**mentors needed**

[Student_Nurse_WV]

Hi Everyone!

I am a pre-nursing student that eventually hopes to be a FNP. I know that student nurses (myself included :) ) have questions that they want answered. Sometimes even researching won't get the answers that nurses who lived through it have. In this thread I hope pre-nursing and nursing students will come and post questions that experienced nurses could answer.

I thought I could start with some questions and hopefully we will get some more questions and answers. No such thing as a dumb question! So ask away!

Since I am just a lowly pre-nursing student, I am clueless on a lot of subjects :) I am curious about the daily activities of a bedside nurse. I am sure it fluctuates from floor to floor but a general run down would be awesome.

What are the traits you think that make a great nurse?

Could anyone fill me in on what care plans are?

Well hopefully this will be the start of a very informative thread. Please post questions!

[twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN]

If there is a particular area of nursing that you want to be in (or specialize in), i.e., OR, ICU, CCU, MICU (what I would love to do), ER, do you need to be "certified" in that particular field? Does this give you more money? How do you go about doing it - more school?

I do know for ER you need PALS and ACLS certification. But (if I'm right) they help you to get certified and its not something that you need if your a new grad coming right into the profession. (i'm still a student though )

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

No problem. I think most nursing students have questions! I really hope someone can answer your questions about NP.

I have to thank everyone for really awesome questions and answers. Please keep both coming!!

I went to the student assistance forum as suggested by a previous poster but it said it was mostly for help on actual homework assignments (at least that was the gist of the forum I got). Hopefully this can be career advice that we keep very active or can be turned into a sticky.

And some more questions:

What type of stethoscope do students usually get?

What is the hardest part of your nursing career?

What is the most rewarding part?

How did you know nursing was for you?

Thanks for the excellent answers, please keep them coming

Stethoscopes, there are those who can tell you exactly what to get. Keep asking around. Others who have started their programs and almost finished need to tell you what is best.

It just depends on the type with which you are most comfortable. Littmann and Sprague have scopes that come in many different types. I would think that spending alot of money on a expensive one should come later. Again, if you can afford to get a great one over a good one, do it. Just remember, they can and WILL get stolen if you are not careful.

My career has been widely varied and I have had many "hard" parts. All unrelated to the other. I think teaching, was my most significant challenge. It was very satisfying and frustrating at the same time. But, I truly LOVED to teach. Seeing that little light come on when a student got the pharmacology problem was great. Having them come back to me after a few years and tell me it was worth it and they could see my eyes during a very trying time, made it all worth while.

Losing a patient despite your best efforts, and I am sure others agree, is the hardest part of it all. I know death is a part of life, but, when you lose babies, children, new mom's who have just given birth, teens, young fathers, grandmothers, .........it hurts so much.

Nursing was for me........as a small girl. I was always hunting subjects to operate on!!!!!! I cut up frogs just to see what was inside. I was fascinated with anatomy.

But, I had no idea I would be a nurse practitioner, even after I finished nursing school. That came later.

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

Since we're still asking. If there is a particular area of nursing that you want to be in (or specialize in), i.e., OR, ICU, CCU, MICU (what I would love to do), ER, do you need to be "certified" in that particular field? Does this give you more money? How do you go about doing it - more school?

Thanks Again,

Cindy

I suggest obtaining certification, yes. It does show that you have obtained an even higher level of learning. Some institutions/facilities do pay a little more for the certification and some do not. You do not need more college/university education to do this. Now, some certs require an MSN to sit for the exam. Example: Woman's Health Care NP, you must have MSN to sit. You will be required to have a certain amount (years/hours) of experience to take certification exams in certain areas, too.

And, yes, you should receive certification in ACLS, PALS, NRP, trauma nurse course,........others, especially if you are working as an FNP.

[chattypattyCRNA2B]

What keeps you inspired to move on to the next level? My kids seeing what I've accomplished and using that to motivate themselves to persue higher education. Also my husband cause he works 2 jobs right now so I can go to school and not work. After I start working he won't have to work so hard and I really want to give that to him. And I want to show my parents that their daughter can become a college graduate (no one ever thought I would achieve this!)

Are you my twin? :)

[MissJoRN, RN]

O.K., from a "pre-nursing" student a lot of questions come to mind. Here are just a few that I have.

Are nursing drug calculations hard?

Do you always remember EVERY part of the anatomy?

Do you have a "most embarrassing moment" to share?

Do you ever just want to give up?

What keeps you inspired to move on to the next level?

Thanks,

Cindy

In order: :chuckle

No, not even for me!

Ha! I've been know to rub my elbow and C/O shoulder pain, LOL, let alone the fissures and foramen of bones. You will remember everything you'll need to to succeed through school then your specialty. Don't worry your nursing instructors will review that old A&P

So hard to put my finger on one embarrassing moment...we all have them, though

Yes!

I love my job anyway

Since we're still asking. If there is a particular area of nursing that you want to be in (or specialize in), i.e., OR, ICU, CCU, MICU (what I would love to do), ER, do you need to be "certified" in that particular field? Does this give you more money? How do you go about doing it - more school?

Thanks Again,

Cindy

You can get certified in any area that you want to work in. Most certs require the equivalent of 2 years FT hours in the last 4 years of experience in that specialty. So, no, it's not required. Looks good on a resume some places pay more. Some specialties have short classes to take, others are self study only, all have a boards like exam.

[dutchgirl]

Hi Everyone!

I am a pre-nursing student that eventually hopes to be a FNP. I know that student nurses (myself included :) ) have questions that they want answered. Sometimes even researching won't get the answers that nurses who lived through it have. In this thread I hope pre-nursing and nursing students will come and post questions that experienced nurses could answer.

I thought I could start with some questions and hopefully we will get some more questions and answers. No such thing as a dumb question! So ask away!

Since I am just a lowly pre-nursing student, I am clueless on a lot of subjects :) I am curious about the daily activities of a bedside nurse. I am sure it fluctuates from floor to floor but a general run down would be awesome.

What are the traits you think that make a great nurse?

Could anyone fill me in on what care plans are?

Well hopefully this will be the start of a very informative thread. Please post questions!

Nursing care plans-a fancy name for the problem solving process that occurs in every part of life. We just give fancier names to the problems, and we have a knowledge base to describe those problems in nursing terms. Once you've identified and named the problem (the nursing "diagnosis") which I'll make one up for you now in lay terms- "the potential to bleed to death related to the large pumping artery wound in the groin". You can see that would be somewhat of a problem, and your knowledge of the circulatory sytem would lead you to that diagnosis. That diagnosis was made from your ASSESSMENT. So, now you have to make a plan, and that plan has to have a goal. Let's see, what kind of goal - how about, patient bleeding is stopped and he lives. The plan is an action plan - the things you are going to do to achieve that goal. There could be many actions. I would say (remembering first aid for bleeding, direct pressure) I would apply direct pressure to the bleeding wound until it stopped and have someone call 911. (Of course as a nurse in the hospital, YOU would be 911) As with every plan, you have to EVALUATE your action - did the action meet the desired goal? Did the bleeding stop and the patient live? If not, then you go back to step one - ASSESS again, make a new plan. Care plans are not static, they are constantly revised and adjusted because the patient status is always changing. And don't worry, there are a lot of references to help you with care plans...keep reading about nurses and health care, you'll do fine!

[MissJoRN, RN]

OK, I already partway know the answer to this, but, as far as bedside practice, what really are the differences between a RN and a NP? I am looking into becoming a Neonatal NP somewhere down the road (at least, that is my current goal and I highly doubt it likely to change) and I'm curious as to what I will be doing once I become an RN and what I will be doing differently once I become a NP? I know this question has been asked in various forms before, but it seems like every time it is answered, there is another piece of the puzzle included, so if you would be so kind as to oblige? Please?

Also, do FNPs ever get hired in a Neonatal unit (I've heard there's more demand for FNPs although my heart is really set on NICU and I would prefer NNP if it won't limit me out of a job) or would I (in your opinion, of course) be ok and have a good chance at landing a job as a NNP? I have already had one person respond to this question (about a hospital close by needing NNPs) for me, but I am interested in everybody's opinion because, as we all know, answers vary widely from state to state.

Thanks so much everybody!!! And, thanks Student Nurse WV for starting this awesome thread! :)

Also look into neonatal clinical nurse specialist (CNS) it's a little more hands on than NP, working in the NICU alongside the primary RNs as a resource and doing tough procedures.

[Student_Nurse_WV]

Nursing care plans-a fancy name for the problem solving process that occurs in every part of life. We just give fancier names to the problems, and we have a knowledge base to describe those problems in nursing terms. Once you've identified and named the problem (the nursing "diagnosis") which I'll make one up for you now in lay terms- "the potential to bleed to death related to the large pumping artery wound in the groin". You can see that would be somewhat of a problem, and your knowledge of the circulatory sytem would lead you to that diagnosis. That diagnosis was made from your ASSESSMENT. So, now you have to make a plan, and that plan has to have a goal. Let's see, what kind of goal - how about, patient bleeding is stopped and he lives. The plan is an action plan - the things you are going to do to achieve that goal. There could be many actions. I would say (remembering first aid for bleeding, direct pressure) I would apply direct pressure to the bleeding wound until it stopped and have someone call 911. (Of course as a nurse in the hospital, YOU would be 911) As with every plan, you have to EVALUATE your action - did the action meet the desired goal? Did the bleeding stop and the patient live? If not, then you go back to step one - ASSESS again, make a new plan. Care plans are not static, they are constantly revised and adjusted because the patient status is always changing. And don't worry, there are a lot of references to help you with care plans...keep reading about nurses and health care, you'll do fine!

What a great description! Thank you so much for this! :)

[Student_Nurse_WV]

Stethoscopes, there are those who can tell you exactly what to get. Keep asking around. Others who have started their programs and almost finished need to tell you what is best.

It just depends on the type with which you are most comfortable. Littmann and Sprague have scopes that come in many different types. I would think that spending alot of money on a expensive one should come later. Again, if you can afford to get a great one over a good one, do it. Just remember, they can and WILL get stolen if you are not careful.

My career has been widely varied and I have had many "hard" parts. All unrelated to the other. I think teaching, was my most significant challenge. It was very satisfying and frustrating at the same time. But, I truly LOVED to teach. Seeing that little light come on when a student got the pharmacology problem was great. Having them come back to me after a few years and tell me it was worth it and they could see my eyes during a very trying time, made it all worth while.

Losing a patient despite your best efforts, and I am sure others agree, is the hardest part of it all. I know death is a part of life, but, when you lose babies, children, new mom's who have just given birth, teens, young fathers, grandmothers, .........it hurts so much.

Nursing was for me........as a small girl. I was always hunting subjects to operate on!!!!!! I cut up frogs just to see what was inside. I was fascinated with anatomy.

But, I had no idea I would be a nurse practitioner, even after I finished nursing school. That came later.

Thank you so much for your input siri! I love hearing responses from someone with as much experience as you! :)

[Student_Nurse_WV]

Thanks everyone for the great questions and answers...keep them coming!

[twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN]

Are you my twin? :)

Well if we are then we have great families don't we??? :chuckle

[sddlnscp]

Also look into neonatal clinical nurse specialist (CNS) it's a little more hands on than NP, working in the NICU alongside the primary RNs as a resource and doing tough procedures.

Thanks for the input, I have done a little research on the CNS role, but I can't for the life of me seem to find anywhere that really goes into the differences between that and the roll of a NP. Can you or anybody else embellish a little more and help me to differentiate between the two? I was really interested in it for a while, but then, when I couldn't find much information on it as opposed to NP roles, I lost focus on it. I think I had begun to become under the assumption that it was more of a teaching role, where I would prefer to be more hands-on.

Thanks so much for your time and for answering my question.

Thanks for everybody who is contributing to this thread, it is wonderful!!!