HYPEractiveTTU

Hi all, First, I'd like to thank everyone who has helped others on the path to informatics. It is difficult finding resources due to how new the field is, so I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that the advice from experienced informaticians is greatly appreciated. I'm a public health nurse (acute care background) who has decided to go back to school for Informatics. I completed a certificate program to make sure it was a field I wanted to enter. Shortly after completion, I was positioned to lead in the implementation and administration of a new emr system (while maintaining a full case load!). I really enjoyed what I learned in my postbacc and what I do at work and would like to continue my education with a masters. Due to family and work obligations I only applied to the Universities with online programs. Because I will be paying for this masters completely out of pocket, cost is probably the main factor for me, but reading about the difficulty some members have with breaking into the field, alumni networking and school notoriety is taking a larger and larger influence with my decision. Experienced Informaticists/Informaticians... have you noticed a university that consistently produces well-prepared informatics professionals? Thank you all in advance

I cosign Larry's endorsement of bigshears. They are definitely not sissy. They are the Chuck Norris of trauma shears.

I'm a recent BSN graduate of the first half of Columbia's Entry to Practice (ETP) program, and currently in the ACNP program. Columbia doesn't have a minimum GPA because they realize that there are other qualities that make an excellent pracitioner. I didn't have a steller GPA, but I worked full-time, volunteered, and held positions in several organizations. I also had incredible letters of rec from professors and managers who believed in me, and expressed my passion for the profession in my essay. One of my favorite professors told me that "applying to school is like playing darts. The more darts you have, the greater the odds are of getting a bulls-eye." You only really need ONE acceptance. Also, never reject yourself without even applying. GPA is an important factor, but NOT the only factor. You never know what will happen. I was rejected to some schools i applied to, but then accepted to Columbia University in New York City. Apply to as many schools as your wallet will let you. Good luck! -Art

How is everyone after the first couple days of nursing school? Art

I don't think the Acute Care program is dysfunctional. I spoke with the new director on several occasions and she seems extremely enthusiastic about the program. She answered all the questions I had, told me about some of the clinicals locations, job opportunities, and the increasing role of an ACNP. She even referred me to some current and alumni who all have said good things about it. But like everything else, there are people who feel the opposite. As for the negative comments about Columbia, I again refer you to this famous quote by one of my classmates: Yeah, there are spoiled brats here. But you see spoiled brats in ANY school you go to. I've seen it at my undergrad state school in west Texas, and the community college I did my pre-reqs at. You're not pampered here. You will wipe as many keisters, make as many beds, measure as many emesis basins, and change as many diapers as I did when I did my Nurse Aide training... as well as write care plans, SOAP notes, and do case plans and presentations until you get sick of typing. Those that don't want to, will get a low grade in clinical. Also, during integration, you will be completely immersed in the RN experience. I'm in the Columbia-Milstein ER, 8pm-8am for my integration, and it is non-stop work. If what I'm going through is being pampered, then I don't want to know what the opposite would be like. Meagain716, I see that you're nervous... I think we were ALL nervous. But you gotta do what you gotta do. If you look at all the postings on here about Columbia ETP, you'll see every current/former ETP'er who is a part of this site has commented in some way about the program. You can listen to all of us tell you how great or awful this school is, but YOU are the one that has to live with the decision. The only advice that I can offer you is to follow your gut, because it's usually right.

The facebook that the SON does has nothing to do with the website facebook.com. It's just your photo, uni, interests, specialty, etc... with some info about yourself that is uploaded into a password protected portion of the columbia SON website. ps. great idea starting up the facebook.com group!

you're gonna be on your feet a lot in some of the rotations, so make sure that the shoes you pick are comfortable. It really doesn't matter what kind they are, just as long as they are all white (they do uniform check!!!). I just wear New Balance sneakers, but I've seen everything from Nike to Dansko. -art ps. I'm just going to vent a lil... but... ... WE JUST FINISHED OUR LAST SIX HOUR CLASS!!!!!! YEEEAAAHHH!!!!!!!

There's no dress code at Columbia, THANK GOD. I'm so exhausted knowing that we're almost done with the BSN portion (along with a small case of "senioritis"), that I just wake up, brush my teeth and head to class... just like I was an undergrad again...lol The only time we do have a dress code is for clinicals. They randomly show up and do "uniform check". Meaning the Columbia SON uniform and WHITE shoes. Hair must be above the collar, and no dangling jewelry (even though we wear our ID's around our neck [?]). -art

The housing is for New York Presbyterian employees, so we aren't eligible for that. The shuttle is free and leaves on the hour. The students who had rotations at Cornell frequently used that since it was free. Housing in NY is expensive. But there are a lot of flyers posted around with people looking for roomates, some are reasonable (for NY). The best bet to look for off campus housing is to go through the housing office.

Many? you mean more than half of the class right? lol Thanks for grouping me in with the "small town" folks! I forgot how Houston is only the 4th largest city in the nation... is it even on a map? :trout: have you ever thought about being a recruiter? yup... NYC is an education all in it's own.

I agree with Ar... i mean Fluffhead. Get the CPR done ASAP. If anyone asks, you gotta be able to present the card. I forgot if they had a preference, but I got the American Heart Association certification for "Healthcare Provider". I have a Bachelors in Business Administration (Marketing), so I couldn't tell you if it's "harder" than a science/pre-med degree. But even if you're on the executive board of MENSA, the workload is killer. While in undergrad, I held several positions in different organizations, and like Salamandrina, worked full-time with a full-time course load... and I've never experienced this much. We take everything required for the RN, the community-related courses to satisfy the BSN, AND even some Graduate courses (pathophys, adv patho, clinical evidence, health promotion) that go towards the MSN, WHILE doing more than the mandated clinical hours... It's very efficient. Hard-yes.. but efficient. As for Columbia being "worth it." Education from Columbia is what you make of it. Something that I've said to a lot of people, is how Columbia is like having the best damn Toolbox money can buy... it all just depends on how you use it. -Art

It's normal. Sometimes, the nurse your shadowing is more uncomfortable than you! I knew that my OB rotation might be the only time I would ever see a birth (i'll probably be on the "support" side when I have my kid), so I was very exited. The thing that irked me, was when the nurse I shadowed would first go into the room and ask if it was ok if a MALE nursing student could observe. I understand it's ALL up to the pt. It's their day. But why throw my gender in it? Why couldn't I JUST be a nursing student? I'm in a second-career program, 27 years old, waiting outside while my nurse asked this... she then poked her head outside and said, "sorry, she said no guy students." Then closed the door. Just AT THAT MOMENT, an anesthesiologist and 3 residents (all either younger than me, or my age), walked right in... It sucks that things are like this. I have friends in both med school and paramedic school and neither had an experience like I did. I eventually did get to help in the Miracle of Life, another nurse took me under her wing and introduced me to patients as a Nursing Student... not a MALE Nursing student.

Well, it's kind of like what Mah...--i mean Yogagal said. People usually don't post here if everything is awesome. It's like a restaurant. If you enjoyed the food and service, you usually won't go out of your way to post about it (well, most people). But if your food was cold and full of roaches, and the wait staff was rude, blah blah blah... you're going to immediately tell every single person to NEVER eat there. Here you have 4 (rather content) current ETPers who know that there ARE negative posts out there. We are here because we experienced exactly what you are now, just last year. The program IS tough, there WILL be times when you hate it, and there ARE moments when you wonder if you made the right choice... But then there are times when your preceptor pulls you aside and comforts you as you watch your patient dying, and times when a professor goes over every single question on a 100 question exam, just to help you know what questions you got wrong, and WHY you got them wrong. People are different. There are different expectations, different standards, and simply different personalities. My suggestion is for you to attend visiting day and ask every question you ever had about the school and program. PM any of us if you want to keep it private. -Art

wow, congrats to y'all Just like my classmates above has stated (it was just yesterday we were on the other side of the screen asking a million questions... WOW, where did the time go), you're going to hear a lot of opinions, just don't take them to heart. We're all on the tail end of the "phase 1 - BSN" portion of the ETP, and even though completely beat up, feel very glad to be here. Now for the advice: 1) Sleep. You can kiss that goodbye. There are some gifted people out there (like yogagal) who can get the needed 6-8 hours of sleep a night. Myself, on the other hand, acclimated myself to 4-5 hours (less on exam nights. 2) HOUSING! Summer is the MOST fun you will have. The School of Nursing is pretty much the only ones at the dorm during the summer, so you'll meet all sorts of people going through exactly what you're going through. Turn your forms in NOW. If you are planning on staying in the dorms for the 1st year (like myself), pick out a nice room, it's not much more, and getting on the wait-list once you decide you hate your room takes forever. (if your a guy, stay away from the men-only floor- 7th floor). 3) Review A&P. Things will go easier that way. 4) Keep your mind open to other specialties. At Columbia, we are blessed to be able to change what specialty we want before entering it. You'll "find yourself" during your rotations. 5) Be prepared to get some thick skin. Hey, it's New York. 6) For the guys out there. Keep contact with "your boys." You'll make a LOT of awesome female friends, but you'll sometimes need a break and just have some testosterone time. If you have any more questions, keep them coming. We got a lot of help from this forum last year, and we're just returning the favor... -Art

I think this was stated earlier, but the letter is just a thin envelope. I was offered a spot on the wait-list for the 2005 class (mailed in a thin envelope), and was ultimately rejected but encouraged to reapply. I reapplied the next year and saw that same thin envelope in Feb... I thought it was either another wait list offer, or a rejection, but I got in! Good luck to everyone! There are a bunch of former and current ETPers (like myself), along with traditional Masters and DrNP students, who are appreciative of all the advise that we received here. So ask whatever is on your mind... -Art

I can't believe it's been a year since I got that acceptance letter... Congratulations to everyone that received their letter. For those that haven't, know that ours was a THIN envelope (I was expecting a packet). So if you get a thin envelope, don't automatically think it's a rejection letter.

sorry for going a little off topic, i was just addressing what the previous post about how the hospitals would unfairly treat nurses if there were a mean pay increase (which the poster said would happen if more men were to be hired), and how if it was unfair, to contact the union or ana. Along the lines of the ANA, why do you believe the ANA doesn't support bedside nurses? I ask because my instructors and preceptors have all brought up the legislative power of the ANA. I went to the website, and everything seems fairly supportive, but what do you see from your position? you can PM me directly to keep this discussion on topic.

I completely agree, but a name change would definitely allow these kids to take a second look rather than shutting it off completely. Instead of, "nah, i dont want to stop by that club... it's for nurses." The thought process may change to, "what's a _______? Oh, they do all that? They have that much responsibility? It sounds like something that I should look more into.." I'm not sure how many of the hospitals that many of you work for are unionized, but if anything like what you are saying occurs, I think you should contact the union. From my understanding, that's what they are responsible for controlling. Also, I believe more Nurses need to be involved with the American Nursing Association. There is a low % of RNs that are involved with THE legislation in Nursing, maybe because some think it doesn't imact them much? But because of the ANA, a nurse that decides to supplement their education as a NP, CRNA, APN, or CNM can practice some medicine. As more Nurses get involved, the stronger a voice the ANA has.

There is a marketing campaign right now, that is mainly directed towards women ("I'm a nurse..."). At the end of the day, don't you ALSO get women dropping programs that ALSO just end up taking slots? Ad campaigns aren't bad, it's done to encourage more people who haven't always thought about Nursing as a profession to do so. Not everyone has had a personal experience or famiy (like myself) that introduced the profession to them.

I really understand many of your points how changing the title of Nursing is somewhat insulting, taking away the years that many of you gentlemen have put in... ...but it's already happening. There are men out there that refer to themselves as "RN" rather than "Nurse" to androgynize and buffer the name. These men are JUST as caring and love the profession as much as anyone, but see the alteration of the title as appropriate. I'm not looking to turn this into a Male VS Female discussion by posting statistics on which gender does ______ better, or does ________ worse, because that argument is moot. What it comes down to is: 1) Nationally, there is a shortage of Nurses in hospitals 2) 6% of men comprise the Nursing profession ...is there a correlation? If Nursing as a profession is truly in need for more people to enter the field, shouldn't we be concentrating the SAME efforts in exploring OTHER avenues of recruitment as we do internationally? There is an entire market out there that still believes that nursing is "a women's job." Recently, one of my classmates (male) volunteered with one of our professors to help start a nursing club at a local High School. Even WITH gentlemen present educating the kids on how incredible the job is, the young men still were not interested. Take that as you may, you may have a completely opposite story, but this is true on how many of our YOUTH thinks when they hear "Nurse." To me, that sets off an alarm. Will changing the name of the title be enough? No. Of course not... but I believe it is a first step. I'm not here to ruffle feathers, I'm just adding my point-of-view to things...

I think there is a lot of "preaching to the choir" when many say that if you don't like the job title, then don't enter the field. There are gentlemen who have posted here who have been through years of the stereotyping, and have helped pave that road for all of us... THAT must have been tough, and I have utter respect for all of you. I see why after all these years of defending the profession, many of you would be very opposed to changing the name to just be PC. My opinion comes from a "business" side. I'm a former marketing guy who changed paths and am currently in nursing school. Everything that I learned and experienced while in marketing tells me that the name DOES have a huge impact on how the "product" is interpreted, and directs the demographic it is "sold" to. When I first decided on entering the nursing field, i was continuously asked why I don't just go to Med school, or Physical Therapy school, or PA school... the general public cannot shake the "hellloooooo nurse," stereotype. No matter what our experiences have been, when the general public hears of a "male nurse"... the image is immediatly demasculinized. My nursing class has the national average of 6% males, and at first it was very intimidating. I wish more guys could see past the name and old dress-hat-apron uniforms and see nursing as the intense, technological, and scientific career where the FOUNDATION of the job is to actually care about the welfare of the patient. To some, it may be "wrong" to change the name of nursing to encourage more guys to enter the field... but from a business side... it is probably the most effective way to increase the male population in nursing rather than entering other health careers simply because they have more androgynous names (physical therapist, physician's assistant, radiology technician). It seems that the medical model is starting their own tract which has moved into the nursing scope of practice which has the androgynous name that guys don't mind being called (ex. medical assistant). If this keeps up, and a medical-model equivalent to the RN is formed, what happens then? Will the difference in the medical/nursing tracts revert back to include gender? Also, if you look at the entrance rates of PA's to NP's (2nd bachelor, direct-entry programs), MANY more guys are either ENTERING or CONSIDERING entering the PA profession rather than the NP even when the NP has their own license, and given more autonomy than the PA in many states... why is this? I'm guessing it's because no matter how great the profession is... "joe blow" would rather be called an "PHYSICIAN assistant" than a "NURSE practitioner." (just so I don't criticize without offering a solution. In latin America, the title of Nurse has both feminine and masculine connotations: "Enfermero" for gentlemen, and "Enfermera" for ladies (derived from "Infirmary")... maybe somehow borrow that idea?)

Well... they're here...

Ok, so i'm hitting this topic a little late (by about a year), but because i know people do searches (forum search, google search, etc...) about the topic, I think it's still relevant. It seems that when SOME people hear the word "Ivy," it hits a nerve. Would there be the same hostility if someone said that they received their nursing degree from ANY top-ranked university?? Are those nursing schools that earn acclaims for their Nursing programs wrong for doing so? Should they not continue researching new methods for patient care? Is it bad to attend (or even want to attend) a top university for Nursing? Or is just the word "Ivy" that elevates the BP? (just like angiotensin II... sorry, bad physiology joke) LOL!! i just had to laugh at that because I'm a product of public high school, a community college, and a Texas public university.. so I know great education can be found anywhere. I'm in the second-career, entry-to-practice program (bsn-msn) at Columbia University (in New York City). Right before attending, one of my jobs included unloading 18-wheeler trucks at 5am before heading to my community college on the other side of town to take my prerequisites for the nursing program. I worked 2 jobs during my undergrad to both help pay for college, and help my mom out. Of course there are people who's families never had to worry about money, but I also saw a LOT of that at both Texas Tech and my Community College.... sooooooo that statement is just a generalization, a stereotype probably seen on a TV show. Back to the point. Is attending an Ivy league school for your MSN worth it? From my point of view, if you got accepted to an Ivy... YES. YOU SHOULD GO. 1) You were selected among hundreds of HIGHLY ambitious and intelligent people to be taught at one of the most selective schools in the nation with some of the best faculty in the profession and rotations located at some of the best hospitals in the world. 2) Your classmates have been THOROUGHLY selected (on MANY aspects other than just GPA)... and for the most part, REALLY want to do incredible things in the field of nursing. Again, not to say that it's not present anywhere else... but you're HIGHLY likely to be amongst VERY progressive and goal-driven people... you're in one of the best positions to make great connections for the future... 3) You are put in the CENTER of research and technology, and sometimes educated on it before it hits the nation (Columbia was one of the innovators of Nursing PDA. click here for more info). 4) Columbia (i cant speak for the other ivy schools) has OVER 100 years of experience and a HUGE alumni base who work in every scope of the profession and are VERY open and willing to help you as you both begin and grow in your nursing career, no matter WHERE want to work. BUT, it all depends on you. Being at an Ivy gives you awesome opportunities, education, connections, and may open some doors... but it's up to YOU to decide if you want to use those resources. I'm not here to put down certain schools like some folks here. I'm just replying based from my experience. Whatever decision you make just remember that Nursing is about the patient. Whatever school that makes you proud and exited about the profession, enthusiastic about helping people, and eager to donate money to scholarships to encourage more to enter the field.... then go for it. [banana] - a proud product of a Texas public high school and community college. A Texas Tech alumnus currently attending nursing school at an Ivy... [/banana]

:stone...great, i cant wait

first day wasnt bad. second day beat me up. 11 hours of lecture.... thats something that requires getting used to. We didnt have clinicals the first week, so most people went out to explore the city. Me? I'm spending my day figuring out a new way to study (I formally had to re-write things several times for stuff to marinate in my brain...VERY time consuming). Everyone has been really cool. I can count the number of people from Texas on one hand (it seems everyone is from east/west coast), but I enjoy learning of the massive cultural differences btw the regions of our country... even if i do get a lot of assumptions about being from Texas (It's HOUSTON people... you know? 4th largest city?). It's crazy cause from what I've seen, there are no slackers here. You dont have that one person in class that wants to bum notes off you cause they slept... people here are really driven, and that's extremely refreshing. The dorms arent bad (for dorms). You can wake up a little later and ur right next to class. I was nervous about dorms being loud (from my previous undergrad experience at Texas Tech), but because everyone on the med center campus is older, focused, and spending a LOT of money... it's been cool (or as my California classmates would say... "hella" cool).