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If you hear 'the call' then do so. You're still young to start a career in nursing. Good luck!

:roll Hahahahah That's funny! My story? Simple..... I wanted to make my Grandfather proud + the fact that I was from a line of nurses & midwives! I also wanted to make a difference in my own little way.

Sorry for your loss. -x-

I currently am contracted to rotate between day & night. I don't like nights much as there are less nurses and can be a nightmare. Then again, there are days when you feel the same way about day shifts. I am properly awful in the mornings but function well and also do the same for night shifts. For me, both shifts have their own advantages + disadvantages. Day shifts can serve as revision for dealing with the social side of nursing ie. making all those referrals which you don't really get to do on nights. My body functions better on day shifts. Perhaps try to rotate between the day & nights? See which one works better for you. Good luck.

I agree with NurseHobbit! Some people's lives are just so empty that they just have to excite it by aggravating someone else's. Unfortunately, this happens where I work now. We have been merged into one ward ( Male & female ) and there is this one nurse who 'spies' on other nurses and e-mails everything to our ward manager. Her motive for @**e kissing? Empty life and wanting to go up the 'professional ladder'. It is our profession that has taught me to bite back! I now go to work, do my job 110%, talk to my colleagues ( patients & relatives too, of course ) who interest me and ignore everyone else. Does it sound mean being like this? It gets you out of trouble and maybe even gets you out of the ' gossip ' circle of the ward.

Hello. When your instructor say; you just know. Well, I must agree with him/her. I finished my training donkeys years ago and the first 18months was of a wide variety of specialties. I changed my mind so many times in my head what I'd like to specialize on. When you do your training on a certain specialty and it's yours.... you'll know. In the mean time, enjoy all variety. -x-

Has anyone mentioned..... IV chocolates & lots of it, +/- other forms for other routes !? ( I did see chocolate spray )

Awwww..... Sweet! -x-

... then George ( as in Clooney ) came in scrubs to give her a once over to decide what to do with her. Then he discovered.....

:penguin: Good for you! Nurses without a good sense of humour are usually quite scary to me. When I was on my final placement as a student nurse ( donkey's years ago! ), I worked with this fantastic and very comical Nurse and it made such a difference to the whole working environment. Nice for other nurses and more importantly, to the patients. Laughter is such a good therapy that requires no prescription. I usually say to patients; * This won't hurt..... ME much! I say this when I have to do anything uncomfortable. * Don't worry, I'll leave you some left.... when I'm extracting blood. * Don't worry.... it's music to our ears... when patient's get embarrassed after passing wind.

chocolates and a general 'thank you' cards to all are always welcome and nice but i have personal faves. i used to work in the private part of a london hospital and i received these personalised 'thank you' letters and cards from patients. i still prefer those than chocolates! and i'm a bit of a chocoholic! they last longer and puts a smile on one's face and they're always good reminders of 'why we've all become nurses'.:balloons:

all of the above reasons. more so now that the nhs is in crisis and very chaotic. no-one seem to care anymore ( it feels very much like this where i work ). has anyone ever notices that nurses are so often used as an emotional/stress/anger punch bags? by that i mean that when people have a bad day.... ie. sisters/management and even b***dy porters feel they can verbally abuse us! hence the fact that i am now trying to complete a course on graphic design and when succeed in doing so, i can work part time as a nurse and work from home being creative. i still love being a nurse but there are days when you just leave work in tears coz of lack of support.

Me too! Give me double gloves and a pinny, I'm good. I can handle blood, other juices that the body produces ( LOL I'm rhyming here! Haha ) I can handle 'em all .... except thick greeny plugs of phlegm!! Yuk! See? I can't even spell it!! Is that how you spell it? Ewwwww.

I'm not in a senior position like yourself... coz I'm comfy where I am ( band 6/Senior E-grade ) but I am beginning to loose interest in what I am doing but because of what's happening in the NHS I don't want to go anywhere else till at least after the holidays. I have moved from one specialty to another though ie. from Cardiac to HepatobiliaryPancreatic ward which was definitely a positive move for me as it presented new challenges. Good luck with becoming a midwife.

While trying to catch up on my fave scifi series SG... Suddenly the front door opened and Colin Firth walked in saying......

I take it you're in the US? Wow! They exist? That sounds well wicked! Sign me Up!! Where's the form? Hehehe Sorry just kidding. In the UK we get annual increments ( is that how you spell it?! ). You can't tell the difference coz the taxman runs off with most of it but apparently we get ours annualy.

I always wanted one but my cohort didn't even had to have one! ( yeah yeah infection control etc etc but I think they looked quite cool! ). I'd still wear a belt if I had to.

I don't function well on an empty stomach so I have to have my break... even if it's just the only one which most of the time it is. Most of the time I get one break so I make sure I'm well fed & watered I take a big bottle of water with me to sit by my station so I don't dehydrate.

I currently work in one of the biggest teaching hospital in London ( The brand new sparkly one ! :chuckle ) arose from the ashes of the old Mid! I've worked in quite a few hospitals around London and have seen good & bad ones. But to answer the question..... Yes but just so I know which Consultant is looking after my Love ones and also just so I can keep a close eye on them. However, I probably wouldn't want to be looked after by the Team I work with! Unless I'm allowed to administer my own PR meds if I need 'em and self catheterize! LOL But definitely no Med studs! Sorry.... I know learning has to take place and a guinea pig required but not me plz.

:welcome: May I ask you something? Have you asked anyone else in your cohort? Good luck.

Enjoy the first few weeks until you find your feet. If you'll be living on a student budget, try not to buy books yet until you've read through some ( from the library, of course ). You'll see the best book that'll 'fit' the language you'll be comfortable with. Other than that, good luck.:balloons:

I used to work at the old Middx! Anyway, I was just going to say, we're all going through hell also where I work now. So many changes and there's not a lot we can do about it unless you decide to work your way out of nursing untill the madness of the NHS has subsided a little bit. May I ask you; have you contacted HR for a relocation to a ward that's at least close to your specialty? The best of luck to you. I hope it gets better soon.

Not sure if you've been told this by anyone, if so apologies now. I notice that when I'm skyping to my fiance in France, if he's downloading big files... it affects the sound quality on the microphone on your headset. It just comes out as annoying waves of bleeps/sound. So whoever you're speaking to on skype, ask them if they are D/L whilst speaking to you. Ask them to stop it while skyping you. You should notice a difference. Good luck.

:barf01: Eeeeeeewwww I can stand anything that comes out of the human body except thick greeny sticky phlegm!

Hey hey.... just a few points ( I'm sure you'll get loads of these:wink2 ) * Like someone already said: Look professional.... it'll help you feel and look the part. *Try to relax.... a few deep breaths will help before you answer the questions. * Look enthusiastic... I'm sure this'll come naturally. * I don't know how it is in the US but here, one of the questions almost definitely on..... 'what's the latest research or article you've read which might / will affect your clinical practice'. So perhaps read an article or 2 when you get the chance. I'm sure you'll get loads more advice. Best of luck! PS. If you don't get the job ( I'm NOT saying you won't ), try not to feel bad but try to think of it as a practice run for the next one. I'm sure you'll be fine. -x-