boquiabierta

Hi all, I am a nurse from the U.S. but I currently live in Spain. It's been a nightmare trying to get my nursing license recognized by reciprocity over here so in the meantime I am trying to get a remote nursing job from the States. I have licenses in multiple states (no compact though as I've never lived in a compact state). It seems no one wants to hire a nurse living abroad even for remote work, though I've reached out to the Boards of Nursing and been told that this is just a preference, not a legal issue. Anyone have any advice or know of a job I can definitely do from Spain? Thanks!

Thanks so much. I really appreciate your suggestions. See, this is kind of my bottom line too, and I feel like in general we don't respect sleep deprivation as the danger that it is. We don't blink at a practitioner working sleep-deprived; it's considered acceptable, at least, if not oftentimes necessary. I don't understand why. It's so incredibly dangerous, and yet I imagine we'd be hard-pressed to find a clinician who hasn't worked on inadequate sleep.

Thanks; I've taken doxylamine and Benadryl both many times and am very familiar with how they affect me. Thank you. This is good to hear.

Agree that missing a call is not an option. Even though it'll eventually go to the doctor on call if they can't get me, there is not a chance in hell I want that to happen. Please know that patient safety is my #1 priority. I just want to take care of myself too.

Thanks. I have been dealing with anxiety for all my life and have sought much professional help, been on lots of meds, and worked on various strategies, some effective, some not so much. It's a chronic struggle. Thanks everyone for your comments. I will figure it out.

fair enough. because I'm anxious and feel bad about it and am seeking reassurance.

I'm not talking about something like Ambien, btw. I'm talking about Benadryl or doxylamine, a low dose of a med I am used to where I am confident I would still wake up and my clinical judgment would not be impaired. Are we not allowed to take NyQuil if we have a cold while on call? The job is a great fit for me; it's call that's not a good fit, and I'd hate to give up the job just because of a call requirement every 6 weeks or so. Did I mention it's my first time? No one wants to try to reassure me that maybe I'll get used to it or suggest any non-pharmacological coping strategies?

Outpatient ambulatory surgery. We get a lot of calls.

I work a full-time schedule that is mostly business hours though often they become 10-12 hour shifts because we are just open as long as we have patients. When on call I work the days and then am on-call all night and weekend, for a full week at a time.

My judgment was that the sleep aid would not impair my ability to give professional judgment over the phone -- certainly not more than the ongoing sleep deprivation would have. Any suggestions for how to deal with call without becoming an anxiety-ridden sleep-deprived zombie if I shouldn't take sleep aids?

I'm wondering what you all think about taking sleep aids when on call. I'm not talking about call where you might have to actually go in to work, but call for outpatient care where you have to manage patient complaints overnight, possibly call the doctor/pharmacy, and possibly refer to the ED. What do you think?

Have worked with several male L&D nurses and one of them in particular was one of the best nurses I've ever known. Sure, they're a minority, but they certainly can and do go into OB.

lol "I expensive taco bell"

Whaaaaat. That's crazy about DMPA. I have certainly never worn PPE besides gloves to give that shot. Thanks for digging! Good to know and I'll be sure to bring this up if they try to make us start wearing gloves...

Thanks for this. Guess it's not so crazy after all?