Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Medical professionals! To me!

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Medical professionals! To me!

    This is an advice question, but I'm asking this here because it's most definitely a question about bagging a healthcare job.

    My boyfriend is an RN. While earning his degree, he worked as a tech in an ER. Ever since, as he explained it to me, it has been his dream to work as an ER nurse because unless and until he is an ER nurse, he won't feel like a nurse. When he's really down, he says his job is mainly changing diapers and handing out pills, and that bothers him on a fundamental level. He feels like a failure. It doesn't help that he's applied to at least twenty ER positions at the hospital where he works, as well as others nearby to no avail. He hates, hates, hates the floor he works on now, which is the floor where they stick the new nurses to see if they're really serious about nursing. The ones who aren't run screaming by week's end because that's the floor where all the loons and entitlement whores end up because the other floors refuse to deal with them.

    So... as you can probably imagine, it was a very big deal indeed the other day when someone from his hospital's HR called him up out of the blue to schedule an interview for an ER position. This is huge because his hospital is the regional hospital that all the other little ones in this part of the state send the patients they aren't equipped to handle -- and as far as he is concerned, a day without gutshot gangbangers and car accident victims with head trauma is a day that isn't worth living.

    So, he's excited. If he gets this job, it's a major coup because his hospital is moving toward requiring nurses with bachelor's degrees, while he only has an associate's degree -- and the ER's requirements are even tougher.

    He's nervous. He only worked as a tech, and now all the doubts are piling up. He has some sort of book that he means to read before his interview, but he's also worried about the questions that will be asked of him at the interview.

    That leads me to my point. Do any of you medical professionals work in emergency rooms? What were you asked at your interview? How did you prepare? What do you need to know?

    Thanks in advance.
    Last edited by Antisocial_Worker; 05-04-2011, 03:59 AM.
    Drive it like it's a county car.

  • #2
    I'm sorry I don't have any advice, but how cool is it that your boyfriend is a nurse?! He deserves respect for that reason alone. I hope he gets the job!
    "Is it hot in here to you? It's very warm, isn't it?"--Nero, probably

    Comment


    • #3
      Quoth Food Lady View Post
      I'm sorry I don't have any advice, but how cool is it that your boyfriend is a nurse?! He deserves respect for that reason alone. I hope he gets the job!
      I hope he gets the job too, and I agree with you that he deserves respect just for being a nurse at all -- but you try telling him that. To him, nursing means being elbow deep in entrails and anything less is not really nursing. I try to convince him otherwise, but he still feels like a failure because he's not an ER nurse.
      Drive it like it's a county car.

      Comment


      • #4
        Wow. I do not ever want a job like your boyfriend has.
        It's completely and utterly respectable, needed, required for society, yes.
        I respect people in your Bf's position, and am grateful for them.
        But I am not built like that, not at all.
        Sometimes, it's comforting how different everyone is.
        Major props to the BF.
        (also, I have no advice to actually give. ... sorry.)
        "Is it the lie that keeps you sane? Is this the lie that keeps you sane?What is it?Can it be?Ought it to exist?"
        "...and may it be that I cleave to the ugly truth, rather than the beautiful lie..."

        Comment


        • #5
          No job advice, but sending tons of good luck thoughts his way!!!
          The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away.

          Comment


          • #6
            No advice either, but I'll keep a candle lit. Keep us posted, K?

            Comment


            • #7
              Thanks for your thoughts, everyone. I'll be sure to keep things updated.
              Drive it like it's a county car.

              Comment


              • #8
                I've worked extensively as an ER nurse, and am a certified emergency nurse. So I may be able to help

                First of all, he needs to do some meditation and keep calm during the interview.

                Some of the questions will focus on why he thinks he is a good fit for that environment. His answers should focus on his:

                Assessment skills
                Pharm skills
                Knowledge of pathophysiology
                Ability to be patient centered
                His time management and prioritization skills
                And his proficiency at basic nursing skills such as IV starts, wound care, and the like.

                A good ER can quickly perform an assessment and make a determination of priorities of care on the fly. A good ER nurse has to be able to juggle several seriously ill patients at once, and be able to jump from crisis to crisis. He has to be able to cycle through and re-evaluate situations quickly. He also has to be able to clear rooms quickly so new patients can be roomed and treated.

                Basically, it is a lot of what he is doing now, on over drive.

                Since he has no critical care experience, he will not be expected to be an expert on those things. He should not try to impress the interviewer with knowledge of situations he doesn't see on his floor. He should focus on how what he DOES know can be an asset in the ER. They know he will need to be trained. Every new ER nurse does. So he should focus on how he is ready for those challenges.

                I wish him the best of luck. The ER was my dream too, and it took me a long time to get there. I miss it, quite frankly, but it's just not a job I can do while I'm teaching
                They say that God only gives us what we can handle. Apparently, God thinks I'm a bad ass.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Quoth Lvl_9_Gazebo View Post
                  To him, nursing means being elbow deep in entrails and anything less is not really nursing.
                  It would almost be worth the nightmare that is nursing school if I could be elbow deep in entrails. To me that just sounds awesome. But I'm twisted like that.

                  Good luck to your BF! Pancea pretty much hit the nail on the head. I can't really offer anything more, especially since my degree is in medical imaging. The only time I see the ER is when I cut through on my way out.
                  I am no longer of capable of the emotion you humans call “compassion”. Though I can feign it in exchange for an hourly wage. (Gravekeeper)

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Here is a question for the nursing professionals....I don't know the difference in level of nurses, rn vs lpn etc...but I thought being a nurse at the most basic level required a bachelor's degree rather than an associate's?
                    https://www.youtube.com/user/HedgeTV
                    Great YouTube channel check it out!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      it's a bit late now, but I'd recommend he put some time in as an EMT.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Quoth telecom_goddess View Post
                        Here is a question for the nursing professionals....I don't know the difference in level of nurses, rn vs lpn etc...but I thought being a nurse at the most basic level required a bachelor's degree rather than an associate's?
                        You can start working as an RN with an associate degree, or even without a degree if you graduate from a hospital based program. The hospital based programs are few and far between--Texas's second to last one turned into an associate degree program within the past couple of years. That's how all nurses used to be trained way back when.

                        An LPN/LVN has 1 year of nursing school (along with some pre-reqs). The differences between LVNs and RNs vary by state, and I haven't had that class yet. LVNs aren't very common in the big teaching hospitals I hang out at, but they are the nurses you'll see in places like the doctor's office or nursing homes.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth telecom_goddess View Post
                          Here is a question for the nursing professionals....I don't know the difference in level of nurses, rn vs lpn etc...but I thought being a nurse at the most basic level required a bachelor's degree rather than an associate's?
                          There are two licensures for nurses: Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) and Registered Nurse (RN).

                          The LPN is a trained nurse who graduates from what is typically a 1 year program (usually at a community college but not always). She is trained in basic nurses skills: assessment, medication administration, sterile technique, personal care, etc as well as rudimentary care planning. The LPN can implement care under the direction of the Registered Nurse and can supervise the care of unlicensed personnel such as CNAs.
                          They take the NCLEX-PN board exam for a license in their state.

                          Registered Nurses graduate from Associate Degree, Diploma, or Bachelor of Science programs. An ADN program is typically a 2 year program at a community college. A Diploma Program is typically a 3 year program based directly in a hospital (the standard before programs moved to colleges). A BSN, of course, is a 4 year course of study. Regardless of program of study, all allow the graduate to take the NCLEX-RN exam for RN licensure. RNs can plan and implement nursing care independently, and of course are responsible for implementing the medical plan of care.

                          RNs supervise the care of LPNs, CNAs, EMTs and most other personnel with some exceptions. In other cases, they collaborate with other health care professionals.

                          Both RNs and LPNs can work in any field of medicine. However, most LPNs work in long term care.

                          When I was an LPN I worked in home health care, corrections, cardiac step down, and the ER.
                          They say that God only gives us what we can handle. Apparently, God thinks I'm a bad ass.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Thanks Panacea I figured you'd step in and explain
                            https://www.youtube.com/user/HedgeTV
                            Great YouTube channel check it out!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Quoth Lvl_9_Gazebo View Post
                              When he's really down, he says his job is mainly changing diapers and handing out pills, and that bothers him on a fundamental level. He feels like a failure.
                              Speaking as a disabled person; that most definitely IS nursing!

                              It may not be the branch of nursing he wants to go into, but if I didn't have my physically-healthy family caring for me, I'd be needing personal care assistance. (Thankfully not diaper changing, but yes I'd need someone to wash my hair for me.)

                              Another member of my family would need someone to track her medications for her (we do it), and ensure she gets the right ones at the right times.

                              In essence, societies have three choices for people like me.
                              * providing nurses and carers to keep us alive-and-functional. (These may be family members, for those who have sufficient family.)
                              * not providing nurses/carers, but leaving us as beggers or in leper colonies with our condition worsening due to lack of care.
                              * killing us.

                              When 'diaper changing' gets him down, remind him of the alternative options societies have.

                              Yes, the 'personal care' level of nursing isn't the highly-skilled, highly-medical level. But it absolutely requires the human touch, and the inherent humanity and bedside manner, that characterises a great nurse.
                              Seshat's self-help guide:
                              1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
                              2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
                              3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
                              4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

                              "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X