nursenate5

Hi! I can't answer this question exactly as I've never gone through the reciprocity process in Ohio, but I do live here. I know it can take 4-6 weeks, but I've heard of it taking less time as well.

1. can you tell me how in daily nursing students lives do you use writing practices such as communicating and what does it provide? In my nursing program, we write frequently. We are expected to use APA 7th edition for most of our papers and have had written assignments up to 15 pages in length. Aside from this, we commonly write in patient's charts utilizing nursing notes. This is more informal, but is also more critical to patient safety. I would imagine you will be writing frequently and communicating frequently in both the clinical and didactic portion of nursing school. 2. what do you think of how nurses communicate with one another? Except when giving report or hand-off, it's pretty informal when nurses communicate with one another. To help in report and handoff, you can use cheat sheets with pre-written information about your patients to help facilitate what you'd like to say. There are methods that can be utilized, like mentioned above (SBAR or CUS) to help you if you struggle with communication. Ultimately though, you should feel comfortable speaking up for your patients with other nurses, physicians, and health workers. 3.would it matter if nursing students didn't have very good English and why?to expand this Do you need good English skills to be a nurse? do you need to know other languages as well? I can't speak on this personally since English is my first language. However, I went to school with a non-native speaker that struggled with English. Although she had a more difficult time with the coursework, she was very dedicated and completed the program. I think it's most important that you are able to communicate critical things--changes in patient status, safety issues, physiologic conditions, etc. Depending on your oral/listening skills in English, you may have a more challenging time in clinical. I believe some nursing programs require you to pass an English proficiency exam if you are a non-native speaker, but you will have to speak to the specific program's director or advisor. 4. is there a hierarchy at work? who is in charge and how do different people at work have different responsibilities? This depends on the unit you're working on, the hospital, and the culture of the facility. In any given setting, you will experience charge nurses, supervisors, nursing managers, chief nursing officers, and resource nurses. These all have different responsibilities depending on where you work. In addition to this, you will be working as part of a team with respiratory therapists, LPNs/LVNs, certified nurse assistants, physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, SLP, physical therapy, and a whole bunch of other people. The best way to fully understand these roles (in my opinion) is clinical experience, whether that is as a nursing student, in a job, or shadowing.

It sounds like you need to pause on either option and reflect rather than make a split second decision. If you have the opportunity, shadow! Shadowing is a great way to get an idea for which you would prefer and better understand the day to day tasks of an RN, NP, and MD. Reading about it online is one thing, but seeing in it real life is completely different. In terms of your path to becoming an MD, you would first need to obtain a bachelor's degree and complete pre-reqs. That's at least another 40 credit hours to complete your bachelors and then the additional credit hours for the pre-reqs. To be competitive for medical school, you should definitely have shadowing experience to show your commitment, volunteer/service experience, potentially research experience, great letters of recommendation, challenging coursework, a competitive MCAT score, and an essay that shows you're pursuing medicine for the right reasons. This isn't to discourage you, but give you a clearer idea of what will be required. In the end, you should pursue what will make you happy. If your heart isn't in nursing, then I don't recommend following through with it. The burnout will creep in, and nursing school is no easy feat.

If you really want to work in an ICU then I think you should highly consider any ICU position, even at the smaller community hospital. Getting into an ICU can be competitive, especially in large cities at level 1 trauma centers. You will still get a lot of great experience in smaller hospitals and the learning curve will still be incredibly steep. I think you should get in where you can, get some experience and expand your knowledge, and apply to the more competitive hospitals once you have that under your belt. Best of luck in your interview!!

Congratulations on your acceptance!! That's such an exciting step in your journey. It will fly by, so try to enjoy it and also remember that nursing school is tough but only temporary. 1. Will being a male student nurse negatively affect my experiences during school? As a male in nursing, I didn't have a negative experience in clinical or in school. Sure, I was the minority with about 4 other males in my class of 24, but I wasn't treated any differently because of it. Most patients don't care at all to have male nursing students either. I witnessed several live births and a C-section and only once did I have a patient request a female for help with perineal care. 2. What should I brush up on before nursing school? (Anatomy, physio, micro, etc..) Try to relax!! Most of your nursing courses will review relevant A&P as you're going through the courses. They'll ensure you get a review of the stuff that's most important and relevant to the content you're learning. 3. What are some resources I can use to essentially get a jump start to 1st-semester material? (I have no social life right now due to covid in my area D:) Depending on how quickly your nursing program progresses, I would suggest maybe getting a jump start on some fundamental nursing topics. My program had an intense 4 weeks of labs and class before we were put in clinical. This is a pretty short time span, and I remember how flustered I felt talking all that knowledge in with no prior healthcare experience. Simple things like how to transfer a patient safely from a bed to a wheelchair, using a gait belt, assisting with activities of daily living, etc. will make you feel more comfortable when you do start clinical. 4. How will clinicals be for someone who never had them? (CNA program was mainly sims due to covid) I think this depends a lot on your social skills. You'll mostly be doing basic tasks like I mentioned above at first, and you'll probably feel really awkward and uncomfortable. Just jump in there, be confident, use your clinical instructor as a resource, and use your best judgment. Don't forget to practice your assessment skills too! Be really thorough and learn to feel the differences between +1 and +2 pulses, be able to find pedal and radial pulses, learn your different lung sounds, be able to determine types of edema. These are all things that take time to refine but come in handy the more you go through clinical. Finally, try to have fun with learning everything and always ask to observe if it's something you've never seen before. Doctors, nurses, CNAs, and almost everyone on the healthcare team will be happy to teach and show you new things! 5. How is CSULB's nursing program/job outlook for grads? I can't speak to this specifically since I'm unfamiliar with the program or the job outlook for new grads in your area. But you can generally get a good sense of the market by looking at job postings from nearby hospitals. Do they all require 6 months of experience, or none? Are there dozens of positions open or just a handful? Also, don't forget about nursing residency programs, which are typically designed just for new grads! Best of luck to you!

I definitely empathize with your difficulties, may1787. PTSD in nursing is all too common, and managing panic disorder is incredibly difficult. This is especially true in the high stress environment of NICU nursing. I think you are on the right path, however. Don't let others discourage you from pursuing your passions and living your life to the fullest despite mental illness. As nurses, we need to support each other, ESPECIALLY the ones who need it the most. Requesting ADA accommodations does not necessarily mean that you will require those accommodations throughout the length of your employment. Nor does it make you any lesser of a nurse. In fact, exposure to triggering stimuli that cause panic, such as being in a high stress environment, working in a NICU, and taking difficult patients, can actually decrease the amount and severity of panic that you experience. After requesting Level II only assignments for a period, perhaps you can work with your nurse manager/charge nurses to gradually lean back into more difficult assignments. This, along with medication management and psychotherapy/CBT, would likely help you tremendously. Best of luck to you!!