TIPS FOR NEW NURSES: TOP 3 STRATEGIES TO PROTECT YOUR NURSING LICENSE

I’ll never forget the moment when my first nursing license came in the mail. I swear I stared at it for hours! I was never so proud of anything I had done up to that point. However, reality hit me when I started working in an acute care hospital.  I realized that I no longer had the safety blanket of my instructor to protect me - I was on my own as a professional RN and I was scared to death! After all, I worked really hard to get my license but I wasn't sure what to do to protect it.

We’ve all read the horror stories about nurses who lost their licenses and want to make sure that doesn't happen to us! 

NEW NURSE SUCCESS! RESUME DOS AND DONT'S

May is the time of year when many nursing students graduate from school. Congratulations!! However, don't celebrate too long - it's time to land your first job. The key to getting hired is to start with an excellent resume.  You'd be surprised how unprofessional some resumes look! To weed through their pile of resumes, an experienced recruiter can quickly scan a gazillion resumes looking for the ones they can put into their "no" pile.

Follow these dos and don’ts to make sure your resume gets into their "yes" pile:

TIPS FOR NEW NURSES: ACE THAT INTERVIEW

How exciting! You’ve built and written your resume, applied for RN positions, and now you’ve landed your first interview. Getting an interview means you’ve at least appeared qualified on paper. Now it’s time to knock their socks off in person. How? By preparing.

I’ve interviewed a gazillion new and experienced nurses and know how intimidating they can be for the candidate. After all, a stranger is basically judging you and making a decision about your future. However, careful planning and preparation can help you appear confident, competent and win over almost any interviewer.

CLINICAL PRACTICE TIP: POST-THYROIDECTOMY VILLIANS

Four years ago I underwent a total thyroidectomy. I can remember waking up in the recovery room and being transported to my room. The first thing I said to my husband when I got to my room was this: “Look on my night stand and make sure you see a trach kit and a box of calcium gluconate.” Even though I was half out of it, I wanted to make sure that the nurses were prepared to handle the two most common complications of a thryoidectomy – hemorrhage and hypocalcemia.