(sigh) confused nurse, here!

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello All!

I am new to this website but am very excited to learn from my fellow nurses out there. Here is my current situation:

I am 21 years old; I graduated from a PN program nearly a year ago and became licensed. After graduating and considering my still young age, I decided that I wanted some "traditional" college experiences, and went directly back to school away from home. For the past several months, I have been working part time in a non-nursing job while I go to school full time. I will be working as a camp nurse this summer, so at least I will put my LPN to some good use!

But, when I come back in the fall, I'd really like to find a nursing job per diem. What I am wondering is, will there be people willing to hire a nurse with such limited experience per diem? I certainly could not handle a full time job with school, and even part time I feel like would be too big of a commitment for me with all my classes and clinical rotations. I would love to work maybe one shift a week or so to keep up my skills between summers at camp.

Are there people out there who will be willing to hire me on a per diem basis given my education and experience?

Where do I begin to look for such jobs?

I have heard that new nurses go through extensive training when they get a new job (in a LTCF or elsewhere); how do I become acclamated to a unit if I am only working once in a while?

If there is anyone out there who could offer some guidance, I would truly appreciate it!

Thank you & God Bless!

-Mandy

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I have heard that new nurses go through extensive training when they get a new job (in a LTCF or elsewhere); how do I become acclamated to a unit if I am only working once in a while?

You've hit on the key issue that is likely to cause a problem in your search for per diem jobs. In my experience (I once looked for per diem/side work as a relatively inexperienced nurse), hospitals are generally using prn staff because they are short-handed and busy - not really the ideal conditions for orienting an employee who is brand new to the specialty or to nursing.

That said, I'm not an LPN and I've never worked LTC, so don't let me scare you away. I hope that you're able to find employment that meets your scheduling needs as well as your learning needs as a new nurse.

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I work ltc and have been a nurse 1.5 years. My orientation lasted 2 months. When I was hired I was told that I would need training that long to get used to the flow of the job. After orientation I went straight to Baylor weekends. Let me advise you however, new nurses should not do Baylor or PRN until their skills are stable. I learned the hard way through trial and error and great nurses who helped me. Sometimes you may not have a house supervisor or a good co-worker to get you through tough nursing judgement. Some facilities may be skeptical at hiring you like that. I did however work prn/per diem at an assisted living facility. Those facilities only have one nurse and any conditions requiring serious care are usually sent out to the hospital. Nursing judgement just requires knowing when to send someone out for care.

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Specializes in Gyn Onc, OB, L&D, HH/Hospice/Palliative.

While camp nursing sounds fun ( I have no idea) , but kids get sick and there are a lot of kids w/chronic medical conditions , and acute illnesses and injuries that probably require some triage and may be a tough job to start out with, you may not have much support--Again I don't know, you may want to check out the camp nursing forum to get a better picture of what you may face. That being said, you may want to use the summer to work/ orient to a facility for a few months and get comfy and then may have a better opportunity to stay there per diem when you go back to school , just a suggestion, good luck

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Specializes in Ortho, Case Management, blabla.

Well, with your limited experience, you may find a per diem job, but you'll probably be more considered a warm licensed body than a valued member of the team. No offense or anything.

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I work ltc and have been a nurse 1.5 years. My orientation lasted 2 months. When I was hired I was told that I would need training that long to get used to the flow of the job. After orientation I went straight to Baylor weekends. Let me advise you however, new nurses should not do Baylor or PRN until their skills are stable. I learned the hard way through trial and error and great nurses who helped me. Sometimes you may not have a house supervisor or a good co-worker to get you through tough nursing judgement. Some facilities may be skeptical at hiring you like that. I did however work prn/per diem at an assisted living facility. Those facilities only have one nurse and any conditions requiring serious care are usually sent out to the hospital. Nursing judgement just requires knowing when to send someone out for care.

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Specializes in Ortho, Case Management, blabla.
Nursing judgement just requires knowing when to send someone out for care.

:rolleyes:

Don't you work at an LTC facility that gets frequent complaints? I'm just sayin...

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Specializes in Day Surgery, Agency, Cath Lab, LTC/Psych.
While camp nursing sounds fun ( I have no idea) , but kids get sick and there are a lot of kids w/chronic medical conditions , and acute illnesses and injuries that probably require some triage and may be a tough job to start out with, you may not have much support--Again I don't know, you may want to check out the camp nursing forum to get a better picture of what you may face. That being said, you may want to use the summer to work/ orient to a facility for a few months and get comfy and then may have a better opportunity to stay there per diem when you go back to school , just a suggestion, good luck

I agree. I worry about a new grad in a camp nursing setting. Usually this type of environment doesn't have a lot of mentoring. There is often limited nursing staff, or just one nurse on duty at a time. You need to have the skills to handle an emergency and you also need to know when something is just a minor issue.

It would be awesome if you could get a job this summer that could continue on into the fall semester. If you tell employers that you could work FT during the summer and drop to PT or PRN in the fall I'm sure you would have many people interested in hiring you.

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Specializes in Ortho, Case Management, blabla.
I agree. I worry about a new grad in a camp nursing setting. Usually this type of environment doesn't have a lot of mentoring. There is often limited nursing staff, or just one nurse on duty at a time. You need to have the skills to handle an emergency and you also need to know when something is just a minor issue.

You have a point, but probably the main idea (im guessing) behind camp nursing is giving Lil Jimmy his ritalin/adderal and Lil Margaret her albuterol inhaler PRN when she tries too hard to win the swimming competition. Or maybe Billy (with his bee allergy) gets stung while picking raspberries behind the messhall and needs an epi-pen stick.

It's not like she'd be going into an acute care summer camp or anything.

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thank you all for your comments and support!

i just wanted to answer some of your concerns about the camp job:

-I will be one of 5 staff nurses

-I will never be working the clinic alone

-Our "head nurse" is someone I've been in contact with and have shared all my concerns with regarding experience and being "in charge" of the clinic-- which I won't be because I'm an LPN.

As for the other suggestions, I really appreciate them! Thank you all so much!

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

You might be able to find LTC that would allow you to come on despite your experience... Make sure you find a good comfort level when you take the job. Perhaps you can do a few weeks 3/4 or full time to get your feet wet and then go PRN so you get to know the ropes.

People tout how easy and routine LTC is.. and the fact is you are the eyes, ears, everything to the doctor and have to know when to intervene and get the patient out or persist for orders. Which is tough judgment as a new nurse (I know from experience!).

Good luck to you!!

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...People tout how easy and routine LTC is.. and the fact is you are the eyes, ears, everything to the doctor and have to know when to intervene and get the patient out or persist for orders...

You're not kidding! The majority of my training as an LPN was, of course, long term... but I never felt as responsible or as under pressure with the LTC residents as I did in med/surg and other settings. The fact that you see the same patients every day is what makes it so difficult! In short term care, you always expect things to change on a minute-to-minute basis; some health staff gets so "settled" into LTC, and neglect to check changing orders or notice a new mark on a patient's body... noticing the small details in the routine, in my opinion, can be even more challenging than waiting for new orders on new patients to come in every few hours.

Thank you for mentioning that!!

There is no such thing as an "easy" nursing job... or you're probably not doing what you should be doing, right?!

:twocents::wink2:

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