AirborneMedic

Yes. Definitely sounds like Austin. The cost of living is kinda high because of UT, but there are plenty of outdoor things to do for you non-gamers. Do you like hunting? San Antonio has a much lower cost of living and it's only an hour from Austin.

I worked for Baptist and Methodist hospitals in San Antonio off and on for about 4 years. Those are two of the biggest hospitals in the area. Each has about 5 hospitals in the city, not including their smaller outpatient clinics and urgent care centers. I worked at Methodist about a year ago and I can tell you they are avoiding LPNs/LVNs and going with RNs/BSNs. They are even urging their travel/agency nurses to become core full time staff and are avoiding agencies as much as possible. I think Baptist still has a few LVNs in the ER, but they've been there almost 10 years and have proven themselves. This is what I've seen in the ER and Med/Surg, since 2008. I don't know about other depts. There just isn't much opportunity for LVNs in the big hospitals here, but there are countless healthcare facilities in San Antonio. Plenty of medical demand. As far as pay, I've been gone a while. In 2008 I knew an ER LVN that was making $24/hr. Hope this helps. Message me if you need more info.

Yeah I've been overseas for a while. Thanks for the welcome.

No coffee in the ER? That's just downright Communist and that hospital should be shut down. Nothing gets done until I've had my coffee. Hell I won't do CPR until there is caffeine running through my veins. Hooah!

Assuming the waiting area is busy, I don't even ask them to hang up. I stop charting, stand up, open the door to the waiting room and tell them I have to call them back in a while. I call the next patient and tell them in my best Army NCO voice, "make sure that cell phone is off."

I did. And I threw him back out to the dreaded waiting room.

Patients who feel they need to call everybody on their contacts list to let them know they are going to the ER. As soon as I get them into triage and begin their assessment everybody on their contact list decides to return that call.

Me: Sir on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most pain you've ever experienced, how bad is your abdominal pain? Pt: It's a 10. (As he's texting away.) Me: So if I took that cell phone and smashed it into your skull it wouldn't hurt as much as your belly ache? Pt: ????

Patients with 10/10 migraine, chest or abdominal pain who move like pond water when I call them into triage or try to get them into a gown, but suddenly find the strength to jump out of their skin in order to respond to a text or answer their phone while I'm starting an IV or doing an EKG.

Complains of being short of breath, but won't stop talking on the phone while I'm trying to do an assessment.

When the police or other drunk friends bring in their semiconscious drunk friend to the ER. I'm in my 40's. I bartended for 15 years and spent some time in the Army. I was drunk throughout my 20's. All of it. I spent more time drunk than most of you spent in college and nursing school combined. I never once ended up in the ER because I was drunk. Usually just slept it off and woke up in a puddle of vomit in bed or the bathtub.

Trauma shears, pen light, sharpie, dry erase marker, stethoscope, hemostats (stack 2 different types of tape on the hemostats and clamp them to the lower edge of your scrubs top, let them dangle), belt clip for your smart phone (it will jump out of your top pocket as your leaning over someone), clear eye protection or safety glasses for those patients who decide to vomit as you're doing CPR, your own personal mic and headset if they're using Motorola radios. Hooah!