January/February Nurses and Student Nurses - Page 3

[marilynmama]

Originally Posted by Turkish Kate

Same here, except for the tats. My philosophy is that 'tis better to give than to receive.

LOL! That made me laugh!

I found out yesterday my new job is giving me a $500 a month raise (that covers my car payment and most of my student loan). I was thrilled!

[Wittyone]

Hi ladies,

I may have posted on an old nursing thread but I'm not sure. My name is Jessica. I've been an RN/BSN for 4.5 years and worked in a freestanding birth center with CNMs. In October of last year I graduated with my CNM and Masters and have been on the job hunt.

I've been doing the education classes at the birth center since November (childbirth ed, breastfeeding, infant care), which I discovered I really love! I accepted a position in a local small L&D unit today and get started next week. I've never worked hospital before, but I'm excited about the experience, the hours and the pay scale I'll be doing 7a-7:30p, three shifts per week, making a lot more than I used to. Very happy I'm working on finding a CNM position, but those stars are not yet aligned, so just having a job is an excellent thing at this point!

I like seeing the variety of ways that we are nurses - I'll have to remember to pop back in here

[major_mama11]

I've never posted on this forum before, but hi everyone!

I'll just answer the survey as my intro...

Originally Posted by polyhymnia

I'm considering nursing but I would like a lot of details, I will ask here but also if there are other forums for nurses I would love to know about them too!

I am curious about:
1) your degree/certification
2) your current position
3) your usual hours; whether you are required to work overtime when your employer needs it; whether you can work overtime when you want to
4) typical tasks you do

1)
Just graduated with BSN last May. I originally went to nursing school with the goal of becoming a CNM, but now I am leaning more toward instead becoming certified as a lactation consultant in the next year or two. This is something my director would pay for, as the OB floor is often in need of extra LC’s. I will probably also take a test to get certified as a peds nurse next year.

2)
I work as a floor nurse in a pediatric unit at a small community hospital. I worked here as a student nurse starting in ‘07, then worked in a large city hospital NICU after graduating, but recently returned to the small hospital, because I hated the long commute and missed my friendly coworkers!

3)
I work per diem and love it. Mostly evening shift. I typically sign up for around 12 hours a week, but I am also the official go-to girl for coworkers to work for them when they have sick kids, hot dates, etc. So I end up averaging 20 hours a week, which feels just right. When census is high, we can sign up for as much overtime as we want- they would rather pay us overtime than call in an agency nurse. My employer does not require overtime, but FT/PT nurses are required to sign up for on-call hours every schedule, to ensure extra coverage when census is high. As a PRN nurse, I am only required to sign up for 36 hours per 6 weeks. We get called off and floated to other floors a lot during the summer months when most kids are healthy, but this year I’ll be on maternity leave all summer anyway, so it won’t affect me much.

I was working full-time nights before (3 12's), but because of the hour commute to the city, I felt like I never saw my daughter. I also didn’t do well with trying to switch from a night schedule to a day schedule on my days off. I’m just more of a morning person.

4)
On my tiny unit, we average 2-3 pts per nurse. Our pts range from newborn to teenagers, and also we get a lot of overflow GYN surgery patients. I like that variety. We take vitals, assess, pass meds, educate parents, and update docs on pt status. Our hospital has a lab team and an IV therapy team, so we rarely have to poke our patients (except giving pain shots to GYNs, and vaccines). A lot of our job is staying on top of assessment, since most of our patients are there for short-term diagnoses like dehydration, RSV, asthma exacerbations, MRSA abcesses, and laparascopic surgeries. Occasionally, we have to transfer a pt to ICU (adults) or to the children’s hospital in the city (our little hospital doesn’t have a peds ICU). Unfortunately, one of the downsides to the profession is that we chart so much that it limits our time with the patients. I hope to become a faster charter as I gain experience.

Overall, I love my job. It’s a good match for me, since I’m part science geek and part counselor wannabe. I love the flexible hours too- I plan to homeschool so the hours are perfect for that.

[lactivistmama]

Originally Posted by Turkish Kate

'tis better to give than to receive.

HAHA! This is exactly my thoughts.. I HATE shots and needles, even a ppd can get me all in sweats, but I don't mind giving them at all.

[BugMacGee]

I'm the opposite. I'd rather have an IM than give one. I have to do them on little wee people who have no appreciable *M*

IV's, no sweat either way.

[leosmommy]

Hello, everyone! I'm in my 2nd semester of clinicals...4 total for my RN. I honestly hate school. I know this might be a bad thing to say, but I don't really "want" to be a nurse. I want to be a SAHM, but that will never happen, and I know nursing is something I can enjoy, I can work only weekends and still make good money, and I can use the knowledge from it to help my family, and to help me be a better mother.

Our DS is only 8.5 months old and I felt such terrible guilt when I had to go to school last semester...he was 4 months old then, and now I know he's older but this semester we have 2 days at clinical instead of 1, and that's 2 days I have to pump and be gone from him for almost 7 hours. I know I'm whining but my DH is sick of hearing it and I need to vent.

The 2 days a week I have class I don't have to pump, because class only lasts for 2 hours and as long as I feed him before I go, I don't let down (usually) during class...or at least I don't leak during class like I used to last semester (sooo embarassing!)

Someday, right? That's what I keep saying to myself. Someday is actually now in sight, because I know in May of '10 I'll graduate, and that's a little more than a year away (I'll get my degree right after DS turns 2 and he'll be 1 in 3.5 months). We're planning on getting pg this fall so baby #2 will be born a few months after I graduate. I'm doing an externship this summer, and I'll just work wherever I extern after I graduate, and then after a year or two (and possibly baby #3 at that point) goes by, we'll have a nice down payment for our lot of land/dream house building project. Buy the land, buy a trailer, live in the trailer while we build our house. Then move into our house, keep unschooling and enjoy our hard work...and make a few more babies!

Sorry to write so much, I just needed to say all of that at once.

At least now I have a very supportive DH who is the best co-parent EVER and agrees with me that our kids will only ever be watched by us...so when I'm away, he is right there, cup-feeding our EBF DS, changing diapers, cleaning up the baby toy explosion messes from a crawly boy...okay, time to do the dishes so I can attack my hubby when he gets home from work because I just got myself all gushy in love with him. Peace out, ladies.

[DreamsInDigital]

I am registering next month for the start of my nursing pre-reqs. I'm going for a BSN for now...not really sure what I want to do specifically though.

[marilynmama]

Originally Posted by leosmommy

but I don't really "want" to be a nurse. I want to be a SAHM, but that will never happen

I would rather be a SAHM as well, but it won't happen anytime soon--I still get angry about that at times honestly. My husband is a police officer and they don't make a whole lot....maybe in the future when he advances though--I can dream I've always been interested in medical stuff so I thought if I had to work it needed to be something I would enjoy and that paid well. My paycheck REALLY helps my family out. I also like to make my own money, it's a nice feeling to see my bank account and the money I have made for myself and my family. It's nice that I have my own medical insurance, 401K, savings, pay off debt, etc.

I'm an RN and I work nights, we are still able to homeschool. We try to work opposite shifts so someone is always home with the kids--if not they go over to my dads. Being an RN you can also work part time, prn, weekends, nights, 7a-3p (that would be ideal shift for me), etc. Lots of options.

[Turkish Kate]

I guess I'm onr of the lucky ones. I'm an RN, but now a SAHM. While I miss the clinical side, patient care, and really using my brain, I don't miss hospital politics (or classroom politics--I used to teach) and the lack of respect from all sides. I have moments that I want to go back to work, but then I have a nightmare or two about floor work and the moment goes away. Right now, I can choose to or not, but I'm terrified that something will happen to DH and I will end up *having* to work. I've kept my license for that reason alone, but am worried that my clinical skills are severely atrophied at this point.

[GooeyRN]

Originally Posted by Turkish Kate

I guess I'm onr of the lucky ones. I'm an RN, but now a SAHM. While I miss the clinical side, patient care, and really using my brain, I don't miss hospital politics (or classroom politics--I used to teach) and the lack of respect from all sides. I have moments that I want to go back to work, but then I have a nightmare or two about floor work and the moment goes away. Right now, I can choose to or not, but I'm terrified that something will happen to DH and I will end up *having* to work. I've kept my license for that reason alone, but am worried that my clinical skills are severely atrophied at this point.

How long are you SAHMing now? I am out of work almost 14 months. I will go back VERY (16 hours a month) part-time soon, just so I dont atrophy more.

[Turkish Kate]

Originally Posted by GooeyRN

How long are you SAHMing now? I am out of work almost 14 months. I will go back VERY (16 hours a month) part-time soon, just so I dont atrophy more.

It's been 3 1/2 years now since I started SAHMing as a career. In that time, all that I've done has been some journal article editing and some breastfeeding ed. I think I've read one nursing journal in that time and that was just a couple of months ago.

[GooeyRN]

Originally Posted by Turkish Kate

It's been 3 1/2 years now since I started SAHMing as a career. In that time, all that I've done has been some journal article editing and some breastfeeding ed. I think I've read one nursing journal in that time and that was just a couple of months ago.

I go to allnurses.com when I need my fix of nursing info. Have you joined there?

[hopefulfaith]

Hi!

What a fun thread. There are a lot of nurses on MDC.

My answers:

1. I'm an RN/BSN. Certifications: I'm a CEN (board cert. in emergency nursing) and CCEMTP (critical care transport). More alphabet soup, but those are the highlights.

2. My current position:

I SAHM'ed for 3 years when my kids were born and went back to work very part-time when my dd was nearly two and nearly done nursing. I have always been an emergency nurse in big and small hospitals, but we moved to a new town this summer and the hospital here is tiny: 11 inpt. beds and 5 ED beds. We keep very little: most of our inpt. admits are 'exacerbation COPD' and pneumonia from the local nursing home. I can think of little else.... The ED sees only a few thousand people per year.

The hospital staff is so small (approx 12 RNs) that they don't divide their staffs into med/surg nurses and ED nurses...everyone just does whatever depending on what shift they're on -- i.e., when I come on, there is one other nurse and an LPN on. If the other nurse has more seniority than I do, then she is technically the "charge" nurse and works the med/surg side with the LPN. The lesser-seniority person works in the ED. It is .... yeah. I want to put my eye out with a spoon. I am only working "occasional" now so that I always have lesser seniority and can just be an ED nurse. I have never worked on an inpt. unit before - I graduated in 1998 and went straight to an ED - and I am *absolutely terrible* at it. It takes me 30 minutes to pass two patients their 8pm meds, and God forbid I have to do an admission. I am lost.

I'm a good ED nurse - I initiate all the floor orders and when I have time, I complete your inpt. admission assessments before I send my patients to the floor because I know how busy you are up there - but I am just a terrible med/surg nurse. The nurse manager took her first management position there as DON approximately 4 weeks before I applied, and her position is that a nurse is a nurse is a nurse.....

I am working there because I don't want to commute 55 miles to the next nearest hospital on a road that isn't always plowed in the winter... And my kids are 3 and 2 and even if I did decide to commute, that would add a few more hours to a 12-13 hour shift....

Wow. I'm sorry I just spilled it here. I didn't mean to type that much, but it is a highly dysfunctional place and I am stressed every time I go in.


4. Usual hours:
We work 12 hour shifts, 7a-7p and 7p-7a. Our overtime starts at >40 hours/week; full-time people work 36 hours per week, so there's a cushion of 4 hours/week until they have to pay OT. As for mandatory OT, I don't know the answer to that. I typically ask that in a pre-employment interview because I am opposed to it, but I needed this job in this particular location, so I didn't ask. The issue hasn't come up in 6 months, though.

I work approximately one day per week, so I guess I can't complain too much. There isn't actually opportunity to work more - my new manager over-hired when she came on, so I'm lucky to get one shift per week. This month I only have 2 shifts at all. I'm lucky to have a job in this economy, right?


5. Typical tasks:
Depend on the unit, med/surg vs. ED.
Our hospital is not computerized in any way, so all of our requisitions/charting are all handwritten...and they have no unit clerk. In fact, they don't even have registration 24/7, so if a patient comes in at 0300, I have to register them before I can care for them and then fill out requisitions in triplicate and chart in duplicate/triplicate... Yikes.


I like being a nurse most of the time. When I was a full-time SAHM, I loved loved loved being home with my babies, but now that they are a little older it is nice to get back into somewhat of a professional groove. I took a STABLE course a few weeks ago, and it was lovely to hang around with other adults all day to learn stuff and have a nice lunch and drink my coffee while it was warm.

[mamanurse]

Originally Posted by DreamsInDigital

I am registering next month for the start of my nursing pre-reqs. I'm going for a BSN for now...not really sure what I want to do specifically though.

That's awesome Lydia! LMK if you have any questions

[e'smommy]

Hey everybody! Was interested to find this thread! I am a critical care RN in a 22 bed unit. We do a little bit of everything. We have two highly skilled neurosurgeons, who do awesome work! We have great intensivists, who are such a pleasure to work with. And we started doing open hearts this past year. With being pregnant and on maternity leave this fall, I haven't got fully trained for hearts, but plan to be by summer! Most days I love my job, but there are some days that I would rather be home with my boys...I work 3 PM shifts a week. My DH and I work opposite shifts so the boys don't have to go to daycare. Glad to be amongst the nurses on MDC!!

[hopefulfaith]

Originally Posted by e'smommy

Hey everybody! Was interested to find this thread! I am a critical care RN in a 22 bed unit. We do a little bit of everything. We have two highly skilled neurosurgeons, who do awesome work! We have great intensivists, who are such a pleasure to work with. And we started doing open hearts this past year. With being pregnant and on maternity leave this fall, I haven't got fully trained for hearts, but plan to be by summer! Most days I love my job, but there are some days that I would rather be home with my boys...I work 3 PM shifts a week. My DH and I work opposite shifts so the boys don't have to go to daycare. Glad to be amongst the nurses on MDC!!

Awesome! What a great scenario.

[marilynmama]

Originally Posted by e'smommy

Hey everybody! Was interested to find this thread! I am a critical care RN in a 22 bed unit. We do a little bit of everything. We have two highly skilled neurosurgeons, who do awesome work! We have great intensivists, who are such a pleasure to work with. And we started doing open hearts this past year. With being pregnant and on maternity leave this fall, I haven't got fully trained for hearts, but plan to be by summer! Most days I love my job, but there are some days that I would rather be home with my boys...I work 3 PM shifts a week. My DH and I work opposite shifts so the boys don't have to go to daycare. Glad to be amongst the nurses on MDC!!

Welcome!!

I worked for a couple of years in a large PICU and we did open hearts....we recovered all hearts in the PICU--they came straight from the OR up the elevator, to our unit. All sorts of hearts (hypoplastics, transposition, tetrology of fallot, and just "little" things like PA bands, valves, etc). I didn't mind doing the hearts but holy crap it was scary at first! LOL! I've found that most have similiar orders and you learn pretty fast. The nurses at my work either loved admitting the hearts or hated it

NOw I'm in psych so this is a totally different world!

[MisaGoat]

Hello!

I graduated in December from community college. I took the NCLEX yesterday and am very impatiently waiting for the results. It shut off at 75 questions.

I am not working now but I am looking for a job and applying. I worked in a NICU over the summer as an extern and I worked as a nursing assistant on a telemetry unit prior to the NICU.

I am looking for a full time position in Labor and Delivery, NICU or mother/baby unit. I have an application in at the hospital I worked at this summer for a labor and delivery position and at another hospital for newborn nursery. I don't know if they will hire me yet, since I don't have a license # on those applications.

[marilynmama]

Originally Posted by MisaGoat

Hello!

I graduated in December from community college. I took the NCLEX yesterday and am very impatiently waiting for the results. It shut off at 75 questions.

I am not working now but I am looking for a job and applying. I worked in a NICU over the summer as an extern and I worked as a nursing assistant on a telemetry unit prior to the NICU.

I am looking for a full time position in Labor and Delivery, NICU or mother/baby unit. I have an application in at the hospital I worked at this summer for a labor and delivery position and at another hospital for newborn nursery. I don't know if they will hire me yet, since I don't have a license # on those applications.

Sounds like you did great on the NCLEX!

Good luck with finding a job you want I'm sure you will get something you like here soon. They should be able to still hire you. I started working right after I graduated from NS before I even sat or had a date for NCLEX, I could do everything except give meds so it was great.

Don't be afraid to call and talk with the nursing manager on the unit you want to work on. That way they will remember your name and know you are interested and are not just another name in the application pile.

Oh and welcome

[not now]

I know most MDC moms are in women's health/L&D but I have a question for the critical care nurses. Have any of you taken the CCRN exam? I'm studying for it yet still debating if I'll actually take the plunge. I keep hearing that it's "the hardest test you'll ever take as a nurse..." but I really want it just for personal satisfaction.