MgoBlue37

About to start a new position in a school that contains only students with disabilities ages 3 - 26 - all students have medical plans and either IEPs, 504s, etc. Two questions: 1) Was curious if any nurses within the school use an iPad or laptop to write notes when not at your desk or working with students in the classroom? 2) Are there any good apps or programs that you use to document vitals, meds, or other information outside of an EMR?

Thanks all so far who replied. After just having a recent visit with my pain management provider, they offered me a spinal injection next month, however long term they did mention to get off of my feet especially if that's my trigger. I appreciate all of the advice for alternatives and also wanted to note that at no point did I expect to find a position where experience was a prerequisite. Nursing is my second career and in my prior I also had to work my way up in order to achieve more responsibility and build off of my skills in order to progress in my career. Being new into the profession it's hard to see where opportunities lie until they present themselves. Just a quick clarification, aside from prolonged standing without moving the physical aspect of nursing is not where my limitations lie. Even then, I can push through times where I don't have that opportunity, but my quality of life after my shift is pretty uncomfortable. Without giving out personal info, I am a well built/tall male and former collegiate athlete that has no difficulty with lifting, pulling, pushing, etc. With the actual opportunity to sit for short periods, I have no issues with the requirements of the job. I continue to welcome any more alternatives that have not already been stated. Thanks all!

I appreciate the advice so far. Unfortunately, a lot of the options mentioned such as TENS, massage, etc. have not worked for my pain. Aside from exercising frequently and being active, my biggest trigger is prolonged standing, not so much as the moving or lifting things. I could definitely look into areas such as HD or the more 1 on 1 areas as well. I also see what you mean in terms of experience type jobs such as management or educators that require the actual work in that specialty that new grads don't have. Unfortunately in nursing school, we aren't exposed to the types of positions that nurses may work in that aren't as physically demanding as bedside nursing. With such an adaptable field, I'm curious to see how nurses fit into such roles as informatics or nurse navigation too and what they entail.

Well I certainly don't agree with your point of view, and to be honest it seems that you come from the idea of "old school" nursing to me that the profession is trying to change. I don't feel that I should have to "earn" my right to be able to sit down in nursing or any other profession for that matter. That is a type of elitist attitude that is very condescending. My motives to go into nursing were to offer the ability to help those who cannot help themselves. What about nurses who are disabled, that use wheelchairs, or prosthetics, should they not join the nursing profession because some roles are more physically demanding than others? Just because I'd like to sit down for a legitimate physical reason does not mean that I cannot provide more than adequate care for anyone in any setting. While in the ED, I can go into a Pt's room and sit down and talk with them in order to review their complaints, history, etc. I doubt any of them are thinking why is this nurse not standing and talking to me instead of sitting down - in fact it has been proven in numerous studies that Pt's feel more comfortable and communicate much more effectively when a provider is able to be at bedside at an eye-to-eye level. That being said, I know there is much more to nursing than just bedside which is why I'm posting in the first place to reach out to those who are kind enough to offer advice that have been in the field in other areas.

I've been offered by management to do 8 hour shifts, however it would be more days on my feet overall. I'd say that the minimal duration that I'd need to sit is about 15 minutes for every hour or at least have the opportunity to sit frequently. For example, in an hour I can stand quite a bit if I have the time to break it up. So far I've gone about 3.5 hours of standing without sitting, but by the time I do get to rest my back is spasming so much that it's hard to recover until I can get home. I like the idea of the OR to be honest and reading the posts on here, I've seen that circulating nurses can sit often depending on the type of surgery.

Hi everyone! I recently graduated from an accelerated nursing program as a BSN this past December and was offered a position in a Level III ED hospital in a large Metropolitan area. However, due to personal health reasons I've been having a rough time with my new job. Without going into a long story, I've had major back surgery 4 times (2 discectomies, 1 spinal fusion, 1 reconstruction) since the age of 19 due to a herniated disc from a college sports injury. I've been active my whole life, but the part that gets me is standing on my feet for longer than 30-45 minutes without sitting down - I'm talking 8-9/10 level sciatic-type pain. I was able to complete all of my clinicals while in school with minimal issues with my pain, but since starting my new job and working 12.5 hour shifts I've been in so much pain. Being a new nurse is tough as it is, but I've been excelling in my new position and really love all the activity of the ED - I've been in 1 code, hung TPA, and had 3 critical stroke patients just in my first week of work. However, every day at work I'm in so much pain that I just can't function normally. Every shift I've had in the first month and a half I've been able to sit for maybe 15 minutes consecutively in a 6-7 hour span, it's just that busy. Without further personal details, I do see pain management on a regular basis and there's not much more they can do for me outside of doping me up which is not an option for me. I feel I have to step away from this position since I cannot take the pain anymore. I'm not sure where to look for a nursing job where I can sit down for the majority of my shift. I really need to think long term here for my health since I have at least 35 years left of work before I retire. Without any prior experience, what areas of nursing could I look into where I could sit down? I've thought of these areas that "may" allow me to sit, but I'm curious as to what others think? - Public health nurse: County job - Circulating nurse?: can they sit down during their shift? - CVICU: I've heard many nurses can sit at the end of the bed of a Pt and monitor from there - Chart review: Non-clinical and many of them want experience (IDK if this is interesting to me) - School nursing: Not big in my area - many nurses are contracted through agencies not affiliated with the actual district I really don't know where to look at this point. I will definitely miss the action of the ED, but my health is way more important and at this point there's not much physically more I can do. Thanks for any input!

Same! I just received my email not too long ago for admission to the Spring term for the CD2 program.

Bump. Anyone else applying to the program hear anything from Wayne State at all?

Hi everyone, Was curious to see if anyone is applying for Wayne State's accelerated program for 2017. What are your GPAs for applying? Any current students in the program that can offer any tips or advice? Thanks!