What type of job are you looking for?
I am looking for a job that will challenge me creatively as well as intellectually. I ablsolutely love the mix of what I do but I'm ready for a new adventure and and ready to help others that don't have manager care.
What nationality are you?
I am caucasian
What languages do you speak (and at what level)?
My primary language is english, but I could get through a labor and delivery with broken spanish. Spanish has always been one of those languages I have had an interest in, so if I were selected I would certainly start studying up. I don't think there's anything more scary than going to a strange hospital in pain and all these people are looking at you telling you things in another language and you cannot understand and then they just start doing things to you. That would be unimaginable for me.
What country or area are you looking to work in and why?
I would really like to work in Costa Rica because I had a friend's mom who is a nurse who traveled there and said the people were so gracious and kind. I actually wouldn't care where I went but I do prefer the beach setting to the mountaints! (Since I'm coming from Utah! I've done my fair share of skiing!)
What countries have you worked in?
I have not had the opportunity to work in any other countries yet. I am currently working on my masters degree in APRN Psych. They have just set up the program so we can do it at a distance so I thought this would be the perfect time!
What countries do you have a visa to work in?
I do have a visa, although I do not have a work via anywhere. If accepted that would be my first priority to get in order.
What field do you currently work in?
Currently I work full time at the University Neuropsychiatric Institute (UNI), it's a locked down behavioral psychiatric place. I work with kids and adults. I also PRN still at my L&D job which I ablsolutely love! It give me that balance I need!
What fields have you worked in before?
Before I got my nursing degree I was the unit coordinator of another L&D unit, ,CNA and a scrub tek in the OR. I also worked in another OR for a period of time.
What qualifications do you hold?
I hole BLS, CPI, NRP, STABLE, and will be receiving ACLS on 5-21-09
Which do you consider more valuable? Formal education or skills and why?
I believe they are both important. WIthout the formal education you wouldnt have developed the skills to get to where you need to be. Skills are very important but they develop over time as you start to listen to yourself and question things like, "this just doesn't look right," but in order to have tht you have to have a good base and that comes from formal education. I believe they come hand in hand, and any good clinician can see how close they are intertwined.
Describe the benefits of working with others
The benefits of working with others is that you always have back up. Even if you know the answer to the lab you are looking at you can always double check it with another RN to reassure yourself. You make less med errors by double checking, and it gives you that sense of relief that you are not alone in this. The team environment can make or break a unit; more often than not I have seen it make things run more soothing which calms patients and puts a lightness in the atmosphere.
Describe the benefits of working alone
Working alone has its benefits as well too. What if you get a lab that you are 100% sure of and you assess the pt and you just know you're right but for back up you ask another RN for their opinion. They may not tell you what you want to hear. Autonomy is a very large part of our job and we need to take responsibility for that. You cannot always lean on others, you need to make quick reponses for your patient that is in their best interest.
What was your worst working experience?
My worst working experience was when we have 3 laboring moms come through the door all at once and we had not one bed for any of them. They were all in wheelchairs huffing and puffing and we just had to make do. I took one down to the end of the hall pulled a sheet around us and delievered the baby because the doctor didn't have time to get there. Luckily everything went fine and mother and baby were fine but it was hectic there for a whild trying to decide what to do!
What is the most important lesson you have learnt throughout your career?
The most important lesson I have learned throughout my career came from a paranoid schizophrenic patient. He was starting to clear and he looked at me and said, "thank you for always being nice. I feel like I'm trapped in this body and you guys are going to take me to the gas chambers (time-out room) and there's nothing I can do about it." He at that point became very tearful. At that moment I realized no matter how sick we think the patient is they still understand what is going on. He recognized my actions to stay back until things were under control. Patients can see us, hear us, and feel us even when we think they cannot. That was one of the most powerful experiences I have had in my nursing career.
What unique skills do you have?
My unique skills consist of staying calm in extremely tense/out of control situations. Directing people in what to do so they don't feel lost. I feel that at times I can connect with patients when others cannot. I can bond with thost un-medicated mothers when it's just too much for the dad and I tell them I will not leave them, and I don't. I feel that I have good people skills.
What would you consider as your 'dream job'?
My dream job would be to graduate from school and somehow incorporate psych and L&D. I have been approached by a group in Utah about running a post-partum depression clinic which would be interesting. I would also like to work with pregnant moms who use substances and educate them and see them through their pregnancies.
What are the most interesting aspects of your field?
THere are so many!! I love the mix of the two. I love going to l&d and bringing new life into the world, yet I love going to UNI and getting inside peoples heads and seeing what makes them tick. THey are two very different yet very much the same aspects of nursing.
Wjat are the least interesting aspects of your field?
The least interesting would be when we have a fetal demise. That really hits home with me. A nurse one told me, "the day you stop crying on one of those demise's is the day you need to switch careers." That has always stayed with me, and everytime I get one it's just as hard as the first one was. Aa far as psych goes it is relaly hard to see the homeless people get stabilized on meds then go out and can't afford them so they go off them and end up right back with us. It's like a revolving door.
What are you looking for in a nurse?
I hope it's someone bright and that can bring lots of experience, strength and hope to your team.
How can potential employers contact you?
Tracey_Tranter@yahoo.com 801-232-1129 -(best way)
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