Threat of needle sticks!!

HairCanada · Jul 17, 2006

Dear epona, I think your career plan is unrealistic , and you may want to consider refining it. Since you obviously have an ambiton for your own advancment and some level of patient involment, you might consider a degree in biology and try some sort of research, or perhaps psychology. You seem smart from your posts, and i think that the earlier advice of shadowing a RN for a day , a week, even a minute might help you. good luck.

luvkitties · Jul 17, 2006

Maybe you should become a pharmacist instead. Takes same amount of time as a becoming a nurse practitioner.
I agree with Gompers...my first thought was that maybe you would enjoy being a pharmacist/pharm tech, or maybe even a radiologist or physical therapist...ultimately, it's your decision..only you know where your strengths and weaknesses lie.
I don't know where you live, but I know that in Wisconsin, potential Nursing students have to obtain Nursing Assistant certification before they can become accepted into the Nursing Program...just in case you didn't know, CNA work is about 75-80% of the things you say you don't want--wiping butts, cleaning up poop/pee/puke/saliva, occasional blood, etc. I don't mean to discourage you, but if Nursing is something you're seriously considering, you owe it to yourself to go into this with EYES WIDE OPEN! just my 2 cents...
I sincerely wish you the best of luck in whatever career path you choose
~Lori

RunnerRN, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2006

Epona-

I can't imagine what it feels like to have a group of stranger poop (haha pun intended) on your plans. My 2 cents.....shadow a cardiac RN (CCU, tele) then shadow a cardiac NP. If you enjoy what they do, then go for nursing school, invest in some Vicks (for the smells) and work your hardest. It sounds like you might be the kind of person who would do well in a research type setting - you could coordinate cardiac research or something similar. If you do make it through RN school, I would really recommend doing a little time (at least a yr or so) in the hospital. Not only are the benefits unmatched, but the experience you'll gain is unmatched too. I know how you feel - I am not a big fan of clinical nursing. I've done ER for over a year now, and am ready to get out. I just feel like this year has been a huge time of personal and intellectual growth.....I've learned things and seen things I never was exposed to in school. Yes, it has been scary, but I have a confidence now because I made it :).

I feel like I've rambled some, but I hope it has helped you a little. At least now I know why a needslestick thread generated so much interest!!

Good luck to you no matter what!

CarVsTree · Jul 18, 2006

You make a good point Empress about the clincial experience. I am going to play it by ear. You are right, a Cardiac NP should have a fair amount of practical experience. I may just do the hospital rounds while in RN school, then get out and just work as an RN in a cardiac office. May not go all the way with NP. It will depend on how my hospital rounds go in RN school. I may just stop at RN and work in an office after school. I will play it by ear.
Thank you for the advice there...

You will be hard pressed to find a cardiologist that will hire an RN right out of school with no hospital experience. The only way to reach your goals is to conquer your fears of getting ill. An RN w/o hospital experience getting hired in a doctor's office usu only happens if they had worked for that doc previously as a MA or other hands on position prior to nursing school.

The clinical rotations in nursing school do not equal hospital experience. When in school, you always have an instructor hovering, you follow their rules and you do not make any decisions independently.

As a nurse (and most start at night where doctors/resources are limited) makes independent judgement calls constantly. It is nothing like school clinicals.

Good luck in whatever you choose... choose wisely.

BTW, are you sure you caught the virus in the hospital? I'm not being glib, just that it is possible you caught it in Wal-mart, the movies, etc.

Epona · Jul 18, 2006

Wow! Thanks everyone for all the great advice and replies!

I have looked into the Xray tech., the Pharmacist, the Cardiovascular Sonographer, etc. I have done extensive investigative work into many other medical fields. As I mentioned earlier, I would have gone straight to med school, but due to health limitations I cannot. So being the nurse is the next best thing. There are many opportunities in nursing... research (which yes, I want to do), nurse legal consultant (which I am also interested in), and so forth. The field of nursing can open MANY doors and you can grow salary wise too. The world is your oyster in nursing. Being a heart pat., my heart doc. recommended me to the nursing program. He believes I will be a stellar nurse having been on both sides of the spectrum... patient.. student.. nurse. I am thinking since I have known him as a patient for over a decade and he thinks the world of me, that I can probably get a job there right out of nursing school. That's my "in-roads" and he knows my character well and wrote a great letter for me for nursing school. We have talked about it for a long time and he encouraged me to do it. That could help me in the long run! Hey.. it pays to be a patient sometimes!! :)

As far as getting the viral infection at the movies or Wal-Mart... nope. The docs. told me it was a very rare virus. They were never able to pin-point the exact virus, but were able to narrow it down to a family of viruses. They said it was nothing they had ever seen before. And without getting really specific, I was working for a hospital where a lot of people entered with diseases from other countries. Soliders were quarantined and the like. It was not your typical hospital. And there you have it!!

Krither · Jul 18, 2006

I am a Prenursing student and I'm seeing a lot of advice for Epona about shadowing a nurse. I would like to do that, but how exactly can I?

Is there some sort of special qualification or something? Do I have to be a student to shadow a nurse? Can someone please break this down to me?

I am still trying to decide if nursing is for me. I don't think that all the bodily fluid stuff will bother me very much.

Also, if anyone can give any other advice on getting some eye opening experience of nursing before going to nursing school, I'd appreciate that!

PS- I just thought that this would be a good thread to ask, not rying to change the subject.

Good luck on your path Epona!

KellNY, RN · Jul 18, 2006

Krither--you may want to start your own thread.

Epona-have you looked into salaries for office RNs? If not, I'd do it. They often do not justify what you'd spend on your schooling.

Epona · Jul 18, 2006

Hi KellNY. Do you know what office RN's make?? Do you know what nurses on the East Coast make??

Thanks!! :) Epona

chadash · Jul 18, 2006

my daughter is in pediatric denistry, and has had sticks. It always scares me, but so far, so good.....

Gompers, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2006

Hi KellNY. Do you know what office RN's make?? Do you know what nurses on the East Coast make??
Thanks!! :) Epona

Go to http://www.salary.com to find out what nurses make in different parts of the country. There's huge range, just as the cost of living is a huge range.

However, on the whole, office nurses make maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of what hospital nurses make. One of the things that gets them more money is EXPERIENCE. This is both hospital and office experience. If you start there as a new grad, you'll be making a pretty low salary. At the hospital, your hourly pay would start higher plus you'd have extra money added in for working evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays. Some prefer the office environment, though, and will take the lower pay in return for a much nicer schedule.

Even though you and your doc have a good relationship, that certainly doesn't mean he'll hire you after graduation. This is his practice, his life's work. Even if he has a job available at that time - and those positions must be budgeted for so they can't just create one out of thin air - he has a responsibility to himself and his patients to hire a nurse with experience. What if someone comes into the office having problems and has a heart attack right there? A former hospital nurse will have had experience with codes before, but a new grad working in an office would be clueless. You gain so much experience in the hospital with things like co-morbidities, too. Often, patients have more problems than just cardiac. It would help if you've had experience with those other things too - diabetes, infections, lung disease, cancer, gastrointestinal disorders, neurological problems, etc.

Just saying, be realistic.

By the way, my sister-in-law is a physical therapist. She works "normal" daytime hours (though sometimes a weekend here and there) in a hospital and spends her entire day working with patients. However, she only deals with each one for a half an hour at a time, and she doesn't have to deal with things like needles or anything like that. Once in a great while she might have to help clean a patient up, but usually for that half an hour she has them they're fine. Just an idea.

Good luck in whatever you choose.

Hoping LVN2BSN · Jul 19, 2006

Don't know if this has been suggested, but why don't you volunteer a couple shifts or shadow a nurse or CNA, I think that experience could explain more than can be told. Plus you'll get to see first hand exactly what's going on.

Epona · Jul 19, 2006

Thanks Gompers and Hoping.

Yes. I have considered PT, but that does not really interest me.

On the shadowing... yes.. I have contacted a local hospital and I am waiting to here back from them on that.

Thanks to all! :) Epona