nicolentony

I'm in my first year as a nurse manager. I am trying to figure out what I should do for the holidays for my staff. I was hoping you all could share your ideas with me on what you do for your staff. It will be out of my own pocket, roughly 65 employees. Thank you so much!

MrChicagoRN: I completely understand your situation. I am currently in nursing management and trying to decide between a MSN with leadership and management vs. MBA vs. MHA. I want as many doors as possible to be open to me, and having difficulty deciding. If anyone has any info, let us know. Inquiring minds want to know!

i'm in the same program as tweety at florida hospital college of health sciences. i agree with qtbabynurse that the work is challenging, and definitely not easy. i love the experience and think that it's the only option i'll consider for my masters.

Contgrats and keep us posted how it's going! That's awesome!

I'd try working a "floor" med/surg/tele, whatever for at least a year. Then move to critical care, and finally an ambulatory surgery/ outpatient unit for a year. I believe that you need a broad range of experience in order to make good decisions as a manager.

I think Vanderbilt is a very expensive school. I could never swing that tuition or justify it.

I, too, am interested in an MBA/Healthcare Administration. I'm currently finishing my BSN and work as a nursing supervisor. I really enjoy it. I have spoken to people at the hospital I work at and gotten their viewpoint. Those that have an MBA or MS in Healthcare Adminstration hold Director positions and said that if they tire of the hospital, they can go into healthcare organizations and work. They believe their degree to be more marketable which in turn raises their salary. I'm interested in online degree. That's what I'm doing now and am very satisfied with it.

I live in NY state and we have an RN who became a cardiology PA and still works through an agency per diem as an RN because she loves nursing, too. I have worked with an NP in the ICU who took her first job as an NP with the critical care group in our hospital and she didn't like it. She said the pay was not good, and she was bored writing TPN orders all day. Until she finds another NP job that she likes, she is working as a bedside RN through an agency in ICU making (according to her) more money than she would as an NP in our area of the state.

One of my friends from work did this program RN to BSN. She liked it and had no problems with it. I enrolled in FHCHS(Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences because it was more affordable than Jacksonville. The link is below. www.fhchs.edu

Where?

Maybe I missed the rest of the post? What?

You get to pick a chat time for each class. There are usually different times (5 or so to choose from ), a mix of days, evenings and nights. Then, you log on at that specific one hour period once a week and have "chat" with the instructor and classmates. You get a grade on your participation. You have to check the "student lounge" a couple times a week and submit your papers/assignments a couple times a week. There is a known deadline and you submit them whenever you want by the deadline. The quiz/test has to be taken by a deadline too, all online. I'm glad you are interested. Don't let the financial aid process tick you off. It's tedious and time consuming. Submit everything ASAP. You only have to submit the info by the deadline, not have your financial aid package done by then. Hope this helps!

Definitely ask for a short reorientation. You'll do great! It's like riding a bike!

I am enrolled in their RN to BSN program, too. I really enjoy it. It was the only program that had the co-requisite courses online right at their school, and is affordable. I was very impressed with the advisors from the school. Univ. of Phoenix is a good school, too. I just thought their prices were high. LAnette, check out the website: www.fhchs.edu PM me if you have any questions.

I agree that you should try an agency to get a feel for the hospitals. Saratoga is a small hospital. I did my clinicals for school there and at Glens Falls. Neither hospital does CABG surgeries. I work at Ellis and enjoy it. We just opened a new ICU - 2 floors, 38 beds. State of the art. It's located in Schenectady.