RN5000

Its not easy to find reputable work at home nursing jobs. Most would require experience. It may serve you better to find something part time to get your foot in the door. I feel hospital floor nursing is a good way to start as it builds a foundation and increases your opportunities for employment and opens doors. Once you get at least a year of solid clinical experience you will be seen in a different light by potential employers. Good Luck to you and congratulations on your new bundle of joy! QUOTE=ehicken;4312835]Hi, I just joined this site and have a question for fellow Iowa nurses out there. I just graduated this May from a BSN program, but am due to have a baby in July. I was wondering if anyone out there is familiar with any agencies that hire RNs to work from home. I once worked with an RN who also worked 40 hr/wk from home and said she was hired with no clinical experience. Do you think this is possible? Any suggestions? Thanks!

If you love it...go for it. I dont think you can go wrong to get your RN.

I have never placed one. I do know at my facilty the paramedics have placed them during emergent situations as many of our clients will be very difficult to get IV access on. I personally think its the greatest thing since sliced bread, and where i work, could easily be a matter of life or death. I think our nurses should be trained as it is at least a 20 minute wait for paramedics to arrive. I think the first few times would be scary but then as with any skill, once you are competent you have the opportunity to truly make a difference.

As far as I know it is relatively common practice for tele nurses to float to ICU. I guess its a matter of how comfortable the float nurse feels with the assigned patients. You are fortunuate to work in a facility where it appears they are aware of the possible dangers. Beyond that a float needs to be assertive and not accept pts he/she does not have the skills to care for safely. I was never put in that situation.

I can see both sides of this. I worked tele, stepdown but did have to float to ICU occasionally. As stated above, i would also get uncomplicated patients. I do feel we need to be open to new learning experiecnes. No problem in that if we were not in such a liability oriented world today. No matter how you slice it, once you have accepted report, you are working under your own license and have basically agreed that you have the expertise to handle it. I understand that ICU nurses are still nurses, but the experience they have in their particular area does make a great deal of difference. I do think critical care nurses deserve better pay for what they do. Too bad there arent more opportunities for learning and more extensive training. I know I would have welcomed it and been open to vent pts with lines etc. Its how we gain competency in new areas of care. But then.....old liability rears its ugly head!!

Might try myfreece.com. For a fee, i think its close to $36 yearly you can do as many as you want. They are also actually pretty interesting, or you can just take the tests if you are in a hurry.

I too am happy you have this opportunity. The U has always been and continues to be an exception to the norm in Iowa. I currently work for the state in a facility. Would I prefer a more clinical setting? Yes, at times. But if i do it will be per diem and part time as most places just cannot or will not offer a comparable salary and benefits. Good Luck at the U, i have heard it is a great place to work! Hopefully more places in Iowa will follow, but probably not until they are forced by labor shortage which we all know is not a good situation for employees or patients.

I have heard the low Iowa pay may be related to the low medicare/medicade reimbursement rates for Iowa. I feel it is also, as i have stated before, very much related to how nurses are viewed here, blue collar, and the fact that they put up with it. As long as we accept it, the low pay will continue. I hold out hope for change. RN's in more empowered areas see themselves as independant contractors and are very assertive about what they will and will not tolerate from working conditions to pay. My freind who is an OT works per diem in TX for 55 per hour, the going rate! Who do you want at your bedside in a code, and experienced icu nurse or an OT?? Lets get the pay we deserve.

a couple years ago bridge staffing was suggested to me as we had a few travelers in our hospital from there. one of nurse using them said her rep had been very good to her and they took care of their nurses. that was her experience with them.

Sounds like a great idea. I think you will enjoy it.

I like the way you describe yourself. With a few exceptions, i really enjoyed working with male nurses and as a charge nurse, felt fortunate to have them on my team. It does make us think about the male/female dynamic when it comes to treatment by docs. There were times it seemed the male nurses did not get the brunt of unprofessional, and unkind treatment as the female nurses did. Maybe it was the floor i was on, or the hospital i was in, but i doubt it.

I took the NCLEX about 2 years ago. It seems to me the med questions I had were fairly generic, or r/t a disease or conditon. A couple med calculations that were very basic and you get a calculator to make sure math is correct. The best advice i can give you is do as many practice questions as you possibly can. Forget about looking at past notes, books, etc. I was advised to do a least 2000 questions to prepare. It was very good advice. People who take the test will all have different experiences of it. Some will say they had a lot of psych, or OB,, or med questions. It maybe that they were weaker in those areas as the test will keep giving you questions in an area until statistically you have "passed" that area. The same reason why some persons get more total questions that others. Also there are a certain amount of experimental questions that must be test driven before becoming an official part of the test. Those will not count against your score. You will get questions that you have no idea about, take your best guess and dont let it shake you up. Remember that this test is geared to a novice nurse. You wont get a lot of high level technical questions. A certain amount of persons who never had a day of nursing school can pass this test. Sorry to get so long with my reply, I hope some of helps you. Good Luck and keep doing the questions, clear your mind and dont worry too much about the details!

Yes, let us pray they are not "yahoos". Just dont plan to leave the ATL area, once you get outside of it, you are looking at another world. Unforetunely having the CDC there has not helped much in the way of progression for the state as a whole.

I guess it depends upon what else is important to you outside of work. Of course we are nurses for everyone. However, one must consider life after and outside of work.

I recently moved back to IA from So FL. I have to say i was disapointed about the pay in Ia. It seems as if the state regards nurses as blue collar workers, which nothing wrong with blue collar, its just that we as nurses are carry a professional liscense with an education and for some, many years of experience in what is becoming a highly technical field filled with many risk factors from exposure to disease, injury, not to mention liability! In many ways i always thought of Iowa as progressive, despite how rural many areas are. I was born and raised here and didnt live elsewhere unitl several years ago. Well, on to your question, sorry for the rant. Im in central ia, which i feel is the only place to be, especially if you have come from a more urban area. Probably the highest wages here, besides UofI, and maybe some eastern ia hospitals. My suggestion is to bargain as hard as you can when first being hired and be sure to highlight every single accomplishment, certifcation, etc. They do need nurses here and i hope eventually they will start to pay up. But im sure that will not be until they are forced to and nurses here begin to see them selves as independant contractors of sorts who deserve to be paid for the difficult work nursing is today and begin to reject the below par wages and treatment they get. Again, sorry for the rant. Bargain hard!! You or your wife, deserve to be paid as a liscensed professional in demand. Best of luck to you in Iowa.