KerenRN

I have to disagree, at least to a certain extent, with this post. Even with a "step by step questionaire" a triage nurse absolutely must have both critical thinking skills and some sense of the nursing process. I have to believe that most nurses do not hone these skills while in school (I did not!). The protocols exist as a guide only; they do not always contain the exact answer to a question or concern. A person simply reading the screen, especially about areas in which they are not familiar, could not triage callers appropriately in many cases. Many of our new (but experienced) nurses at the call center I work for tend to read the information at first. I think it's natural in the beginning, until one can feel comfortable with the guidelines. The problem that is likely to occur with a recent nurse graduate is that they may not have the confidence needed to deviate from these guidelines. And at times that is absolutely appropriate (at least where I work). I may be overly excited after having recently attended a telephone triage conference, but telephone triage does require much more than knowing and reading protocols. I don't believe it can be performed to its highest function by a nurse without any practical experience.

oh yeah, I also worked in the jail when I was working for the public health dept... :) my longest period at one job is 15 months. I've had other nurses comment that they don't even know why anyone would hire me with the amount of job changing I have done... If 6-7 years isn't enough, how long do I suffer before I can honorably move on??

I have been working as a nurse for the past six years. This entire time I've been searching for my "niche". I've tried ortho, public health, oncology/hematology & telemetry. I've tried days, nights and evenings. I've tried the hospital and the health department. I've been employed as an agency nurse, travel nurse, and regular hospital staff. My current employer offers full tuition reimbursement and many nurses I work with are back in school. I am ready to go back to school but can't justify continuing in nursing at this point. I feel like I've given nursing a fair chance. Has anyone else completely changed careers and later regretted their decision? I feel like that is what I need to do.

I have many co-workers that are on their phones many times throughout the day. They absolutely leave their cell phones in their pockets. Many of them are travel nurses. I don't know if that somehow gives them some type of an exemption. Although, I have worked through both travel agencies and regular nursing agencies and no one told me about it. Our secretaries will talk on the hospital phone taking personal calls for hours.... These are not students. I'm not sure why this is becoming such a problem. I think people are just addicted to staying "connected" via phone, internet, whatever. I don't think it's a problem confined to student nurses.

i need to take ACLS next month would really appreciate some study tips. i took the first day the last time they offered the class and i was just incredibly overwhelmed and didn't go back. i hadn't studied any beforehand so i'm hoping that will help me this time. also, it was really emotional for me. we had just lost one of our own floor nurses - it was unexpected and he was put through a long code... so i couldn't help thinking about that. i know that if i can prepare myself it will lessen the stress.... thanks for any advice/tips you can share...

I worked at Carle for 15 months.... it was my first postion after graduating and really liked it. However that has been 4-5 years and i know they have made many changes since then. I am still in touch with a former co-worker and she still likes it. I'm not really sure about how often they would call you off though...

you definitely don't want to ignore the fact that nurses can find a job just about anywhere they want. my boyfriend is finishing up his PhD in counseling psychology and has to move to where the jobs are.... I, on the other hand, can find a job anywhere I want. From what he says.... our salaries are pretty close and I'm an RN, not a NP!

I work at a hospital that is currently implementing many changes. We are continuously bombarded with new protocols, procedures, and policies.... My question to readers is... How can important information be disseminated in an interesting and attention catching manner? Many of my co-workers are overwhelmed by the fliers in their mailboxes and too many posts/bulletins on the walls to read much less remember them all! What has worked in your facility? What creative suggestions come to mind? I am open to all replies... thank you!

In Chicago, Loyola has a very good nursing school... Saint Louis, MO has Wash U. and SLU... Purdue in Indiana would be worth looking into. Most if not all, have pharmacy schools as well.

I work for a Catholic hospital and I believe the atmosphere can definitely be intrusive at times, especially for a person with beliefs such as I have- I am neither Catholic nor Christian. There are only two major hospitals in my area and they are both owned by "the sisters". Recently I was given a "mission statement" to sign. It included specifics of religion such as "following in the path of Christ" and upholding "Christian values". If you are uncomfortable with working in this type of atmosphere and are unable to ignore all the "plus signs" it probably isn't the best place to accept a job offer.... Luckily I was allowed to sign the statement after adding my own notations/feelings. I really didn't want to sign it at all - there is no religious requirement to work at this facility... but that is another issue... As for the pay, I hadn't ever thought that I might be donating some of my paycheck to jesus without even knowing it! I'm going to have to think about that one for a while!

"here in illinois you cannot get a job as a phn without at least a bsn" that's not entirely true. i worked at a health department in IL and although the other nurse in my dept and I both had BSN degrees, many nurses in the other sections did not. i'm not sure what part of IL you are in... Chicago may be different from downstate. I'm sure aquiring a position in a large city has the potential to be much more competitive.

The most logical "transition" for me would be going into hospice/home health. I see that as a bit of combination of both oncology and public health nursing. Of course, if you're doing it just for the experience to get into community health it may not be a good choice. As a former public health nurse (currently in oncology), I don't see why any experience other than general nursing would be required. Public health nurses don't use clinical skills to the extent that a med/surg nurse does, so I don't see that working in that area would be any benefit to you. I would just start applying and see what happens.

your MD can schedule you into his life instead of waiting on your body... not to mention getting paid more $$$... of course he (yes, i'm stereotyping) wants you to have a c-section...

I think this post pretty much hits the nail on the head. Americans are impatient and lazy. It is unfortunate that we carry this over from our mundane lives into an area so unique and special as childbirth. We want to schedule everything! Let's look at next Tuesday's schedule: 10am shopping, 1pm nails, 3pm delivery baby, 7pm out for dinner. I don't think it has anything to do with vanity, it's pure selfishness (and obviously i'm not speaking in regard to medically necessary procedures). I also have to add that I'm not surprised with Brittney Spears' decision as she has never been a role model for anything in the past ... why should she now. It's too bad her mother is too caught up in being one of her groupies instead of supporting/educating her in making important life decisions.

when i worked nights everyone slept on break... that's just what we did. i never even questioned if anything was wrong with it. i guess it shows the difference in perception.