Irene joy

Does anybody have any recommendations for a hospital? I'm currently working in a level two trauma center with about 350 beds. Looking for something at least this size or better. I have mostly medsurg ICU experience and also work as a House supervisor. Oh, and prefer no pediatrics.....

Thank you for your response. I am in love with the state of Arizona and would probably take a small pay cut if needed to escape this gray rainy weather:)

I hope to be moving to AZ in the next couple years and have noticed that AZ seems to pay at least 10 dollars less an hour than the hospitals in my area, the PNW. I earn about 45.00 /hour for 10 years experience here and everything I've seen seems to be in the low thirties all over AZ . Do hospitals pay more for experience? I just want to be sure I can afford to live there if I move! Thanks so much for your responses!

I'm also looking to relocate there in the next 2 years and Im looking for a great hospital. 9 years of critical care experience with some leadership responsibilities. I'd love any other input from current nurses in the area!

Congratulations!!!!:nurse:

Congratulations! You are officially an RN! I want to encourage us all to post our successes:), I think the lurkers(myself included) need to see people posting about passing along with the folks who post about failing. It gets discouraging and scary to see post after post about people failing... :yeah:

Congratulations!!!! Good News!!!

I recently took the ATI predicter test and passes with a 96% chance of passing NCLEX. I got a 76% on the overall test with 170 questions (something like that). I'm just wondereing if that prediction for me is acurate. I plan on studying just as hard as if it said I had a 70% chance, but was wondering what all your experiances have been. Thanks!

I love it too! I'm on a chest pain unit so I get MI r/o, post cardiac cath patients and other telemetry patients. I do lots of blood sugars, vitals, set up ECG's, dinner trays and other details. I'm allowed to do blood draws and catheters, but so far the lab takes care of blood draws. I have been able to put in catheters though! My nurses are very good about teaching and letting me do lots of things. Last week she let me do a bubble echocardiogram with the Tech. Very cool, so far this has been a great learning experiance.

Thanks for your responces! As a student still, I know how broke I am now, and how good it will feel to be able to pay the bills without too much stress! It would be hard to go back to broke again after getting accustomed to not worrying about money as much. As much as I want to go right into CRNA after my bachelors, I feel that I owe it to my family to be around for them for at least a little while. The kids have seen me in school since the age of two and they probably will need a break. I'm hoping to be set to go for NA school when they get closer to high school age. Here's another question, since I have the time, 6 years or so, should I spend as much time in ICU as possible? It's hard to decide, I want OR and I want ICU at the same time and I know I can't have both.

Yes, definitely work as a CNA or Tech. My hospital employs nurse techs, nursing students who have passed level two. All techs that I know have gotten the job they wanted before they even graduated.

My hospital is discontinuing the Baylor program right now. By June all Baylor nurses will have a different scedule. I guess it cost too much money:(

Yes, that's true. It seems like on the medsurg floors there's not a lot of teamwork, but in lets say, the OR or cath lab, they work as a team to finish the case. I think it depends on the unit.

I'm a nurse tech, I believe the same as nurse exturn. The position in only for nursing students. I'm on a cardiovascular unit that specializes in chest pain rule out, post cardiac cath procedures and various other things. I take lots of vitals, transport patients to Xray, ultrasound, discharge to car. I can draw blood for labs, insert catheters, take blood sugars and get 12 EKGs set up. Last week my nurse evan taught me to pull a femoral sheath! Not that I would do that myself but still cool. Good luck with your externship, you'lle learn a lot!

I think that yes, you can perform as a nurse evan without passion as long as you are a kind person, who cares for others and works smart and safe. But, it is very hard to do well in nursing school without passion. Passion is what keeps you up studying at night, passion is what it takes to do EVERYTHING it takes to do well in your courses. At 20 I had no idea what I wanted, and I definitely didn't have any passion. Take some time and you will find it, whatever it is. Good luck!

I get the anti-OR vibe all the time too. I graduate next winter and I'm the only one in the class of fourty evan remotely interested in the OR. Oh well, no one to fight it out with for preceptorship placement!:)

Thanks for answering guys, I was thinking of doing the CRNA route in the future but I probably wouldn't do that for quite a while. I want the kids to be in high school or later, I've been in school five years and they will need mom back for a while after I graduate. Who knows though, I may just love being a circulator and may not want to pursue an advanced degree.

I am also extremely interested in the OR so I found work as a tech in a hospital that has a new grad OR program. If you prove yourself, and impress your manager she will give you a great reference and that might just be your "in" that you need. I work in a cardiovascular unit for post angio's and other heart issues. Most managers know each other pretty well and sometimes it's all in who you know! Good luck!

I was hoping some fairly new OR nurses could answer this for me, I KNOW I want to be in the OR. I will be putting in for my preceptorship at the beginning of next quarter. I have two more quarters of nursing school. My only question is, I'm just starting to get better at what I'm doing, full assessments, IV meds, catheters, I've started several IV's and I love doing that kind of stuff. I'm afraid that if I go right into the OR after graduation I'll loose some of those skills. But then I think, If I have the opportunity to get into the OR I'd be stupid to turn it down. We have two hospitals in the area that have wonderful new grad residencies for OR. Did you go into OR right after graduation? How did that work for you? Thanks so much!

That's awesome you got the job! I HOPE to be in the same situation next year!

I just think it's crazy having new nurses as floats! I can't imagine having towalk into a new, unfamiliar situation everyday as a new nurse. I hope you are able to get into a more specialized unit ASAP!

Many of us in our class have gotten nurse tech jobs. We are at the point where we have learned all our skills, have done well in balancing time and can take on the extra time a jobs entails. We also know that we will not be handed a job just because we graduated. With hopspitals having hiring freezes, I'm more than happy doing CNA responcibilities while getting my foot in the door!

The only thing that stops me from KNOWING I want to be a CRNA is my family. There are not that many schools and moving is propably a real reality for CRNA students. Did you have to uproot your spouse and kids, pulling them from their job and schools? What about the morgage you already have and the family support you may have to move from? Unless you're single or have kids who are older and off to college, I just don't know how people manage! Any insite on how you've made it work?

Hi there, I am a mentor for first quarter students and I understand what you're going through. First of all, you will set your self up for failure if you attempt to work full time and be in the nursing program. There are very few who can do that and they don't usually have kids and they have to be incredibly focused and able to handle stress and juggling well. Give your self a break, and understand that first quarter is a HUGE adjustment and is hard for many people. Mabey not scholastically, but the amount of things to do in a short amount of time can be overwhelming. I promise it get's better as you become more organized and fall into a better routine. I always say, this isn't just school, it's a lifestyle. You will get used to not having any time to yourself, and as you get farther and farther along you will start to feel like a real nurse and it really gets fun. Hard work, but very rewarding. Please don't give up on your dream! You will continue to age and you can be closer to your goal or you'lle be in the same place you are now. Most schools will let you re-enter the next class and pick up where you left off. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!! If you want this bad enough, you wil FIGHT for it! Good luck!

I am in an ADN program and we have one observation day in second quarter. Today I lucked out and was able to observe again (I'm in fourth quarter now). I got to watch a total knee replacement anda total hip replacement. Our two local hospitals both have a new grad residency for OR. It is about 6-9 months long and intigrates the classroom and the OR. There is usually a contract that needs to be signed that states you will stay for at least 2 years after training. I hope to get into one when I graduate and pass NCLEX.