2BS Nurse

Sorry to hear this happened to you. These facilities wonder why they can't find staff. I wouldn't even consider working with these patient ratios. Every state has laws about breaks. In my state, employees can't be legally required to stay in the building if they are off the clock and UNPAID (employers have to pay you if you're required to stay in the building). Our X-ray techs take an unpaid break and our patients have to wait during that half hour. You definitely need an attorney. Good luck.

Former Derm nurse here! Your RN to NP education will include very little Dermatology content. If Dermatology is your goal, you will learn more working in a Derm clinic than anywhere else. Could you do this part time while going to school? I think you'd be surprised about the realities of this specialty, unless your goal is to solely administer Botox and cosmetic fillers. I did WGU RN to BSN and it was mostly a repeat of my ADN. The most valuable class, in my opinion, was a course on reading and interpreting scientific studies. I work with several RNs who graduated from expensive, private nursing schools who couldn't care less about evidence-based practice. The best nurse is ultimately the one who gives a sh!+, not necessary the one who went to a specific school.

It all depends on the job market in your area. I live in a Midwestern city that hires RNs and LPNs in clinics because we have a shortage of MAs in our area. I live near four large health care systems and they are all competing for staff. We have a revolving door of MAs coming through our unit because they have so many job options. Outpatient LPNs are highly employable here. Can you move to a bigger city?

I took my first job in a clinic and have stayed in the outpatient setting ever since. One thing to mull over... when Covid happened, I was unable to take advantage of the lucrative travel contracts available to those with inpatient experience. I became a RN later in life, so my financial goals were different than those I had in my younger years (I was already a homeowner, car owner, etc). If you think you may want the opportunity to travel, I would first get inpatient experience or even LTC. Had I been younger as a RN, I think I would have enjoyed the Emergency Department setting.

Hmmm, not sure Canada hires with the same expectations as the U.S. Here in the U.S., BSN nurses are not more expensive (there may be some exceptions). Where I live, completing the BSN does not earn you a pay increase.

I agree with Hobe: "What would make better nurses? Other nurse could mold better nurses by giving better training. Hospitals should be advocating for better training". These days, new nurses have to seek out training on their own time. I'm my more limited experienced, it's the nurse who actually gives a sh*% about providing good care who makes the best nurse. I've worked with many who just don't care, BSN or not. Moving into the education or supervisor fields don't always = better pay. Once salaried, you're putting in many unpaid hours. In my area, BSN and ADN are paid the same. You're not offered a salary increase upon BSN completion.

In my area, the major health care companies require new ADN grads to complete the BSN (within 5 years of employment). They also contribute money toward the program. Honestly, the BSN program was pretty much a repeat of ADN program (I went to an excellent school for the ADN). I didn't get much out of the BSN program, but I do have a bachelor's in science in another field that required some really hard courses. The only reason I completed it was because it allowed me to change jobs easier. The job market wasn't that great when I graduated - way before Covid. The students who worked as CNAs were hired first, not necessarily the students with BSNs.

Thank you NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN for your post. I am currently reading Pox: An American History, by Michael Willrich. We humans are a vain race. If Covid-19 had scarred our faces horribly (like smallpox did), we'd be hearing a whole different point-of-view from the anti-vaccine side.

"There is epidemiological trend in a dramatic rise of autoimmune disorders. My personal belief is that the overuse of antibiotics and too many vaccines might be behind this". I am reading the words "personal belief" and "might". A belief is not science. As nurses, we are trained to follow the evidence. Many people had "personal beliefs" that ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine would prevent them from getting (and curing) Covid too.

Follow the guidance on the CDC website. "Ending Isolation and Precautions for People with COVID-19: Interim Guidance". These guidelines will change over time. Passing by someone outside on a walk is very low risk for transmission. That being said, the virus is everywhere now. Anyone you pass will be continuously be exposed in a store, church, restaurant, movie theater, etc.

As I was reading through, I was thinking "is this a fake post"? Everything about it seems so wrong. Do NOT stay here! I agree with SnickRN above. "Thousands of hospitals are looking for staff and it sounds like they would treat you better than where you are working".

"I know the pediatric position wasn't interested in allowing a shadow day". This is a red flag for me. I would ask why. Are you ready and able to interact with distraught parents? Will your 12 hour shifts turn into 16? Living so close to a hospital is a bonus if you're on call. Also, no weekends/holidays! Ultimately, only you can decide what is best for you. Good luck!

"Think about those of us who didn't have a computer word programs. We had to retype every version (one typewriter) ...but we were fully engrossed in our study, methodology, results and conclusions" Those days of writing out a nutrition analysis by hand... ugh! No apps like Calorie King to keep track of what you ate! It's my conclusion that our instructors were so nit-picky about grammar, punctuation, rounding to the millionth decimal place, etc, etc, because they were teaching us to pay attention to the details. Unfortunately, our jobs do not always allow the time to do so.

We were given Purdue Owl as a reference, then sent to a "writing lab" within the school for help. You could set up a time and someone would go over your paper, check for grammatical errors, etc. Later on, when I had to write a paper, I'd watch a very brief YouTube video for a refresher. The citation generators available online today are AMAZING!

Love this Nurse Beth! So well written!

Have you thought about trying urgent care? You won't make as much money as working in the ICU, but it's higher paying than most clinic positions. You can also work 12s if that's what you like (4s and 8s too). It's boring at times, but won't exhaust you like inpatient. Zero assigned positions are available.

Yes, we routinely auscultate BPs in the clinic, but the automatic cuff goes on during an emergency and is set to run every x minutes. I have too much to do and there aren't enough of us to take vitals, apply EKG, call 911, start IV, apply O2 and administer meds. Sending your students to auscultate in would provide them with many opportunities to practice.

I agree with Sleepwalker. A manipulative way to avoid handing out pay increases.

If your goal is to eventually become a NP, definitely start with Med Surg. You aren't going to gain broad nursing knowledge in aesthetics. If your goal is to only work in aesthetics for the rest of your life, then start in Dermatology. Clinic Derm jobs are not high paying but give you a better background and you will obtain a wealth of skin knowledge. You can always transfer from Med Surg to Derm or aesthetics. It will be difficult to go in the other direction.

It's normal to be feeling the way you're feeling! Expect to cry after some of your shifts. You will gain more confidence as you go. Read about Dr. Patricia Benner's Novice to Expert theory.

How do you all afford Marquette's expensive tuition?

"The students should not have a place to escape to". Meeting for pre and post clinical conference is not an "escape". It's a way to prepare and debrief for the day. "I've been in emergent situations where nurses in a hospital couldn't even take a manual BP reading". Emergency situations are loud. It's very difficult to auscultate in that volume level. The Dynamap is a necessary tool. If they are all sitting somewhere waiting to be repaired, that is a failure of the health care system. I know nurses who can't start IVs in emergent situations either. I can remember fighting over one pill crusher in my LTC clinical. Seriously?? These patients are paying a sh$% ton of money to reside there! Let's not make excuses for the lack of equipment!

I'm so glad you added "do not aspirate". A huge controversy was created around aspiration without any evidence.

I agree that the interaction was very unprofessional, but your daughter has to fight her own battles. Sadly, in the nursing profession she will encounter this behavior everywhere she goes. She needs to thicken her skin and develop grit. The time to get out is now if she doesn't want to work in this type of culture. I'm not making excuses. Nurses have eaten their young since the beginning of the profession. "I also think the dean should be made aware of the instructors unprofessional behavior as this makes her teaching institution look really bad". In nursing school, the dean NEVER backs the student, only the instructor. I'm sure it's not the first time this has occurred with this particular instructor and there is a dire worldwide shortage of nursing instructors.

They don't have a room for you to congregate to discuss with your students??? Dynamaps are short in this day and age?? There is no excuse for either of these situations. ? Have your students complete 50 NCLEX practice questions while they are idle.