csrn2011

One 8 hour shift sounds practical. I work weekend option - 2 12 hour shifts. 1st semester I also worked 2 10 hour shifts. Last semester I had to cut back on my PRN position where I work 10 hour shifts. I think by my final semester I may have to quit my PRN position all together because I will have so many clinical hours to complete

Check into all of your local school programs and options. My school has an accelerated BSN program for students who already have a bachelors in something else. It's 16 months and you finish with a BSN. Check with your local hospital(s) also. My hospital paid for my BSN, while I worked for them with an ASN.

I left dialysis full time because of the crazy hours. It wasn't just that we worked 60-70 hour weeks but then we would work some 30 hour weeks. I hated that too because I didn't want to use all my vacation time to make up the hours. I still work PRN in an acute unit and they are about to trial a second shift that comes in at 10am and works until 10 pm.

It depends on the area of the country too.

Do some research and you'll find that there IS a shortage

Not really. Yes they are and do downsize but there's still a need. Between obamacare (more people with insurance = more people seeking care), an aging population (again, more people seeking care) and an aging nurse workforce (people retiring) we do have a shortage that's just getting worse. With most (>50%) new grads coming from ADN programs, they're not going anywhere anytime soon. It would mean moving all nursing programs to 4 year universities and it's not possible at this point.

It can here also but the patient has to be on telemetry.

Ask your manager if you can spend a few hours working with same day surgery. In my hospital that's a normal part of orientation because they start a lot of IVs there so you get a lot of practice. Other than that offer to try every time a patient needs one even if it's not your patient. The best IV nurse I know said once that the people who are most successful try the most!

In my experience managers in other departments want MS experience. There's a lot to learn in MS and it's a great place to develop skills. If you jump right in to a speciality you only develop skills for that speciality and then you're stuck. I learned that from experience. I went right into dialysis after RN school and I couldn't get out of it because dialysis was my only experience.

Everyone wants to start in their speciality. Work a med-surg floor for a couple of years though and you'll be able to go anywhere!

K+ can run at 10 mEq/hr. In my facility you can't piggyback electrolytes. They have to run them with fluids at the y-site. If it's running in a central line the patient won't feel it.

I think I read that there are only about 30 diploma programs in the US now.

Have you looked in to a radiology tech school? A lot of the pre-reqs are the same and they make good money.

I wore my regular Urbane bottoms with a maternity t-shirt and a scrub jacket all the way through my pregnancy. I didn't want to pay for maternity scrub tops that I was only going to wear for a few months.

My baby just turned 1 and I pumped until his birthday. We take a 15 minute break in the morning and I pumped then, at my lunch break and I would take another break in the afternoon to pump. It can definitely be done. Just remember that they have to give you breaks to pump, it's the law!