yumaRN1990

Yes, I am still the unit based educator for our unit, which is 52 bed medsurg unit. I probably have about the same amount of staff as you do. Some of the things that I am finding works is a morning huddle. I usually do it right before shift change as everyone is sitting down getting ready for report. I talk to them about anything new coming up, or about a reminder that we started and has not been followed through with very well. I also have a little bullentin board in the lounge that is titled as a weekly talking point. I put things up to remind the staff about lab draw procedures etc. It is usallly something that one of the staff members sees that we are currenly having trouble with that I have not seen. I have also learned that when I am doing little mini-in-services that I take a sign up list and have it signed that they got the information. There have been times in the past when I was told that no one told them that, and I can remind them that they did get it. It sounds awful that you sometimes have to resort to that but it does happen. Also you have a list of people who did get the trainingand you can give them credit in thier records. I have also found that the more creative you can get with your teaching and you don't mind looking a little silly at times, it really helps them to pay attention and hopefully remember. We have had a lot of issues with contact precautions and the staff just not gowning up etc. So I walked a round with gloves and a gown on with a sign that said what am I. It sounds a little extreme, but we have not had a unit based educator on our floor for over 5 years, so I started out just trying to get their attention. Our new grads or new hires are given a binder with all the competencies that they will need to complete to work on our floor. We have a nurse extern program and we always have a group of students on our floor. They can do only the things that they have been checked off in nursing school and they are teamed up with a RN and they get a lot of learning expierence through that. I hope that some of the ideas have helped. I am still learning and trying to come up with ways to get the information across. In September I will be setting up a "skills fair" in one of our empty rooms to teach on epuipment, chest tubes, etc. Congratulations on your new position.

Sorry, she said that the computer system used for the online classes is easy to navigate. Sorry to say, she did not say the degree itself was easy. I have been looking for universities to get my master's in nursing education I thought the program sounded good. Thanks

Has anyone out there taken classes on line at Grand Canyon? I am beginning my master's program and am planning on taking classes there. Is the computer program easy to use? The advisor I spoke with says that the university has been voted as one of the easiest. Marilyn

You arenever to old at least that is what I am being told now. I am in my late 50's and going back to school to get my masters' in education. the job I recently accepted is a clinical nurse expert and it requires a master's degree. I got my AA when my son's were teenagers and got my BSN about 10 years later. Now here it is 6 years later and I am going to school again. I saw a billboard in our town of a woman who was 95 and got her degree. I figured is she could so could I. So if you're crazy I guess that we both are. I have 3 years to complete it and I am pretty sure it will take at least that long since I am working as well. So I say go for it. Marilyn

I have just recently accepted this new postion, in fact it is new for whole hospital. Can anyone out there give any ideas as to where I can find self evals and assement tools that I use to get information from the nurses on my floor? (It is a med-surg floor). By the way I have to return to college to get my master's degree and am thinking of Walden. If anyone went there can you give me an idea of what to expect? I have three years to complete it, I will be working while I am doing the program. Thanks, Marilyn

I do agree that we should not have to get a masters degree but that looks like the way this program is going. You would think that all our time as nurses would count for something. I also have a med surg certification and a holistic nurse certification. Oh, well, I will just work on getting a ortho certification at some point in the future. As you may have guessed I work at the hospital in Yuma. Marilyn

You Go Girl! I am proud of you and thank you for you do for our troops. I am a med surg nurse and like you, I feel we are far from "average". Med surg nurses are thrown into different things everyday and we have to be up to date on new skills all the time. It is no longer someone just coming in for surgery, they usually have two or three other problems as well as their surgery. It is a fast paced floor and your on your feet a lot but it is worth it.

I am the ube for a busy med-surg floor for about 6 months any other UBE's out there who has some good teaching ideas? I don't have my masters just BSN with a 17 years of expierence. I have been a resource coordinator for several years and still am on a part-time basis. I like the UBE postion but just need some help in getting started. Our floor has not had one in many years so there is no guidelines to follow. Any ideas and resource sites would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Is there a certification program out there for those of us who have a BSN. I have been working as our unit base educator for about 6 months now. I would like to become certified, but at my age I don't want to get my MSN. I think I have seen one but I can't find the information now. Thanks

I got my degree through the University of Jacksonville, in Florida. The program was easy to use and the professors were easy to get in touch with if you had questions or problems. I don't know what the cost is now but about 3 to 4 years ago it was 1300 for a 3 credit class and that included the books. NAU of Arizona is working on a online program but I don't think that it is set up yet. I am from a town that only has a community college so online was a good option. Plus I didn't have to make arrangements to change my schuedle at work to attend classes.

I have been a nurse since 1990 and started out in Med-Surg, thought I needed a change and went to Home Care/Hospice. I returned to the hospital about a year later, and my med surg manager, said see I told you you were a med-surg nurse. I am still here and don't know where else I would go, I know that other departments sometimes look better, or an easier place to work but I would really miss this work. I am currently the charge nurse on days as well as wearing the hat of UBE. Being the UBE gives me a bit of a break of the daily stress on the floor and enjoy teaching and working with the newer people on a closer basis (not being their boss that day).

I took the exam last May and passed, but did not get the results for a month. I would not say that it is a slam duck type of text. I can tell you that I will not let mine expire, becasue I definetly don't want to have to take it again. Very nerve wraking, but I am not the best test taker in the world.

Hi, I plan on taking the test in March, I am looking for anyone out there who has taken the exam and can tell what to expect and what I really need to be studying? I am a Certified Healing Touch Practioner, and have taken classes in Reki and Quantum Healing. I know that those might help some but what to study?

I have worked med-surg for a very long time, (somedays it feels longer than others), but it is the place I want to work. I have seen a lot of changes in our unit over time. We have gone from one aide on each hall to total of five. Our equipement is getting better all the time. All that said and done the work is hard, and the acuity is very high, our patients no longer have only one or two things wrong with them. Our patient load on days is 4 to 5 and we really try to keep it at that. In the winter our population doubles and our beds are full all the time with peiple waiting to get into them. I might add that we are the only hospital for at a 250 mile radius. Our aides do all the lab work, ekgs, and accu checks. I agree that the work load is hard and the morale is not what it should be. Our schedule is for a 4 week period, and most of the nurses have chosen the days that they want to work and it is set that way. A few work 3 days one week and 2 the next, for an example. Being one of the two day charge nurses, I am always trying to think of ways to keep the moral up. A bag of candy for the nurse with the first discharge, because odds are they will get the first admit. One day I brought a flower in a vase with a note that said the flower was to brighten your day for one hour and then to pass it on. That flower went around for a couple of days. Nice to see the smiles on the faces of the nurses as well as some doctors. We have also had drawings, everybody who wants to donates thier change and thier name is entered in a cup. Who evers name is drawn get all the change for the day. Do any of you have any good ideas of little things that can be done to help keep the moral up? I might add that the candy doesn't just go to a nurse, if the person cleaning the room gets the room done right a way a bag of candy goes to them, the CA who helps get the room set up for a new patient or gets a hard lab draw, gets a bag of candy. I am open to ideas that you come up with.

I received my BSN through the Jacksonville U. out of Florida. It was a lot of work, but I am glad I did it. It did not mean alot of extra pay for me, but it was something I wanted to do and to prove to myself that I could. (I had been out of school a long time before I went back). Now I am working toward a certification in Holistic nursing - we just keep on learning.