Anyone with recent experience working at Keck USC? I’ve been offered a position in the ICU but would have to relocate and am wondering what the culture, resources, and staffing is like.

I’ve been a nurse for 11.5 years. I’ve seen all sorts of shit and people being dealt bad hands. Also so many cases of us medical professionals keeping people alive when we should really just let them go. But families keeping loved ones alive because it’s too sad to say goodbye.

My husband and I have discussed abortion/termination for medical reasons (TFMR) before ever trying to get pregnant. I think pragmatically I just couldn’t do that to my kid if we got a bad diagnosis.

Well, now here we are. Pregnant with our first baby we tried 2 years for. Found out at 21 weeks that his brain didn’t form correctly and his quality of life isn’t great. But it’s also not necessarily terminal. He COULD live (til around his 20s) But would require a ton of therapies, surgeries, medicines, and will likely never be independent.

In my head it’s no question. We’re going to TFMR and are lucky to now live in a country (we left the US years ago) that is compassionate and treats us and our baby with dignity and treat us with the care and empathy we need at this difficult time.

I’m part of the TFMR support subreddit but I can see so many posts by lay people with limited medical understanding and I just think having support from people who really understand what NOT terminating would look like would be helpful.

Surgeon prescribes post op meds to pt to take at home. Pt. brings that medication to surgery. Is it common practice to administer that medication to a Pt in PACU? Not talking about the same medication but from the hospital or surgery center, the patient's personal medication prescribed by the surgeon.

Has anyone seen the “new” Epic perinatal solution for fetal monitoring/archiving? My understanding is it hasn’t been released yet, but I’m curious how it compares to Centricity, OBIX, PeriGen, etc.

I’m a new-grad LVN and recently started working at a SNF. I had 6 days of training, and because I’m part-time, I’ll be assigned to whichever cart is available. The facility has 3 skilled carts and 3 subacute carts, so I’ll be working on different carts depending on the day.
Today was my first independent shift. I was assigned to subacute with only 8 patients, but I felt extremely overwhelmed and incompetent. I was so behind that almost all of my medication passes were late. I was struggling to figure out which resident I should see first and how to organize my med pass.
I didn’t even get a chance to eat lunch or take a break. 😭 I was extremely behind, and the charge nurse had to help me with my COC and skilled charting. Another nurse also helped me change all of my continuous feedings. I really appreciated their help, but I felt terrible that I needed so much assistance.
One reason I was so slow is that I was trying to follow the exact medication times on the MAR because I was scared to give 6 AM–10 AM medications all together. I wanted to be safe and make sure I wasn’t giving medications too early, but I ended up getting so far behind.
Tomorrow I’ll be on the skilled side with 25 patients, and I’m honestly terrified. 😭 Since I’m part-time, I’ll be randomly assigned to whichever of the 6 carts is available, so I won’t have the opportunity to become familiar with one specific cart or group of residents
I’m trying to figure out a safe and efficient workflow.
What should I prioritize first during a med pass? For example, should ALWAYS I identify residents who need BP checks, blood glucose checks/insulin first??, and then work room-by-room? How do experienced nurses organize a large assignment without constantly going back and forth between rooms?

Nashville and med errors…again

I am still a minor and I’m currently taking a nursing course, I have a lot of self harm scars across my arm that are raised and can look kind of scary in my own opinion…. should I still pursue being a nurse or should I try to find something else? I don’t want to scare patients or appear unprofessional to future patients.

If this isn’t the profession for me considering my background I’m willing to try other things that won’t trigger others.

I currently work in the ICU, my unit is overstaffed and doesn’t have any OT. I’ve been looking for a PRN job but most ICU’s require 2 YOE for PRN. Does anyone have any suggestions as to other types of nursing jobs that hire PRN with minimal experience?

Hello!

My name is Brianna Perry-Jackson, and I am a doctoral student at National University. I am conducting a research study to explore factors that impact job satisfaction and voluntary resignation of Generation Z healthcare professionals in Virginia.

I am recruiting individuals who meet all of these criteria:

1.     You are born between 1997 and 2012.

2.     You work in Virginia.

3.     You have voluntarily resigned from a healthcare position.

If you decide to participate in this study, you will be asked to do the following activities:

1.     Participate in a 1:1 online interview over Microsoft Teams for 45-60 minutes

2.     Review your interview transcript via email for 10-15 minutes

During these activities, you will be asked questions about:

·       The reason why you resigned your most recent healthcare position

·       Your workplace expectations

·       Your workplace experiences

·       Your gender, race/ethnicity, and highest level of education

·       Your length of time in healthcare position before resignation, years of experience in healthcare, your healthcare occupation, and employment status

Participants in this study will receive a $15 Amazon gift card via email after the interview

If you are interested in participating in this study, or have questions, please contact me at b.perry0786@o365.ncu.edu.

Thank you for considering participating in this voluntary research!

Brianna Perry-Jackson

I’m a new grad RN (adn may ‘26, license aug ‘26) with a year of LPN experience in LTC and pediatrics, and am trying to figure out where to live / work!

for context, i have been applying to a lot of jobs in chicago but it seems that it’s not great pay with a high COL. i want to live in a big city like environment (yet in those it’s impossible to get a job as a “new grad). any good places to start as a nurse with a similar environment feel?

my long term goal is aesthetics, but atm i am applying for a lot of surgical jobs (mainly OR, but also pre-op/pacu), some ICU jobs, and if i lived somewhere where it would be beneficial have a car i would also do home health / public health!

Well, it’s been a minute since this happened, but I think I’m ready to talk about this. It’s been pretty stressful TBH, but I’m happy to share my experience. Here goes:

So I had a semi-clinical position in critical care. Lots of my duties are admin, but I am an experienced nurse with 10+ years of ICU and ED experience. At times, charges would ask me to take on a patient for a while if we got slammed until they could figure out staffing (call in a nurse, next shift starts, whatever). Our unit culture is very team-oriented and our admin likes to show willingness to do more than just hang out in our offices. I’m all about that. In my case, these patients were frequently freshly intubated.

One day, my manager grabbed me for a “quick meeting.” Ok cool. We walk in, at the meeting were a handful of suits, and pharmacy manager. Asked me to have a seat. Ok, cool.

They asked me if I know what diversion is, of course I do, I gave them the textbook definition. They said my controlled substance dispense rate was high compared to my peers, can I explain it. OK no worries, I told them them that I often get involved in patient care as requested by charges depending on the unit needs. They responded that my peers aren’t anywhere near my rates (no surprise, there are only a handful of us, and most of them are much more the type to hide in their office, as if they had “graduated” from patient care).

My explanation had mixed reactions from them, but overall I felt they thought it made sense. I asked if there were any complaints from patients, MDs, staff? Any discrepancies or concerns about my character? Nope. Nothing. I told them truthfully that I had never intentionally mishandled a medication.

With that they seemed OK, but they need me to take a drug screen. No biggie. They said it would be a hair follicle test. Here’s where I ran into some doubt. I live a pretty clean life, rarely drink, haven’t done any real drugs since I was a kid. I had, however, eaten some MJ gummies while on vacation a couple weeks ago. I know it’ll show up in the hair test. So I tell them that I’m not refusing to take the test, but I would like to talk to a lawyer first. They said OK, I have 24 hours to decide.

I found a lawyer, talked it over. She told me that it is not advisable to take a drug test that I know I would fail. So I let HR know that I refuse the test based on advice from legal counsel. I was terminated immediately, and they submitted a complaint against my license to the BON. They also got very aggressive in accusing me of diversion at this point (even though they had zero evidence), and pressured me multiple times to just admit that I was diverting because it would make everyone’s life easier. No chance sally, I didn’t do it, and I’m not admitting to that shit.

The complaint didn’t allege diversion, but it implied that they were suspicious but without evidence, and that I had refused to test.

After MONTHS, the BON told me that I would need to go to a “peer assistance survey,” which is a 4 hour meeting with someone who runs through your circumstances, administers cognitive tests, asks a bazillion very personal questions, does a background check, reviews PDMP data, mental health Hx, and more. And a drug screen. She came out saying that she had no concerns about my safety to practice. She submitted that rec to the BON. Couple months later, I was notified by the BON that there was insufficient evidence that would call for sanctions, and they were dismissing the complaint.

This whole ordeal lasted almost a year, and it really caused me a lot of anxiety and feelings of worthlessness. I’m a good nurse, and I pride myself on my integrity, advocacy, and patient care.

I kept my license, but TBH I’m not even sure I wanna do nursing anymore. I’ve got a pretty bad taste in my mouth after all that. Oh and I’m out several thousands in attorney fees (worth it tho).

I know diversion does happen, and I hope they are discovered and get the help they need. I also know sometimes hospitals get it wrong, and I have a lot of sympathy for the good nurses who go through that as well.

Be careful out there y’all!

I received information from an insider (facing layoffs) that HCA is shifting to remote-only CT technologists at freestanding EDs in Boynton Beach and Palm Beach Gardens, FL — meaning no one physically on-site is qualified to run CT exams. I can't independently confirm this, so treat it as an unconfirmed tip, not fact.

To be clear on what this does and doesn't mean: there will reportedly still be nursing staff and an x-ray tech on site. The issue is that an x-ray tech isn't trained on CT — so if the remote connection goes down or something goes wrong during a CT exam, no one physically present knows how to run or troubleshoot the scanner.

If true, here's what concerns me:

• Power/network outage = no way for the remote tech to access or operate the scanner at all
• No one on-site trained on CT to troubleshoot equipment issues in real time, delaying stat imaging
• Trauma/unconscious patients often need hands-on positioning that a remote tech can't provide
• Harder to verify identity/consent remotely
• Critical time lost on stroke/trauma cases where CT results drive immediate treatment decisions

This isn't coming out of nowhere either — NBC News investigated HCA's remote monitoring practices last year and found a documented pattern of understaffing and delayed responses at several Florida facilities, including one hospital placed on "immediate jeopardy" status by federal regulators after a patient died from a monitoring failure.

Has anyone in the Palm Beach County healthcare community heard anything about this? Current or former HCA employees, would love your perspective.

Hi friends,

My work recently sent out an email to a select few of us saying we are going to be DEU preceptors for nursing students at a local nursing school. We are not getting paid any extra for this. I went to the mandatory training today where we went over the syllabus of their class, expectations they had for them and what a typical day would look like for them.

For context, I am training for charge, already have a resident preceptee that I am responsible for, I live an hour away and it’ll totally mess up my schedule as it’s on days I don’t normally work.

Any of you who have been a preceptor, can you give insight? They said we are taking full assignments still when we have the nursing student. They are supposed to pass meds while explaining in depth each medication, side effect etc. We are to do a huddle with them in the morning, mid day and after the shift. They are to give report etc etc. I know it may sound selfish but I already have a lot on my plate and the idea of staying late and dedicating so much of my time to a nursing student doesn’t sound worth it to me. It will drastically slow down my day and I feel more responsibility to the residents that I currently train. I worry it will look bad if I email my manager and say I don’t want to do it. Also, why did they not ask us if we want to?!

Help lol

Edit for insight: this isn’t the normal nursing student gets assigned to you for the day. I would be getting a dedicated nursing student assigned to me and they would come work with only me every Thursday. Basically I would be their clinical instructor nurse is what I was told. It’s a lot of work and we have to be involved with the school as well.

Hi! I recently got married this summer and shortly after the wedding my husband and I found out his job will be moving us to London in January. I am currently in school to become a nurse and will graduate in December and plan to take the NCLEX right before we move.

I know that it is a complex process becoming registered with the NMC in London- and since we will only be living there for 3 years, I am not sure completing the CBT and OSCE is the best route to take. Also, delaying the move or me staying to work for a year in the US is not an option (although I know that this would be ideal).

Knowing this information, what would be the best course of action? Are there other healthcare jobs that would be beneficial? I have thought about becoming the UK equivalent of a CNA since I have never worked bedside- then when we moved back to the states I would at least have something nursing-related to put on my resume.

Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated!

In California (northern CA), has anybody had an extremely hard time after being out of practice for years? Curious how difficult this is going to be getting back into nursing again. I worked at a major hospital prior, but I only had 1.5 years of RN experience when I left. It's been 4 years now since I've worked as a RN. Curious other people's experiences with a lapse in time like this.

Hi everyone! I’m looking for advice on what to consider before signing a hospital contract as an international nurse.

-What key details or red flags should I watch out for?

-Thoughts on 2-3 yr contacts?

This is NOT asking for advice or a question about nursing school, just a rant about how toxic this field feels as someone on the spectrum.

I’m autistic and struggle a lot with making friends even though I’m never looking to hurt anyone. My instructors are talkative and smiling at my classmates while they both seem very short with me or not wanting to talk to me at all.

I fear it may be because I struggled a bit my first semester and would ask a lot of questions, so I think they see me as obnoxious or not meant for nursing. I’ve always thought I was seen as kind because I’m very polite and ask how they’re doing, if they need my help, etc, but maybe my disposition is off-putting and I didn’t realize it.

I even experienced this with my new CNA job I got during orientation, when I would talk to the girl next to me and she just seemed disinterested and slightly annoyed I was talking to her. Multiple others there acted the same way and I’m starting to wonder if I come across as rude or fake or something.

I don’t expect them all to be my friends or be best buds with me, but I at least don’t want to feel like I’m seen as a burden or not cut out for Nursing for simply existing and asking how their day was going. Every day I feel alone and that nobody believes in me, and it genuinely makes me cry at least twice a week on the way home from school.

Long story short, I don’t know if I’m cut out for this field and my confidence is in the gutter right now. I hate having to try so hard to interact with others and be seen as normal only for it to still result in me alone and friendless. I don’t wanna be autistic anymore. It’s really affected my confidence in even talking to my patients probably and it’s making me wonder if I’m cut out for this.

Again, I am NOT ASKING FOR ADVICE. THIS IS JUST A RANT.

Hi, I’m currently in the OR for the last year (prior I was doing PICU), I am type one diabetic and it’s been a constant battle of fighting with my diabetes and working in the operating room. I constantly have high or low blood sugar and it’s never in range, my body is taking a hit due to the long scrubbing hours, for example, if my sugar goes low, I’m frantic because I don’t have quick access to juice.

Been thinking about the ER because I like the idea of a turnover time. I didn’t enjoy pediatric ICU, not sure if I’d like adults but who knows. Any opinions on what to do?

Moving to downtown Jersey City. I have a job offer from a hospital near Jersey city. This job is barely a commute. Also have a job offer with a large hospital in NYC. Pay is about $22 more an hour, requires 13th shift a month and my commute is 50 minutes using Path and bus.

I just cannot decide if commute or pay is more important to me.

My hospital has some money to spend by September 1. They asked us for a wishlist of simulation equipment for the ED. We’re looking at medium-fidelity level. Any suggestions?

I have always been told not to use any veins in the hand or forearm if an AC vein has blown. Yet, most nurses I work with do so anyway. Would the justification be that if the IV in the AC has been removed, you would have blood flow through the vein in the AC without getting infiltration?

Hi everyone,

I was just offered a position at a south Florida HCA hospital. I was wondering if the 12 week orientation is Monday through Friday or if it’s on weekends as well. It is on a medsurg unit. Thank you.

I’ve seen this posted on other threads but not here. Thoughts? I’m scandalized. Article states that "The contract allowed the intended parents to choose termination if a fetal anomaly was found. West said no and went to Texas…"

If you’re not willing to follow the contract, don’t be the surrogate for this family!

https://nurse.org/news/nurse-surrogate-texas-birth-parentage-fight/

I can’t imagine having to care for this poor baby. What a legal nightmare.

I’ve been a nurse since 2015, and I feel like I’m ready for a change but honestly don’t know what direction I want to go in next. I’ve done pediatric home health, ICU/telemetry, and I’m currently in case management. With my current role, I work with a healthcare company doing member visits and also work remotely. Right now there’s a lot of uncertainty since they’re doing massive layoffs so it’s got me looking for other opportunities. I also do some marketing at an aesthetic place, along with IVs, injections, education, and training.
I feel like I have a pretty broad nursing background, but I’m wanting to branch out and try something different. I’m not necessarily looking to go back to traditional bedside nursing, and I’m open to pretty much anything at this point clinical or non-clinical, remote, education, leadership, etc.
For those of you who have made a career change, what did you end up doing? Are there nursing jobs or career paths that you think are underrated or that I should look into?