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Monkey Nurse ASN, RN

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  1. Monkey Nurse

    I am scared of being fired as a new grad

    It sounds... normal. And on a bad shift these things might happen to me. We prioritize and do our best but patients sort of get in the way of the “ideal” we hope to provide. Your preceptor should be helping to mitigate any major mistakes. Just know all new nurses and even seasoned nurses go through a very clumsy stage when starting a new position. Nursing school teaches you ideals but it doesn’t prepare you for naked patient falling on the floor with poop all over when you are supposed to be doing an hourly round while your new admit came up quicker than expected. S*@$ literally happens- and we just do our best! You will get faster. You will get more confident. You will never be perfect! Take a breath and do some self-care. What are you doing well on? Tell us your strengths as a new nurse 🙂
  2. #momlife
  3. But did the dilaudid work too well? #nursing fears
  4. I would take the live Kaplan course with an instructor. I have no ties to Kaplan other than taking their live course. They have a pass or get your money back guarantee. 

  5. Monkey Nurse

    License in two states?

    When licensing by endorsement, you just need to have a current active license in the state you came from which you achieved by passing the NCLEX. My original nursing school was also not accredited by the major agencies. It was pending accreditation and then failed and ceased to exist. >.<
  6. Monkey Nurse

    License in two states?

    To the OP, I'm echoing what was said- if you don't have residency in a compact state, you only get a single state license for that state. I worked federal and had a compact state license but once I established residency in another state, I had to convert my license to a non-compact.
  7. Monkey Nurse

    How to Negotiate? New job offer

    I hear you N.d.y! I am trying not to make it harder than it needs to be. I'm just not the most assertive personality. I'm always afraid to push too hard or come off as annoying. I've got pretty good people-reading skills, but negotiations where I typically fail. I guess this is a great situation to get some practice in.
  8. Monkey Nurse

    How to Negotiate? New job offer

    Is there a particular method for bargaining over salaries. I'd really like to take this position, but base salary is $5k less a year and to have the same level health insurance I have now- it would cost $300 more a month. So I am actually going to come up about $8-9k less a year. I've never been good at hard ball and never had to negotiate a salary before. How do I do it professionally? Is email or okay or by phone? I don't even know if a large hospital has much wiggle room to negotiate or if they're on some algorithm. I've been with my current agency 5 years, and I am pretty secure here, so I can afford to play hard ball a bit. I'm just wanting to go back to the field of nursing I like most (OB). Please tell me what you know. Thanks!
  9. Monkey Nurse

    What can an RN do in a clinic??

    My facility is a little weird because we are not urgent care but we have a rule that everyone who walks in at least sees an RN. We have standing orders for certain routine illnesses (not needing antibiotics)-- like guafinesen and ibuprofen and protocols to order these. We have a pharmacy, lab, and radiology dept all under our roof so we can have certain standing orders for these things. Also suture removal and scheduled injections have standing orders (and of course immunizations). I always hoped we'd get some sort of wound care and/or IV infusion clinic underway just to add some more 'fun' things to do. My clinic is also having me work on a case management certification so I can have a broader role in that regards.
  10. Monkey Nurse

    Any SNHU grads/students?

    I started my RN BsN with them. I only had a few courses with them so take this for what its worth! I moved states after my first quarter so I couldn’t continue or I would have. I’ve done online classes with ASU and ITT and now Purdue Global (Kaplan). SNHU I felt had the best platform. The classes I took were challenging but in a good way. I had a doctorate level professors. Everyone I dealt with was approachable and responsive from registration to my professors Thats allI know unfortunately! But its a little something at least. :)
  11. Monkey Nurse

    Job change? Love where I'm at, but don't like the field I'm in

    P.S. I shouldn't have read the post "Why are nurses leaving the bedside in droves?" It made me depressed and scared, and wondering if I shouldn't stay at my nice clinic instead of going to work in a 'hospital system.' 😧 😧 😧
  12. Monkey Nurse

    Help me, Allnurses, I make bad choices when I'm anxious!

    NightNerd, You have read my post which is a stay or go post- just a little different than yours but ofc I am also considering a job change. 2 years ago I was working 12hr shifts with a 2-4 minute commute. I shifted into M-F work with an hour commute on either side. I realized that my hours spent on the job now consisted of 8.5 hours at my worksite + 2 hours commute = 100 hours every two weeks or so devoted to this job instead of the 5, 12hr shifts in two weeks I worked at my previous job = 84 hours in 2 weeks. When I sat down and looked at these numbers, I realized why I am always feeling like I have less time on my hands before. I say that just to let you know, you may be less thrilled with 'normal' shift work in the daylight. >.< My commute is usually happy with some audio books though and I don't hate it truthfully. I just miss 3 and 4 day weekends I left my night shift job because of burn out too. I knew I couldn't give the patients what they deserved and I had to draw the line. Best wishes finding the best stepping stone to move on to! Its a bit nerve-wracking!!
  13. Monkey Nurse


    I hear you all! Its so hard with our caring nature and duty to others to think of our duty to self. Dreamn' "If they care, they'll still be my friends when I leave." I suppose that is true. Breaking up with my employer is not breaking up with my friends. Night Nerd- I know we all feel it a little personally at our clinic when someone leaves. It feels like they're breaking up with us lol! Is that silly? A little, but we're all a tight knit team like that. A move is only imminent if I wanted to stay with my company. The job offer I am expecting is actually closer to me than my current job, so it allows me to stay put which is good because I have a large family. 🙂 Per diem is likely not an option, but its something I might ask them to see if they want to create a job position like that for real binds (which is consequently the problem that I will create as the only permanent RN. the other is a temp set to leave in 6 weeks).
  14. Monkey Nurse

    Women's Right to Choose

    I am not disagreeing with you at all really- Just wanted to say it is not our g.d. business until you are in primary care lol! I've gone from the OB ward to primary care. I have two special cases of women who have made it my business to care because one comes in for plan B every month, sometimes twice a month, and also for pregnancy tests, despite having a prescription for birth control that she doesn't use. Another comes in pregnant, gets and abortion, gets an IUD, gets the IUD out a few weeks later, gets pregnant, and terminates again. Then comes the opposite when a patient with ETOH and drug addiction is pregnant, not receiving prenatal care, transient in living quarters, cannot remember how many pregnancies and births she has had (>14) and doesn't have custody of any of them. All were born drug addicted and many of those kids have other issues. You'd just about pay this person to use plan B, have an abortion or get her tubes tied. We can't fix them all...and for those cases choice is an important right.
  15. I personally wouldn't take this job as a new grad. At the least it is not an ideal start, but at most puts you in a potentially risky position. I know as a new grad, I had no business in triage. I 1000% support those that say triage is not a place for a new graduate to start. It is quite an independent position unlike starting with a preceptor and a floor full of nurses for support. Noone is on the phone with you picking up on all the non verbal and verbal cues of a situation. You have to be competent and confident enough to know you are making the right decisions on whether a person can wait, goes to the ER, or comes in to see someone at the office. You decide wrong- bad things can happen. At my first hospital, you had to have experience in the ED setting before you were allowed to take the ED triage position. Good questions to ask is what kind of training would you have, and what sort of support do you have if you are unsure how to direct a patient. Do you have scripts or flow charts for different scenarios? A last word from my personal experience, is that if you are in a saturated area and don't have a good network to rely on getting a job- consider moving and taking a more rural job. You can often get moving expenses. Or, if possible maybe take a longer commute for a little while if the rural community is close enough.
  16. I need advice- need to talk this out a little with some fellow nurses. I'm torn on a decision I will be faced with soon as I'm expecting a job offer or two next week. My big concerns: 1) I've really been dedicated to my company and its mission in underserved communities. I've been with them since I started as a nurse. BUT I'd have to move again to do OB stuff (my passion) with them because there are no affiliated hospitals in my area. (moving a family of 6 is hard!) 2) The people there really depend on me. I'm not irreplaceable but I have been a vital piece. 3) The people I work- I care about them personally. Even though I still keep my work and casual friendships separate, we are definitely more intimate than most people are in a hospital setting. Situational background: My passion is Maternal and Neonatal Health care with a particular penchant for L&D. With my company, I worked in a rural hospital for 3 years doing primarily OB. 2 years ago I transferred to a clinic with the same company. We do mostly primary care but with a strong urgent care sort of feel. Its rural again and I've come to know the patients quite well. They are fond of me and trust me. Without any intention of bragging, I came into this clinic and busted my tail and helped get a lot of things in better working order. My coworkers are more like family. We are about 30 people 'big' including the dental and admin staff. They are grooming me for leadership. Its hard to fill positions because we are so remote. Every day though, I feel myself really not wanting to go to work more and more. I feel like if I stay, its not for me, its for everyone else. If I go, it feels selfish. I also worry that maybe I won't be happy at the new place, and I will have left a really great place behind and hurt a lot of feelings. Thoughts?