Reds5588

Thank you everyone for the good advice and words of wisdom. You’ve confirmed my beliefs that I am where I belong. The only reason I was contemplating even leaving because I didn’t want to be “selling myself short” or missing learning opportunities. However, I now better understand why that line of thinking was not correct.

So, I have been an RN, BSN for 5 years. I did one year at a subacute rehab before transferring to a med-surg floor in the same health system. I really loved my floor, it was a small inter-City hospital that was kind of rough but I really enjoyed it and bonded well with all my coworkers under rough conditions. Recently, we had to relocate to a new state, where my husband is originally from(husband is finishing NP school and has several job opportunities in his hometown, plus we have more family to help with our kids). I got a new job on a med-surg floor at a much larger, magnet/teaching hospital. Very similar work and patients, but a lot more support staff which makes the job much easier. The one thing that I’m feeling is this huge emphasis on getting out of med-surg as quick as possible. It’s like a revolving door of new grads and everyone acts like med-surg is the scum of the hospital and they cannot wait to move to a specialty. There is also this huge divide of days vs nights. Everyone acts like night shift doesn’t do anything. That division always existed on my other jobs, but it’s really intense here. overall, I enjoy med-surg. I like the large variety of patients I see. I’ve been married to an ICU/ER nurse for years and I really admire him and enjoy all his life or death stories, but it’s just not an area for me. I have had plenty of codes, crazy patients, rapid responses, exciting stories etc... but it’s not something I want every shift or even every week. I just hate feeling like I’m being seen as less of a nurse. There are only a handful of senior nurses that work on my very large floor. They suggested I sit for my CMSRN. Any long time med-surg nurses out there?!?

I faced a similar situation a few months ago. I liked my job/co-workers, but after moving to a new state I was then commuting an hour each way. I applied in March to a new hospital (with better pay/benefits) 10 minutes from my new house. Literally, the day after I submitted my application COVID went crazy in my area (New Jersey). My floor was converted to a COVID unit. Meanwhile a had a “virtual interview” and ended up getting the new job. I spent 6 weeks on the covid unit of my former hospital and then started my new job. The health system orientation and training was very tricky because everything was virtual! But once my actual in-person orientation on the floor started, things started to fall into place. I dearly miss my old co workers but I’m starting to meet more people at the new hospital. I would just say be prepared for an unorganized hiring/orientation process. I feel like I’ve had to take initiative and follow up with a lot of people about all sorts of things. So many people in HR, education and the nurses union were working from home when I started, so I really would have slipped through the cracks had I not been on top of everything. I say go for it!

Good point... that would be terrible. I guess The only positive in that situation would be that no Clinicals would mean no urgency to stress about switching jobs this month though.

I should also add: some people may say “you should have done this months ago.” Which obviously crossed our minds, but my husband really wanted that full time ER position to help with his gaining more knowledge and experience for school, and he was able to find Local preceptors more easily this way. In addition to that, our oldest daughter is on a travel cheerleading team, my husband was not comfortable having to travel across the country for competitions and having to do her hair and makeup So he wanted me to stay part time until her season was over in April. Obviously had we known COVID 19 would happen, the cheerleading issue would not have been a deciding factor.... hindsight is 20/20!

So, for the past year my family has been prepping for big changes to our employment status. My husband and I are both RN,BSN. My husband is about to start his final year of FNP school. I have been a medical surgical nurse for 4 years, part-time for the past 2 years (since having my youngest of 3 children, 2 years ago). My husband has been full time ICU. More recently, we moved to a new state last Summer where he became a full time ER nurse at a new hospital (I stayed at old hospital, commuting an hour). My husband will be starting his FNP clinicals in May. We made the decision over a year ago, that I would apply for full time medical surgical positions within the new hospital around this time, and he would go per diem. While I was a little anxious about the possibility of not getting a job offer, I was confident, that with my experience that it likely wouldn’t be an issue, and we would be starting our new positions just in time for his clinicals to start. I should also add, it is very important to us that I get a full time position at the new hospital, because they are the only health system in our area that covers our daughter’s insulin pump at 100%. When my husband worked at the old hospital we were paying between 200-1200 a month for her various supplies. So, I applied for a full time medical surgical position on Thursday, and it seems like that same day, everything in our area started shutting down. Yesterday the CDC recommended no large gatherings for 8 weeks (which makes me think they would not be holding new hire orientation classes???) I know it’s only been 2 business days with no response from them, but now I’m in a panic that our plan will fail and my husband will forced to work full time and do clinicals until all of this, hopefully, blows over... My husband thinks the opposite. He says they will want to be fully staffed and I need to calm down. Any thoughts?

We already work for the same health system, as we have for several years now. He works on the ICU and I applied for the ED, the unit managers cover for each other sometimes, which is how she knows my husband. In the interview the unit manager said "it shouldn't be a problem at all" to make our schedules around each other.... maybe she's had second thoughts since the interview. For what it's worth, I did say our schedules can conflict some days, but I just don't have enough babysitters for a schedules to conflict everyday.

Background: I've worked for a hospital affiliated short stay rehabilitation unit (located in SNF, down the street from actual hospital) for two years now. I have received nothing but great reviews since starting. I accepted the position as a new grad because it was the only offer I recieved... I didn't have enough experience for acute units; so they said..... my husband graduated nursing school 6 months after me, I referred him to the health System and he got hired immediately to telemetry, and then transferred to the ICU.... talk about a low blow to my self esteem... so we had a baby in November, I returned to the SNF on a per diem basis. I've been picking up 3 shifts a week, the only reason I'm even per diem is because I have to work around my husbands schedule due to childcare issues. Current situation: Two weeks ago I saw a full time ER position posted, 11am-11pm, the hours work great with our schedule, as long as we put the baby in daycare, and I've always wanted to try the ER. i immediately got an interview (this position has been posted since February). The interview went really great and she was talking about how she'd work my schedule around my husbands and she already was thinking about who I would orient with... she said she knows my skills from rehab are satisfactory to start (I can put in IVs, Foley's, etc..)the only thing she seemed hung up on was that I used to be a tech in a maternity unit, And she kept saying how maternity and ER are completely different and trying to gauge if I was prepared for the different pace? She even brought up the maternity vs ER thing to my husband when she saw him later that night. At at the end of the interview she said she had other interviews. our health System has a mandatory two part interview process, so I had to go back the next week anyway. She didn't seem quite as enthusiastic when I met her the second time, but we still got along well and I felt pretty confident, we were both laughing for a lot of it, except once again she emphasized that she had another interview that day and another on Monday. She said she'd let me know within a week because she understood I had time constraints for reserving a daycare spot for our infant. She even told me to contact her if I didn't hear anything. fastforward to now, one week later and it's been radio silence. I sent her a nice, not pushy email asking if a decision will still be made this week (reminded her of the daycare situation) and she hasn't responded (been over 24 hours). i guess in my heart I feel this is a rejection and I just feel so defeated. This was the only way we could have made it work. Now, I have to go back to the SNF while I watch my husbands career flourish. He offered to quit and go per diem so that I had a higher chance of finding a position but I think that's a lot of changes to take on at once. this is a level 3 ER which frequently takes new grads, so I cannot figure out what I did wrong. I already work for the health system and I have a lot of connections. Yet I can't seem to get into an acute unit. Our childcare issues are that my husband works 7p-7a, we have no family willing to take the baby overnight (eliminating me being able to take a night shift position: unless they agreed to put us opposing days) and I can't really do 7a-7p because our older children don't start school until 8am, so who would take them if we were both working? Basically, they'd have to agree to schedule us on opposite days too. where do I go from here? sorry for grammar and spelling errors (typing on my phone)

I was a CNA for ten years before becoming a nurse, and I learned to master mouth breathing. As the years go on it won't even bother you as much. And to the previous poster who said its the "CNAS problem," I hate to break the news to you, but you are very wrong. I handle just as much feces now as before. We often go without a CNA, or the CNA needs assistance. Always remember the importance of teamwork as a nurse!

Its hard work, but you have to stay focused. I was widowed two years ago very suddenly during my 2nd year of nursing school. I was left a single mother to two young children. I had a few key support people and I also sacrificed a lot of sleep. I never considered myself a very "tough" person but I've learned that life's struggles teach us a lot about what we are truly made of. If you want something bad enough, you can succeed!

I'm sure you've heard about the nurse in the news recently who lost her license for taking a picture of her patient's member... So yeah, that'll do it...

Service attendants??? Wow...

I agree that its common in nursing school to see students get treated differently. When I was in med surg 2 (8 months pregnant with many complications during finals too), I bombed my final and missed the passing cut off by 0.87 percent. Two other students that I knew failed by 2% and 5%. The student who failed by 5% was given an opportunity to retake the class next semester after an appeal. The student who failed by 2% had to leave after his appeal failed, and started at a new school. It was the 2nd class fail for both but they obviously had different outcomes. It was only my 1st fail but I had to wait a whole year to retake the course. I know how frustrating and awful it feels to fail something. When I restarted I had reevaluated my whole study method and got tutoring during finals. I ended up excelling and graduating with honors. I'm starting my first job at the hospital of my dreams in a few weeks. Don't let a failure define you, use it as a learning opportunity! I was tempted to hold resentments towards teachers and the more favorably treated students, but I chose to come back on top and never allow myself to get in that situation again. FYI: I kept in touch with the student who had got dismissed. He started at a new program which he felt was more suited to his personality anyway and he graduated a few months ago also, and is about to start his first job! Hang in there!

I have a weird phobia about fingernails. After a bad experience involving cleaning feces from under a patients fingernails (very tricky task), I always get grossed out when I see dirty fingernails. Really long fingernails creep me out too.

My school had a representative from a review course come and talk to my class about a month before graduation. They like gave this whole presentation that basically convinced us we would fail if we did not take their course. They even had like free review books and prizes for people who paid right there on the spot. I admit, I was suckered into it and paid 480 for the course (would have been 600 without our university's "special" discount). While I do think the course was kind of pointless, it provided us with A LOT of resources (i.e: books, computer programs, questions), which were extremely useful. I wish I could have paid a cheaper price for the review material and skipped the actual in-person course. I did pass with 75 Q on my first try. Though, I felt the exam was not as hard as the review course company implied it would be. However, I may have just lucked out and got a good batch of questions. I do think I would have passed without the course though. FYI: My school, which set all this up, is NOT a for-profit school. It is a well regarded private university with a 92% first time NCLEX pass rate. I felt like our instructor during that last semester made us think that the review course is responsible for their high pass rate though.... :/

What is the most professional way to ask via E-mail about the status of a job offer, and to imply you need to know ASAP!?!?! The idea of it sounds so rude to me, but I have one job offer at LTC Pediatric facility, and I have about a week to officially accept... I have 2 more interviews this week as well. Today, I got a call from a DON at a hospital which I interviewed at 3 weeks ago. I assumed I hadn't got the job, but she called to ask if I'd be available for a different shift then what I interviewed for. I of course, said yes I'd be available, and then she said she'd tell HR. I should have asked more questions then but I was caught so off guard because I had given up hope of getting an offer at this hospital. I love pediatrics, but the LTC facility is a long drive from my home, and the pay is REALLY low compared to the hospital. Plus, I think acute care experience would be better for future career possibilities? I want to E-Mail the hospital DON and ask her if this means I should be expecting a job offer? Should I tell her I really NEED to know in the next few days because I have another offer??? Would it be bad form to mention my job offer at my other interviews this week? I am a new grad, so I applied to A LOT of places and now I feel like I am in over my head with juggling interviews. I also have 2 voicemails and 3 E-Mails from other places requesting interviews. I think I am going to have to pass on some interviews. I know if I do not get the hospital job I will probably be taking the LTC Pediatrics job, because Peds is where my heart is. I am so grateful that all these places are willing to give me an opportunity to interview and/or job offers, so it is really important that I convey my gratitude appropriately and do not come off as rude. ANY advice is so appreciated! I know there are so many wonderful experienced nurses on here, and that's why this is the first place I turn to for guidance with these kind of things! Thank you all so much!

Thanks for all the input, I'm glad to know some of my concerns are valid! I am hoping the nurses I see during shadowing will give me some insight. I'll update on Wednesday!

Hello, I graduated in December, passed NCLEX in February and have been on 3 interviews since then. My 3rd interview was yesterday, at a major magnet hospital. All applicants are offered a shadow experience, which I am doing next week. I got along well with the nurse manager and i am really hoping I get the job. The only thing that concerns me is that this hospital has an "All-RN care model." They do not have ANY CNAs, techs, or phlebotomy team. I have been a tech at a different hospital for 5 years now and it is hard for me to imagine doing everything I do, plus a million times more with the added RN responsibilities. She said they try to keep it at 3 to 4 patients per nurse, but it does often go up to 5. She said teamwork is they key to success in this model. I'm not opposed to doing "extra" work, I guess I just get concerned about keeping up and having time. Or if all the nurses are with patients, who would help me change a large patient, or leave the floor to get supplies, or assist with feedings if I have 3 patients who needed help at the same time? Little things like that? I have researched and found this model actually improves patient outcomes, which ultimately sells me on the idea. I'm really excited to see what it is like at my shadow experience. Anyone have experience working under this model? Thoughts? Thank you for taking your time to read my post!

Congrats! I quit last month! I Graduated in December. my dream job (which I interviewed for last week. ... fingers crossed) tests for nicotine in urine upon hire. I needed to quit anyway, but this job opportunity was a great motivator! It's tough, but everyday gets easier.

I felt Kaplan was really good. I thought the questions were pretty similarly structured to nclex.

I did the red cross CNA course like 9 years ago, before I went to nursing school. I was straight out of high school with hardly any medical experience but I found it to be fairly basic. I graduated with a perfect 4.0 (I am normally a 3.0 kind of student). I remember a lot of basic anatomy on the tests, and the licensing exam was laid back, consisting of a proctor watching you perform skills like bathing, bed making, vitals, etc... As soon as I had my certification I applied to this assisted living community that hired me right away as a med administration tech. I liked the job but the pay was only about $12/hr... after a few years of experience and starting nursing school i applied at a few hospitals (hospitals usually prefer to hire experienced CNAs or nursing students). Every hospital I applied to tried to hire me, so I picked my favorite and started making $20/hr. Nice raise! Overall, the Red Cross CNA program was a great experience and they will prepare you well for the certification exam! They took us to two job fairs as well!

I was a "medication administration technician" with a CNA license before I went to nursing school. This was in an assisted living community and It was a great experience for me, I made a point to look up and try to understand every med I was giving, which helped a lot with my future pharmacology courses. However, I now recognize my assessment skills were extremely lacking back then. I also agree that the general public is often unaware of this legal loop hole, and many families and even physicians were surprised when I had to frequently correct them of what my title was. Now, as the mother of a 7 year old daughter with type 1 diabetes, I get frustrated with the lack of nurses at schools. We live in a major east coast city, with terrible public schools (also, with MA instead of RNs). So, my daughter goes to catholic school, and they only have an RN once a week. Our only solution was for her grandfather (a retired nurse) to go to her school at lunch EVERY day to do her accucheck and insulin. We are moving to the suburbs later this year, where she will attend a school with a full time RN.

For my boards in PA it was like a long laminated sheet of paper and fine tipped felt pen (mine was out of ink). I only needed it for keeping tally of how many select all that apply questions I was getting so I'm not entirely sure about what is ok to write and what isnt.

Management of care questions are worth the highest percentage of your overall nclex score. So I would focus a lot on those types of questions. I recommend the linda lacharity book titled something like "prioritization, delegation..." it has nothing but management of care questions in it.

Yes I averaged in the 60-65% range with Kaplan... I passed nclex last week, 75 questions. I felt Kaplan prepared me well, and the questions were constructed similarly to NCLEX. I used nclex mastery app to get more experience with select all that apply questions, because I felt Kaplan didn't have enough of them. I don't know any if my classmates who ever consistently scored above the mid 70s for Kaplan.