|
Koivunen posted:This is... not right. I live in Minnesota, and there is absolutely no way that something over $100,000 would be an "average." I work in the ICU and I bring home about $3200 a month after taxes and health insurance are deducted. Before taxes I make about $50k a year, and after taxes and insurance, I bring home about $38k a year. I mean, if there's a nurse that is still doing bedside nursing and has been at the same hospital for 40 years and is working full-time night shift and weekends, there's a possibility that they could approach the $100k mark before taxes, but there's no way that's an average. e: I mistook Montana for Minnesota, oops e#2: It says MN's annual average salary for RNs is $70,780, does that sound about right? FL sounds about right at $61,780. I'm also assuming the amount can be skewed higher by hospital administrators pulling in a high salary that have been there forever who still have an RN license. The posted starting salary for a police officer in San Francisco is $88,842 to $112,164, so I don't find it hard to believe that an RN in CA can make that much. Cacafuego fucked around with this message at 05:13 on May 28, 2013 |
#
?
May 28, 2013 04:55
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 19, 2024 07:32 |
|
|
Whelp, another fresh out of BSN nurse here. Just accepted my dream GN-residency program in a pretty great ER. Too bad getting set up to take the NCLEX is such a hassle. How long has it taken most of you new grads to get set up to sit for the Exam? I just found out what state i'd be working in last week, so I'm behind the curve. I can practice as GN until early August, is it possible to get my Nclex completed by then?
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2013 10:23
|
|
|
Koivunen posted:This is... not right. I live in Minnesota, and there is absolutely no way that something over $100,000 would be an "average." I work in the ICU and I bring home about $3200 a month after taxes and health insurance are deducted. Before taxes I make about $50k a year, and after taxes and insurance, I bring home about $38k a year. I mean, if there's a nurse that is still doing bedside nursing and has been at the same hospital for 40 years and is working full-time night shift and weekends, there's a possibility that they could approach the $100k mark before taxes, but there's no way that's an average. Are you in the metro area and working full time? When I started in the twin cities I made 65k before taxes and that was as a new grad on ICU nights working a .9. As a 1.0 nurse I would have made roughly 72k. My wife is a full time nurse with a few years of experience and makes something on the order of 80k. Those rates are fairly standard given the success of the Minnesota nursing union. I think that map is actually pretty accurate. That few RNs work full time makes it seem like we make less but most people in other fields are working more hours for proportionately less money. What I'm saying is everybody should move to Minnesota. EDIT: Forgot that non-hospital nurses bring down the average. Looks like 70k is about average as was posted above. Ohthehugemanatee fucked around with this message at 11:11 on May 28, 2013 |
|
#
?
May 28, 2013 11:08
|
|
|
coldlight66 posted:How long has it taken most of you new grads to get set up to sit for the Exam? I just found out what state i'd be working in last week, so I'm behind the curve. I can practice as GN until early August, is it possible to get my Nclex completed by then? Yes, just sign up ASAP in case you fail and need to take it a second time :p
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2013 14:54
|
|
|
Man, I wish my take-home was that much. My gross pay comes fairly close as a night-shifter who does 40 hrs/wk with 1 extra shift a month. We get the living hell taxed out of us for our state pension system, though! That pension is supposed to make me feel great about working in public health, but somehow I have this dreadful feeling it'll be all turned upside-down or converted to a 401-k anyways by the time I'm even thinking about tapping into it. Uhhh anyways, yeah, my take-home in AZ as a nurse working in the public system (at a hospital) is $3600/mo usually. I keep forgetting to check in on this thread. If any new nurses are thinking about doing psych for whatever reason (desperation included) feel free to PM me or ask here. I've been working in involuntary psych for 2 years now and could probably field some questions.
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2013 23:51
|
|
|
Lacertine posted:You will be put in situations every single day where you will either have to chose to cut corners, or stay 3 hours past your shift. if this is your experience maybe you should look for a job in a different facility? on a general floor with a 1:4 ratio I certainly don't feel this way "every single day" and if I did I think I would burn out fairly quickly. a 1:4 ratio with other staff who are always willing to help rarely leaves me feeling like I have to cut corners for my patients.
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2013 04:13
|
|
|
So, I've successfully passed the NCLEX-RN and I've been looking for gainful employment for about a month. I've been extensively applying on USAJobs.gov, and with the IHS and haven't managed even an interview yet  It's really starting to wear me down, any ideas for recent grad jobs that involve serving one's community? I'm ideally looking for jobs in either Oregon, Pennsylvania, or New York ( family/ friends in all 3) but at this point I'll go anywhere. Recent grad ADN in Ohio if that helps. I have an excellent resume and letters of recommendation yet, even applying to local hospitals and for jobs in Ohio I can't seem to even get an interview....
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2013 02:28
|
|
|
GuidoApopolis posted:So, I've successfully passed the NCLEX-RN and I've been looking for gainful employment for about a month. I've been extensively applying on USAJobs.gov, and with the IHS and haven't managed even an interview yet Not as an affront, but did you make sure to read how those fed jobs work? Don't expect to hear back about most if any fed jobs for like 6 months at least if they are new posts. They describe on the website how it works, but basically (if I recall) they collect apps for 6-8 months or something (it varies for each listing), and only when that window is closed do they leaf through things and start setting up interviews. Someone I was hired with at my current job didn't hear back about an IHS job until well after we'd both been there nearly a year. So, they're great to keep on the backburner just incase, but don't focus on them too exclusively. Look into your county/state health systems maybe? At any rate, keep your chin up.. it's only been a month. Took me (and several people I know) around 6.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2013 16:20
|
|
|
Fatty Patty posted:if this is your experience maybe you should look for a job in a different facility? on a general floor with a 1:4 ratio I certainly don't feel this way "every single day" and if I did I think I would burn out fairly quickly. a 1:4 ratio with other staff who are always willing to help rarely leaves me feeling like I have to cut corners for my patients. I'd love to know where you work that has you at a consistent 1:4 ratio, that isn't either a step-down unit, ICU, PACU, or isn't located in California. You hear about these dream hospitals every once in a while but these stories are few and far between, at least in my experience and the experiences of pretty much every other nurse I worked with/went to school with.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2013 16:51
|
|
|
Datsun Honeybee posted:Not as an affront, but did you make sure to read how those fed jobs work? Don't expect to hear back about most if any fed jobs for like 6 months at least if they are new posts. They describe on the website how it works, but basically (if I recall) they collect apps for 6-8 months or something (it varies for each listing), and only when that window is closed do they leaf through things and start setting up interviews. not that this process makes sense as a whole (why would they do this?), but it now explains my experience where I had applied for some kind of entry level government job and didn't hear back for about 5 months and had forgotten about it by then. As for nursing chat: I'm about to start nursing school in the fall and have been looking at stethoscopes. How common is stethoscope theft? The one I'm looking at is around $72 (Littman Classic II or something like that), but if they get stolen all the time, maybe I'll go cheaper?
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2013 03:55
|
|
|
Lacertine posted:I'd love to know where you work that has you at a consistent 1:4 ratio, that isn't either a step-down unit, ICU, PACU, or isn't located in California. small community hospital with ~150 beds, my ratio has never been higher than 1:6 and is on average 1:4. general med/surg floor.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2013 04:31
|
|
|
Lava Lamp posted:As for nursing chat: I'm about to start nursing school in the fall and have been looking at stethoscopes. How common is stethoscope theft? The one I'm looking at is around $72 (Littman Classic II or something like that), but if they get stolen all the time, maybe I'll go cheaper? It would be pretty gross if someone stole your stethoscope, so it's not as common as you might think. If you leave it lying around it may get lost but it would be pretty stupid for a coworker or fellow student to steal your stethoscope only to have you find them wearing it the next day.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2013 13:49
|
|
|
Fatty Patty posted:small community hospital with ~150 beds, my ratio has never been higher than 1:6 and is on average 1:4. general med/surg floor. I work in a small community hospital with 25 beds. Our max radio it's 1:5 on days and 1:7 on nights. If the radio is 1:4 on days or 1:5 on nights, we don't get a tech on the floor. We also don't always have a ward clerk. I now work in the 2 bed CCU and never have either of these.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2013 14:07
|
|
|
Lava Lamp posted:How common is stethoscope theft? The one I'm looking at is around $72 (Littman Classic II or something like that), but if they get stolen all the time, maybe I'll go cheaper? Theft not so common, but a doctor borrowing it and then forgetting to return it? All the time. Keep an eye on it and you'll be fine.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2013 15:11
|
|
|
Lava Lamp posted:not that this process makes sense as a whole (why would they do this?), but it now explains my experience where I had applied for some kind of entry level government job and didn't hear back for about 5 months and had forgotten about it by then. If you get a non-black scope and put your name on it, you should be fine. No one would ever dream of stealing your hot pink or leopard skin stethoscope.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2013 15:20
|
|
|
Lava Lamp posted:not that this process makes sense as a whole (why would they do this?), but it now explains my experience where I had applied for some kind of entry level government job and didn't hear back for about 5 months and had forgotten about it by then. Don't go cheap on a stethoscope. Pay the extra $10 to get it engraved. And don't loan it to doctors.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2013 15:50
|
|
|
Anyone here have experience with travel nursing?
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2013 08:00
|
|
|
Lacertine posted:I'd love to know where you work that has you at a consistent 1:4 ratio, that isn't either a step-down unit, ICU, PACU, or isn't located in California. I work on a 39 bed combination acute stroke/acute medical rehab unit that also gets regular med/surg patients, and our ratio is generally 1:5. If someone has a fresh tPA, they only get 4. I'm at a large hospital in central New York.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2013 12:35
|
|
|
Lava Lamp posted:As for nursing chat: I'm about to start nursing school in the fall and have been looking at stethoscopes. How common is stethoscope theft? The one I'm looking at is around $72 (Littman Classic II or something like that), but if they get stolen all the time, maybe I'll go cheaper? You get what you pay for with stethoscopes. Invest in a good quality one because the better your stethoscope is, the more you will be able to hear. It would be easy to miss a friction rub, murmur, wheeze, etc if you can't hear it. I work in the ICU and to prevent the spread of infection between patients, there is only one stethoscope allowed in each room, and it hangs on the wall and doesn't leave the room. The rest of the hospital requires staff to have their own stethoscope, but ICU is "special" for some reason. All the staff share that one stethoscope, which grosses me out, but the point of my story is this: All the ICU stethoscopes are Littman Classic IIs. My personal stethoscope is a Littman Cardiology III, which was expensive, but there really is no comparison between the Classic and the Cardiology. The Cardiology is so much more clear and makes things very easy to hear. If I have a cardiac patient or someone that's in really rough shape, I'll take my scope in there for the shift because it's so much better than the Classic. Mine is purple and has a metal owl attached to it, so it's clearly identifiable. If you have a few extra hundred dollars that you could use to invest in a good stethoscope, do it. While you're learning about abnormal sounds, it's imperative that you are actually able to hear and identify them, and the better your stethoscope is, the easier it will be. E: Ratio talk: When I used to work in the general float pool, the ratios were insane. Our hospital still uses LPNs on the general floors and does "team nursing." One RN will work with an LPN and an aide, and will have a team of 7-10 patients, all under the care of the RN license. The cardiac unit is RN-only with CNAs and tries to maintain a 1:4 ratio. The ICU is RN-only with no CNAs and tries to maintain 1:2, but depending on acuity and census can be 2:1 or 1:3. In Minnesota we are trying to pass legislature that would make nursing ratios a law with 1:4 being the maximum for general units. Most hospitals don't use LPNs any more, and our hospital is trying to phase them out. The hospice/oncology unit just became all-RN a few months ago, and I think other units will be moving in that direction in the future. Koivunen fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Jun 1, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2013 16:17
|
|
|
Any travel nurses here that can share their experience doing it?
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2013 09:17
|
|
|
Hughmoris posted:Any travel nurses here that can share their experience doing it? loving stressful if you don't have a permanent house to move back to. My wife and I did it and did it as true nomads with no home moving the totality of our worldly possessions. Goddamn stressful, but it's an easy out if you're stuck in some shithole town in the midwest (Minot, ND for example). Learning a new hospital seems like it would be easy. Wrong, its also stressful. If you're good at adapting to new environments and have a home you can go back to and claim as your permanent tax home, a reliable vehicle, no kids then it can be good. You will be first to float, you will be first to get the lovely assignment, you are an expendable resource and if you have the ability to handle that stress the money is good, better for two nurses living together since tax free housing stipends, etc. Making friends is difficult, your social circle will likely contain only nurses. Ours contained nurses and bartenders. One of the mitigating factors was my agent, who took extremely good care of us. I dealt with one other from a different company who was weird and pushy and to this day continues to call occasionally. If you're really looking into travel I can PM you the info of my guy and you can see if he's right for you. We're taking permanent jobs here in Vegas since wife had 1:7 every day on the floor and they're giving her an opportunity in CVICU, 1:2 or 1:3 and because the northwest job market is still total garbage. Probably just a few more years here, get her into a specialty then get to Portland hopefully. If you have more specific questions go right ahead, these are just general impressions.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2013 21:02
|
|
|
Roki B posted:loving stressful if you don't have a permanent house to move back to. My wife and I did it and did it as true nomads with no home moving the totality of our worldly possessions. Goddamn stressful, but it's an easy out if you're stuck in some shithole town in the midwest (Minot, ND for example). Learning a new hospital seems like it would be easy. Wrong, its also stressful. If you're good at adapting to new environments and have a home you can go back to and claim as your permanent tax home, a reliable vehicle, no kids then it can be good. You will be first to float, you will be first to get the lovely assignment, you are an expendable resource and if you have the ability to handle that stress the money is good, better for two nurses living together since tax free housing stipends, etc. Making friends is difficult, your social circle will likely contain only nurses. Ours contained nurses and bartenders. Thanks for the rundown. I sent you a PM.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2013 22:35
|
|
|
Just got my license printed out from the state, officially an RN now. Step 3. Profit...
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2013 19:36
|
|
|
velcro and proud posted:Just got my license printed out from the state, officially an RN now. sup new RN buddy  I took my NCLEX yesterday and got the "good" pop up using the Pearson Vue trick, and this morning the board of nursing site confirmed I passed! I can't wait to get my license number later and actually start applying for jobs.
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2013 16:30
|
|
|
Almost done my accelerated BSN! At least it will be by November. I'm so paranoid about jobs however. I live in San Francisco and the competition here is tough, with almost no new grads being hired. I plan on moving somewhere else for a bit to gain experience, then come back home. I guess other than Monster and Linkedin, I have almost no idea how to look for job. I have a few other job search sites, but nothing too major. Also, what is the opinion of joining the student nurses association in terms of jobs? It is just good to get to be able to put it on the resume? I feel so overwhelmed... from feeling like I won't be able to get any good letters of recommendation and just the fact that I feel... lost. I guess I should take it one step at a time, but it always feels like there are tons of things that you *should* do. Like getting ACLS and PALS before you get a job.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2013 09:49
|
|
|
waiwut posted:Almost done my accelerated BSN! At least it will be by November. I'm so paranoid about jobs however. I live in San Francisco and the competition here is tough, with almost no new grads being hired. I plan on moving somewhere else for a bit to gain experience, then come back home. I guess other than Monster and Linkedin, I have almost no idea how to look for job. I have a few other job search sites, but nothing too major. Also, what is the opinion of joining the student nurses association in terms of jobs? It is just good to get to be able to put it on the resume? I feel so overwhelmed... from feeling like I won't be able to get any good letters of recommendation and just the fact that I feel... lost. I guess I should take it one step at a time, but it always feels like there are tons of things that you *should* do. Like getting ACLS and PALS before you get a job. If you know what area you want to move to, go to every hospital website and apply for open jobs. Apply for the health department through the state. For anyone staying in the area, ask clinical instructors about job openings. I'm not sure how much it matters about getting ACLS and PALS before having a job. It couldn't hurt. My job required it within a year of hire, but we have classes every few months and I was certified without having to pay for classes. And I know the hospital I work at hires Graduate Nurses that have not yet taken the NCLEX. They are given 90 days to take it, and 3 months to pass it (in case they fail the first time). GNs have to work under some pretty heavy restrictions, but 90 days is our orientation period so they are always with a licensed nurse anyway.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2013 22:20
|
|
|
waiwut posted:I guess I should take it one step at a time, but it always feels like there are tons of things that you *should* do. Like getting ACLS and PALS before you get a job. Don't worry about taking extra classes. If your job requires ACLS/PALS, TNCC, etc, your hospital will cover the cost of the class and you'll get paid your regular wage to take it. It's a waste of your time and money to do it on your own because if you get hired on a general med/surg unit, you wouldn't be using your ACLS and PALS even if you wanted to.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2013 23:45
|
|
|
Koivunen posted:Don't worry about taking extra classes. If your job requires ACLS/PALS, TNCC, etc, your hospital will cover the cost of the class and you'll get paid your regular wage to take it. It's a waste of your time and money to do it on your own because if you get hired on a general med/surg unit, you wouldn't be using your ACLS and PALS even if you wanted to. This depends on the area and hospital. The hospital I work at is tiny (25 beds, 2 bed CCU, 6 bed ED, 2 L&D beds). We are all required to be ACLS, PALS, and NRP certified. We do not have a code team, so if there is a code in any area extra nurses in other areas are expected to go help. Most hospitals have code teams, I assume.
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2013 00:59
|
|
|
So what is the deal on NPs/CRNAS having to have their doctorate. There was a push to make this happen by 2015 but now it looks like it may not happen until 2025?
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2013 02:38
|
|
|
Does anyone know what the job situation is like in Wyoming? I've been applying to every new grad job I can find with Banner Health, I'd like to stay in Phoenix but I'd be willing to move if it means getting a job.
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2013 19:38
|
|
|
LoveMeDead posted:This depends on the area and hospital. The hospital I work at is tiny (25 beds, 2 bed CCU, 6 bed ED, 2 L&D beds). We are all required to be ACLS, PALS, and NRP certified. We do not have a code team, so if there is a code in any area extra nurses in other areas are expected to go help. True, but your hospital takes care of the education costs if you're not already certified, right? I'm just saying, why pay X-amount of dollars to get a certification you may not need when the hiring hospital will pay your hourly wage to put you in the class. I work at a medium-sized regional hospital, and when we have ACLS, PALS, or TNCC classes, there are nurses from the smaller rural hospitals that come to ours for their certification.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2013 00:48
|
|
|
Koivunen posted:True, but your hospital takes care of the education costs if you're not already certified, right? I'm just saying, why pay X-amount of dollars to get a certification you may not need when the hiring hospital will pay your hourly wage to put you in the class. Yes, the hospital takes care of the cost of the courses, and we get paid our regular wage for being there. I wouldn't bother getting it before being hired.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2013 01:05
|
|
|
This may be of use to other so I cleaned it up and took it out of the PM folder. Q How did the travel reimbursement work for you? Did you pay up front and send them receipts? I am in ----- and a lot of the jobs I am looking at are in distant states. I plan on driving my car to wherever I'm headed. A You eat the cost up front, then get reimbursed. Get a credit card if you don't already have one. Get a loan from your parents if you have to, but once you're reimbursed most companies will pay you weekly. There will be things that they say they reimburse for but you go over your maximum reimbursement cap. Mine was 500 dollars and it helped but definitely didn't cover everything. If you expect a large travel bill, ask your company to increase the max reimbursement for lodging, gas and food. Q What tips do you have for negotiating my first contract? Any "gotchas" or things that I should make sure are definitely included? A Try for a home-unit style contract instead of a 5 day call float to multiple locations contract, its more stressful. If you do have to do that, find a unit that likes you, tell them they can snag you for the rest of your contract by talking to the local company handler. Thats what I did after four weeks then did the next five or so months in just one unit instead of floating to a bunch of places and being called at 0500 to be told when and where I'm assigned or if I was being called off. Other than that, look at whether the contracts are gaurenteed 36 hours of pay even if you're called off or if you could end up with zero dollars if they totally don't need you (never even had to worry about that here in vegas)
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2013 17:47
|
|
|
Forgot to tell the thread I got into my BSN program! 
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2013 14:17
|
|
|
Does anybody have any experience with Nursing Programs in Puerto Rico? I figure might as well look into someplace tropical. I am looking for a B.S.N. accelerated program(already have my B.A.) and possibly a Nurse Practitioner Program as a follow on. I speak english and am learning spanish.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 04:34
|
|
|
Today I start my RN job! I am really excited!! I will be a critical care nurse!
|
|
#
?
Jun 18, 2013 12:35
|
|
|
SuzieMcAwesome posted:Today I start my RN job! I am really excited!! I will be a critical care nurse! let us know how it goes! I know a lot of new nurses say they feel like they know nothing for like the first year or so.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2013 02:14
|
|
|
Lava Lamp posted:let us know how it goes! I know a lot of new nurses say they feel like they know nothing for like the first year or so. It's only been 3 months and I'm eagerly awaiting the day I can provide all the info for shift change report that the incoming nurse is asking me for and to anticipate doctor's orders.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2013 04:44
|
|
|
White Chocolate posted:Does anybody have any experience with Nursing Programs in Puerto Rico? I figure might as well look into someplace tropical. I am looking for a B.S.N. accelerated program(already have my B.A.) and possibly a Nurse Practitioner Program as a follow on. I speak english and am learning spanish. Well, it is not PR, but try Texas A&M Corpus Christi's accelerated BSN program. It is warm enough all year round and you wont have to do all your classes in spanish. Plus most everyone you will be taking care of speaks spanish. Or, if you are even more daring... Texas A&M International University in Laredo, TX. Still in the US, accredited, warm, and everyone speaks spanish and your nursing classes will be in English.. If you really want the tropical feeling and spanish living, try University of Texas Brownsville Generic BSN program. Same latitude as Miami, 100 degrees for 6-8 months out of the year. Lots of spanish, lots of poverty. Lots of NP programs afterwards.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2013 08:00
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 19, 2024 07:32 |
|
|
I just got hired for an oncology position after only one interview! I don't start until July 15 but I'm beside myself with excitement. The only thing is, I have another interview tomorrow at a different hospital owned by the same company. I did my preceptorship there and had lots of nurses recommend me to their manager, so I think I probably have a good shot at a job. Is it smart for me to mention the job offer I got today at my interview?
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2013 23:13
|
|