healtheducatorinCA

Where are you located? congratulations!

Hoping I'm posting in right place and I can gather some advice. New RN with 8 months experience that includes good experience at a clinic for 6m, then a summer camp. Currently working 3 12's at an emergency screening unit for kids for 5150. This job is dead one day, hectic another and involves behavioral assessments, case management and long discharges to in patient care. I've only been here 1 month since I returned to Southern California with an ADN and jobs here are fiercely competitive. I enjoy the behavioral assessments and work with psychiatrists but it is a lot of paperwork and deskwork. I hear RNs here though have moved on to other interesting positions not only in Psych. I just received an offer from Utah Intermountain in a surgical transplant unit close Salt Lake City. It's a residency where I get a good impression of my manager. I asked if I could work 2 shifts and she said yes, though I'll have some educational days. I forget how long the training is but at least 8 weeks with weekly education beyond that. I'm considering flying to SLC weekly until I get a sense of whether the job is a good fit. I've looked and can fly there in an hour. I know this must sound crazy, but would you try it if you were me? I'd stay in an Airbnb or motel. Last important point: I tried a Med Surg Residency out of state already and got let go for not scanning a narcotic I gave on a day when I was watched by a teacher unexpectedly, hanging IV meds too late and in general 2) not doing enough 'big picture thinking' (for example: the MD told me to walk an asthmatic patient down the hall before discharging and seeing how she did off O2 and I didn't think to put a Pulse Ox on her finger. I stayed close to her and she did not show signs of SOB but her sats were dropping when my Nurse Educator checked, so I looked inept) My preceptor felt I was ready to take on my ow patient load however - i did many things well like find infiltrated IVs, hang blood (with help), but the Manager did not agree. So I may not be ready for acute care. That was with a 1:6 ratio in a place I didn't like. This Residency would limit me to 5 patients but their acuity will be high. It's rare to get an opportunity like this, in the last one I mostly dealt with liver failures and addicts. My long term interest is in surgical and women's health, perhaps Cardiac. Considerations Job A in Socal is comfortable near family, pays well, has a lot of paperwork without hands-on nursing, but I enjoy the Psych aspect interviewing kids and working with psychiatrists. No kids, no husband Job A is in a beautiful location, pays well and is near my mother- my main family Job B will work to give me 2 shifts in a row Job B already has RNs that have flown home regularly on a weekly basis, as far as from east coast. My manager offered to connect me to one commuter New Grad. Job B doesn't pay much but I still make some money after flight and hotel and the educational aspect is tremendously advantageous. Would you accept Job B and just go try it? I have 4 days off in a row so can afford the time. Would you fly to see Job B first before accepting? Unnecessary $200 perhaps Last but not least: if I don't take this position now at 18m after graduating (july 2016) will I be at a real disdvantage or could I take a per diem position in a post acute local hospital and work up to acute care closer to CA? (Pls note I've applied to many acute positions in CA that did not offer interviews/opp's) Lots of factors, I know. Appreciate any feedback. To be clear I'm considering keeping both positions to keep learning and assess where I fit best. I'm really unsure where I belong in the field. Acute care is challenging for me but I'm afraid of being pigeonholed. Do I need to push myself to acute care wherever now, or can I hold off?

thanks so much, I've noticed those and I have that background with a BS in Health Education/Health Science and soon also an RN But what about integrative health programs, let's say, for cardiac patients that need whole lifestyle makeovers and clinical care? or integrative doctors? and anyhow, do you know if all these prefer acute experience in the beginning and how they pay? thanks for your 2 cents!

Graduate in may Would love to know

What is your job?

I'm also wondering if it would be career 'suicide' to start at a clinic. Med Surg just seems totally 'reactive' as you say, nurses rushing and giving meds. I'm not sure how that can be satisfying, other than the pay.I'm in my last semester of an ADN wondering if I should precept at a clinic or build hospital skills in Med Surg can one switch to hospitals after starting at a clinic for 2 years?

I'm wondering how you like the clinic job and if anyone has advice on whether precepting at a clinic will hold me back from hospital work later. I'm unsure which path is better for me, I'm graduating in May. I have a BS in Health Education though and a passion for prevention, nutrition, and I'm fluent in Spanish.

Did you find anything else after researching this? I have a BS in Health Education/health Science and just started a 2 year ADN program to get an RN license. Think I can get a public health job afterwards if I'm fully bilingual in Spanish here in CA? I hope so.

I'm curious what conclusions you reached after this post and where some of you are today as we approach 2015. I have a health education/public health background and just started a community college nursing program. I only have program implementation experience, nothing clinical and nothing managerial. I'd like to be able to run health promotion programs, have time to work on patient education and have job stability. A job like Mia's sounds really great, implementing a social, educational and clinical aspect to further Maternal Health. (My passion has been in nutrition education, specifically how to help people eat more plant based foods and exercise to prevent diseases like obesity and diabetes. I am also interested in women's health, international health and other public health issues.) I have a BS in Health Science with a focus in Community Health Education. I worked counseling such patients for 2 years and burnt out, then I helped manage the Meatless Monday Campaign in NYC. I'm tricultural and fully bilingual in Spanish and hope this will help in CA. In the last 7 years I've had a very difficult time moving fwd with my career, so I began to consider getting my RN license. Getting an RD or a Master's at this point seemed to not be a good ROI, nor did it seem to open the right doors for my broad goals. Right now it's week 5 of this 2 year ADN nursing program and we're working on the very basics: immobility, hygiene, etc. I was lucky to get picked in the CA lottery, but I find it difficult to think I'll have to do this for 2 years. What I'm wondering is, after all your posts, if you think the clinical experience can help before pursuing an MPH or Master's in Health Promotion, for example. I also won't be interested in doing bedside nursing for long. Do you think my Bachelor's in Community Health will help? Do you think an RN license will help rather than pursuing such a Master's for a high financial price right now? I'm already in student debt and want something to give me more solid credentials. And last, do you have encouraging words for a 40 year old returning student at the very start of this ADN program, when what I'm interested in probably lies years ahead? I consider dropping out every week and yet I'm not a quitter. Thank you.