mgchat76

Thanks for the reply. We used to have great teamwork, and still do to a degree. My point is that everyone is so spread out it's difficult to help one another. Last night the closest nurse to me was literally 20 yards away. And when you leave your pts to help someone else, they are completely unattended since there is no central nursing station where a monitor is easily visible. You have to hope that a nurse leaves their "desk" to look at the monitor if there is an alarm. We've asked to have monitors placed throughout the hallways, but were told it's a privacy violation.

Hi All, I'm curious what the average size of ICU's out there are nowadays? The unit I work on just moved to a new building with a huge (j-shaped and about .05 miles long) 30 bed unit without a central nursing station. Myself and a lot of my coworkers are struggling. We previously had 2 smaller "pods", each with a central monitor that was easy for everyone to see. It was also easy to see who was struggling and needed help. There are three neighborhoods, but this only consists of separate med and supply rooms for every 10 pt rooms. There are central monitors, but they're only visible if you happen to be assigned to the rooms they are across from. I used to be a traveler and have worked at 10 or so hospitals in the past, but I can't ever remember working on a single unit so big. Most places may have had more beds, but were split up into smaller units. I used to do charge, but now I don't feel safe when I can't even see who is drowning. Are big units with no central nursing station the next trend, or is it just our hospital?

I just bought a PDA in January, and have been enjoying it at work since. It's great to have a drug guide, critical care reference (fastfacts), and diagnostic test reference without carrying all the books separately. It's also nice to have a game or two loaded for those slow nights when the clock doesn't seem to move. If I had to buy one again, I'd probably invest in a cell phone/PDA combo rather than have both separately.

I have travelled with PPR for a couple of years now, and would highly recommend them. They are a fairly small company, so they do have some drawbacks, but the positives outweigh that for me. The biggest drawback is the money. While it's not the worst salaries I've come across, it's not the best either. The only other drawback that comes to mind is assignment selection. They are a smaller company, and do not have the amount of assignments to choose from compared to large companies like American Mobile. On the positive side is the personal attention. They really make you feel like you are a VIP, from finding great housing to sending care packages after your assignments start. I have never had any problems with getting paychecks on time (I've heard many horror stories regarding this with other companies). My recruiter is always available and updates me frequently when I'm looking for assignments. I worked one assignment with another company, and felt like I was just another number. I didn't even know who my recruiter was, somebody different called me each time there was an issue. Anyways, picking a company comes down to what's important to you. If you just want to make the most money, than check around (although everything at PPR is negotiable). If you're looking for an overall good and hassle-free experience, then give PPR a call. Good Luck

My girlfriend and I travel together, and are currently placed in the same hospital. I work ICU and she works IMC, but it is a small hospital and both units are closely connected. The managers have been very generous in giving us very similar schedules, so we can spend our days off together. We both know that we're lucky, and probably won't have that luxury on future assignments.

I really appreciate the input, and am still weighing my options. I'm also looking into legal nurse consulting courses as well. I've been looking for employment opportunities on the web (monster, jobs@aol) just to see what qualifications are requested and haven't seen many postings for forensic nurses anywhere in the country. I'm currently in Northern Cali., but I'm a traveler and will probably be heading somewhere else soon. Is this field similar to LNC, where I'll have to market myself and make a position for myself where ever I settle down? I hope the markets not saturated already, I just learned about this!!! At least I still have my day job (or in my case night job).

I am currently a travel RN with 4 1/2 years bedside (3 years in ICU) experience, and I had always thought that forensics nursing was restricted to sexual assault victims. Although the idea of evidence gathering intrigued me, I never pursued this specialty because I am a male nurse and thought that examining female victims would be insensitive for them and uncomfortable (to say the least) for me. I just found out this afternoon that there are sub-specialties such as death investigation in existence. Now I am full of questions about this exciting field. So here is a list of questions, and if anyone can give me any info in regards to any or all of them, it would be muchly appreciated; -Is it possible to specialize in death investigation, or other specialties, without being involved in sexual assault? Or is sexual assault still an intrical part of any forensic nursing? Will I need SANE certification regardless? -I currently have only my ADN. Is this going to prevent me from pursuing this field? -How does the pay compare to bedside nursing? Do you have time to pick up part time or perdiem shifts for extra money, or does being on-call prevent this? -I have already requested info from Kaplan, but are they respected by employers? Are there any better online programs I can look into? Am I better off looking for forensic nursing courses, criminology, or something else? Thank you in advance to anyone kind enough to reply, and I apologize about the length of this post.