FloridaBeagle

My hospital doesn't mandate brands or colors, thank god! I wouldn't be able to work at a job that requires light colored pants (no lecture please, I've tried every form of birth control there is and after 20+ years of heavy menstruation, I've given up!) My hospital lets us wear t-shirts with the hospital logo on it, which is awesome and a huge fund-raiser for the hospital. Win-win!

I just started an ambulatory care job in peds 4 weeks ago. I LOVE IT!!!! I room patients by taking vitals, asking standard questions like chief complaint, do you want a flu shot, etc. Then the doctor goes in the room, at which time I return to my desk to answer emails, phone calls, etc. Then the doc comes out and tells me when to schedule a follow-up and I return tot he room to schedule that follow-up and provide any education or reminders such as how and when to take meds, please get these labs done prior to your next appointment, etc. It can get busy and families can get angry at times when they're late to the appointment and can't be seen or if there was a scheduling mix-up, but for the most part the families are great to work with. Much better than hospital patients! I no longer have to respond to codes, worry if my patient is going septic, or deal with any other emergencies anymore. The hours aren't as great as they used to be as so many clinics are moving to Saturday hours and late hours since no one in this country can get a sick day anymore, but the good part is that I'm able to work 12 hour shifts at my clinic so I only work 3 days a week. I hope you got something by now and love it.

They want you to quit because then they don't have to pay you unemployment. Don't let them do that: it sounds like they didn't do their due diligence before hiring you. It's not your fault and you're entitled to unemployment pay. Sorry you're going through this.

Use the term LIABILITY when talking with your administrators about the privacy issues, inability to be in two places at once (sub in a classroom and tend to a crashing diabetic or asthmatic who is turning blue?). Nothing gets a bean-counter's attention like the word LIABILITY.

My favorite nursing professor used to say we're here to save patients from their doctors. She said it jokingly, but sometimes it's the truth. Always trust your intuition over any doctor, document the crap out of everything (especially when you are clashing with them), and always follow your hospital's procedures (my procedures were always to check BP an hour later).

You don't need ER or urgent care experience, you will call 911 if stuff hits the fan. I wish I had gotten psych experience before going into school nursing, because parents, teachers, and principals are crazy. (But seriously, I dealt with a lot of students with psych issues, from passing out from panic attacks to a schizophrenic student hearing voices and threatening to jump...)

You should finish your bachelors in Health Science and apply for a direct-entry MSN. A higher degree means higher pay and better opportunities. I wish I had done that.

I worked at a hospital in FL that had low census in the summer because FL's population plummets in the summer. I was called off about once a week, sometimes TWICE a week (and I only worked 3 shifts a week!) I ran out of PTO quickly. I would have much preferred the option to take the summer off and work elsewhere for a travel assignment or something than try to make ends meet with such limited hours. Needless to say, I quit that job!

I would refuse. Period. If they want to play hardball, contact the ACLU. Not everyone in the world owns a cellphone. If they want to require everyone have phones and this ap, they better pay for it, otherwise that sounds like a civil rights lawsuit to me, discrimination against low-income individuals.

I just got an interview for a position I applied for in January. So, apparently, 7 months isn't too far in advance!

I'm an atheist and refuse to work for any religious employer because I need birth control to eliminate my periods so I no longer suffer from agonizing dysmenorrhea. Why should I have to pay $400+ a year out of pocket? Infuriating!

This was my life when I worked neuro and ortho. It is an insane requirement from nursing homes/SNFs. One way we maneuvered around it was to cluster those patients right next to each other near the nurse's station, bed alarms on, and our PCA sat right outside the doors. So they essentially had a sitter, but not technically. It still sucked because we lost our only assistant to this nonsense on a regular basis. Video monitoring doesn't work as you need to be able to get into that room within a split second. With those IV cords and SCDs they hit the floor instantly.

I worked for Mayo in Minnesota, and it was amazing. Truly patient-centered, and fantastic pay. Last I knew there was a pension as well as matching contributions to 403B. Also, all the professional development you need, for free. I am interviewing soon for a Mayo position in Scottsdale. Fingers crossed!

Is moving an option? Lots of LPN jobs where I lived in Minnesota.

These stories make me so happy I'm not working acute care anymore. People are awful. My pet peeve is people who talk to me when I have my stethoscope on them. Thanks for making me deaf!

I turned down a residency at Vandy because of their low pay. Even for Nashville, I felt the pay was a slap in the face and I see things haven't changed. You can get an ICU residency experience anywhere, don't settle for low pay. There also might be a culture shock coming from Cali to the bible belt.

Try working prn at school nursing. It could help get your foot in the door for peds, and it helps develop soft skills you'd need for an ambulatory clinic (phone triage, office skills, paperwork knowledge for outpatient care, the whole family-dynamic thing in peds, practicing nursing with little supervision which demonstrates independent nursing skills, which is super-important in ambulatory). It worked for me.

How do they schedule? Blocks of night shifts or do they sprinkle them around? I had a hospital schedule two day shifts and two night shifts in the same week, followed by two day shifts the next week. I was horrified that they thought I could flip back and forth that quickly, like I'm a robot. Needless to say I don't work there anymore, and it was an awful year! Self-scheduling is a myth. They will flip things around as needed. It is a waste of time thinking about what schedule would be best only for them to flip it all around anyway.

I quit my first nursing job after 7 months. It didn't hurt me one bit. Job-hopping isn't the killer it used to be. I'm moving on to my 5th nursing job in under 4 years. My skill set advances with each new job. Since I'm moving into ambulatory clinic nursing now, the varied experience in multiple specialties helped. I imagine if I had spent 4 years on the same floor I wouldn't be nearly as attractive to clinics serving patients with many co-morbidities. OP, don't be shy about transferring after 6 months. They wrote the policy, so they must be ok with it.

I felt the same, only it lasted the whole 1.5 years I was in acute care, and only intensified with time. My anxiety was so crippling I couldn't even relax on my days off. When I entered the ambulatory environment, I found my niche, and the anxiety disappeared. If your anxiety persists or intensifies, don't hesitate to try something different. There are countless places for a nurse to work, and you will find your place.

I've done school nursing for 2 years now. Crap pay, but I haven't lifted a human yet. I call EMS and they lift the unconscious ones (and take them away).

The pay is good at the University of Miami, but I don't know what their ratios are. Florida in general is all about low pay and private-everything. The few public hospitals that are left seem to get bought by the private conglomerates. I worked at Sarasota Memorial a few years ago (public hospital), but they worked me like a dog with 6 high-acuity patients a night, one was always a time-consuming admission and at least two were sundowners hellbent on getting out of bed and falling on their faces, bed alarms blaring all night long. Truly a hellish job, and my coworkers were awful.

You could always gaslight him. Say "I'm not Jewish. What made you think that?" I'm only kidding, kind of...

Clearly prayers aren't working since these massacres continue to happen. Either god isn't listening or he doesn't exist. Vote for gun control, other countries have proven that to be effective.

We have to practice what we preach. If we expect parents to keep sick kids home, then we need to stay home when sick. My district has subs, but not enough, so usually my absence means my aide works alone that day, and vice-versa. My experience with office staff is they are petrified of our jobs. If you called in for a day or two, the principal would quickly advocate for the district to hire sub nurses.