Roll Call

OK Nurses and wannabies, I got an Let's have a roll call. What type nursing do you do? When did (do) you from nursing school? Let's stop and get to posting.

I'll start........ I work on an ortho/medical floor. Which means ortho and most anything else but mostly pneumonia, COPD, UTI's and such. A lot of the time I feel like I'm working in LTC, if I have a pt or 2 under 80 I'm thrilled. Don't get me wrong, I love old folks, BUT I didn't sign up to work an Alzheimers unit, LOL Of course it seems as if most of our younger pts are 30-40 y/o female with pacreatitis and getting pain meds and/or phenergan q 2 hours. Again, I don't have a problem giving pain meds, just in these times of short staffing having a couple patients that get something every hour or two can get a little Just graduated in 2003 after 25 years in the dental field including the last 13 at an Oral Surgery practice working in the OR and in the office. So when DH job moved us, I took the plunge and went back to school. NEXT

I have been a nurse for over 17 years. I graduated from LPN school in 1987. I did my associates degree thru Regents college in 1992 and I received my Bachelors from the University of Washinfton in 2002. I worked on a surgical floor for the first five years as an LPN. After I received my associates I worked pediatrics for two years, then went into critical care for adults. I currently work in a 9 bed cardiovascular intensive care unit, I have a Baylor position ( 12 hours every Sat and Sun for 1.5x pay). I also work on call as a telephone triage nurse, on call as a hospital supervisor and I teach BLS for the hospital to employees.

Hello everyone, I am new to the board but I did want to reply. I have been an ER RN since 1999. I had surgery on 1-19-05 and have lost 52 pounds as of today. I feel great and I no longer have to take my Bextra or Nexium. This is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I certainly didnt want to be like all of the patients I have to take care of so I figured I would do something about it and enjoy life!! Mary

Hi there- Great topic, Sandra! I'm in Public Health, a director of a children's medical program in California. I worked for many years in labour and delivery then pediatrics but eventually found I really loved the concepts of epidemiology and community health. This all said knowing I am retiring from nursing in a few months! After many years of single mom-ness, I'm marrying a wonderful fellow and relocating from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Coast. I fully expect to miss Public Health but dang it... we all know nursing is a challenging and very demanding field. I'm definitely going to enjoy this new stage of life. Suz

OK, let's see how to start this. I have been an RN for 24 years. Just writing that makes me want to retire . I have been an ICU/ER/Critical Care/OPS nurse for most of the time. I have also have done Nursing Education. But here in CA, most of the hospital education is now outsourced. But, I do love nursing!! Just wish that I could get more rest. Ah the life of a nurse.

Hey Sandra, What a great to get all of us together and talking to one another!!! There is normally not alot of conversation on the RN message board, let's get it started!!!! I have worked at The Medical Center of Central Georgia since 1990. I worked full time for 10+ years in Women's Services including L&D and Level 2 nursery. I moved to Interventional Radiology in 2000 full-time and WS parttime. (Wow, what a change huh? At that time I was a single parent and needed different hours.) I love what I am doing now. Interventional Radiology is ever changing and I have learned sooo much. I am now the Nurse manager of my area--I love being a nurse--It's very satisfying . Let's talk again soon. Meg

Hi. I got my RN in 1999 at the University of Texas. I have a BA in psychology (UT, 1993). I went back to school in 1997 for UT's entry level MSN. I got the RN after 2 years and then completed coursework for the Adult CNS over another 2 1/2 years. I've worked in psych, telemetry and intermediate care (step-down), and hospice as a staff RN. I've also had advanced practice jobs making home visits to elderly patients and in a pain management practice. I'm now back in critical care as a staff nurse. I wanted to get more acute care experience and possibly go on to an APN job in a hospital or go back to school again to be a CRNA. For now I'm just concentrating on getting insurance approval for WLS and planning my wedding July 4th! Caryl

I am a first year nursing student but have worked as a Patient Care tech in the ER and currently work in L&D. I LOOOOVVEE Labor and Delivery it is so wonderful. I want to become a nurse midwife eventually but will start with the RN. I also am a scrub tech for L&D. I LOVE IT!!! I should(if all goes well)graduate in 2008. B

I finished my CNA last semester and am working at a local hospital on a combined ortho/peds floor. I work 10p-6a and tonight is my..4th night? i think My days are kind of running together;) I am working 42 hours this week. Keep in mind, I have a night class on Tuesday and kids who are 38(hubby) 13, 10 and 8. I'm still trying to figure out when to sleep, and how to sleep. Im currently catching 2 hour catnaps a couple times a day and I'm not sure thats going to cut it. For me, as far as being a CNA my biggest challenge is getting organized, and taking detailed notes for the next shift on the nursing reports. I will start the RN program in the fall, if I'm not dead by then. Another thing is, I feel like it takes me FOREVER to do vitals...but I'm thorough. LOL Guess I just need to work on my speed. I've seen some pretty cool stuff this week, and so far nothing has freaked me out. So I've got that going for me (thank you Bill Murray;) !!!! Any hints/tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The charge nurse that hired me said we'd be trained for 3 weeks..yeah, its more like 3 hours. If youre lucky to get that much. We're pretty much on our own.