LiveTheNurseLife

As a full time bedside nurse for 21 years and preceptor for 18 years, I can say that I made sure to keep an open mind when working with my preceptees. As much experience as I have, and as much pride as I take in my personal touches to patient care, I take my role as preceptor seriously and realize that educating someone is never a one way street. I pose questions and situations to my preceptees and I expect them to do the same to me. I also encourage them to branch out and speak to doctors, the charge nurse, and other staff nurses to build camaraderie, bring them out of their shell, and realize that we are not alone in caring for our unit and our patients. Our patients are people from all different walks of life that require different types of care. Not one person and not one algorithm can teach us everything we need to know in caring for our patients. Guidelines from the AHA are to be followed for obvious reasons. But the bigger picture here is the experienced nurse following her own internal guidance instead of following well studied protocol, and a new nurse wanting to assist the experienced nurse in understanding the implicit danger of not following said protocol. Yes, there is a tactful way of doing this, and I applaud the new nurse for having the gumption to observe and question dangerous practices. Conversely, new nurses need to understand that real life is not and will not be text book perfect. Observe the experienced nurse in her practice and the end result of patient care. You want positive outcomes for the patients. This occurs by bridging your new found knowledge with that of the well seasoned nurse and yes, following life-saving protocol.

kpnurse16, how was the program overall? I am in the process of transferring out of Simmons and am looking at a program that is compatible with working 12 hour shifts, and that would prepare me well in the FNP field. What was the quality of the classes and the professors? Do you feel the program prepared you well to sit for the NP exam? Thank You!

Hello! With Simmons, they told me I would qualify for financial aid as long as I take no less than 5 credits per term. Each term is about 14 weeks. The part time schedule slates you for 2-3 classes at a time. The volume of work was ENORMOUS with just 2 classes at a time. I tried to go down to one class at a time, but I wouldn't qualify for financial aid and that would lengthen my graduation time to about 6 years! I loved the rigor and quality of the classes at Simmons, but I am a working mom, and this school's workload was not compatible with my life.

Hello all, i am looking to transfer from my current online FNP program. Can anyone tell me why they chose Chamberlain specifically? I'm also looking at Walden U and South University Orlando campus (brick and mortar). Thank you!

As a current Simmons FNP online student, I would like to post an update just to give everyone a snapshot of what I have encountered so far. Anxiety, no time for family-at all-, and have already gone down to part time at work (2/12s per week). I will preface this by saying that I feel the program is extremely rigorous and you will feel very well informed. The caveat, however, is the volume of work expected for you to complete per week before live class is tremendous. The part time program requires 2 to 3 classes at a time and with that, you would be set to complete the program within 2 years and 3 months. As I stated in my previous post, the tuition is $65,000 not including books. Each term is 14 weeks long. The first term of the part time program you will have Nursing Research and Adv Patho. The research class requires papers in strict APA about every 3 to 4 weeks. You will be assigned 2-3 chapters to read every week and are required to watch pre recorded videos and answer questions (some require 300 words) based on two research papers you are also assigned to read. You are then required to take a pre test exactly 24 hours prior to attending live class. The professor WILL deduct significant points from your grade if you complete the pre test outside of the 24 hour time period. You are required to attend live class as well (each live class is about 2 hours long) where you will discuss the research topics and go into break out groups where you and your classmates will answer questions based on 1-2 different research studies you are asked to review. The Adv Patho class was very informative, but required a high volume of work. I would have loved to take this class by itself so that I could have concentrated on it more. Each WEEK you will read 6-8 chapters and watch pre recorded videos. You are required to print out the "hand outs" within the videos and will use those to study for the quarterly exams. You are also required to take a pre test 24 hours prior to the live class. In addition, you are given 4 case studies per week to answer and discuss in class. I will tell you, myself and my classmates estimated it took us 2 hours to complete each case study as each question given within the case study took significant amounts of time to research. In addition, you must complete the etiology, s/s, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention for each case study and disease process. All this MUST be done prior to live class because the professor selects you at random to discuss your findings. During the live class, you take the first hour to merely read the handouts out loud (non productive), and the last hour you discuss your case studies one by one. THEN you must complete a POST TEST after the live class. IN ADDITION, you will have quarterly exams (every three weeks) based on the 3 body systems you have studied. For example, we had a quarterly exam that covered the endocrine system, the reproductive system, and the neuro system. That is a high volume of info to cover! Here is where we encountered our most difficulty. Each quarterly exam counts toward 75% of your grade. Also, each exam is only 33 questions and there were emails sent to the dean as well as the course lead regarding at least 4 questions per exam that seemed off the wall and not related in any way to what was so heavily discussed and studied. When you have 4 questions per exam that do not seem fair, and you only have 33 questions per exam, trust me, it's disturbing to say the least. That being said, I am doing well in both classes grade wise. I have spent many hours fulfilling course work which is not compatible with my life. For example, on my days off, I sit down to do work at 8 am, rush to complete as much as I can before both live classes, and rise from my desk at 8pm after my last live class. I have sacrificed all time with my children to the point where my daughter begged me to take her to get ice cream and I was in such a time crunch I simply could not. I have seen my body change from not having the ability to take time for walks, or exercise of any kind. My family has taken over cooking dinner since there is never enough time for me to do so. I fully expected grad school to be rigorous and time consuming. But this is completely life altering. I chose the online format thinking it would afford me some flexibility, but this is the most unflexible life I have ever had. The breaking point was when I compared what I am going through to the FNP programs my co workers are attending. They cringe when I explain the volume of work I have. Rigor is expected, but the volume is incomprehensible. Side note, next term I will have 3 classes, one of which is Pharmacology (and this is considered Part Time).

No mandatory GPA requirement, per say. But they will like you to write a very good revealing essay as to why you didn't graduate with a 3.0

Maybe taking up a job as a CNA in a busy metro hospital or Medical Assistant. That way, you can watch all the action as it unfolds before you. You will be learning rationales for procedures and medical decisions, you'll be learning foley and IV placement, and lab draws. You will see and hear interactions between multidisciplinary teams such as doctors, nurses, case workers, etc. Sometimes you need to see and hear and feel something before you can truly understand it. I know you are studying hard. But maybe you are more of a hands on learner. So that environment would be best for you to help you learn.

OK, I have to say this. I'm sure we can all remember when we were new nursing students. We too were surprised at what we encountered as we were sent out to learn basic nursing care to the very first patients we encountered. I think that maybe your expectation, Beeboop12, was completely different from what is out in the real world. I remember encountering all types of different situations and people that I never thought to expect. But as caregivers, we learn to look past that and find the best way to care our patients and their families. I have to wonder about your school though. The fact that you felt "thrown" onto a unit without sufficient practice, or lecturing about the type of patients you would be encountering leaves me pondering for both you and those poor patients. Remember, the "blob in the bed" you speak of is someone's mother, father, grandfather, etc. If you feel ill prepared to take care of these much deserving people, then either look into another school that will give you proper training or hold off until you can do some soul searching and figure out if a CNA career is right for you. CNAs help with, amongst other things, toiletting, bathing, ambulating, and vitals. Properly trained CNAs are absolutely vital to our nation's healthcare and healthcare facilities. But your heart must be in the right place.

I am very happy with my choice so far. The live lessons are nice in that you get to see the other students and you really get to know them and your profs. It's just like being in a classroom except much more comfortable. The live lessons are also recorded so you can go back and review anything you may have missed. If you work, the recommendation is doing the program part time and with that you will finish within 2 years. The years are broken up into "terms". The fist term started today 9/12/17 and lasts thru 12/2017. You get a month break between terms. Next term begins 1/2017 and goes thru 3/2017 etc. You start off with two courses first: Nursing Research and Adv Patho Phys. Then after the first term, the next subsequent terms are three classes at a time until you reach the practicums during the last year. You are immediately assigned a Student Advisor who calls you and sticks by you through the program. He/she literally is there to support you emotionally and give you ideas on time management, dealing with difficult material, etc. My Advisor validated my feelings of anxiety at beginning the Masters program with a full time job and two teenagers. She's been a source of relief for me emotionally. You will have a syllabus that lists the work you will be required to do for the entire term for each class. This will gives the opportunity to work ahead if you need to. I will tell you though that your presence at the live classes is mandatory. So even you are out of town, take your lap top and web cam with you. Each class is about 2 hours long. There are also quizzes that must be done 24 hours before the live class and one quiz to be done 24 hours after the live class. During class sign up you are given a list of choices for dates and times you can attend. The dates and times you choose will be permanent for your classes during that particular term. Other than that, everything else is archived and you can access it 24/7. I have been told a few times already that practicums require you to be with a practitioner for at least 16 hours per week during weekday working hours. On my end, I work three 12 hour shifts every week, which would mean that I would be using my weekdays off for practicum. Two different student advisors have said that working a mon-fri job would make it impossible to attend practicum. They advised keeping part time or per diem positions during the last term. I will continue to work my three 12s because I can also choose to work the weekends and attend practicums during the week (I work as a bedside nurse at an inpatient hospital). As far as practicums....My main source of anxiety in attending an online school was trying to find my own preceptors since I have heard of all the horror stories out there of students having to postpone semesters because they could not find preceptors. Simmons has a Clinical Placement Team which places you at the closest practicum site available. I live in a very busy and well known metro area, so they already have clinical placement sites available here. However, if you live in a more rural area, they may have to place you farther from where you live. The tuition is somewhere around $65,000. Yes, it's expensive. But I tell you, I have researched so many other online schools and for what Simmons Online is offering, I am happy so far.

Hi Sgray, the first thing I'd like to know is, can your boyfriend move any limbs? Can he walk? Did you know him before his stroke? You said the stroke was a year ago. There are many people that can still walk and move about and do things for themselves after having a stroke. I'm wondering why the doctor told him to sit and do nothing. That just doesn't make sense. At the very least, he should have physical therapy to allow him to develop strength in the unaffected limbs. If he sits and does nothing all day, he will only get progressively weaker and make recovery from the stroke that much harder. Also, if he is disabled from the stroke, he should qualify for disability from his employer, if he was working at the time. Medicaid may also be an option or SSI. Through medicaid, he may qualify for a home attendant and/or a home health aid to assist him with his daily needs such as feeding, bathing, etc. That being said, you do not have to stay home and not work because there are options available to him for assistance while you are out of the home. But most importantly, I would look into his ability for rehabilitation. He may qualify to be admitted to a rehabilitation facility that will retrain and reteach his muscles for optimal movement so that he may regain some of his independence. How disabled is he? Can he move at all? Can he feed himself? Dress himself? Speak clearly and think clearly? There are still many unanswered questions here to be able to give you good guidance, but there are programs out there that can help. And lastly, yes, many family members do stay home to care for their loved ones, but my main concern is getting him rehabbed as much as he can first.

After 22 amazing, scary, beautiful, tearful, hopeful, joyful, and enlightening years of bedside nursing, I'm ready to move forward and be more cerebral and less physical in my career. I have an absolute love and passion for excellent nursing care. I am two weeks away from applying for schools for my MSN, FNP. I've always thought I would be an educator, but not willing to deal with job insecurity and less salary than what I make at bedside. I would love to teach the next generation of fresh new nurses or assist with process improvement in hospitals, or med offices. Just very clearly confused because I know FNPs make a decent salary, but I lay awake at night listening to my heart tell me that's not what I am meant to do. Any advice on what direction I can take or where to start my soul searching for my next career?