missamelissy8

Somebody else who is both on /r/nursing and allnurses!

Our reporting process is also deemed "non-punitive" but I read the fine print during orientation and found out that it's non-punitive IF it's deemed a systems error. I can't tell from your account if it was, but I wonder if that's the case for your facility, too. It seems so disingenuous to tout it as "non-punitive" when there's such a huge asterisk [emoji19].

First, is your facility Union or non-Union? What are the financial perks if you work holidays (i.e. 1.5 or 2 times base)? Do you receive a certain number of hours of holiday pay if you don't work? Do you receive those holiday hours in addition to premium pay if you *do* work? Are differentials still paid for evenings/weekends? Lots of questions, I know. This is my first holiday season as a nurse and I'm just curious what peoples' experiences are!

Wow! Thank you so much, NurseStorm! I will certainly be referring back to this as I get going.

I'm sorry I don't have recommendations as I'm only just about to start as a new grad on L&D. That being said, I love this and am saving it to make myself a fanny pack! [emoji4]

Always have a time in mind that you made an error and how you handled it.

Hyponatremia and dehydration would be measured by the ECF, not what's in the cells.

I haven't read all of the replies, so maybe this was mentioned, but now that you are feeling better about this, reflect. Not just because reflection is good for us in general, but because you WILL be asked about a time you have had conflict and how you handled it in an interview. This seems like a good opportunity to use as an answer. My 2nd med-surg CI said, "everybody has their 'time I cried in clinical' story." I'm not much of a crier, but I have my version of it. This will forever be yours. Let it be a one-off, if you can. Good luck. Do your best to move on from it productively!

Great! Thank you so much for your thoughts. My excitement just continues to grow, and I'll definitely keep your recommendations in mind!

You pretty much hit it on the head for the hospitals in my area. No difference in pay for BSN. Only for graduate level (and that is very minimal, considering) or specialty certifications. However, having a BSN is a hiring perk.

Hello everybody! I've responded to a few posts recently, but this is the first I've started. So, I have been offered my dream job in a local hospital's maternity center. They have a great reputation among patients, and while I don't have a lot of information about employee satisfaction, I get the impression it's fairly high. All of that said, my residency is structured with 3 weeks of orientation (one to the hospital and two didactic with learning modules and NRP certification). Following that, I have 9 precepted weeks on the postpartum side of things. The expectation is then 6 months-1 year of independent postpartum nursing and then moving into a 10-12 week L&D preceptorship. My question is, while the overall progression to L&D is clearly very thorough, does 9 weeks of floor work seem sufficient to be able to move into the role of an independent nurse for postpartum? I am a fairly quick learner, but I had only spent 2 (mostly observational) days on a MBU in my clinical rotations and so don't even know what I don't know yet. I see orientations for other specialties that range from days (eeeeekkk!!) to half a year. But rarely do I see information on MBU/LD specifically. Thoughts? And while I'm here, any words of wisdom/recommendations/stories of experiences? I'm so thrilled for this opportunity and want to make the very best of it!

Have you been taught the "ROME" acronym? Respiratory Opposite, Metabolic Equal. If the PCO2 value goes in the "O"pposite direction of the pH (for instance pH of 7.3 and a PCO2 of 50 or pH of 7.5 and PCO2 of 30), then it is a "R"espiratory cause. If pH and HCO3 are changed in the same ("E"qual) direction (pH of 7.3 and HCO3 of 20 or pH of 7.5 and HCO3 of 30), then it is "M"etabolic. There are really great methods of using boxes and "tic-tac-toe" grids that make it much easier to do for the purpose of testing. However, I haven't used one in a while and am not sure I could remember them well enough to explain here. But if you google, I'm sure you'll find some great resources! Hope this helps as a starting point, though!

Do your best to act like you belong there while keeping in mind limits of your scope of practice. Take every opportunity you can for patient contact, as the first clinical rotation is really about developing comfort with being intimately close to and providing care for complete strangers. What the first rotation entails will vary by school. We focused on getting our assessments done and then it was a lot of nurse aid type work, really emphasizing the patient contact elements. We weren't able to pass meds in our first quarter. The biggest thing I can say is that even though you'll probably feel like a deer learning to walk, fake confidence and the patients will believe in you and in turn, you'll eventually truly believe in yourself. Good luck. It is an exciting time!