Lavender619

Thanks for the advice. From talking with a few people in the area already it sounds like since there isn't yet a strict regulation on Acute vs Primary you have quite a lot of options regardless of your training (except perhaps PICU, like you said).

Hello! Does anyone practice using the CLC certification outside of just in the hospital as an addition to your bedside nurse role? I just took the CLC course and am working towards my IBCLC. I am aware of the pathways and how long that takes. I am currently working in LDRP on nights and want to continue to work with mom's offering breastfeeding assistance, but I can't do nights anymore. Days (in L&D/PP) aren't really an option around the area unless you've worked in the hospital for about 5 years. Does anyone have a job working not directly at the bedside that gives them both days and the ability to offer breastfeeding support without having their IBCLC?

Hello! I am currently considering applying to Pediatric Nurse Practitioner programs. I am mainly looking at Primary Care programs and wondering where PNP-PC can practice besides just in a primary care clinic. Can they ever work in a hospital or inpatient without having gone through an Acute Care program. I am still unsure of ultimately where I would like to work. I know I don't want to work in an ER or PICU but I would like to have inpatient or sub-specialities as an option. I'd love for people to share where they work as PNPs and what their day to day looks like.

Ashleyisawesome: Thanks for the advice. I've been feeling a little bit better lately as I've had some good stable patient assignments that I've cared for decently independently which I probably what I needed. XXXXS: That sounds really frustrating. Is there anyone else in the same boat you can talk to or get advice from? I've been in jobs like that before and it helped me to find one person who had survived that to give me some advice on how to make it myself. SurfandNurse: I did ask for more time and originally they said no as they had "heard I was doing well." My preceptor told me she's not sure who they heard that from as it wasn't her. She ended up convincing them to give me 3 more days of orientation. Sounds like I'm not the first in the dilemma and that we don't have very supportive management.

I'm looking for some advice. I am an RN with 5 years of experience (3.5 years med/sug, 1.5 years NICU) who recently started training to L&D. The hospital I work at is a smaller community hospital known for taking a lot more unmedicated deliveries which is what I wanted. I worked for a few months here in their special care nursery and post partum (though normally taking very stable patients since I could have to be called the the nursery). My L&D orientation is coming to an end and is measured by hours (256 to be exact) which counting out has been approximately 6 weeks. I had an opportunity to take and L&D job at a large high risk hospital with a much longer orientation and turned it down. I'm feeling incredibly unprepared to work on my own. Since we have such a low volume of births some of my shifts have been very slow with a labor patient sleeping or caring for her postpartum after 1 delivery. Most of my experience on orientation has been very straight forward - natural deliveries, some circulating experience, a few triage patients, epidural deliveries. I'm expected to do all of this off orientation. Everyone keeps telling me I can always ask for help and they expect me to, but I feel like there is so much I haven't experienced I'm going to be so incredibly anxious going to work everyday. On top of that, I'm expected to continue working in the nursery on most scheduled days with two weeks of straight labor after orientation. I don't know what to do. I know the hospital has spent a lot of money on orientation but I feel like I know nothing. I can ask for more time but I know from other nurses it will be a couple more days. I feel like I made a huge mistake coming here and wondering if I should just start looking for another job. I'm nervous this will look terrible on my resume to quit a job I'm only been at for 5 months. Perhaps all nurses feel like this coming off orientation and maybe L&D isn't for me. I thought this would be the area of nursing I would love the most, but I feel incredibly unprepared. I'm just looking for advice. I'm worried I'm going to turn out to be a terrible L&D nurse because I'm going to be learning everything on my own after orientation. Should I high tail it out of this place? Will I look terrible to another potential employer in L&D?

I previously worked at Mayo Clinic and interviewed as a new grad in 2011. The interview process probably still looks the same. It's two interviews, one with HR and one with the floor that "selects" you. Unlike other hospitals, Mayo will not interview you for multiple positions as they don't want to compete with themselves. The HR interview for me (mind you this is in 2011) was some conversation of typical strengths and weaknesses, probably why I wanted to work there and then they had some basic nursing questions to answer. Both the nurse manager I interviewed with and HR asked some behavioral questions (i.e. Give an example of a time you went above and beyond, Give an example of a time you stood up for something you believed in). You can google search "behavioral interview questions" for examples. HR essentially told me that if they liked me I would get a job at Mayo. If I didn't end up feeling like the unit I was interviewing for was a good fit or the manager didn't feel that way they would place me and interview me for another unit. Mayo interviews less like other places, they tend to interview one person at a time for a position. So if your interview goes well you are likely to get the job. At least that's how it was 5 years ago and I've heard from others in-between that time that the process was similar for them. As for getting into the ER as a new grad, I know at one point they wouldn't hire direct but that may have changed. However if you work on a unit for a year, you can easily transfer within (if that unit is hiring). I went from med/surg to NICU with minimal experience in pediatrics. Good luck!

Hello, I am newly living in the twin cities from Rochester and am trying to get a feel for people's opinions of the area hospitals. I am most specifically looking at NICU and Labor & Delivery specialties. I am feeling less than enthused about my position at Woodwinds - non supportive managers, no flexibility in scheduling (fixed schedule), poor/short orientation and a lot of cancelling. I worked for Mayo Clinic prior to moving here, which is non-union, and never had an issue, but it seems the hospitals up here are less supportive of their staff, hence the need for the union. What are the best hospitals to work for and why? Is your pay and benefits competitive? What is the climate of your unit/hospital? Is there good teamwork? Is the culture ever hostile? Do you have flexible scheduling? Self scheduling? What shift or rotation do you work? Are there options for rotating or straight positions? 8s, 12s or both? These are a handful of questions I'm thinking about and would love to get a feel for various hospitals before applying/considering jobs. Thanks for your help!

I am new to the cities as well (from Rochester) and am in the midst of deciding between the positions I've been offered. I came in with 4.5 years of RN experience with multiple certifications as well and I can tell you that none of that was factored into my pay. Many of the hospitals are union (which has it's benefits), but even the ones that are not (in my experience) still decided my hourly rate only based on my years of experience, unfortunately. They have a scale used to calculate this so my hourly rate will be approximately 38.20 at all hospitals (plus $4 night shift dif). All the positions I was offered/applied to unfortunately were nights and if it's a union hospital I was told it would be nearly 10 years before I could work days. A few of the positions I have been offered have been 12 hour shifts, but unfortunately in the positions I want the most it's straight 8, every other weekend and nights (because of lack of seniority) I come from 12 hour Days as well. All the positions I applied for that were only .6 or .7 were willing to increase the FTE once on the job, so I won't worry too much about that. That being said, there could be some options (at least 12s) out there if you look! Good luck!

I am an RN of 4.5 years working in med/surg and now a level 4 NICU. The area I really want to get into is L&D, but I do still really enjoy the NICU. My husband and I relocated to the twin cities recently. I am really lucky to have numerous job offers on the table in both NICU and L&D, however I seem to be paralyzed with too many decisions and I'm hoping some nurses out there could provide me with a little insight. Here are my job offers I'm deciding between and where my hesitation lies. 1. L&D at Allina - a large hospital at an 8/12s position (with the potential for 12s), but the hospital is currently in a battle over benefits and is likely to strike. 2. L&D at UMMC - a large hospital offering straight 8 hour shifts for the first year, at least (I work 12s and think it will be really hard to go back to 8s) 3. Perinatal float at Southdale - a moderate sized hospital working 12s floating between L&D, NICU & Postpartum. This seems like the best of both worlds, but I worry I will feel isolated not having a home unit 4. Level II NICU at Woodwinds - a smaller alternative med focused hospital working in their NICU (34 weeks +) with the eventual ability to be L&D trained working 12s. I worry that while I'll learn great independence in a VERY small unit I may also feel like I'm not really utilizing my skills and I worry about getting time off in a tiny unit (my husband and I love to travel) I would appreciate any words of advice on how others have decided on a job when none of them seem quite perfect. I realize there is just no way to know how you will connect (or not) with a job until you work in it so a lot of the hesitations I have can't be answered until I'm already in the unit.