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Avian Pneumonia, I would highly recommend expanding your search outside of NYC. As I'm sure you realize, finding work as a new grad is difficult anywhere. I can't even imagine how tough it would be to land a new grad position in a city like New York. It was hard enough finding a new grad position in Phoenix when I graduated three years ago. Just do whatever you have to do to get a year of two of solid experience and you can write your own ticket. My own personal solution was doing 2 years in a backwater hellhole I did some clinicals at (my program was in a smaller town and had an emphasis on rural nursing). I've been working in Portland, OR for the last year now and love it here; and I also love the hospital I work at. But I don't feel I could have made it out here if I hadn't "paid my dues" for a couple years, first.
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Jul 20, 2014 22:11
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I'm looking at a career change. I just got laid off, and have been exploring my options. Medical work has been the closest I felt I had to a calling, but I set it aside because I didn't feel like I was a good enough student to handle it. Eight years ago, when I picked a major, I was probably right about that. Fast forward to today and I've been living in San Francisco for eight years and would like to stay here. It's getting really weird with all the clueless tech yuppies who just got here, but it's also where I've lived my whole adult life, and have some semblance of roots. I also know that simply isn't realistic with nursing. I saw the person recently graduated in NYC getting told in so many words "go somewhere else for now and try to come back in a few years." I figure I have two options. There's a vocational school here, Bay Area Medical Academy, that has a nine-month program to get Medical Assistant, Phlebotomy, and EKG. This seems like my most realistic option to get into medical work without having to leave the Bay Area, even if I don't land something in SF initially. The labor market for EMTs is about the same as for nurses (i.e., "get ready to move when you graduate"), but there seems to be a decent amount of demand for medical and hospital assistants, especially ones qualified as phlebotomists. It's a decent living ($20-$30/h around here, from what I've been able to gather on Glassdoor and Indeed) and would let me work something more fulfilling than what I've been doing. I've got great people skills, built through ten years of jobs with direct customer/client interaction, and confirmed by my last job. It was phone support so constantly helping very angry people get positive results, and I did well at it as credited by managers, peers, and clients. The idea here would be to get on at a hospital, pay my dues for a while, and then try to get into a ASN or BSN program and use my traction and networking within that hospital to find myself a nursing position locally. My other option is to go for broke, try to get into an ASN or accelerated BSN program (I have a Bachelor's already in Hospitality Management), and be okay with leaving SF if that's what it takes. I've uprooted my life before, so I have some idea what that would be like. After I graduated in 09 I took my hospitality degree to a ski town in Colorado where I knew nobody and had nothing waiting for me, and did fine. Made friends, etc. After a year and a half, though, I left and came home to SF because I missed being near family (they're all in Sacramento), I missed the friendships I'd built here, and I missed the city. The plan here would probably be to return at some point, but I know if I take that step, with the insanity of housing in SF right now and no sign of it changing anytime soon, I have to be okay with never being able to come back. I know there isn't really a lot of useful input that can be given on the relocation option, that mostly just comes down to me deciding if I'm okay with leaving. What I'd like is some input on the first. Does anyone have experience as a CMA/Phlebotomist/Hospital Assistant? Is it a suitable way to "pay your dues" and try to move up to nursing? Even if it isn't, I may still do it since it's medical work that would give me a pretty good shot to be able to stay in SF. The program I'm considering is here. E: I should add that I would like to be able to volunteer someday with Doctors Without Borders or somewhere similar. Cactus Ghost fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Jul 21, 2014 |
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Jul 21, 2014 03:25
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I'll be starting at UCSF next summer in their nurse practitioner program. The Bay Area is very tough for new nurses, but there are a number of programs if you want to get your degree in/around SF, relocate for a bit, and then return. I know a few nurses who stayed in SF but had a super long commute just to "pay their dues." One nurse used to just work three 12 hour shifts and get a hotel three nights/week to make it work. I personally don't understand why people make such huge sacrifices to stay here, especially with the ridiculous cost of living, but there are ways to make it work once you get your foot in the door.
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Jul 21, 2014 05:54
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Being a medical assistant is a boring job. Phlebotomy gives you an opportunity to briefly interact with a lot of people but won't serve as a gateway to nursing because it is a different profession . Same with EKG tech. Finding veins and being able to set up the equipment and get an EKG are good skills to have as a nurse but are very, very small bonus skills when it comes to applying it towards future nursing goals. Also doctors without borders is extremely difficult to get involved with unless you are a doctor who can pick up and leave everything for a year at a time. I am an RN BSN with previous disaster relief experience and couldn't find any way to get involved as they mostly hire local medical staff to assist (and pay them local wages while taking advantage of them, which is why it would be more worthwhile to invest some research into other disaster relief organizations if you hold a professional degree and could be okay not being paid for several months at a time).
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Jul 21, 2014 07:21
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First day of real clinicals and two people didn't show up in my group. 2/9 no call no show and there is no make ups scheduled for my group... Oh boy. One girl dropped out. So we are down to 63...
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Jul 23, 2014 17:09
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It isn't unusual for attrition to be shocking in the first semester of nursing school. It should settle down in a few months.
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Jul 23, 2014 22:38
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We lost quite a few people at the halfway point of our 1st semester class, NUR 111. That was the point at which those taking the Health Assessment class, NUR 226, got their grades. A failed 226 meant no clinicals, and thus no 111. I took my 226 class the summer before starting 111, and I can't imagine having had to take it concurrently with 111. It was way more actual *work* than 111, because it was basically teaching all the practical skills we were to use in 111 clinical. 111 itself, by contrast, taught much more theory/book knowledge. This fall I'll be in my 3rd semester, NUR 216, along with Mother/Baby Nursing, NUR 245. poo poo's gonna suck hardcore, but at least I made it into the summer Pharmacology course so I wont be taking 3 classes. Do most 2 year RN programs use similar course models? Ours is (111-112,226,100) for 1st year, and (216-217,245, one other) for 2nd year.
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Jul 24, 2014 02:17
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We have a prereq Nursing Skills class (hygiene, positioning, ambulating, vitals, enemas - basically CNA stuff) The first semester is split up into 2 8-week classes - Fundamentals of Nursing with a clinical. First day of lecture is an 8 hour assessment lecture with a 4 hour lab to practice the next day and then mastery checkoff that Friday. The next week is giving PO, IM, and SQ meds followed by a checkoff on Friday, then clinical the next week. We'll learn NGs, foleys, and wound care the first semester. 2nd semester is still med/surg, but we start working with IVs. 3rd semester is babies and crazies. 4th semester is "advanced med/surg" and prepping for NCLEX.
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Jul 24, 2014 02:51
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Huh, interesting! We have a 4 hour lecture once per week, and for the 1st half of the 1st semester, and 1st quarter of the 2nd semester, we have an all-day (8 hour) lab also once per week. The lab is replaced by clinical's later, which range from 4 hours to 8 hours depending on the location, and that's usually 2-3 days per week. For example, this past spring I had 2 6 hour clinicals every week, and a smattering of other clinical's ranging from 4-8 hours scattered throughout the semester. This fall, because we have Mother/Baby in addition to our "core" class, we'll have lecture for 8 hours, 4 per class, on one day.  1st semester was Intro and Long Term Care (nursing homes), 2nd semester was Transition and Intro Med/Surg, 3rd is Moms, Babies, Crazies, and more Med/Surg, and from what I understand 4th semester is pretty evenly divided between Med/Surg, NCLEX prep, and a "career" class where they help you assemble your portfolio of skills, resume, interview tips, etc... I think they said we'll have 700 hours of clinical by the time we're done? 500-700, something like that.
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Jul 24, 2014 02:57
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For the summer NUR 100 we have 4 hours of lecture and then 4 hours of skill lab on mondays, same thing on tuesdays but the lecture is geared more to skills and wed/thurs we have clinicals. Fall is similar but only three days and haven't seen what the non lecture days are going to be.
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Jul 24, 2014 10:35
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White Chocolate posted:First day of real clinicals and two people didn't show up in my group. 2/9 no call no show and there is no make ups scheduled for my group... Oh boy. One girl dropped out. So we are down to 63... What. The. gently caress. Seriously, everyone in my school is tryhard as gently caress. It is impossible to get into the school so everyone is happy to go to class, and especially clinical.
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Jul 25, 2014 03:53
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djfooboo posted:What. The. gently caress. Seriously, everyone in my school is tryhard as gently caress. It is impossible to get into the school so everyone is happy to go to class, and especially clinical. And clinicals are so "easy" in the beginning too! Like she didn't even try...
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Jul 25, 2014 17:20
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We had a girl miss the last 2 clinical days in our 2nd semester. She also went complete radio silence, no one knew what happened to her, not even the faculty. She drove over an hour one way to get to class and clinical, so we were all worried she'd been in a car accident or something. Turns out her landlord had illegally evicted her and her family (husband and kids) and she'd had to do an emergency move to her in-law's house. She technically was still in the program, because they auto-kick you on the 3rd missed clinical, but there was no way for her to make up the hours before the end of the semester, so she had to drop  She said she's not sure if she's gonna reapply or not. A shame, because she was a good student and a really nice person.
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Jul 25, 2014 17:29
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Annath posted:We had a girl miss the last 2 clinical days in our 2nd semester. She also went complete radio silence, no one knew what happened to her, not even the faculty. She drove over an hour one way to get to class and clinical, so we were all worried she'd been in a car accident or something. Thats hosed up and beyond her control, yet her program told her to eat poo poo anyway. Winners.
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Jul 26, 2014 00:39
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Roki B posted:Thats hosed up and beyond her control, yet her program told her to eat poo poo anyway. Yeah... The program is very good, insofar as NCLEX pass rates and getting hired go, but that only applies to the folks who make it through. It has a pretty high attrition rate... And they absolutely do not gently caress around with missed clinicals. Basically the only accepted excuse involves hospitalization of you (no one else) and that just means you don't get kicked out. They do not guarantee that you'll be able to make up the clinical hours without repeating the semester. That's based on how late into the semester it is, and what clinical you miss.
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Jul 26, 2014 01:04
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I want to hear stories of student nurses who end up killing a patient. Go.
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Jul 26, 2014 22:13
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Roki B posted:I want to hear stories of student nurses who end up killing a patient. Those probably happen so few and far between that simply describing the incident would likely ID the patient and violate the gently caress out of HIPPA. Unless you just want fiction and falsehood?
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Jul 26, 2014 22:38
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Annath posted:Those probably happen so few and far between that simply describing the incident would likely ID the patient and violate the gently caress out of HIPPA. You're not fun. Out of the way, make room for the stories.
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Jul 26, 2014 22:49
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I've got acute placement next week, so fingers crossed I'll have a story. In aged care placement, a student nurse I know did BGL's on a pt without realizing they'd had an epic stroke.
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Jul 27, 2014 00:30
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Roki B posted:I want to hear stories of student nurses who end up killing a patient. I don't know the specifics, but when I did my pediatric rotation students weren't allowed to give any medications because a student nurse from one of the state universities made a big med error. I don't think it killed anyone though. That didn't stop them from letting me push atropine in the ED! 
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Jul 27, 2014 00:58
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A guy I work with recently looked up an old instructor and found out he had a BON judgement against him. Why? He had allowed a student to give 12 units of insulin to a patient who didn't have orders for insulin, who eventually died after the ICU trip r/t hypoglycemia.
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Jul 27, 2014 01:20
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In my internship program, they used to let students withdraw and give meds until recently because a student pushed Potassium to flush an IV when it was supposed to be Heparin. Im not sure if the patient actually died, but it resulted in a sentinel event and they won't let students do much of anything now (for the internship, not clinicals).
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Jul 27, 2014 02:17
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Nursing student was a previous pediatrics washout, so she's done all this before and doesn't need much beyond someone to sign-off on her work. Harried floor nurse tells her to go to 34, remove the old dressings and gather supplies, and then find the RN. After about 10 minutes harried floor nurse realizes her error and runs to 34, mumbling something about wounds in 44. Nursing student proudly displays the skin grafts she carefully removed from the 6 year old burn victim.
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Jul 27, 2014 13:19
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I'm an old salty veteran ICU nurse and that post made me cover my mouth in horror. 
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Jul 27, 2014 18:11
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Wow I'm about to qualify and the way things are going here at the moment means I'll probably be pushed with a student almost immediately after I start as a RN. Hearing about stuff like this makes me worry about working - although I'm sure such events are rare, it just makes you think and adds that stress on when working.
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Jul 27, 2014 19:17
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nvm
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Jul 27, 2014 19:50
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Jfc that skin graft oh god why...... A student at one of the nearby schools was allowed to pull a central line at my hospital but had the person sitting straight upright. Patient ended up dying of a massive air embolism. They're not allowed to do it anymore. Also heard that one of the clinical groups at my school when I was there had a person give the wrong kind of blood or the wrong blood product, can't remember which one it specifically was.
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Jul 27, 2014 22:58
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Dr. Capco posted:Jfc that skin graft oh god why...... Huh, on my 1-day ICU clinical, the staff preceptor I was shadowing had me D/C a central line. I asked him what I was supposed to do, having never do it before, and he said "snip the sutures, pull out the catheter, and apply pressure with the gauze. Do you think there should be more steps?" Never mentioned orienting the patient a certain way (pt was lying down already) or any risks associated with the task...
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Jul 28, 2014 12:38
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Annath posted:Huh, on my 1-day ICU clinical, the staff preceptor I was shadowing had me D/C a central line. I asked him what I was supposed to do, having never do it before, and he said "snip the sutures, pull out the catheter, and apply pressure with the gauze. Do you think there should be more steps?" Hahaha wow.
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Jul 28, 2014 14:59
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Week three and the other students still don't get it to show up to labs on time. Thats okay because I will be validated and done early since they lollygagged. Also the first quiz wasn't easy but quite tricky. I feel like I should have known a bunch that I missed. Edit: who knew that skills like making a bed had to be validated and checked off on? Nursing 100 eyyyyy Dream Weaver fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Jul 28, 2014 |
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Jul 28, 2014 15:23
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Roki B posted:Hahaha wow. I mean it was super simple, but was there more I should've been told?
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Jul 28, 2014 15:51
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Annath posted:I mean it was super simple, but was there more I should've been told? Have them lay flat or even trendelenburg then have them valsalva/exhaley/bare down. Veins are under very low pressure and when sitting up it's very possible that atmospheric pressure is greater then the pressure in the vessel. So you want to crank up that venous pressure by any way possible.
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Jul 28, 2014 16:55
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Annath posted:Huh, on my 1-day ICU clinical, the staff preceptor I was shadowing had me D/C a central line. I asked him what I was supposed to do, having never do it before, and he said "snip the sutures, pull out the catheter, and apply pressure with the gauze. Do you think there should be more steps?" wow, we were never allowed to remove central lines on my ICU placement, I did observe a few and the beds were always laid flat. We were also not allowed to remove art lines either, but they still let me which was pretty cool.
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Jul 28, 2014 17:08
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Maybe they didn't elaborate because the patient was ancient and demented to the point of not being able to follow commands. It was interesting seeing how long the line was tho, as it was run from the femoral artery up, to prevent the patient from tugging on it.
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Jul 28, 2014 18:15
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So, I'm a prospective nursing student. I say prospective because even though my GPA was a 3.0 and my TEAS score was a 67 (a high ranking according to the diagnostic sheet also printed with my results) I was put on an alternate list for the RN program at Gadsden State Community College. I even turned my completed application a month and a few days before the deadline... Does anyone have any tips on how I might bump myself up in the ranks for next year's program?
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Jul 28, 2014 23:17
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Magster posted:So, I'm a prospective nursing student. I say prospective because even though my GPA was a 3.0 and my TEAS score was a 67 (a high ranking according to the diagnostic sheet also printed with my results) I was put on an alternate list for the RN program at Gadsden State Community College. I even turned my completed application a month and a few days before the deadline... Does anyone have any tips on how I might bump myself up in the ranks for next year's program? Up that TEAS score (67 isn't stellar, and I know you can do better  ) get pre-reqs out of the way if you still need to, take any classes you'll need for a BSN at your school of choice (make sure they transfer) and buzz around the nursing department office just to build a familiar face in their minds.
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Jul 28, 2014 23:36
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Annath posted:Up that TEAS score (67 isn't stellar, and I know you can do better Yea, I'm not too proud of that. I will definitely try again, but what did you study for the TEAS? Thanks! Magster fucked around with this message at 00:14 on Jul 29, 2014 |
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Jul 28, 2014 23:49
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Magster posted:Yea, I'm not too proud of that. I will definitely try again on my TEAS test. Thank you. I got an 84 and I was thinking I wouldn't get in but one of my friends got a 60 and she got in. (We both got in.)
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Jul 28, 2014 23:52
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White Chocolate posted:I got an 84 and I was thinking I wouldn't get in but one of my friends got a 60 and she got in. (We both got in.) Okay, I guess there are a lot of people trying for a spot. I'll keep working on it and get a few more basics for my BSN out of the way. Thank ya'll for the help!
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Jul 29, 2014 00:13
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Go to a local library and get a TEAS study guide if you can. All you need is a library card. The one I found had some sample tests that helped you figure out what you need to brush up on. I took a practice test and scored in the low 80s. After studying about an hour a day for a week leading up to my test, I scored a 96. Your school should list how it does rankings. A couple of the ones I applied to gave you a few points if it was higher than a 70 and a few more if it was >90. Another one didn't give a poo poo as long as it was above 60.
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Jul 29, 2014 00:17
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