kaycee

Both the RN's and the Techs are instructed on splinting. The Techs do it mostly but the nurses do it when the Tech is busy or when we have no tech. The Docs never. Occasionally Ortho will come in for complicated reduction and they will cast. We do a lot of Peds, so the Peds Ortho is who we see the most along with his residents.

Two reasons in my opinion that we get so many nonurgent pt's in our ED. First MD offices are so booked that the instant response of many office personnel is, we can't see you, GO TO THE ER. The other big reason is money. People with no insurance or public assistance don't have to pay up front. People with insurance have co-pays but we don't force them to pay that day. Most MD offices and Urgent Cares want money the day of service or no servive is rendered. Many of our uninsured pt's give false names, address's and SS #'s. They never have ID, and they know we can't turn them away. It's free care to them and they take full advantage of it.

Per diem is a casual position. You work only when you are needed. There is no guarantee of time and no benefits. Yes, you can work when you want to but they have no obligation to use you if you are not needed.

Sewickley Valley Hospital is a nice size community hospital. I don't know what positions are available there or what starting pay is for a GN. Allegheny General Hospital is a level 1 trauma center on the north side of Pgh across the river but not far from the Moon Twp area. They have many positions open and hire new grads. They are part of the West Penn Allegheny Health System. They also have a suburban campus which is called AGH Suburban, located in Bellevue, which is extemely close to Moon Twp. It is a small community hospital that has positions open for Peds, ICU, PCU, PACU, and ER. I think they hire new grads, again I don't know starting salary. Ohio Valley Hospital is not in a health system. It's a small community hospital all by itself. It's in McKees Rocks which is next to Coraopolis on the same side of the river. McKees Rocks is not the best of areas. Then as someone else aready mentioned UPMC has a lot of hospitals. They are all a little farther away from where you are moving but may offer good possiblities. Welcome to the Burgh and good luck with your job search.

When your contract is up, try AGH Suburban campus. Small 6 bed ICU, nice stepping stone for a larger ICU experience.

Just an additional thought. Along with what everyone else has said, we a now are a society of quick fixes. It seems like people have no patience for nonurgent illnesses. Everyone wants a pill for this and a pill for that. Some of the most demanding ER pt's are between the age of 18 and 30 and have had a sore throat since this morning, a cold for 2 days, diarrhea x 2, N/V x 2 or 3, a 24hr rash, I could go on and on. These are normal healthy young people with no patience for being sick for 1 minute. These are the people that aggravate me the most.

We only do belonging lists on pt's who are admitted. We have a checklist of what they are keeping with them in the hospital and they sign it. If they can't sign, have decreased LOC or no family with them, security takes their stuff and locks it up. It has cut down on patients and families claiming they had things that they did not, and expecting the hospital to reimburse them. It really doesn't take that much time. Now if you're talking about every pt that walks in the ER, and not just admits, that is insane.

We lost one of our nurses a few years ago. She was found dead in bed, was young and had no medical problems. It was quite a shock to all of us. We collected money and gave some to her favorite charity in her name and with the other monies bought a beautiful picture of a lighthouse(the beach was her favorite place) with a in memory name plaque, and hung it in the ER. Every time we look at it we remember and she is with us everyday.

$6.00/hr as a new RN in 1975. Now making $32.00/hr as a charge nurse. My salary increased very slowly over the years and was stagnant for quite a while in the late 80's and 90's. Jumped quite a bit in the last 6yrs, but is still considered on the lower end, for my experience level and what I do.

For sure a head CT was in order as well as an admit at least to an OBV bed, with eval by a neurologist. I've never seen a minor narcotic OD result in one non reactive pupil. You were right to be concerned, but you can only do so much. Can you do a follow up call to see how she is?

OTC or not, I would not dispense any medication without an order from an MD.

Started as a GN in SICU/Trauma- 3yrs there then 4yrs in CCU then to ER. Been in the ER now for 24yrs.

Just did ACLS renewal and they mention changes but are still teaching the same stuff. I may be wrong but I believe they said the new material will not be introduced until fall 2006.

Try Community College of Allegheny County or Beaver. You may want to call HR at Butler Memorial and see if they have any info.

Sewickley Valley Hospital and Ohio Valley Hospital still do babies. They are located closer to the North Hills. I don't know if they hire GN's for OB but you could check them out.

Asthma is not just asthma. It can be very deadly. I'm sure you did everything you could. As nurses we may become used to death, but hopefully we never stop being affected by it.

No metal detectors, one lone security guard per shift, that has to round the whole building. No security stationed in the ER. Two camers and monitors that don't work half the time. We are a community hospital that has approx 22,000 visits a year in a not so nice part of town. Unfortunately Administration will never do anything until something bad happens.

I don't really know salary levels but if you are used to west coast salaries, you won't be making as much, but cost of living is cheaper in the Burg. The shortage here is not as great as other places because there are a lot of nursing schools. There are however a lot of jobs available especially in the ER. There are a lot of hopsitals to pick from. The two major health systems are UPMC and West Penn Allegheny. Within those two systems are large teaching hospitals and smaller community hospitals. Mercy is another smaller health system and is a teaching facility. I work in one of the community hospitals in the West Penn Allegheny system and they treat nurses pretty well. At Allegheny General which is a large trauma center, their nurses are unionized. I don't know about UPMC. I do know in both systems there are ER jobs available. Just Google West Penn Allegheny Health System and UPMS Health System and go to their web sites. They have job postings there. Good luck.

I work in the ED. I am steady daylight charge and get a higher base rate. There is also a steady 3-11 charge. I work 4 ten hour shifts, mostly Mon thru Thurs. no weekends. The steady 3-11 charge works 3-11 and also has weekends off. The steady charge positions are only offered if you work that shift only. No one on nights wants steady nights so we rotate charge between them. As the steady daylight charge, I also do the schedule, and sometimes payroll when the manager is out of town.

We wear black scrubs in the ER but can wear any color top or jacket. ICU and PCU are navy and white. Med surg is white pants with any color tops or jackets. Aides are wine pants with any color tops or bottoms. Secretaries wear street clothes. Housekeeping wear khacki pants and white shirts. There's more colors in other depts but I can't recall them right now. Patients only know who's who if you identify yourself. Name badges are pretty small and hard to read unless you're up close.

Yes, Toradol burns, I've also been on the receiving end and had pt's tell me it burns. I also dilute the Toradol with NSS before giving it. Maybe the combination of two very irritating drugs made you even more predisposed to DVT. We don't use Phenergan very much but when it's ordered IV it is diluted. We use a lot of Reglan and Zofran. I've found Reglan can cause people to get very anxious sometimes. Anyone else had this happen?

"I haven't eaten all day." After arriving by ambulance for a sore throat, "I'll need a cab pass home" "I only had one beer" ETOH 269 "Are you the doctor, or JUST a nurse" "I have to be otta here in a half n hour, can you hurry things up?" " I have an apt with my doctor in 1 hour but I just couldn't wait" "Could you write me a prescription for Tylenol?" "I was not almost dead" after Heroin OD with a little Narcan. "I just know I'm really sick and need to be admitted" walks in with suitcase syndrome. " I never had to wait this long before" there are so many more but just thinking about them makes me mad. #1 that bothers me the most "I PAY YOUR SALARY"

http://www.upmcnurses.com/Benefits.htm Try this link, I believe all UPMC facilities are the same.

Yes there is still a need for nurses in Pittsburgh. Any of the major health systems, West Penn Allegheny, Mercy or UPMC have bigs ads in the paper every Sun.

Four 10hr shifts 7a-5p Mon-Thur. Every Thurs, Fri, & Sat off.