karefree

Hi I travelled for three years and used Cross Country Travel and Star Med and both were great! I had my houseing settled for me. I could pick where I wanted to go and had travel reimbursed and only had to pay untilities. It was an awesome experience for me and even though now I am married with one child and another due soon I still miss that excitement of going somewhere totally new! I was in MD, NJ,NJ,AZ,GA, and SC and loved all the places for different reasons and met awesome nurses and ended up with two best friends..one who still ives in GA and the other now lives in FL. I say go for it but look for a company that gives medical benefits and travel reimbursement and pays for your apartment, ETC. ALso you want to be sure you cllick with the person who becomes your coordinator. I had one who was a bit of a pain. You want someone who can handle what you dish out and helps you when you need it!! Good Luck!

Wow! I was prepared for something like her preceptor telling her she wasn't cut out for the job like mine did years ago! I would tell your wife if she really is telling the whole story, that she needs to report that incident and transfer to another unit because that nurse wil be nothing but trouble for her even after she is off orientation! YIKES!

Well I have had enough of this thread,too. RN2MD you are part of the problem. Nursing is not just a job. There are many areas of nursing to go and many areas to further your education and create your own practice or work with MD's. Which by the way, I know several APRN's who have saved Docs time and energy and are very well respected by who they work for. YOu need to get your own head out of the sand and stop posting on a NURSES web site since you have such disdain for us. :angryfire

I just had to jump in on this after reading what RN2MD had to say and quite frankly it is nurses like you who make me mad. :angryfire INstead of being proud where you started you won't tell "upper class med students " where you started? Give me a break. I think what you wrote was insulting. Your reasons for choosing a new career path are because you want more respect? Good luck because I know after many years of nursing there aren't too many med students or residents who are highly respected and if you are this callous towards your patients then you won't have their respect either. I don't enjoy the mundane parts of being a nurse but I chose nursing because I wanted to be with the people I was caring for, establish relationships and feel as though I was giving something back. I certainly agree nursing needs to be on the same page as far as education goes but that is not because I think we can't do a good job without a four year degree. I wish you luck in your program and hope that you don't tick off a nurse because really we are the interns best friend. Because nurses do ROCK! Karefree

I like the show because i enjoy watching them get to the bottom of something. The show is called House so I don't expect much from them as far as nurses go. It is unrealistic, even for docs. But are any of you old enough to remember "Nightingales"? Now that was a horrible show and actuaally had potential. If medical shows bother , write your own pilot. I love Grey's Anatomy and especially loved the chief resident's line about pissingoff the nurses....isn't it true? We have the power people just learn how to use it!!!:chuckle

Hi BSNGRAD2B! The stories that nurses eat their young has been around a long time. In some places it is very true. I have heard from friends who went in to ICU settings that the nurses are very tough. I have worked mostly med/surg and really once I was out of school , with the exception of my first preceptor who just didn't match my personal style of learning. ( She asked me one night if being a nurse is really what I wanted. It was just working with her was not! LOL) ANyway, if you are easy to get along with and don't stick yourself out there like you know more or share your war stories instead listening, I found most nurses to be receptive and really the more helpful I was to other nurses the more friends I made. But don't worry yourself about nurses in the workforce until you are there and when you get to your clinical, just be prepared and respectful like all these nurses are asking and you'll be fine! Good luck in school and consider getting a nurse tech job, like one of the other postings mentioned. I ,too worked through school and learned more the small community hospital I worked in than most of my clinicals. Clinicals in my opinion are almost worthless. Not enough time spent and not enough patient care. Enjoy your career! KAren

Hi ! I am a nurse of 13 years ( yikes where does the time go?) I had many unpleasant experiences as a student. My first beign on the maternity rotation when our instructor ( A homecare/ med/surg nurse with no maternity background!) told us she was going to rely on the staff nruses as much as we would be! Then on the first day when she was trying ot show us around and the nurse manager came around the corner , our instructor stopped her and aske dher if there was anything she wanted to say to us. Her response? "No I can't think of anything." And she walked away. Turned me off to maternity nursing completely because her staff was the same. One nurse yelled at me for not helping a mom while she was breastfeeding. I knew nothing about breast feeding and felt very awkward just being in the room ( I was 20 and not a mom!) All the other nurses just couldn't be bothered with us and this was a teaching hospital. I really don't remember having any nurse in particular who was excited to help me or extended real kindness. When I became a nurse out on the floor I was the complete opposite. I loved having students and went out of my way to help. I miss that interaction now! I have seen a simliar thread goes through most of the postings here adn it is one of respect. Students who come through as though they know it all and can teach us a thing or two are , to be blunt, annoying. Students who are EMTs or who have some other medical background can reach an almost intolerable level. And I say some! I have had students who were awesome and just wanted to learn and others who couldn't be bothered to help their patients get onto a bed pan. Which brings up the question of why become a nurse. No bedpan duty is not exciting but sometimes it is just part of the job and when someone needs something it is our job to help them. ANd of course students deserve respect because we have all been there and it is stressful and overwhelming to not be familiar with a floor and feel awkward and then not have support from the staff. My advice to students is, introduce yourself not just to your nurse but any nurse or CNA on the floor. Especially CNAs. They can be a huge help!! And make your needs known. ANd be very willing to help if your patient doesn't require much Wow that is long!!! I will end here even though I could go on forever. Nurses need to respect each other more , from students to new grads to the experiences. That's where it starts! Karen

Hi! Well I have 2 schools of thought on this......I decided (13 years ago) to go for the easier route so I could get out there and "save people" and planned to go back and I am almost 36 with one child and another on the way and still haven't gone back. Hoping to in the fall. Seeing as you already have a B.A. I would think it wouldn't be as time consuming to just go for your BSN. But if you are young and don't have the family committment yet and feel you could stay on the horse. GO for the ADN, get a job and let them pay for the BSN. Most hospitals have some kind of tuition reimbursement these days. Right now I am researching local hospitals to see who has the best deal and plan to return to acute care once maternity leave is over. There is even one hospital in my area that has classes at the facility to make it even easier!!! Good luck! Karen:p

Hi Mermaid! Thanks for your response! I didn't realize there are debates over the LPN/ADN/BSN thing so I apologize if I insulted anyone. I did graduate from a four year private school but the nursing program was two years. It was very tough. And my biggest complaint was always not enough clinical hands on practice because that is what still drives nursing. The horrible truth to how I came into nursing is my guidance couselor in HS told me a needed a trade school because I wasn't smart enough to be a photo journalist. ( even though my English and writing teachers thought I was very good and science was a struggle for me and math for that matter!!) My mom was a nurse.loved her profession. Graduated in 1956 from a hospital program. She encouraged me as I had always had an interest in nursing and I took a two year program because I though "how hard can it be?" YIKES! I had no life for two years of school and then the following year as a new grad I was so overwhelmed and tired all the time I still had no life! I take issue with anyone who gives nursing a hard time without realizing how difficult it is and the burn out the comes comes from administrators who have no clue making cutbacks on staff and expecting nothing to change ie patient care and patient outcomes. We need to get articles out there written by nurses in newspapers and magazines not just in nuring magazines, which just nurses read. Nurses know the problems we face the public needs to be more aware and an article written bya lay person who has no clue doesn't help us. So if anyone has a strong writing background get out there and write!! Karen

Hi! I am new to the board and jsut read this post. I can understand why you would feel insulted by the wording but the person to talk to would be the person who ran and wrote the study not the person who worte the article. The problem I think with our public image is that we have too many "levels" of education..LPN/LVN, ADN,BSN...and then the MSN or APRN and so forth. People ask me all the time about someone's initials after their name. I have a friend who has so many inititials my husband asked if she was still a nurse!! And someone else posted as long as their are ways to become a nurse without a 4 year degree get used to the way we are perceived. The way nursing is headed these days I believe all nurses should have a four year degree. ( I am currently going back to complete mine having graduated from a 2 year college program 13 years ago) It is essential that nursing get on the same track. There are not different levels for PT's or OT's or Docs. Can you imagine looking for a Doc for yourself and finding out he/she went to a 2 year program instead of 4 years un dergrad and three of med school and then all the training that follows? Sorry this subject is close to my heart. I have heard too many people say they want to go into nursing now because of all the jobs available and good pay and I only have to go to school for 18 months or two years. They just don't realize the harsh reality of how difficult school is for the time spent ( who had a life while in nursing school??) and how hard it is to do the job we do. Thanks for listening...anyone else feel the same?? Karen