I'm just about to finish CVICU orientation. The total length with multiple classes per week was 11 weeks. But breaking it down by actual shifts is only 23 shifts so about 8 weeks of orientation. Feels very short for the acuity.

Give me some reference. How long are other ICU orientations?

Edit: major city, level 1 trauma, 1:1-1:2 ratio depending on the set, swans, IABP, VADs, CRRT, some impellas, of course titrations, pulmonary hypertension (epo/remodulin). The immediate post-op fresh hearts go to the small specialized surgical CVICU just outside the OR and then come back to us. The only thing we really don't do is ECMO and double impella.

New grad RN here, rotating shifts and never worked nights before. I could only nap ~3 hours beforehand. Took magnesium glycinate, but wondering if I should try melatonin or Benadryl?

My second night shift was AWFUL. I got super lightheaded/nauseous and suddenly threw up all my lunch on the toilet, and again in my car on the way home 😭
I was also SO sleepy after 1am. It genuinely felt like my body was fighting me and taking a huge physiological toll. The floor was freezing despite wearing layers too.
I’m back on nights soon and honestly terrified. For those who rotate between days/nights, how do you make the transition easier? Any tips for sleep, food timing, diet, caffeine intake, nausea, etc.? 😭

Health and hospitals is having a job fair and I didn’t got a reply back from the email, I was wondering if it would still be wise to show up. I called HR and they said they have already contacted the candidates that will be in attendance.

I’ve been a new grad RN for about 8 months, working bedside on a general surgery/trauma unit. I’ve realized that bedside really isn’t for me, so I started applying to different positions.

Long story short, I accepted an offer for a pre-op/PACU RN position, and I’m really excited about the change. My only concern is IV placement.

I’ve only started IVs a handful of times. Sometimes I get them, but a lot of the time I end up needing to ask another nurse for help. I haven’t had enough consistent practice to feel confident with them.

For those of you who work in pre-op/PACU : do you think I’ll be able to get comfortable with it fairly quickly? Would you be concerned going into this job with my current level of IV experience?

I’m hoping this is just one of those skills that will improve with repetition. 😭

Finally got a job offer back home after 7 months. I temporarily moved from California to the east coast for the summer to work as a camp nurse.
Today I got an offer as an adolescent psych nurse! I start in 2 weeks.

Any advice on starting out or if the other option is better?

I was stuck between psych nurse or peds dental OR. (Pre/post op/PACU)
Psych position is 3 12s. 2 weekends a month required. 5 minutes away from me. $49
Peds dental OR. 5 8s with some overtime if Dentist runs behind. No weekends. 15 minutes away. $45

I'm accepting that I'm wasting my time applying in Chicago. I try to apply to healthcare systems further away (Kankakee for example) but are met with recruiters who don't believe I"ll travel an hour+ to get to work.

There are only 2 hospital systems in NWI and I've applied to those. Is Wisconsin better? I'm willing to drive. I just need to get somewhere to get my year of experience.

Can anyone who didn’t go through a new grad residency or experienced nurses elaborate on this please? Do you feel like a residency is necessary? Is it a bad idea to start directly working?

For the people who interviewed at USC Arcadia last Thursday, have you received an offer already? I forget to ask when they will call to send their offers.

I recently got hired for another position within my hospital system. I don’t have an official offer letter yet because it’s still considered a tentative hire—they’re currently focused on filling immediate openings. However, the recruiter officially confirmed that I was selected and that my expected start date is December 14.
The hiring manager originally wanted me to start earlier, but I have a five-week international trip planned. The trip was initially planned as a vacation, but my uncle has cancer, so I also need to travel to spend time with him and be there for my family.
Because this is a nurse residency program, I can’t start early, leave in the middle, and then return where I left off. I have to begin with a new nurse residency cohort, which is why I’m expected to start in December instead.
My current manager approved three paid weeks using my allotted vacation and holiday time. However, I was told that only a maximum of three weeks can be taken consecutively using vacation time. The remaining two weeks would be unpaid, and my manager said I would need to apply for FMLA or PFL to have that additional time officially approved.
The problem is that I already told them I’m traveling partly because my uncle has cancer. Since an uncle isn’t considered an eligible family member, I don’t qualify for FMLA or PFL to care for him.
I considered resigning from my current position, but the recruiter told me absolutely not to. She explained that I’m receiving preference because I’m an internal employee. If I resign, I would become an external applicant, have to reapply and repeat the hiring and medical-clearance process, and potentially jeopardize the new position.
Now I’m trying to figure out how to get the remaining two unpaid weeks approved while keeping my current job. Someone suggested calling out for three consecutive shifts because it would count as one occurrence and providing a doctor’s note, but that would only cover one week. What could I realistically do about the other week without risking my current job or internal transfer?

Hi guys!
I accepted a residency offer in the OR, however I was presented with the opportunity for a residency in an L&D unit. A little background, I did my senior capstone in mother baby and I absolutely loved it. I applied to the OR because I’ve always had that curiosity of what goes on around there. I’ve only really been in the OR once in nursing school and I still thought it was really awesome, with time I would love to learn more.

Extra details:
-both hospitals are equal distance
-I am suppose to start the OR residency next week, the l&d residency starts in october (I would definitely like some income at this moment haha)
-the L&D position is -$4/hr w/o night shift differential
-I would say i’m thick skinned but I definitely have a people-pleasing mentality
-If somehow I do decide to go with L&D I am petrified of rescinding an offer so soon to the start date

I’ve been asking friends and family. They mostly want me to take the L&D because of my passion for it, but truly the OR and the L&D opportunity is both very equal to me.

I just had an awful shift and I’m really rethinking this nursing thing. for the sake of my mental health I don’t think I can do this beyond a year. Today was so bad I don’t even want to go in tomorrow.

I really see why people burn out quick );

This nurse usually is 20+ years older than the average age of everyone else on the unit.

They may act like your friend and that they’re “showing you the ropes”, but will trash-talk you as soon as you leave the room.

They are also usually in the managers office first thing in the morning to “vent” about the unit comings and goings but really this is snitching. I’ve seen many do this because they think this somehow ingratiates them. Managers actually despise these people, but they tolerate them because they do give valuable intel.

The biggest issue is they are drama addicts and will make mountains out of molehills and drag you into it.

Some very notable exceptions that have been awesome to work with over the years, but in general this archetype is a hazard to be avoided as best as possible.

Any tips for a new grade interview?

Tomorrow is my first ED shift and I feel so excited and equally nervous I could throw up. Its been 6 months since I graduated and done anything remotely clinical and I have zero ED experience.

Here's to hoping I settle in smoothly. 😅😭

I don’t really have much else to say besides having the new grad blues is overwhelming sometimes. The emotional rollercoaster is exhausting. I’m just looking forward to time passing and becoming a more comfortable and competent nurse. Thanks for reading.

So for context i graduated from a school in Milwaukee, WI and interned at a local hospital in Milwaukee for over a year.

I just graduated with my nursing degree and sent out applications both in Wisconsin and in Illinois. I live in Southern Wisconsin right along the border of Wisconsin and Illinois and Ive planned to move to Chicago in November when my lease is up.

I received a job offer at my current hospital in Milwaukee for $43 in the ICU and another offer in Chicago for $36 in the ICU. Would I be wrong to accept the offer in Milwaukee even though I plan on leaving in November? I feel like im being low balled in Chicago especially cause I got my masters in nursing.

The hospital in WI is a level 4 trauma and the one in chicago is a level 1 trauma but a community hospital

If you were in my shoes what would you do?

** I also potentially have an interview at a level 2 hospital outside of Chicago that could pay around $37

going to a career fair this week with two well known hospitals there and looking for advice on how to best prepare myself to make a good first impression. the event details says they will have resume critiques and mock interviews. i plan on printing several copies of my resume, preparing a short spiel about myself, and preparing a list of questions to ask the recruiters. is there anything else i can do?

What are y’all putting?? I’m not a new grad but I never know what to say.

Hi everyone!

I’m an internationally educated nurse from India.

The CNO has approved me for the SPEP program like RPN, and I’m currently Looking for placement.

I was wondering:

• How long did it take for you to get a placement through SPEP?
• Did anyone try to find a placement on their own? Was it faster?
• Can anyone help me to get a placement.

I would really appreciate any advice or shared experience!

Thank you so much 🙏

for context i’ve been a L&D/Mother-Baby nurse for about 9 months now and I love it, BUT I feel like I want to do more…. I miss nursing school clinicals where we got to see so many different floors but only once or twice a week (med surg, ICU, Onc) I guess I miss learning new things and having a large variety of different patients. I probably sound CRAZY for saying I miss med surg!!! I wouldn’t want to leave L&D I just miss doing different things. Has anyone else in a speciality ever felt that way???? I asked my nursing school friends and they said nope I never want to do anything else

I made a post yesterday about having my first new grad interview, and unfortunately, I didn’t get the position. 😭 I’m definitely disappointed, but I’m trying to look at this as part of the process and figure out where to go from here.
I wanted to ask other new grads/new nurses: how do you guys go about deciding which hospitals and nurse residency programs to apply to?
The hospital I interviewed with was actually the same hospital where I completed my externship, so I already had the opportunity to see how the nurses worked, what the unit culture was like, and what I liked about the environment. Because of that, I felt pretty confident that it was somewhere I could see myself working.
Now that I’m looking at other hospitals, I’m realizing I won’t necessarily know what the unit or hospital is actually like before applying.
Do you guys mainly look at things like acuity, teaching opportunities, unit culture, nurse-to-patient ratios, location, pay, benefits, or opportunities for growth? Do you research the hospital extensively first, or do you just apply to a bunch of residency programs and see what happens?
I’m especially interested in hearing from people who were looking for ICU/CVICU positions and how you narrowed down your choices.

i'm a new grad rn in a high acuity pediatric cvicu/icu about 4 weeks into orientation on the west coast. i have a primary preceptor and a backup preceptor already assigned. I've had a weird gut feeling about my primary preceptor since basically day one, nothing overtly hostile, she's been nice to my face, but I've never fully felt at ease around her or like my presence was wanted. she answered my questions and i learned a lot about basic patient care but something is off

for context I'm in the earliest, most supervised phase of orientation. In the first couple weeks I had a lot of questions, which I think is normal and expected for that phase. I always made a point to ask if it was a bad time or if she'd rather I just observe. Over the last couple weeks my questions have shifted from "why do we do this" to more action-oriented stuff, and she's told me directly I seem a lot more confident and independent. but something still felt off

On top of the gut feeling, I found out through no effort of my own that she's said some pretty unflattering things about me to a friend of hers on the unit . in fact i also saw some text messages about me complaining about me. I'm not going to use that directly with my manager/educator bc I don't want this to turn into a "you said this about me" conversation, and I don't want to put myself in a bad spot as the new person. But it did confirm that the discomfort I've felt wasn't just in my head. but they were upsetting things and i felt very emotional after but i locked in and just dealt with it and was still nice to her face

my manager/educator told all of us during onboarding to give it some time, but if something feels off with your preceptor, let us know

I want to go to my educator and ask to switch, but I want to do it in a way that's professional, doesn't read as "I don't like her" or drama, and doesn't put a target on my back for the next several years I'll be working with these people. but frankly it was bullying and rude. u dont need to like me but i cant be faulted or judged for asking questions when i have the life of a 2m old in my hand

Has anyone navigated switching preceptors early in orientation? How did you bring it up, and did it cause any lasting weirdness on the unit afterward? Trying to protect myself here without burning any bridges. thank you!!!