mind me asking, how many patients do you usually see per day? Do you have a lot of paperwork afterward? And how do you like working for VNSNY? I hear they're one of the best company to work for! Thank you in advance!

I work on a oncology mixed with med/surg floor. We have 35 beds on our unit and on day there are 5-6 nurses and night only 4 nurses, sometime 3 if we're short. Day nurses take 5-7 patients each and night nurses (myself included) take 9-12 patients . I really hate working on my floor b/c at night we've no secretary or helper nurse which mean we do all the admission and entering and picking orders. Being a new nurse is even harder to handle this kind of workload! I really want to leave soon and find a better working environment. I think we should have a mandate law (like Cali) where each nurse can take up to certain amount of patients. A lot of time, I feel unsave taking care of so many patients at once.

Hello all, Does anybody know what is the starting salary for VNSNY with one year of med/surg (hospital only) experience? Thanx so much!!!

Hello fellow oncology nurses, I really need your help! I am currently working on a mixture of med/surg & oncology floor and would like to seek for a more oncology specialized hospital. My problem is, I do so many things from routine med/surg to hanging chemo and blood and I don't know if I should put all my job description on the resume or just the oncology part. If I write everything, I would take up the entire page or more. Any advice on how I should write my new resume? Any sample or link to oncology nursing resume would be terrrific. I tried to goolge but can't find anything. I really need a new resume by 2 weeks, please HELP! Thank you so much!

No, I want to leave the hospital completely! I don't really like the hospital very much b/c they don't treat the nurses well.

Hello all, I'm currently working on a med/surg that specialized in oncology and thinking of leaving once I hit the 1 year mark. Do you think I can find a new job easily with a 1 year exp under my belt? I want to leave b/c I only want to specialized in oncology.

You're welcome! The passing grade was B- for all nursing classes when I attended. I don't know if they change it now. I think the passing grade remains the same but the numeric grade when up. If you're serious about NYU, you can always attend one of their open house for more information. Good luck!