adorkable8605

Not To be selfish, but I’m going to be putting myself at almost the same risk here in Florida in a few weeks for 1/5th of the paycheck I’ll get in NYC and I’ll actually be part of the action there.

I’m currently an IR nurse with 3 years of nursing experience mostly in PCU and ICU. I’ve been in IR for 6 months With everything going on, I want back on floor. I want to help patients and other nurses to survive this pandemic. I’m being told by my facility that they don’t need me, I’m being cancelled, and told even when we get busy again that I will only be able to assist and won’t be able to work as an independent nurse. I understand it, due to IR being the only position I’ve had at my current facility, but it frustrates me. I want to use my nursing skills, not be sidelined because I of my current position. I’m considering quitting my job and taking an assignment in NYC or some other crisis response position. I’m young, don’t have kids or a husband to worry about and I want to be of use. Is it horrible to abandon my current hospital, to help out in places that are worse off now? I feel like this situation is calling me back to the bedside

I was offered a position on a Surgical PCU, Surgical-Transplant PCU, Neuro-surgical PCU, and Neuro-Medical PCU. The I did my practicum on the Surgical-Transplant unit and I love it, but the nurses are a bit harsh and the MDs are harsher. Its a very busy floor with some management issues. The nurses are all new (maybe just a couple of experienced nurses) and they all want to leave to different units. I don't think I want to work here just because I've seen the way they treat new nurses and its terrifying. The Surgical PCU is the sister unit to the Surgical-Tranplant unit...They specialize in abdominal surgeries, whipples, jaw surgeries, and just general surgery. There are tons of ostomies (lots of poo). Complaints galore, but I'm starting to think thats just because I am around the nurses due to practicum and hear them during their normal socializing and complaining. I don't have a lot of info on the other units. The neuro-surgical unit cares for patients who under went back, neck, and tumor resection surgies. High patient turn over (17 discharges while I was visiting the floor and they said they will get 17 new admits by midnight). Neuro-medical PCU does 24 hour observation on patients with a history of seizures, cares for non-hemorrhagic strokes, and guillian barre patients plus any overflow. The managers seem great and invested in their employees and the floor was greatly stocked. I'm leaning towards the Surgical PCU because it is busy, has a ton of drains, lines, pumps, and wounds and they offered me a little more for pay. I like to be busy and have things to do.

I'm still in nursing school and one of the local hospitals had a hiring event at my school last week. I left with two job offers with the option of 4 different units and I am completely confused. How did you decide where to start your nursing careers?

I'm in the program and got a 89.3 on TEAS and my overall GPA was a 3.2 with prereq GPA at 3.7. Retaking the TEAS really depends on your GPA. The minimum they accept is 79 on the TEAS, most people I've talked to in the program with me received at least an 83 on the TEAS, but if the rest of your stats are stellar you might be okay (but depends on how much of a chance your willing to take with an okay score). I just finished A&P the semester before the program started, so I didn't review and I don't think many people did. Most of the lectures and books review the important concepts. I don't know many people who work...It's a BUSY program. I know maybe 5 to 10 people out of 68 people in the program that work. I work seasonally at Disney, but I only worked maybe 3 times throughout the semester. I know two who work part-time as EMT/Patient Techs at the hospital. I plan on working as a patient care tech starting in the fall or spring semester (I want to wait to see the course load for the semester before I decide). It is possible to work, but it depends on how disciplined you are, I'm not the most disciplined person and the times I worked definitely interfered with my studying. It's a great program and I am loving every minute of it, but you definitely get out what you put in. Pay attention to what the professors are saying and review the books as needed (there is no way to do the reading, but I tried to do as much as I could). Also, everyone is very helpful, we have several facebook groups and all the cohorts really help each other out. If you have any questions, I make sure to check back here as much as possible...

I'm also losing my insurance due to leaving my full time job. I found coverage through healthcare.gov that is more than reasonable. I filled out the application for coverage effective the date I am losing my coverage and I listed my suspected income for 2015 (not my 2014 income) and I found a few really cheap plans under $50, but I choose one for $86 a month with no deductible. Not sure if you've looked at healthcare.gov, but it worked for me. Also, Dr. Simmons mentioned that there could be insurance through UCF, I haven't been able to find it, but maybe someone has more info about it.