TheLittlestNurse

Don't think about 2 years down the road, when both kids are in school full time. What are the chances you will still be at your first nursing job after 2 years, when neither of the jobs you've been offered are actually in your goal specialty? In all honesty, by the time your kids are in school full time, you'll probably be ready for a change (and probably a hospice job, if that's still what you want to do). Life can change a lot in a couple of years. Take the job that makes sense for you and your family now. If you don't *need* the money and don't really want the hours, why be stuck with that schedule? You can probably pick up extra shifts once in awhile at the 16 hr job, and IMO, better to pick up when you *want to* than to be locked into the hours all the time... ETA: If driving time is a factor, also consider that your total time spent commuting every week would actually be lower at the job 35 minutes from home. 35 minutes one way/70 minutes round trip, x2 shifts per week, is 140 minutes. 20 minutes one way/40 minutes round trip, x4 shifts per week is 160 minutes. So, it doesn't really make sense to work closer to home for the sake of shortening your commute if you're actually going to spend more time commuting overall. Just another thing to think about. I used to drive 50 minutes one way (up to 90 minutes OW in the winter), so I get why this could be a major consideration. Just don't get hung up on the relatively minor difference of driving 35 vs 20 minutes when you'd only be doing that 2 days out of the week anyway. Besides, that extra 15 minutes of driving would save you 16 hours of work each week, lol...

Any updates? Just wondering how things turned out. Also wondering what you decided about the EMT program. Hopefully you've already figured out that getting your EMT-B may or may not lead to a paying job, will not put you any closer to being a nurse, and you will not get any credit/"get ahead" to being an EMT just because you started the nursing program. Plus, EMT programs usually blow nursing classes out of the water in terms of intensity, stress, etc. If you did decide to go the EMT route, I hope it's because you decided that's what you really want to do, not just because it seemed like an easy way out or a way to do *something.* If you're still looking for a summer job, have you thought about doing a CNA program? Some are very quick (just a few weeks), should be easy enough for a nursing student, and there are plenty of jobs. Just a thought.

A) Nowhere did I state that anyone speaking a non-English language is automatically making fun of someone else...but it happens pretty regularly as anyone who speaks a second language can verify. I've caught it in Spanish, friends have caught it in Chinese and Korean. I used the example of salons because they are extremely notorious for this. It's not self-centered to question the reason for a fluent English speaker to use another language they think someone isn't going to understand in an English-speaking workplace. B) Social chit chat is not the same as a private conversation, and one cannot expect to limit who is or is not part of a conversation at the nurse's station. If you are in a shared workspace, no one is "listening in," they are simply forced to listen because they have to work in the same space and can't really get away from you. I make social conversation all the time at work, and under no circumstances would I consider it "private."

They aren't having a "private conversation" though. They are in a very visible, public space with lots of people obviously overhearing them. Someone who understands the language could be nearby at any time. A private conversation is generally held someplace "private" where it cannot be overheard. To me, this sounds a lot like being in a nail salon and hearing everyone speak Vietnamese because A) they have something rude or gossipy to say or B) they aren't interested in conversing with others. Patients and families hear a lot of conversation coming from the nurse's station, and they will naturally make assumptions (e.g., they're probably making fun of me)...

Honestly, if you already have a Bachelor's degree, getting through a "second Bachelor in nursing" program will take no more time than getting an ADN. I know people who got it done in a year, others maybe a year and a half. Your time is valuable too...not just your money. Do you really want to spend as much time getting an Associate's degree as it would take you to finish your BSN at this point - and then still have to go back to finish your BSN later? I would seriously consider that question. I am finishing my BSN right now, and employer reimbursement is of little help - you may not be able to count on it in the future. At my old job, they only covered a set amount per year unless you were willing to sign a 3 or 4 year contract effective upon graduation. I think it was around $3,000 without a commitment, or $7,500 with a commitment. At my new job, you have to attend 1 of 2 schools approved by the organization, and neither one is the university I go to.

Just IMO, if you've never worked in a union facility, you can't fairly call yourself "pro-union." I thought I was pro-union too, until I left my non-union job and took one at a unionized hospital. Our union does nothing but take nurses' money and maintain job protection for nurses who should have been let go years ago (ya know, the ones who are dangerously lazy and have had pt abandonment complaints filed enough times). Our union voted to CUT our pay, which is already no different than at a non-union hospital; my health insurance costs the same but has more restrictions on what is covered; we have no mandated nurse:pt ratios; we don't get any bonuses or pension; the work environment is toxic - nurses were treated better, and with more respect, at my non-union gig. I could go on all day. I'm not in the union, but some of my coworkers who have been for decades are now leaving it! You can use the threat of unionizing indefinitely if admins are willing to negotiate with you to prevent it...take advantage of that as long as they're willing to work with you.

No truth to it whatsoever. My nursing instructors repeated the same BS, too...except they claimed that A students spend so much time on their studies that they don't acquire social skills; B and C students allegedly take a more relaxed approach and do social things, supposedly making them better with people. Ha! The B students in my class spent at least twice as much time on their homework/studying as I did. Many of them struggled in clinical. And guess what? Many of them either never got jobs as nurses or left the profession within 1-2 years! They were B students not because they were spending time acquiring other useful skills, but because they were struggling to keep up. Sometimes being an A student just means you either get the material with less effort, and/or you are good enough at critical thinking to figure things out with less prep work. It is NOT an indicator that you're too "cerebral" a thinker to work in the real world. Success on the floor totally depends on your attitude, skill development, and work ethic. Btw, your performance in clinical is not a great predictor of your performance on the job someday. Totallt different balls of wax.

Great. Now some gullible person is going to think that parabens in their shampoo might be a risk to their patients. For that inevitable naive person: Your products don't emit parabens into the air. Your patients would literally have to lick off your deodorant or body lotion to be exposed to the parabens.

Ok...here's the thing. The people at the testing center generally don't see or know your results for the NCLEX. Even if they did, they would probably have no idea if you passed or not if they saw a % of correct questions or whatever, as NCLEX is scored differently than most exams. Maybe they misstook you for someone else who took a different exam? Anyway, the PV trick doesn't require you to pay anything one way or the other. You attempt to re-register for the exam; if you get the screen where you can enter a credit card and proceed with registration, that means you failed (according to the trick). If you get an error message saying you can't register for the exam, or that you already registered for/took the exam, then you passed (again, according to the trick). You NEVER actually put in a card number or get charged! If you make it to a payment screen, either you failed or the trick didn't work...so don't keep going.

Once. Zero tolerance. The hospital I used to work in recently implemented a non-discrimination policy. In a nutshell, pts can no longer refuse staff members on the basis of any protected class (e.g., race, gender). So, they took a small step forward for staff rights, but we still had problems with racial slurs and such. Verbally abusive pts are hard to handle, because unless they're totally out of control, you can't just sedate them or chemically restrain them. I usually respond to verbal assault with something direct, firm, and emotionally neutral. I have straight up told pts that "it is not acceptable to say xyz"...or that i will continue speaking with them when they stop xyz. If the abusive speech continues, they get nothing from me except standard care. I continue assessing, passing meds, etc., but I will keep it short, sweet, and to the point. I am not rude, but I do not engage them any more than necessary while they are actively being verbally abusive. I document quotes from the pt and check "abusive" under their behavioral assessment. I also make it clear to the pt and family that I do not have to accept abuse and will not listen to it. If it becomes an ongoing issue, rather than just a temper tantrum, the manager needs to step in and set boundaries with the pt too. One pt on my floor was so nasty that risk management, ethics, SW, the hospital supervisor, and the unit manager had to have a conference with the pt and family to create a behavior contract. Cognitively intact pts don't get a free pass to practice hate speech just because they're in a hospital...ever. ETA: It's important to speak up on behalf of other staff too. I think a lot of people forget that they do have a right to be free from abuse and discrimination at work, even in nursing!

This. The goal shouldn't be to teach kids to cover up so that no one will look at them. It should be to teach kids the need to dress appropriately and in a way that makes contextual sense. Life is full of dress codes, written or unwritten, that apply to many situations. School isn't a "professional" environment per se, but it's not a bar, either. It's not that outrageous to expect kids to fully cover their undergarments and key body parts (male or female).

For one thing, I would quote her for saying "they won't fire me." Then start the conversation with "I have a concern" and be prepared to back it up with some solid evidence. When I brought concerns to my old manager, she always asked that I documented what we discussed and when; if it were necessary to take corrective action, HR would want to see some supporting information. So, based on my personal experience, you should send your manager and supervisor an email with your concerns AND the outcome of your talk with this person (be very specific and descriptive, use concrete examples, cite safety concerns), then go talk to them about the situation. You may not be taken seriously enough if you *only* send an email, but you won't have a "paper trail" if you don't send the email. if your manager still chooses to do nothing, be prepared to go over your manager's head. If it becomes necessary to keep moving up the chain of command, again - be prepared with solid evidence. That's another reason why I recommend keeping a record of your conversation with management. It is too easy for unit managers to suddenly play dumb when the CNO gets involved. You want to have proof that you made every attempt to follow the chain of command appropriately (starting with your lazy coworker herself), and that your manager knew about the problem. Oh, and if other coworkers are picking up on the problem too, they need to go to management (individually) as well. The more people report and document this problem, the stronger your case will be.

It's not about nurses being able to type and use computers, it's about the Informatics people being able to understand what nurses need to do with their EMRs. IT people who don't know 2 shats' worth about what nurses need or want are pretty useless. They create constant headaches for us. That's why so many organizations are moving toward nurse-driven informatics, with clinical experience as a pre-requisite.