luvmyc

13 week? So I'm assuming as a contract nurse? IHS utilizes them a lot. At the IHS I'm at (also in NM) we have 6 contract nurses. I also have a friend who is transferring to Shiprock next week. I can't answer specific questions about that service unit, but I can about IHS. Feel free to message me.

I work in an outpatient clinic for the Indian Health Service. I love it and would never go back to LTC.

Yes. Taking on that much debt is crazy.

Absolutely not. I'll tell patients that they have right to talk to me that way/treat me that way. Life is too short to be verbally abused at work.

You're 3 inches taller than me and I've done just fine in nursing. During the first code I helped in, I just climbed on the table and did compressions. It worked and my patient lived. I work with another RN who is even shorter than me. 4'10" I think. She's great. Strength is the most important thing, imo. Not size.

It all depends on the location you work. Where I am, the doctors are very respectful of all the nursing staff; they're wonderful. Similar with patients. Some people are just rude in general and those people take it out on the easiest targets. Usually the nurse.

Shame on you for speaking of human beings like that! Don't become a CNA, this clearly isn't for you. I would never let anyone with that attitude or frame of mind care for my loved one.

Law Enforcement. I still dream about changing careers at times.

Nope. I get verbally abused on a daily basis where I work.

Your worries sound like my worries 6 years ago. But I'm so glad I went for it. I had zero self confidence. And let's talk anxiety. My son died the month before I started. I had no job. I get anxiety. But I did it, and I did well. I graduated very confident and on the dean's list. Just go for it.

I couldn't agree more! Exactly why I made the decision I did.

Palliative care (and then hospice care) was a godsend to me. My beautiful 3 year old son died next to me in bed at home. And everything was peaceful. I had watched him have a horrific code (30 minutes long and then ECMO) 16 months prior, so I decided I was going to choose a peaceful (and inevitable) death for him. The last part of his life, I didn't want him to struggle or feel pain! And thanks to palliative care (and hospice) it was very minimized. I wasn't stupid, I knew he was going to die. I'm thankful palliative care guided me through that process. Without those pain meds, my very young heart would have been ripped out even more watching him struggle. You are not killing anyone! When I started my son in palliative care, I already knew, their was no 'curing' or fixing what he was going to die from. It was about quality of life. And that is way more important than quantity. I was not in control, my son't doctors were not in control, and his nurses were certainly not in control.

You would have quite an uphill battle. First, getting into a program. As others have said, then being allowed at certain clinical sites and then finally (IF that all works out for you) being able to sit for your boards. From what I remember, you'd have to write a letter to the BON explaining what happened and see if they would allow you to. Even having it expunged is no guarantee.

Even an LPN position? Uh, how's that gonna help? That makes no sense to me in her situation. It's not like an LPN is a junior nurse that has less access than an RN does. I have just as much access to everything in my hospital that my RN colleague's do.

How do you know that so many nurses look for the money first? That's a really interesting generalization. My entire work day is about my patient's comfort. Its about a shorter lunch break than I'm entitled to. It's about literally holding my pee so they can be seen quicker, it's about holding the hand of the woman getting VERY painful wound care, it's about calling the CEO of my hospital advocating for my patient who needs oxygen and cussing to my fellow nurses about why it's taking so damn long! I help the young mom with broken hand hold her babies while she gets her xray. And this is a normal day. Is it about money? I guess so! I run my butt off all day and am sure underpaid but I work like crazy to help my community have a better way of life. I think your outlook is very naive and when you actually become a nurse, maybe you will have a better understanding. I don't work with any nurses who do just the bare minimum for the $. I am frequently emotionally and frequently drained. The amount of suicide attempts, assaults, diabetes and other chronic illnesses isn't infrequent. It's a way of life where I live and where I serve as a nurse.