np2b

I'd like to develop a mentoring program with my local professional NP organization. My aim is basically to link recently-graduated (within a couple of years) NPs with more senior and specialized NPs for advice, questions, clinical information, etc. I wonder: does anyone know if a similar program exists? I imagine it must, somewhere, and I'd like to chat with one to see how its structured, managed, etc. Thank you for your help!

Thanks for the reply! (And the congrats.) In the end, I didn't take the job. Definitely one of the hardest decisions I've made in a while, but in the end it's the end it's the one that feels right. Let's hope I feel that way a few months from now...

Would LOVE some input/objective opinions from anyone willing to offer it. :) The short question: Would the ability to work only 4 days per week (less than full time) severely impact my ability to get a job as an NP straight out of school? Here's the details, which may or may not influence your answer: I JUST (as in, last Saturday) graduated from my FNP program. Plan to sit for my boards ASAP, get my license, etc.. By my calculations, this won't all fall into place until about March at the earliest, maybe April. In the meantime, I've been offered an instructor position at the University, teaching basic clinical skills to second-degree students. It'll involve one full day of teaching, plus some extra time grading papers, doing office hours, etc. The school year gets out the last week of April. I'm excited about the opportunity--I would really like to teach, I think, and I this chance really just fell into my lap (I'd hoped to apply for something similar in a couple of years). But I don't want to limit myself too severely when it comes to first jobs...I really want to find a great learning environment. If it helps, I live in the DC Metro area. Thanks for your wisdom!

I'm thinking about springing for the FNP Fitzgerald CDs, since they're so highly regarded (and because I have so little time to run through test questions right now). But I was wondering...what's the teaching style? Does it use a lot of mneumonics and other tools to help folks remember things, or is it more of a straightforward lecture of the most important things to remember? I took a test-prep course for the NCLEX that used a lot of gimmicks for remembering things, and I found that it didn't suit my learning style at all. I felt much better reviewing important content, and then following it up with lots and lots of test questions. I think I'd like to review the content via an audio format now, and then start taking practice tests closer to when I take the boards (at the end of this year). Thanks for the guidance...

I just checked back on this thread after being away for a couple of days. Thanks, Core0! Very, very, very helpful stuff.

Thanks so much for the thoughtful replies. For clarification, I'm an FNP student, with a few years experience in an Emergency Department as a staff nurse. I live in the DC area. I think my first priority will always be finding a practice that, paycheck aside, is a good "fit"...it's gotta be interesting, and I don't want to be thrown to the wolves on my first job. But with those criteria met, I still don't want to undersell myself. I think that the "what salary can I live with?" perspective is a good one. (traumaRUs: your "arbitrary" salary is encouraging...this seems to be the approach that my husband takes, and it never fails to amaze me how well it works...but he's also a very qualified, very experienced person in his field.) One NP preceptor suggested that my contract stipulate that salary be renegotiated after 6 months of getting to know each other, which seemed like pretty good advice, too. Hmmm....plenty to think about. Thank you again!

Here's a question that I can't find in the archives: how do you guys go about figuring out what is a competitive salary in your region? How do you compensate for the wide variations between experienced vs. unexperienced nurses, specialty work vs. a more general practice, bonus structures, etc.? I've had a talk or two with some of my clinical preceptors, but they're very coy about sharing actual numbers. ("Their starting pay is really bad, but now I'm doing quite well"...what does that MEAN?) Do you just go to your local NP association meetings and find a polite way to ask? Do you go to a bunch of interviews and see what kinds of offers you get? I obviously don't have many close friends/colleagues that I would be comfortable asking this question of. I ask because, in the next few months, I'll be starting my search for my first NP job. I've never been great at negotiating anything, and since I've got a ton of student loans to pay off, I really don't want to sell myself short. I've heard a couple of people talk about their salaries, but what I've heard is VERY inconsistent with what my instincts would say a salary should be. (experienced ER NPs making less than 70K; a brand-new NP in an underserved facility making more than 80k). Thanks for the direction...I clearly need it!

"AC" is, I'm guessing, acetylcysteine...the generic name for Mucomyst. K

Hi...I haven't read the replys to this posting in detail, but I wanted to give you the perspective of someone who started in an accelerated program, but stepped back a bit. I started in a masters-entry program for the FNP. I did my research, and really thought that I would be sucessful as an FNP even if I had minimal RN experience (I planned to work as an RN while I studied the masters-level stuff.) However, as things progressed, I ended up practically begging my institution to give me a BSN and allow me to take some time off from school to pursue to the RN aspect of nursing (which they did). There were a few reasons why this occured, but the biggest was that I fell in love with emergency nursing and, at the same time, felt so utterly clueless about nursing and health care in general that I decided that I wanted to get some experience under my belt. (The fact that every hospital in the area wouldn't hire me in the ER if I were to continue school was the final kick in the butt in that direction.) I've been working in an ER for the last four months and love it. I still plan to go back to FNP stuff, but I'm in much less of a hurry. Even though I was prepared to do the FNP program, I really do think that I will be much much more confident and qualified to tackle primary care after my experience in the ED. And I think that this confidence is going to make me a lot more happier in the long term. I hate to admit it, but I do feel now that the learning curve might have been a little too steep for me if I had done the program straight through. (These feelings come from someone who considers herself pretty intelligent, but also someone who is deathly afraid of screwing things up--especially when people's lives are at stake.) So, this is just a few things for you to think about. Personally, I still think it's possible to do the direct-entry stuff, but it didn't sit particularly well with my perfectionist personality. Life and my own personality has steered my career in an unexpected, but welcome, direction. I'm extremely happy, even if things aren't going quite as planned. Good luck!

Thank you again for the responses. I feel a little bit better knowing that not everyone runs from the scene of an accident, and I totally respect the fact that there is only so much that you can do. (Even if I weren't a new nurse, I would prefer to leave the first responder stuff to those who do it for a living!) After talking with my husband (who surprised me by being utterly horrified at the thought of NOT stopping to help someone), I now have no real qualms about stopping and helping someone, so long as I stick to what I know inside and out (that's one thing that I think I'm rather good at, even if my knowledge base is a little limited). Thanks again...I appreciate it!

Wow. Thanks for the responses. The thread was dead for a couple of days, so I let it lie, but I'm glad I came back to take a look! I'm a little bummed by the legal fears. I suppose everyone thinks that the risk of helping someone and being sued are much greater than the risk of not helping and being sued? Even so, you can call me naive and idealistic (I guess that's what being a new nurse is all about), but I would feel extremely guilty NOT helping if something similar happened again. I was shocked that only one other person came to this kid to try to help; everyone else watched. I was also shocked that I was the first person to get through to 911 (I fumbled with my phone a little bit). This was a very visible accident in the middle of a very busy road. In the future, I'm at the very least going to keep a face mask and gloves (and maybe a little sugar for the diabetics) in my car. But I might not be as forthcoming with telling people that I am nurse. It's so sad that the world (or at least the country) as come to this! Thanks for your responses...they've given me a lot to think about.

Hi everyone! Ok, here's my story: I'm driving home from visiting with some nursing-school friends when the van in front of me hits a 12 year old riding his bicycle, and hits him hard: bad enough to throw the kid into the other lane of traffic and to damage the front-end of the van such that radiator fluid is leaking from under the hood. (By the way, that slow-motion stuff really does happen! I could see the entire thing coming and it was painful to watch.) Now, I'm a brand-new emergency room nurse (out of school in May), which means that I know diddly squat about what I should do, but I do manage to get to the kid, check ABCs (relatively easy, given that he was conscious and talking, and there was no obvious major bleeding), keep him calm (and try to keep him from moving), call 911, and generally hold down the fort until the medics arrive (which, thank God, was very quick). From what I saw, the kid is going to be fine, but holy cow...what a scare! Anyhow, I was talking it over with my Dad (former EMT) and he felt that I now have a "moral obligation" to keep some tools with me in the car, in the event that this kind of thing happens again, and in a more remote location. Personally, I agree, but I was wondering how many of you do the same? And if so, what do you keep in your kit?

Well, for you guys taking it in Maryland, it takes them about a week to post the new licenses. (I caved and called in for my unofficial scores after a week, and the license ended up showing up later in the afternoon.) I passed...thank heavens!

Well, for you guys taking it in Maryland, it takes them about a week to post the new licenses. (I caved and called in for my unofficial scores after a week, and the license ended up showing up later in the afternoon.) I passed...thank heavens!

Yeah, that's just it. I can look up a license in Maryland, but my name isn't there yet. I know that it's possible that I didn't pass, but I've also heard it can take up to a week for people to get their license posted. I was just hoping that someone has taken it recently and got their results online, so that I could gauge how long I'm going to have to hold my breath. (I COULD pay the 8 bucks for the unofficial results, but I kind of feel like I've paid these guys way too much money already, you know?) Keeping my fingers crossed....

Hey everyone, I took my exam on Wednesday morning, and it clicked off at 75 questions. I was wondering if anyone else has taken the NCLEX for Maryland? If so, how long did it take for your results to show up on the nursing board's website? My friends got their Virginia results within two days. I'm getting antsy!

...and just because you have an advanced degree doesn't mean you make more money. My profs often point out to us (especially as we start our new RN jobs) that the more degrees you get, the less you get paid. But this varies on where you are in the country and what the demand for the job is. P.S. Last I checked, the Bay area (not sure about Sacramento, but it's proximity might affect it) was totally overrun with NPs...some found it hard to get jobs. Demand for RNs is, as you probably know, high everywhere!

Study groups. I used to be sort of a "studying loner", but after a few friends from school invited me to a group, I was convert. They kept me awake longer than I otherwise would have, and they kept me sane at the same time (misery loves company). I highly recommend it!

Hi everyone, I'm writing an essay about caring in nusing (caring meaning the "tending to the spiritual/emotional needs of the patient" part above and beyond their physical needs). Specifically, I'm writing about how student nurses leave school fairly idealistically, anticipating being able to listen, empathize, etc. with patients at will, but how some nurses and the hospital culture can make this tough. I was hoping that a few of you might be able to point out examples of colleagues who demonstrate less-than-caring behaviors. For example, a student friend of mine's preceptor discouraged her from providing education to a patient because it would "make them needy." Anyone experienced something like this? I am hoping that I can integrate a few of these examples into my paper. Thanks so much, Kelly

Hi everyone, I'm writing an essay about caring in nusing (caring meaning the "tending to the spiritual/emotional needs of the patient" part above and beyond their physical needs). Specifically, I'm writing about how student nurses leave school fairly idealistically, anticipating being able to listen, empathize, etc. with patients at will, but how some nurses and the hospital culture can make this tough. I was hoping that a few of you might be able to point out examples of colleagues who demonstrate less-than-caring behaviors. For example, a student friend of mine's preceptor discouraged her from providing education to a patient because it would "make them needy." Anyone experienced something like this? I am hoping that I can integrate a few of these examples into my paper. Thanks so much, Kelly

Just to add one more story... A girl in my program became pregnant early on in our accelerated (16 mo) BSN program. No one thought she'd do it, but we're just a month away from graduation and she'll still with us. From what I can tell, the things she had going for her were a.) enough flexibility with most instructors who allowed her to put in clinical hours pre-delivery and make up exams later; b.) a lot of support from the school (I think she got a breast pump and was able to find child care through resources there); c.) a very supportive family; and d.) not having a type-A personality. (I know it sounds really ridiculous to say it, but if it had been me, I would have had a hard time letting my GPA slide, which I think is almost inevitable when you suddenly have very new and important priorities.) On the other hand, another girl I know put off going to nursing school because, in her mid-30's, she was having difficulty conceiving and wanted to pursue some fertility options. She told me that if this is something my husband and I wanted, we shouldn't wait. Best of luck with your decision!

I got the job I wanted! Hooray! In the end, the interviews weren't all that bad. At the hospital that I will be joining, I didn't get asked a single question by the woman who interviewed me in person...I had to sell myself when I could. However, they did have me take a 30 minute, telephone, standardized "TalentPlus" interview with an HR rep that asked me a zillion questions...from "do you work well under pressure?" to "do you ever find yourself thinking of what a person will say before they actually say it?" to "rate your dependability on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest." Apparently, this company asks questions that try to determine whether or not the applicant is a good match for the particular specialty. (And I guess I was!) Anyhow, thanks again for all of the help...I am so thrilled that I'm going to be working at my first choice in hospitals!

Oh! And I never answered kitty's questions: I did my practicum in an ED (academic hospital, without the heavy-duty trauma), and am just about to wrap up my critical care clinical at a military hospital (ICU and ED). I also got into nursing by volunteering at a children's hospital for a year and a half. So, I've been around this stuff a bit, but am still sometimes overwhelmed by how much I still don't know.

Hello everyone! Well, I had my interviews yesterday (sort-of). The first went very well, it seems...it sounds like they will be offering me a position! The interview turned out to be surprisingly low-key...they asked the "what's your strength" quuestion and the "how do you deal with conflict with a coworker/difficult patient" questions, and that was about it. The second interview didn't really end up happening, but I was told that I would be called back for an interview "soon." I'm very excited about that hospital (it's a good fit for my interests), so needless to say, if they don't call be back soon, I'll be pestering them again. Thanks so much for everyone's support. I can't believe that in just a couple more months I'm going to be doing this stuff for real! :)

Thanks for the help and the encouragement! I just scheduled a second interview this morning, so I'll be doing two ED interviews this Thursday. I'll be sure to post any questions that seem out of the ordinary. (We've been hearing that a lot of grads are being asked technical/scenario-type questions, which have us all nervous because they're definitely the types of questions where there are right and wrong answers. Eek!)