joseash

Again, Florida is soooo vastly different from Panhandle to Keys. There are big cities, riddled with the same problems as any other big city in the US (but arguably better weather!) and there are small town Mayberry-like towns that are sweet and homey and safe and cheap. It is warm year-round in the southernmost portion and gets a bit chilly in winter in the northern panhandle. Bad drivers exist everywhere (and I don't mean just in Florida either.) If you want to leave Boston behind and give Florida a try, go for it! Don't let anyone discourage you. You will eventually form your own opinions after living there awhile but in all honesty, I think you'll like it and I say this because you have a positive outlook about it and seem to be open-minded. As a military spouse who has lived in many a new town, I know firsthand that going into it with a positive outlook makes a world of difference. There's good and bad about every place but you can't dwell on the bad. People I know who move to a new duty station with a negative mindset already in place never like it there and suffer through miserably for their two or three year tour. Those who go into it excited and embracing the positives make the most of their experience. Good luck to you!

Sorry, that totally sucks for you and seems kind of unfair. I know our policy is that we have to work one of the major holidays, either Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's. Just one of them, not all of them! We do self-scheduling and plenty of people signed up for Christmas Eve night (I work nights), especially some of the older nurses without young kids. It seems people kind of look out for each other on my unit. I'm sorry yours didn't work out that way. Try to make the best of your holidays anyway. Since your daughter will be home, celebrate and enjoy your time together on whatever day it falls. And thanks to your daughter for her military service. I am a military wife myself so I understand what a difficult (but rewarding) life it can be.

It certainly doesn't hurt to apply anyway but I do know that some hospitals/units in this area do require a day/night rotation and are sticklers for the every other weekend rotation. My particular place of employment is much more laid back, thankfully! Staff there are either straight days or straight nights. And we are required to do three weekend shifts (Fri/Sat/or Sun) per four week schedule, self-scheduling so it's not like you are committed to the every other weekend thing. Self-scheduling is one of the major perks of my job, I must admit.

Hang in there, we all have bad shifts from time to time. You are not unique in that way so quit beating yourself up about it! It doesn't matter how long you've been around. Things happen. You will learn more every day and you will build confidence in your nursing skills as time goes on. It sounds like you have good support from your co-workers and that can make a world of difference. As for spilling half the meds, again probably most of us have klutzy moments like that as well. Do you want to hear one of mine? Here ya go.... I had to start a new IV on my cancer pt with hardly any veins to work with and I actually got one in, much to my surprise! But like an idiot, I went to flush and check for blood return and then left the syringe attached while I grabbed for a strip of tape to secure the site. Meanwhile my pt trying to be helpful in some unknown way I'm still trying to figure out lifted her arm up and of course the weight of the syringe pulled the IV right out. Blood started flowing, it was a mess and worst of all, I lost a perfectly good site with not much else to work with! I felt so stupid but of course I learned my lesson and always have my tape handy now. As luck would have it, or maybe an angel on my shoulder that night, I found another teeny tiny vein and was able to get another IV started. Made for good practice in IV skills, that's for sure! But see, we all have our moments. Learn from them, laugh about it later (only the funny ones), and move on.

I know everyone is free to have an opinion but why so much hate towards Florida and so much of it very generalized? All of Florida is not the same. I think every single state has areas with higher crime, poor schools, people with low IQ's, strip malls with chain stores and restaurants as far as the eye can see, etc etc. This is not unique to Florida alone. It is everywhere in this country. There are not half blind blue haired ladies behind the wheel of every car on the road. Cockroaches are not flying through the air every time you turn around and gators don't just meander through the neighborhood on a regular basis. What a bunch of stereotypes. I think for many people, the grass is always greener on the other side. If you are not from a place, it has a hard time measuring up to your hometown (even though you were in big hurry to grow up and leave that place behind as soon as you finished high school!) As a military spouse, I have lived in a lot of different places and going into each with an open mind (that's important), I've liked them all. Some more than others but Florida was the best and where we plan to retire to (not as old people but as young 40-somethings when hubby's military time is up). Northwest Florida in particular is unlike most people's stereotypical view of Florida. We have a change of seasons there. You need a coat in the winter time. It is not the part of Florida where most snowbirds flock to for the winter season. The beaches are among the most beautiful in the world (and I've been to beaches all around the world so I can truly attest to that!) The wages were lower there but so was the cost of living, no state income taxes, no personal property taxes. Real estate property taxes were pretty much the same there as where we currently live. The hospitals in the part of Florida where I lived were first class facilities. Good places to work. In fact, at my current workplace in the DC area, during orientation they mentioned one of these hospitals as a place to emulate due to its very high patient satisfaction rates. This is thanks in large part to the efforts of Quint Studer, a legend in the healthcare industry. But anyway, I felt like I needed to jump in and defend Florida. I don't hate it and it's not such a bad place. We are all different in our wants and needs and not everyone wants to live there but that's okay. That leaves more room for the rest of us. :onbch:

Inova Mount Vernon Hospital or Inova Alexandria Hospital might be good choices for you. They are both in Alexandria. IMVH is off Rt 1 perhaps a bit closer to Springfield but Alex isn't but two or three miles further. Not sure which would be easier to access via Metro/bus. I think IMVH currently has more openings though. Good luck with your search!

Be honest. Tell her just what you told us. You shouldn't dread going to work but, especially in this economy with so many people looking for work, I'd hate to see you miss out on the chance to get your feet wet as a new nurse. Have you looked to see if there are any other opportunities in your area?

I have to agree with you. I like nights, my coworkers are awesome. I feel like I have learned so much in the past year and actually enjoy going to work. I have read enough posts on these forums about people being so anxious about work that they cry before/after/thinking about going in. I have NEVER shed a tear about this job. Things have moved along smoothly for me and I guess those of us with positive happy experiences are less likely to post and vent here then the unhappy ones, as Jules A mentioned. I hope you are part of the happy group!:wink2:

How long did you work there? Were you still in your orientation period? Have you talked to your former manager about the situation, perhaps in a very non-confrontational way to determine what the problem was and how you can improve? Did you have any problems on this floor or did they let you go out of the blue with no sort of warning? If your boss said she would gladly take you back after you got some M/S experience, then perhaps you should go talk to her, ask for a reference, grease the skids a little bit and see what you can find out. Maybe you could look for a job in another hospital system altogether without making mention of this job if you never finished orientation? I hope you find something soon!

I've been in your shoes. When we lived overseas, I still maintained my license in my home of record, Florida. I kept my license active just by paying the fees and keeping up with my CEU's. If your state actually requires clinical hours, could you perhaps look into a travel job and make your next trip back to the States a "working vacation?" Or acquire an active license in another state with fewer restrictions? I know for me working overseas was just not an option. There weren't any jobs at the military base and there was definitely a huge language barrier (and probably other red tape) to make working on the economy not a viable option. I hope you find a solution that works for you. In the meantime, enjoy your experience. Being a SAHM and experiencing a new culture all at the same time is a real blessing!

We have to do 1 major and 2 minors per year. Other "hard-to-fill" days may also count, like Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, Halloween, etc. It's self-scheduling though so you aren't forced into anything you don't want (if all works out well and everyone pitches in which is what seems to happen). There are plenty of people already on board for Christmas Eve, those without kids or with grown kids, so the rest of us with little ones don't have to worry. What wonderful co-workers! I work night shift so my holiday this year is Wednesday 11/26. I get off early Thanksgiving morning, catch up on some sleep and then off to dinner with family (someone else is cooking, thank goodness!)

When you do clinicals in nursing school, you will be exposed to different areas of nursing and then maybe you will find out which most appeals to you. If surgery is most interesting to you, then maybe working as an OR nurse would be your niche. You have to go to medical school to actually DO the surgery but as a nurse you would be in the operating room assisting. I'm not sure where you live but in my area, some of the hospitals offer a "Shadow a Nurse" day and even a Nursing Discovery Camp in the summer for high school students to learn more about a career in nursing. You can also check out these sites: http://mshs.beanurseathca.com/ http://www.discovernursing.com/ Study hard and keep your grades up! That's the first step.

Don't think it has anything to do with the degree. It really has to do with the individual nurse.

To be honest with you, I really rather enjoy working 2 or 3 nights a week instead of M-F days. I did that (not as a nurse) and don't miss it at all. I like being able to buy groceries or shop at the mall during the week when there's no crowd (especially with the Christmas rush coming!) I like having every day free if school calls and my child is sick or school closes for a snow day. I may be tired if I worked the night before but at least I'm available. That means the world to me and made the nights decision a no-brainer. Being detail-oriented is a good quality in all of nursing, not just OR. I don't think you can go wrong with either decision. But wow, what a great position you are in with two such awesome choices! Best of luck to you!

Sorry I don't have much advice for getting you organized but I think you will work that out on your own anyway, part of the learning curve. I just wanted to provide some encouragement and say I've been in your shoes. I can remember in the beginning having days like yours. During orientation, I was eased into the patient load game starting with one, then two, heck, I even handled three patients just fine. But then they tacked on #4 one day and it was like all hell broke loose. I was running myself ragged trying to figure out how to keep who needs what straight. My preceptor was awesome and encouraging and well, I could rave on about her forever but she was a real blessing. The point being, I did learn to manage four patients before orientation was up. Then I moved to night shift and suddenly I was handling 7 and 8 patients and doing it well! (1:6 is a much better ratio and what we aim for but the reality of it is, there are times when we end up with more as the night wears on.) I have my own little system of checklists and organization on paper but I am also much better now at keeping things in my head than I was in the beginning. I used to be so in awe of my preceptor because just off the top of her head, she know that Patient A was NPO for a test and Patient B had labs drawn an hour ago that we needed results on and Patient C needs a B/P check before we go give that Lopressor, etc. She just had all that in her head, meanwhile I was struggling just to remember who my patients even were without looking at the papers. In time, it just all comes together. It really does. Just keep on trying and learning and doing and things will be okay!