MemoryRevenge

We didn't steal him.... We just saw an opportunity and took it. Hehe

Thanks for all the input! We have been considering Indiana and Minnesota due to their location near the Great Lakes. I would've never thought of Pittsburgh though... Hm.... Interesting. Some trips will have to be in order. Again, thank you all!

Alright, so here's the deal: the boyfriend and I are thinking it's time to leave Denver. Housing prices are starting to sky rocket like crazy which is great for anyone who already has a house but a teacher and a nurse (with loads of debt from school) can't afford to buy a house. I have 2 years of pediatric home care experience and I'm about to enter the realm of pediatric acute care. The boyfriend has been teaching middle school science for over a year now. We are not in a rush to move as I'd personally like to know what we're getting ourselves into before we move (plus at least another year of experience couldn't hurt). That being said, the move is coming. The question is: Where? So go: who lives in the best place ever for a nurse and why?

I remember being in that same boat. I left nursing school thinking I would go onto an adult med/surg floor at the VA. The hiring process was taking way too long so I applied for anything and was offered a job in pediatric home care. It took a while for me to get comfortable but I found that if I try to interact with the kiddos on their level it helps. Finding out their likes and dislikes helps a lot. Across the board, most of my patients (who are usually 5 years old or younger) like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse but gradually grow out of it. Songs help too... I guess it helps that I look like I could be 16 and I've grown up with Disney stuff everywhere. I will occasionally act like a goof ball but I am avoiding cartoon scrubs like the plague. Maybe one day I'll go back to adults but I think I'd have a hard time leaving kids - it's too much fun.

Heathermaizey, those are cute! I like them.

My agency has instructed us that we need to a) Change the feeding bag every 24 hours and b) Rinse the feeding bag out between feeds. Almost every feeding pump I use says to disconnect the pump from the patient before priming it.

This may be a dumb question but is it worth it? I've been working in peds home health for two years and thinking of taking the CPN exam sometime after I get into an acute care position. Is it worth it or does it just look nice on your resume?

This is probably why I don't watch much TV. Ugh...

No kidding!

What do you make with the wine bottles? I'll get really cool looking wine bottles sometimes and want to keep them but can't figure out an easy craft to do that'll make them look cute.

My agency has one RN at each home who is in charge of updating the 485 for each case. That RN typically handles communicating between providers, scheduling nurses, orienting new nurses to specific cases. The manager at the office typically handles Medicaid authorization, complaints, questions.

Seriously? Is it a really tough market for nurses to get jobs up there? Have you looked at some of the smaller home health agencies? My agency hired me as new grad with the easiest nursing interview I have ever had. They hire RNs and LPNs but most the LPNs I've talked to have had a lot more experience than I had. In general, I agree with everyone else to avoid taking the MA job. I don't think it's worth it.

I applied for mostly Accelerated BSN programs and one MSN program for people without a nursing degree. I applied to at least 6 different programs - 3 in state and 3 out of state. I got rejected by one, waitlisted by two, and accepted to three. For my top choice program, I applied to two different rounds and got waitlisted both times. I was debating on which out of state program (2 of them had accepted me) to go to when my top choice told me I was in. Part way through the program, the other school that waitlisted me told me I was in as long as I could start next week. My advice: do everything you can to make yourself the best candidate possible and keep trying.

Here's another suggestion for a nursing field to look into: home health. There's the traditional home health where you visit multiple patients during the day or there's private duty nursing where you stay with a patient for an 8-12 hour shift. I work night shift as a private duty nurse for a pediatric home care company. Physically, the work isn't as demanding as the hospital - I do a lot more sitting than I like. Since I work with mostly younger kids, the patients I do lift are light. Just a thought for you.

Yikes! I think part of the thing about sleeping after a night shift is going straight to bed and just relaxing. It's easiest when it's still dark out though... This morning I made the mistake of trying to spend some time with my loved ones and reading before sleeping. I got home from a night shift at 8am, ate breakfast and hung out with my boyfriend and brother for an hour, went to bed, then couldn't sleep and got sucked into a book for 2 hours. I didn't get to sleep until 1pm, was woken up at 4pm by boyfriend, back to sleep for an hour, and then got out of bed at 5:30 pm. I think you also have to have a bit of a routine too.