Dallas_RN

Welcome, I worked at BUMC for nearly 10 years and can safely say you do not want to be walking to work. It's a very shady area, during my tenure there were several assaults/muggings on staff walking to/from their car. Many female staff members had security walk them to the garage at shift change. Sorry I cannot recommend a place to rent as I lived in the Uptown area and drove in to work. The public transportation system is the DART system and has a train that drops off at the hospital.

Houston and Dallas (including nicer suburbs) pay fairly well. New grads start around $25/hr, shift diff adds $3/hr from 3-7pm. Nights typically is $5/hr, and weekend varies by facility but say another $6-9/hr. All of these are stackable, so nights and weekends are the most lucrative. In addition with good performance you can expect 2-3% hourly raise a year at a larger facility.

What part of of Texas will you be working? Provided it's not in a small town, you should see a nice pay increase.

Go for it, I see many second career RNs in the hospital. You'll have more time (36hr week) and earn more money than you currently make. Also factor in the earning potential with extra shift ability, overtime, shift differential, and critical shift pay....it's a no brainer.

Congrats on the transition!

I personally know 2 nurses who had to answer all 265 questions and both passed. If by chance you do not, keep your head up. You'll get there.

The biggest shortage here is for surgery RN's, most hospitals are offering bonuses. I had one in the mail last week for $15,000 for surgical RN's...if only.

Either residency will provide a great foundation, I'm biased and say to go the ED route but that's me.. It's well worth it and will get the new grad acclimated to critical care nursing and thinking. Flight nursing will require some experience, and some more education as she will also have to become an EMT-Paramedic (most flight agencies will train in house). Best of luck to you both. :)

ED and ICU get a "critical care" shift diff, I think it's $3/hr

Patient is safe, no harm was done...take it as a learning experience and move on.

Several places I have worked paid $2/hr critical care diff for ED/ICU

I have the option of (5) 8's or (4) 10's and have worked 10's for the past 6 years and has served me well. I have the luxury of picking my days and has served me well. I work Mon-Thurs and rather a 3 day weekend every week. Personally I rather have more days off at the trade off of longer hours.

Everything you are feeling is completely normal, especially transitioning from the floor to the ED. Prioritizing and gut instinct will be your greatest ally. Over time you will find your groove and things that once frazzled you will be second nature. One thing I have noticed when precepting is many new ED nurses tend to get anxious when a they have an intubated patient. Over time you will appreciate them as for these patients you know the airway is secure. Also when prioritizing and you have several patients "trying to die on you" remember pain has never killed anyone. It sounds cold, and it is, but when you have to pick one patient who is #1, it's not the one on the call light crying for pain medication. After everyone is safe, certainly get this patient comfortable and to a tolerable pain level. But the paint hollering, cursing and on the call light can be delayed a few minutes for someone who's ABC's are not secure. You will get more comfortable with time, stick with it. :)

I was an EMT-P prior to nursing school. You will have an advantage in nursing school just having that previous knowledge base.

my last GF and current fiance were/are co-workers.

Crocs run big, I have a size 12 foot and wear a 10 in a Croc. I've tried everything from Birkenstock to Nike shox and the Crocs have been great for my feet and back. They are easily the ugliest shoe I own, but I'm not trying to win any fashion award in the E.R.

I'm a guy and straight and my GF is also a RN so "No"

What I like about picking up shifts in the ICU is that I have a whopping TWO patients to care for, TWO. In the ER, I'll have up to 5 at a time. Our admit percentage is 72% so we see a lot of sick patients. And as far as "clinic patients" they go through fast track, so we don't have the luxury of treating those folks in the main ER. One night last week in the E.R. I had a subarachnoid vented pt awaiting an ICU bed, another ICU pt who was on Levo along with a faulty pacemaker/Difib, a telemetry pt (3 previous MI's) who was on Cardene as well as an insulin drip who must drink prune juice and mag citrate by the gallon it seemed, and a Lower GI bleed admitted to the floor who's was getting 2units of blood all at the same time. Everyone's on the call light (except for the vented pt of course) for various things, have to change sheets because they are soiled (We don't have the luxury of rectal tubes like we have in the ICU.), MD calling to give verbal orders, pain meds, etc... And the entire time I couldn't help to think how if I was only in the ICU, I'd have two of them. Half of these people I had to work up, start lines, get labs, intubate, throw in NG tubes, foleys, etc. We don't have all the work done for us like I do in the ICU, we initiate everything, we even stabilize them before going to the unit, all is needed then is to maintain. Luckily for me we were completely saturated up stairs with zero beds available in the house so I took care of all FOUR patients the entire 12hours of the shift. But that's life in a busy E.R., I guess those critical patients I take care in the ICU magically become "critical" when they get on the unit because E.R. nursing doesn't involve critical care. I do find it odd we have lots of ER nurses who pickup shifts in ICU, yet the ICU nurses "looking to make a change" never last long in the E.R. They typically make comments about the "workload" and "their feet hurting from standing" in the ED. I guess they must be bored from the slow pace and overabundance of clinic patients we see down there.

Just curious why it only includes the ICU/CCU specialties? I mainly work E.R. but also pick up shifts on the ICU as well and this baffles me? I mean who do you think takes care of these patients before they go to ICU? Are they not considered "Critical" until they have a ICU room number despite having ICU orders and sitting in the E.R. for 24hours while waiting for a unit bed? My facility recognizes it and pays us accordingly but just curious why the way it is listed here? :)

I have to disagree considering from 2000 through 2007, McKinney, Texas, was the nation's fastest -growing city. There is a reason meaning are leaving Dallas and and other suburbs such as Plano to move to McKinney.

It's a good course and teaches the basics of trauma care and to treat these patients accordingly.

Depends on the state, area of specialty, size of the hospital, and shift differentials.

My Treo750 serves me well...

Oh I didn't say "30minutes" I said 30miles. Depending on traffic it will take 30minutes to 1hr to downtown from Plano/McKinney/Frisco. There is also the tollway if you do not like I75.

Saw this on Yahoo... That large figure ($144,000) vastly depends on experience, kocation, and OT. http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-staying_power_5_careers_with_bright_futures-493