DNS.RN78

My husband is retiring from the military next year and we will be relocating from the Oregon coast to Jacksonville, FL (where 95% of my family resides) next summer. My current hospital, along with most in my area, are unionized. NOT including the PIB I receive (pay in lieu of benefits - 20% on top of base pay), I earn approximately $10/hr more than the starting salaries I've been quoted at the few non-union FL hospitals I've spoken with in the area where we'll be moving. Are salaries generally negotiable in a non-union environment? Do hospitals regularly provide PIB? Is it a reasonable request, if PIB is not part of their routine? As we will still have military (or retiree) benefits at a great rate, I don't intend to take advantage of benefits provided by my new employer (PTO included) and this is a financial benefit to my future employer. At the time of our move, and even though I'm "old" (38) for a new nurse, I'll have two years' experience in LDRP with a BSN from Oregon Health & Science University and have earned a membership with Sigma Theta Tau (The International Honor Society of Nursing). While I'm not naive enough to think that these mean anything to anyone outside the nursing education world, do they mean ANYTHING to anyone else? Aside from achieving exemplary grades, I'm truly passionate about what I do; I love my job, and am committed to learning as much as I can about my chosen field, regardless of my physical location. What can I do to improve my chances of a) choosing a desirable facility, b) landing an LDRP job at such a facility, c) negotiating a salary that is at least somewhat comparable to what I make now, and d) having more negotiation leverage in general (leadership, participating in unit-based practice councils, extraneous education, courses, certifications, etc.)? I hold certs in BLS (of course), PALS, and NRP, and will have Basic EFM and AFM before my relocation. Clearly, the matter of most import at this point is my hourly rate at a new position, since I'll be the main breadwinner for my family. I'd like to note, however, that my long-term goal is to attend Frontier Nursing University and become a Certified Nurse Midwife, working at, or starting my own, birth center. This long-term goal is anecdotal at best, although my previous personal history and bone-deep passion for this field means the world to ME. Any advice or suggestions?

So I have a few shifts in the ER next month as part of my hospital's new RN program. I am TERRIFIED. I have never had a desire to be in the ER, but I want to make the best of my shifts and not be a fraidy-cat or jerk. So how do I get over my fear and be helpful and learn? What should I avoid saying/doing?

OMGosh, that's awful!!!! It was downright BORING today from about 1500-1700, and I *thought* about saying it out loud, but I didn't. We got slammed for the last two hours because I'm a ginger and I have mind-control. THEN, when I was giving report I walked away from one of the night nurses and flippantly said, "I hope you have a quiet night!" She just glared at me and said, "We don't say the 'Q' word around here." I apologized profusely. SHEESH.

I guess I actually have a question, too...do you find that "rule" holds true? Do floors blow up after someone utters the words "slow," "quiet," or "boring?"

So I just worked my first week on the floor as an RN orientee. I'm on a Medical Care Unit that includes Tele, Peds, and Oncology. I felt really helpful and competent but on Friday I made a HUGE mistake that I've always heard about... Almost half of the floor had discharged by 1pm, and I made the faux paux of saying out loud that it was slow. No one corrected or shushed me, and I wondered internally if anything would happen. It did. The last 4 hours of that shift were the most incredibly exhausting, crazy-making hours I've ever had. I won't do it again, I promise!!!!!!!!

As a Mom who has had a twin infant demise (albeit premature), THANK YOU for doing that for them. We were too scared and broken to ever hold or see our boys, and so we never knew what they looked like, or held them. Not taking the chance to hold my boys while they were alive is my biggest regret in life, and the reason I went into nursing. I am eternally grateful to the nurses who held my babies and were with them when they died. Thank you for being that for them.

If you wouldn't lick it, put on gloves.

I tested this past Tuesday (July 7) at 2pm and got my quick results from PearsonVue at noon on Thursday - I passed in 75 questions, I also had nothing but multiple choice and SATA!! It can be done!! I do have to say, I think it's 48 BUSINESS hours, so if you tested today you may not get quick results Sunday. But I'd check, just in case. Keep busy and hold out, don't spend any money when it won't change the outcome anyway. :) (((hugs)))