JCRN

I am a current student and have all of my classes for the term open now. I have completed 3 but could have worked on all 4 of them since I started (May 1) all at the same time, and submitted whatever I wanted for those 4 classes. As soon as I finish this last one (by the end of the week), I will have my mentor unlock the next two and move them into this term. I prefer to do one at a time but others get bored and like to go back and forth.

I would definitely say something. This was not an unreasonable request. IMHO, if you just let people take advantage of you once(which I feel they are), they will continue to do so. At my hospital, we work every other holiday-no exceptions-and it switches every year. The only way to get out of it is if you find someone to work for you. That seems like the only fair way to me. I would not work all three-ESPECIALLY since nobody else has to. Also, if that doesn't work does your employer have a "call off" list for those who are working but don't want to? Our census usually gets so low on Christmas that some of the people that are scheduled end up getting the day off anyway (or put on call).

3.30 but I don't think that has any bearing on the kind of nurse I am.

We get paid twelve hours for both. They figure since it's the same staff working both of those weekends, it just works out. It so happens those days have not fallen on my weekend so it hasn't really affected me. (And if I ever got out after only 12 hours, it would signal the end of the world as we know it anyway.)

I know this really does not answer your specific question, but I started on med/surg because I want to be there. Unfortunately, some of my fellow new grads are making it quite obvious that they have no interest in med/surg, but are only there because they think they should start there. If you do decide to go for even a year, PLEASE try to stay positive and learn all you can. Nobody wants to be stuck with a nurse (patients or coworkers) who hates what s/he does and cannot wait to leave.

Wouldn't you know it? I say how much I love my schedule yesterday and I go to a staff meeting today and am told that my scheduled has been changed. But I can't complain-one week Wed, Thurs, Sat; then Sun, Wed, Thurs-NO Mondays, Tuesdays, or Fridays :) I work nites too but fortunately I can sleep whenever I want to-I have 4 kids left at home, but a super supportive husband, mother, & mother-in-law. At my hospital it is usually pretty calm on the weekend, too (knock on wood) :chuckle !

I just wondered how many people work 3 in a row (that kills me!). I work 2 on, one off, two on, one off, two on, six off. I love my schedule. :wink2:

There are 2 hospitals in the area where I live. One pays the same wage for PRN wages, the other (where I work) pays $28/hr for PRN. I was told the reason my hospital pays a higher wage is because we use some agency staff, which are paid at $28/hr, so they might as well pay their own no benefit employees the same rate.

You know you are having a bad day when you find a tampon behind your ear and cannot find your pencil.

I received $2k for 2 years-$1500 hundred with the first paycheck, and $1500 in 6 months (Conveniently two weeks before Christmas). Did I consider not taking the bonus? No way! I was going to work at this hospital anyway before they offered the bonus in the first place and I would have not been happy to stay two years had I turned down $2k. If we stay only one year we only have to pay back half of the bonus. Anyway, if I truly hated my job (so far so good), I'd pay it back in a heartbeat to move on to something else. I do know people who have left a job after getting a sign-on bonus and used the sign-on bonus from the new job to pay back the old job. Oh well. Whatever works for them.

My salary is not at all impressive-$17.52/HR with a PATHETIC, LOUSY .50/HR weekend differential-but I cannot complain about my benefits. Dental is $29/mo and almost everything is covered 100%. Also ANYTHING done at my hospital is covered 100% (for myself and my immediate family)-hospital stay, labs, procedures (EKG, resp.treatments, CT scans, etc). The only thing we pay is 20% of the Dr. fee, like if you have surgery or something. Is this a normal benefit of working at a hospital? I just wondered if all hospitals did this.

Wow, it never occurred to me that one wouldn't have to have a cosigner. At my hospital we have to have heparin, insulin, and coumadin doublechecked, along with someone varifying any heparin drip or PCA pump that is set up. On the upside, I don't recall any med errors (at least that have been discovered on any of these meds)-knock on wood! :yelclap: