Bluespruce

Pays is decent & you can work 'off' hours which is a good thing for some people (especially if you don't yet have a family of your own). People will appreciate you occasionally & that really feels nice. After a days work you know you really did something & contributed to help people. You get more familiar with some human raw emotions which can maybe make you a better reader of human nature. You get to learn some really neat stuff - isn't the body fascinating? It is a job where your experience & education builds on itself. When you stay in the profession for a long time you typically get paid better. I do have to add that I never found the right position in nursing even though I got my RN. I'm not totally sad about this because I go to a desk job everyday & never have to worry about life/death situations. I can leave my job at work most days too, unlike in nursing, where lots of luggage comes home with you. You can get a job almost anywhere in the US, which is a great sense of financial security. I imagine if I ended up moving to some nowhere town it might be the only decent job I could find & I'd need to reenter.

Hi, You sound like you're really at a crossroads. Keep in mind that some of your husband's behavior may also be because of your behavior. I know you said you praise your husband when he's in a good mood. Do you also do that when he's in a so so mood? I've heard, & think it makes sense, that men typically need to feel like the 'winners' & the best judge of that in their ego-sensical way is to feel like a 'winner' in the eyes of their wives. Do you love & adore qualities about him? If so highlight them & encourage them to him. Also, it's not just your husband that drives you crazy I'm suspecting. Are you driving yourself a little crazy too? It's easy to blame the person that you live with but part of the reason may also be that you're blaming the easiest target - him. Could you ever have a talk w/your husband when you're both at least in an ok mood & talk about the difficulties of watching the kid & studying? Maybe set a time with him to 'stick to' where he is the only person responsible for watching your son between like 7-8pm. When he does watch your son do you let him do it 'his way?'...or do you tell him the 'right' (your way) to handle things. Letting him do some not-so-dangerous things his way will help to make him feel better about watching your son, I'd guess. Anyways, I just figured i'd throw some random thoughts out there. Maybe they will/won't help. In any case, I'm sure you'll find your way. Good luck & be strong for your boy!

Yeah, I can really understand where you're coming from - feeling overwhelmed so consistently. I'm still a pretty new nurse & remember in nursing school one of my teachers telling me that one effective way of voting was with your feet. I did do that w/my 1st job & don't regret it. I have found something that is a much better fit for me since then. It was no cakewalk, but nothing that is really worth it is. Staying isn't a cakewalk either.

I have my BA in psych & had non-related psych positions for about 5 yrs before deciding to get my RN (did an ADN). I think it could help you in getting into a psych RN job quicker (possibly) & also in pursuing an advanced degree in nursing (you could skip the whole BSN part).

Florence Nightingale also stated something to the effect that women shouldn't become doctors either. Although she did some great things, we live in a totally different world.

I think there is often times a tradeoff (quality of life-wise) when getting the best-paying job. Usually those jobs, like a clinical monitor, are way stressful and you may be away from where you live much of the time with 50% travel. Living in motels/hotels 1/2 the time can get old really quick. In any case, we need people to fill those shoes,

Hi Amy, I just took the NCLEX in July & percentages from the nclex review books aren't always terribly accurate predictors. I know I took a Kaplan review course & worked a lot with their computer CD & that really did simulate pretty well the types of questions that I got on the real exam. I think just doing tons & tons of the questions & learning from the rationales will help. On the kaplan nclex CD I got roughly 60 & 70% on a lot of the practice tests, but so did my peers who were studying with me (& we studied a lot). We all 3 took the exam & passed in 75 questions, so I figure we did something right. Good luck & study hard!

I would never tolerate that behavior in the US - I'm thankful that I'm an RN here & not elswhere for a myriad of reasons! The aformentioned post being one of those reasons...training just isn't as regulated. Have you ever worked or lived overseas? It'll make you appreciate what rights we do have here compared to some other places.

Just one more thing...the initial shock of nursing school w/buttwiping and some aweful smells sights may scare you away, but I tell you the more you get exposed to it the more desensitized you'll become because most likely you'll have to go through this in becoming an RN initially.

Yeah, that sounds sort of similar to where I was as an aide. I did vitals at times on all 30 pts, but during that time I really couldn't be answering lights as well.(when I was only aide) Sort of a tough balancing act. Those sound like decent ratios though for the nurses so that they aren't stretched as thin as some with say 8-14 pts.

Yeah it sounds like the aide wasn't empathetic to you at all - that doesn't help the pts any.

Wow! I can't believe these ratios...I was hoping that was more or less a thing of the past, but I guess not. In the metro area where I live I haven't heard of more than 7 pts per nurse other than at the VA hospital. Was this at a more rural hospital? Being a new RN & having just done aide work for a while though, let me tell you doing vitals on 32 pts is virtually impossible.(especially if it's q4 & your're supposed to answer all the lights - it can't be done really) They'll be asked for several different things & not just the vitals upon visits to each pt room to do the vitals. Anyways, I don't think their job is necessarily easier (but of course I'm not there). To me it sounds like you're all working your xxsses off & risking your licenses at the same time. Of course the aide gets paid substantially less too...I don't think I could ever be an aide long-term (for more than a few years). They really work hard, don't get the respect they deserve by many & have a super physical & important job.

Thanks for all your responses...I guess as a new nurse if I'm put in any of these situations I'll just have to fill out incident reports (before I think something really bad might happen) & then of course chart what I notified physicians about that could turn into potential issues. It's nice to have the seasoned nurse's perspective & advice! I don't get what you mean though by "The letter is beat, puts the responsibility for the fall or worse on the facility where it belongs." ...what is the letter you're referring to? I just want to make sure I understand. Thanks!

Also, I have a question for you in re: to this situation being that I'm a new nurse. In general, should you chart that you've requested such & such because of your reasonable fear that pt could fall out of bed & injure him/herself? I wonder if charting that is ok & I wonder if it'd help your license. Of course, from the hospital's liability standpoint they may not like u to chart this kind of stuff. What are your thoughts on the matter? It seems one way you're looking after your own license & the other way you're just looking after the hospital's liability.

I wonder if you worked for a VA hospital? I've noticed the worst ratios & circumstances for patients there on med/surg floors.