[katie07]

Hi all,

I was wondering if one or acouple of you would be able to respond to questions I have reguarding this profession. I am enrolled in a college Health and society class which is the lead class of the health and bioscience academy at my high school which i have been apart of for three years. A project in this class is a career investigation project. I have been interested in the profession of CNS for some time and am currently applying to nursing schools for my BSN; hence I have decided to do my project on advanced nursing careers. A section of this project is an interview with a professional. If one or several of you could answer my questions it would be greatly appreciated. You can respond to the thread or private message me, thank you.


Your Name: (last name initial is fine)
1- How did you decide to become a CNS?

2- How did you get your first job in the field?

3- Is continueingeducationa requirement?

4- What aspects of your job do you find to be rewarding?

5- What aspects of your job do you find to be most challenging?

6- How has this kind of work changed since you first entered the profession?

7- What do you do during a typical day/week?

8- What are the most important skills( or knowledge, or attitude) necessary to be succesful in your career?

9-If you had any advice to give to a high school studetn considering your profession, what would it be?

10- What reading/resreach would you suggest that would help me to learn more about your profession?


Thank you for any respones! I would appreciate responses by thrusday night, thanks agian.

Katie Norlander

[katie07]

Can someone please help me out? I would greatly appreciate your answers to the above posted questions! It is for a project on advanced nursing careers and I need interviews with a NP,CNM, and CNS! thanks

either reply to the post or private message me!

[traumaRUs]

Sorry I didn't answer sooner - work has been very busy... Okay here goes:

Your Name: (last name initial is fine)
1- How did you decide to become a CNS?I bacame an adult health CNS because after finishing my masters degree in nursing (concentration in management and leadership), I realized that I really didn't want to be a manager. I wanted a more clinical focus.

2- How did you get your first job in the field?When you do your CNS, you have a minimum of 500 hours of clinical experience. I was fortunate that I had some wonderful experiences. I heard about this job via the grapevine and interviewed and got the job over five other candidates.

3- Is continueingeducationa requirement?Yes, in both IL and for continued certification, continuing education is very important. It is also important that you never stop learning because you risk becoming stagnant.

4- What aspects of your job do you find to be rewarding?I enjoy helping people so am most rewarded when I can help a patient better deal with their diagnosis or find them a medication or combo of meds that works.

5- What aspects of your job do you find to be most challenging?I work with an indigent and often homeless clientele and I find the sense of "you gotta help me" wears me out! You have to do to get in this life and nothing is handed to you. For instance, today had a patient ask for $20. Told him that was the reason I went to work everyday!

6- How has this kind of work changed since you first entered the profession?I graduated with my CNS in May 2006 so nope, nothing has changed - I still have the same job.

7- What do you do during a typical day/week?My job is in a large nephrology group and I do dialysis patient rounding. My typical week is spent seeing approx 200 patients at two separate dialysis units.

8- What are the most important skills( or knowledge, or attitude) necessary to be succesful in your career?I think the most important skill for any nurse is to have a sense of humor and not take yourself too seriously. Other attributes: compassion, common sense, ability to multi-task and prioritize care

9-If you had any advice to give to a high school studetn considering your profession, what would it be?I would advise a high school student to go straight into a BSN and then gain several years of experience, including just general life experience so that you can decide what you want to do with your grad degree.

10- What reading/resreach would you suggest that would help me to learn more about your profession?I always advise people to get a job in the hospital, any job will do in order to better observe nurses and decide just exactly what they want to do.