Please help with how to start finding a preceptor for an RN Refresher Course

gtoko · Apr 5, 2010

Perhaps the nurse educator at the hospital.

Does your state BON have any resources?

I am going through a nurse refresher program,feel free to pm me ,I would love to talk with ya

Good luck:)

Ladywhite · Apr 5, 2010

gtoko:

Thank you so much for your reply. I would love to pm you but do not know how to do it. Please advise. Thanks again. :)

Ladywhite

Ladywhite · Apr 6, 2010

gtoko:

I know now why I cannot pm you -- I have not had enough (15+) posts yet to be eligible to send a pm. So, we need to talk here until I become eligible to pm you.

What State do you live in and why did you choose the refresher course you are taking? I have found a lot of institutions on the internet that offer this kind of course, but it is difficult for me how to choose.

I had not done any bedside nursing care from 1997-2005. From 2006-7, I did a little bit as a nursing instructor in L&D in my home country, Thailand. When I came back to the US in late 2007, I tried my first RN job in the US on a Med/Surg/Oncology floor. I lasted only 3 months because I could no longer bear the stress and my own fear of inadvertently harming patients. Imagine how hard it was for me to work on that floor after a decade of being a way from nursing and to work as an RN in a US hospital for the very first time.

I have given myself a 2 year break after the first RN job. Now I want to try again to get back to it. And I surely need help from you and everyone who has something to share or advise.

Thanks in advance. :)

Ladywhite

gtoko · Apr 6, 2010

Hi Ladywhite,

I read that you cannot send pm, so I sent you one. Hope you are able to access it.

The nurse refresher program I am in consists of 23 modules didatic and the clinical portion is 160 hours with a preceptor on a med surg floor. The prgram is run through the AHEC of my state.

Ladywhite · Apr 6, 2010

gtoko:

Thanks a lot for your pm. I could access it but unfortunately couldn't respond to it -- yet.

What State do you live in again? And what is AHEC? I'm sorry I am not familiar with it.

The town I live in (Destin) is small. All community colleges in nearby cities that have college of Nursing and Univeristy of Alabama at Mobile (3 hours from me) do not offer a refresher course. I wish there was one close to home that I could just go to attend classes and also finish my clinicals without too much trouble.

I think I'm going to keep posting until I reach 15 posts to be allowed to pm you. :)

I do appreciate your message and responds to my thread.

Ladywhite

gtoko · Apr 15, 2010

Ladywhite,

Any updates? Did you enroll in a course yet?

Ladywhite · Apr 15, 2010

gtoko: Nice to hear from you again.

I have not decided which program (from where) I will enroll in (all of these are on-line). They are different in their modules (number and topics) and also costs (varying from $350 to $1100+). Some institutions with the program that has a clinical component require students to find a preceptor before enrolling in the program.

Personally, I would like to locate a preceptor before enrolling in the program. I am still trying. This past week, I didn't get to do or think much of how I will proceed because there was a lot going on at the house. I hope to sit down and start calling people or going to a local hospital here soon. I may have to take a CPR class to get an access to the people at the education department of the local hospital. We'll see.

Thank you for your post. How are things going for you? I hope all is well.

Ladywhite

Moogie · Apr 15, 2010

Hi, Ladywhite---

Perhaps I can help you. I took an independent study refresher course in 2002 from the South Dakota State University; it is probably an online course now. I was very pleased with the course and felt it was a great preparation for returning to nursing.

If your community college offers a refresher course, you might want to consider taking that because you would be able to practice skills in a skills lab and you would have the support of other returning RNs in your class.

If you take an online course, I agree with gtoko regarding speaking to the hospital's educator about finding a preceptor. When I did my course, I spoke with the clinical liaison for the hospital---she was the one who coordinated all of the student nurse placements for the different schools that used the hospital as a clinical site. She took care of the necessary paperwork required to permit me to be on the site (though I had to take care of my own nursing Liability Insurance and get a temporary permit from the state BON so I could do my clinicals.) She set me up with an amazing preceptor. I enjoyed working with him tremendously and learned a lot.

May I ask---where was your home in Thailand? My son spent several months at Chiang Mai University through a study abroad program with his college here. He fell in love with the culture and the people and someday wants to go back. I would not mind going with him!

Take care,

Ladywhite · Apr 17, 2010

Hi Moogie: Thank you so much for sharing the info and experience with me. I truly appreciate it. And it is indeed very helpful.

I am glad to hear that the refresher program at SDSU was good. It was one of a few that I have high interest in. I looked at their modules and kinda wish they had modules on OB&GYN. It is the area I hope to end up doing in the future as most of my working experience was in maternity and L&D.

I hope to be able to make a decision very soon as to which refresher program I will enroll in. I do not need to re-activate my RN license, so the program I enroll in doesn't have to be approved by my State Board of Nursing (as I have kept my RN license renewed and active the whole time). I also hope to contact the hospital's educator and hopefully I can get help from them for the preceptorship. My goal is to finish the program by the end of this year at the lastest.

I am so glad your son had good experience about Thailand and the Thai people/culture. My hometown is Bangkok, the capital, as I was born and raised there. However, Chiang Mai is my mom's hometown. Unfortunately, she and my dad divorced when I was only 4 and she went back to her hometown afterward. She and I have not had much contact since, so I never get to go to Chiang Mai. It is a very beautiful province in the North of Thailand. I hope you will someday go with your son or with friends to Thailand. It is a very beautiful country and we have good food and fruits. You would enjoy it. :)

Again, I appreciate your help. I will surely post my progress if/when I have any.

Ladywhite

gtoko · Apr 23, 2010

Hey Ladywhite,

How is it going? I am almost done with my clinical hours, had a great experience

Pm me if you want particulars

Ladywhite · Jun 27, 2010

Hi gtoko: I am so sorry for my disappearance. It has been a lot going on here and it took me a while to finally get all the info I needed regarding the preceptorship and to make my decision about the course.

How are you? You should have finished your clinicals by now and probably are job hunting. I would appreciate it if you please post your updates here (or you already did that but I'm not aware of?). :)

As for me, I went to a local hospital to meet with an education manager. I was not promised I would be able to do my clinicals there at this hospital. She told me, though, that there was possibility. I will have to finish the theory part of the refresher course first and then come and talk to her again. The hospital is small and they already have nursing students from a local nursing school doing their clinicals at their hospital. So, if they have a spot for me after I finish my theory part, they will take me. I was content with what I was told. The education manager was nice and very helpful. I hope when time comes, they will able to take me. If not, I think I can wait a bit until they have a spot for me.

As for the course, it took me a long time to browse online and to decide as to which program would fit my needs best. There were a few institutions that offer the course (both online and clinicals) that I was interested in. Unfortunately, they were far from where I live. I would have to travel and find accommodations during my stay in town for the clinical part (but I would not have to find a preceptor and hospital myself). It would be too much for me distance-wise and money-wise. So, as much as I was interested, I had to move them out of my list.

Just a few days ago, I decided to registerd to a "Return to Nursing Refresher program" offered by Sigma Theta Tau International. It doesn't have a clinical part but I can still do my clinicals at a hospital if I want to (the education manager told me I could do my clinical even though I chose the course that doesn't require it). The course provides a competency checklist that can be used if you opt to do some clinical hours. So far, I am happy with the course even though I'm still working on the first unit.

Here is the link to the course: http://www.nursingknowledge.org/Portal/main.aspx?PageID=36&SKU=79526 if anyone is interested.

It is going to take a while for me to finish the course since I work 30 hours a week (a non-nursing related job). My goal is to get it done ASAP and to start and finish my clinicals by the end of this year. Hopefully, next year I can start looking for a job. :)

MY curiosity: When you complete a refresher program like this and apply for a job, do the hospital HR people consider you as equivalent as a new grad? I am wondering as to how much per hour would they offer us. We are experienced nurses but have been away from nursing for a while. Will they take our previous work experience into account at all?

Well, I still can't PM you even though I really want to. I hope all is well for you there, gtoko. Good luck with everything and help keep my posted. I will do the same if you are still interested. :)

Have a good Sunday.

Ladywhite