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Hi Nancy, You might try Macys (unfortunately, I don't think you can sort by price or color like you can at Target or Kohls), Target ($17 and up) or Kohls especially this week where many stores are having Memorial Day sales. You might check online and also in the store since they often have different merchandise. Other suggestions include 2nd hand or consignment shops. Sometimes you can even find brand new dresses that people have not worn for one reason or another. I understand your dilemma about spending the money. When I was graduating from college we had a parade for grads/alumni that you had to wear all white in-only time I ever wore the white dress I bought and I sear it was an ugly white dress. Good luck.

I have a few questions about PPD testing. I went to apply for a job at a major teaching hospital and before I can be considered for a job I have to first have a PPD test done. I am used to being hired for the job and then having to have a PPD test done and the hospital PAYS for it. This hospital required that I pay for it and I debated whether I wanted to work there. It wasn't so much that it cost $20, it was the fact that if the hospital requires it and isn't willing to spend the money on something preventive, what can I expect from them if I get injured on the job? Is it normal for a hospital not to pay for the test? I finally sucked it up and had it done today. My insurance said the only way they would pay for it was if I was a drug user or had HIV which to me is a surprise since you can get TB if you are part of a susceptible population. My other concern has to do with the statement the nurse giving me the PPD made which is that I shouldn't have the test done yearly (or every 6 months) because I was going to have a false positive reaction eventually from being tested. This is a concern of mine and I guess a concern of others on this board from old posts I read but seeing how HCP get tested so often I would think this is a very low risk. I was really surprised she made this statement. Has anyone else ever heard of this? I didn't think you could get TB from a PPD or get a false positive due to too many tests over the years. (By the way, I am assuming it was a nurse who did the test but I am not positive.)

I volunteered several years ago in a teaching hospital where they had me changing gurneys that might have blood or anything else, pushing gurneys. Most hospitals I know of require now that the volunteers have Hep B shots. Even one of the hospitals I am looking at volunteering at now says volunteers can transport patients. What you have to watch out for is your own safety. I was asked to push a gurney with someone weighing 300 lbs and at that time I only weighed 100 (I wish that was still true). Also I am only 4'11" and I'll never forget someone saying to me how can you push that gurney with the pateint sitting up and still see? I haven't as a nursing student had to push a gurney yet but I am sure at some point I will. A lot of hospitals today don't even supply their own staff with scrubs so just wearing your own scrub pants won't affect infection. My suggestion, have a dedicated set of pants and shoes that you clean with your polo shirt seperately from your other clothing. Also do you really have to wear dress pants or do khakis cut it? I would hate to have to wear expensive pants. I would try getting some pants from TJ Max or Kohls on sale (Kohl's is always having sales) that you can get for about $15. Where I am now it is very hard to volunteer. It seems everyone wants to volunteer. I had a volunteer meeting scheduled back in December that due to a snowstorm was cancelled. I finally get to go to the intro meeting at the beginning of April. I want to volunteer not only for the experience but also to interact with people outside of school and feel like I am giving back to my community.

Thanks Sharylnn I will look into Silkies.

Can someone explain what ppc means?

There are socks/knee highs especially that exist without a heel, they are like tube socks but I haven't found any that are compression gradient. They basically stay up due to the band at the top. The lack of a heel doesn't affect this, think of most knee high nylons, usually they don't have heels but they also don't act as compressors. I don't know of anyone who makes compression gradient socks for kids. I have looked in the children's depts to no avail although I didn't expect to find any there.

I am looking for stockings/knee highs that don't have a built in heel. Does anyone know if they exist? I have a tiny foot and all the socks/knee highs I look at have the heel built in which would end up half way up my calf. I looked at several by NurseMates and other brand but didn't have any luck. Also, I noticed some people say they wear total support/light support pantyhose. Do those work as well for compression and do the knee high pantyhose work? Finally, do compression stockings make your feet feel better or can anyone recommend socks that help cut down on aching feet, again they have to come without a heel or in children's? Thanks.:)

Beth, As others have stated great job. I agree that it doesn't matter what your job is in the hospital, all healthcare professionals should (are?) required to report abuse and take action. I am glad you didn't get hurt. Can someone define POA? Is it Point of Action? Thanks.

Another thread about diabulimia with more information can be found at https://allnurses.com/forums/f8/diabulimia-252903.html

From one lefty to another, have you ever found the notebooks that are made specifically for lefties? I have never used one since I have gotten so used to the spiral binding being on the left hand side. These "special" notebooks are also more expensive. There used to be a store called the Lefty Store in Boston but I believe it has gone out of business. You might also try flipping to the back of a spiral bound notepad and start writing from the back toward the front so the spiral is on the right hand side.

My impression of second degree programs is most take people who have a wide range of majors in their first BA/BS. The point of a second degree program is for those of us who decided we wanted to be nurses after we got our first degree. If you look at almost any school that has a second degree program you will see they discuss this idea that people decide to become nurses who didn't work in a related science field or take science classes the first time around. A lot of second degree students end up taking their prereqs after they graduate with their first degree. The point of a liberal arts education is so you can critically analyze anything and are well rounded. I was a psych major and all of my jobs outside of college have had nothing to do with psych-although one of my college profs would say any job, especially retail, you use psych in. When I started college, I thought I wanted to go to med school and my advisor said I had to major in bio or chem but I was convinced I could get in to med school, even if I majored in Psych since that is where I was interested in having my major. In the end I never did apply to med school. I say major in Japanese. You may change your mind about nursing. Japanese will be an asset when you apply to nursing school especially if you are fluent since you will be able to help people who only speak Japanese. I wish I had better luck learning a foreign language. I studied Japanese culture in college and enjoyed it.

Thanks, I just checked and it was indeed the AHA class.

strange how a standardized class is still so different. we didn't have to roll a classmate onto their back from a prone position. the aha i thought got rid of abdominal thrusts when a person is unconscious (i don't believe you ever did them on a person when they were conscious). i was told now according to the aha has you go directly to mouth to mouth when a person becomes unconcious from choking and has added before each breath, you need to check the person's mouth to see if the foreign object has come up for you to remove. however i just checked out their website (see below for the link) and it still lists abdominal thrusts. i guess i better see if i took an aha class or red cross class. i swore it was aha that was being taught at my local hospital that was labeled for the healthcare professional/provider. is the book blue for the aha class for healthcare providers and only covers cpr, aed, and choking? the professional course no longer includes information on heart attack prevention or any prevention. for a look at what changes have been implemented take a look at the aha's link to their winter 2006-2007 ecc currents quarterly issue http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3043844

I just took the AHA class on Sunday at my local hospital for healthcare providers and it was easy. Granted I have been certified in the past in CPR and just certified in the Fall at work in community CPR. My class was about 4 hours and covered adult, child, and infant CPR; choking/Heimlech Maneuver; and AED (the AHA website says the class should last ~4.5 hours). The class doesn't cover first aid. I think it would have been harder if it hadn't all been a review for me. For example, people are now certified in using the AED but we never actually used it, we had 2 but neither worked, so we just watched it on the tape. Luckily, I learned how to use it when I took an EMT class. We didn't have to straddle the manniquin but we had the "little Annies" that were just the torso and no legs to contend with, so when we did the two person child CPR you basically had the mannequin in front of you-on a real person you would be straddling them. The class cost $75 and the cost depends upon the person/organization teaching it. Sometimes they are cheaper if the person teaching the class teaches it for free. I took it in order to apply to a certain nursing school. Most of the programs I have looked at just require you to take the class before school starts, but one program I am applying to requires you to submit your healthcare provider CPR card with your application. According to the person who taught my class, the AHA has put out a video for the instructors to follow while teaching the class in order to try and standardize the class across the country, so that what you learn in VT is the same in CA. Something I learned in this class is that the compressions to breathes for adults is now 30:2 and I believe it used to be 15:2, darn now I need to learn to count higher :). Supposedly research has shown it is more important for adult victims to have more compressions than breathes, but for kids the breathes are more important since most kids who stop breathing and having blood circulation have a breathing issue, than a heart issue.

Hello, I am trying to apply to UVM's Master's Entry Program for people who have a bachelor's degree in a field other than nursing. Does anyone know what term the program begins? I was guessing it begins in the summer but I am not sure if it may be the fall. I have been to the website and looked all over but I must be missing where it lists the term the program begins in. Thanks.

Can someone tell me how schools can accept GRE scores that are more than 5 years old. I know a school can decide how old a class or test can be that they wiill accept but you can't get ETS to send them a copy for a test that is older than 5 years since it has been wiped out of the system. Do you just send them a copy of the scores you have on hand?

Boy, I wish I had seen your post two days ago. I just took the GRE exam w/ the essays and I don't remember how many paragraphs my essays had, I think both had at least four so that is good. I am also interestd to know what prep class you took. I took the Princeton Review class online where they give you a timeline to folllow but you can do it at your own pace. I didn't learn the hint you noted above. I think what helped me the most was all the math review, especially geometry which I hear they are big on. I was really concerned about my math score when I started because on my first practice test it was something like a 400. The test prep people are righ that the test is testing you on math you haven't used since around 8th grade. I took the GRE computer version yesterday and was convinced I had bombed the math section. It turns out I got a 630 on the math and 580 on verbal, not stella but nothing to sneeze at. I never received scores this high when I did my review class. Does anyone know how long it takes to receive your GRE scores for the essays and when you can expect them to send your scores to the colleges you selected? I am sure they are very busy right now at Christmas time. I just read one school recommends you should take the test in October so the school can receive your scores in time by the beginning of Dec. Thanks. What a relief that this is behind me.

Carol wrote: "Thank you for your reply. May I ask where you are enrolled? I wonder about the in-state issue...whereever I school, it will be a new state for us, and I suppose it takes a year to become an official resident... And yes, I really don't have much desire to be an RN, although that may be what I do as we clump along moving from place to place (military) until I can go to an NP program..." Carol, I have no knowledge about what you have to do to qualify as an instate student but you might try talking with someone in the military branch that your husband serves in. Since sometimes there are special exceptions made for active duty personnel, perhaps something similar exists for their spouses. You can't be the first in this situation and just as your husband is serving his country, in a way you are too by supporting him. Good luck.

After personally doing what I thought was a lot of research about direct entry master's programs I am a little confused. Most of the programs I have looked at offer either a MSN witha concentration in x or a generalist MSN. Can any one explain to me what a generalist MSN prepares you for? Can you practice as a generalist MSN and in what? Is it better to go this route and then get a certificate in a concentration you know you enjoy after working for a while?

LC3, in my opinion, your quesiton about captialization is not dumb. Actually, your question made me pause, and go bakcand review my own essay. Peanut1 thanks for the response.

I am currently applying to direct entry programs and have recently taken my pre-reqs as my local community college. Most places seem to be willing to accept cc classes. Many of the nursing programs especially direct entry are aware that their applicants need to take their classes somewhere that is not too expensive and allows for enrollment at night. I highly doubt I would have been able to do my prereqs if I hadn't been able to take them at nighttime. I do know one place I looked at (but I don't remember which college/university at this point that it was) that stated you could take your prereqs where ever you wanted but not at a technical college. I guess they figure a technical college science class is going to be easier than a community college class. However, that being said, in my area where college professors are limited, I know my A and P and microbiology classes were taught by a professor who works full time at the local technical college and then at night would come over and teach at the community college. Kensington, I'm glad to hear you are planning to rock the GRE. That is the one place I have the most concerns about. I just finally registered today to take the GRE. It has taken me 3 weeks of calling every other day to register. Unfortunately, since it has taken so long to register I have had to give up my desire to apply to a university who's deadline is Dec 1st. I started the process back at the beginning of October and thought that would be plenty of time.

bczito wrote: "nps/cns have been shown in various studies accross multiple specialties to provide comparable care to other health care providers (including md's). this actually suggests that perhaps md's go to school for longer than is needed to provide excellent patient care. so why make np's go to school longer if their care is already at excellent standards? (unless of course someone wants to line their pockets) david carpenter, pa-c wrote (i apologize if i am attributing this to the wrong poster):i would challenge this. there are studies that show that patient satifisfaction is better. there is one study that shows that between np's and physicians the only measureable difference was that the np group had a lower bp. however, i am not aware of a study that follows outcomes measures for independent np's vs. physicians. until you can show that you cannot say that you provide compareable care. i wish i could come up with where i read the following (perhaps u of rochester's nursing website) but there is a study from 1994 at the university of rocherster where researchers reported that intensive-care babies cared for by neonatal nurse practioners averaged 2.4 fewer hospital days and more than $3,400 less in charges than those cared for by medical residents, despite the fact that the nps' infants were younger and had significantly lower birthweight. unlike residents, nurse practioners, don't rotate, are 'more consistent caregivers' who can follow infants through their entire stay, and need to rely less on support services to stay appraised of a patient's progress." in another post it was noted that nurses do not have residencies which i beg to differ. many hospitals have introduced residencies for their nurses to complete in their first year of working in the hospital. during the residency, the nurse carries a reduced patient load and is overseen by a more experienced nurse who acts as a mentor. i believe this may become the wave of the future especially as technology becomes more complex and the patients that are being cared for are far sicker than they used to be. also, i just read an article about an office of all nurse practioners in nyc that appears to run without any oversight from a doctor and many of the patients believe they get better care from seeing an np than a doctor. nps as has been stated before are more interested in the entire patient. while doctors will try and explain to patients the physiological reasons they have high blood pressure, nps will focus on the patient's life style. it is very easy to treat high blood pressure with pills but if you don't look at a person's life style you are missing a large part of the picture. i believe doctors and nps have a lot to offer and each is better equipped for certain things.

Maybe I shouldn't respond to your comment and maybe your comment isn't directed toward my post about knowing the amount of morphine to give, but I know nothing about most meds and how much is the right amount. As I noted originally, I am still a pre-nursing student and have not had any classes in nursing much less medications. I agree as an RN you should know the normal range of how much of a med to give.

DutchgirlRN;1896474 wrote "I had an order once for 100mg Morphine/Phenergan 25 mg IM Q 4 PRN Pain. The student I was precepting didn't question it because it was a doctors order and must be given as ordered. I called the doctor..."Um dear doctor _________, I'm assuming you meant 100mg of Demerol IM Q 4 and not Morphine? Would you like me to correct that order?". God yes and THANK YOU so much for saving my a**." Just out of curiosity since I am still a prenursing student, how did you know looking at the order for 100mg Morphine/Phenergan 25 mg IM Q 4 PRN Pain that it was wrong and should have been 100 mg of Demerol IM Q 4? How did you know it should be Demerol? From the 100 mg? Why not ask if he had the mg of morphine wrong? Thanks.