LogCabinMom

Wow, thanks for all the supportive comments! So impressive. I don't have a problem with the amount of reading and writing and have actually done quite well with this program, even with working approximately 50-65 hours/week. I do put in about 20 hrs on my coursework now. What I have a problem with is basically teaching myself the entire curriculum. I have found I prefer a more traditional classroom environment, and was wondering if anyone knew of any programs out there that had any of this. But thanks anyway.

Hello to other nurses enrolled in their MSN! I'm enrolled at Sacred Heart University's online CNL track and have taken 2 courses. I'm not thrilled with them, to say the least. Very asynchronous - basically each week has hundreds of pages of reading to do, and a lot of writing to do for discussion posts, projects, etc. The instructor "lectures" by sending out a word doc "concept summary". You really do not get to 'know' your professor at all. I'm looking around for a different MSN program - would like to stay on the CNL track, but I'm looking for online courses that have different content - video-taped lectures, or even audio lectures. This type of course is just so heavy on assignments and reading - there's got to be a better way out there, isn't there?

Hi everyone - I've finally landed my dream job (well, one of them) on a large CV surgical floor at a very respected hospital. It's a challenging job - I've been a nurse for over 7 years and have worked in a variety of places, but have always felt I lacked the skillset and confidence to be a critical-care RN. I've worked in med/surg, hem/onc, VNA, LTC. I hoped to learn the skillset here and was planning to settle in long-term. This floor has just hired on approx 20-25 new RNs, and maybe 3-4 experienced nurses (of which I am one). I am also the oldest (I'm 48). They've also just hired a new Director. The nurses that have been there (some for 16-20 years) are, with maybe 1-2 exceptions, the crankiest bunch I have ever worked with. The Clinical Managers are those that have been there maybe 5-6yrs, and completely unapproachable and, I have to say, ******. This whole floor is one of the most hostile I have ever worked on - and I've worked in places where the LPNs called the RNs "Retarded Nurses," but stuck it out and eventually became friendly with them. I detest going into this job. I just found out last night that I was "talked about" on one of the night shifts last week, after a night nurse at shift change answered my patient's call light and thought he was crashing. I went in there almost immediately, assessed the situation for what it was - acute pain, not an MI - and when she offered to get the pain med, accepted what I thought was an act of kindness. She later told the clinical mgr that "I wasn't doing anything" and that I "told her to go get the Toradol". Luckily, the nurse I was giving report to that night stood up for me and informed the mgr what really happened. I'm not sure what the best way to handle this is; I also work at a LTC where they are honestly grateful and appreciative for me every minute I am there. Thing is, I want to get the critical care skillset down, so want to stick it out for at least 2 years here. What is the best way to handle lateral violence? I'm not going to be everyone's friend, and I hate confrontation, but I need to stick up for myself on this floor in a way I have never had to before. Any tips please?

A cognitively-impaired patient called me a "mean old lady" and stuck out his tongue at me after I helped him to a BSC (for the 5th time in an hour - and, not my patient).

Just as an update on SNHU - in Nov 2014 it did achieve accreditation from CCNE.

Yes, I just checked again - WOCN is available to a licensed RN with any Bachelor's degree - http://www.wocncb.org/pdf/Wound%20Certification%20Comparison%20Chart.7.15.14.pdf

I'm not sure that's true - I've contacted several WOCN schools and they all say it's ok.

TammyG, how did you find your preceptor?

Thanks for your replies! I'm looking more seriously into the programs right now but am getting hung up on the different credentialing bodies - just started a new thread on those. Emory does seem to be a great program, but pricey. And I would have to go down there for a Bridge week, which is going to be $$ too.

Hi there - I'm an RN with an Associate's in Nsg but Bachelor's in business. I'm considering becoming wound care certified. Not too interested in the ostomy and continence options. I'm wondering about these different credentialing organizations - is one more respected than another? I can go through NAWCO and take an onsite course for 4 days and sit for the WCC exam, or I can go through WOCN and take an Emory course for weeks - I haven't even started looking into the CWS yet. It's a lot of work just trying to figure out where to go! Any tips? Thanks!

1. Southern NH 2. $26/hr, straight -been a RN for 8 yrs - no difference between types of visits. I've gone to perdiem, and you're supposed to work 1 wkend a month. 3. 0.45 per mile. Benefits when I was FT were ludicrously expensive, $900/mth for my family's health care, with a huge deductible. 4. I do get a blackberry (which I hate). Absolutely nothing else. They really don't show a lot of appreciation for their nurses and they have a lot of turnover.

Hi all - I'm an RN with Home Health at this point in time, and have come to the realization that I do not know as much as I would like to about wounds and ostomies. I've been a nurse for 6 years, done the hospital and LTC route, and think I would really like to get WON certification (not continence). I'm looking at online programs because there's no way I can be away from home and family for a long period of time, and so far I've looked at Metropolitan State University and Emory. Does anyone out there have anything to say about these programs? How well prepared did you feel you were for certification?

I'm an RN Case Manager and I coordinate all the care for a caseload of patients, also visit them in their home and perform care/assessmenrs, educate HHAs on what to do for a pt, do Oasis assessments, etc etc etc. I work 4 days a week, about 9-10 hr days, have a caseload of about 25 pts, and I just started 4 mths ago.

I agree with uRNmyway - my DON gets very perturbed when given only 2 weeks notice... especially if you work at such a small facility, you may want to give a longer notice - it makes you look better too.

This is extremely timely! I was going to post along these same lines... I have always run abx as secondary lines, when an abx is ordered I simply hang a primary of NS at KVO if none is currently running, and then run the abx as secondary, then flush through for an hour with NS on the primary, then turn it off. I can ask my MD for an order for a NS 100ml bag for this and they usually have no problem. However, our VP of nursing and I just got into a disagreement about this because she is "old-school" and doesn't understand why anyone would not just run the abx as a primary. When I tried to explain to her that 15-30ml of med is left in the primary tubing, not to mention you then need another primary tubing for each abx the pt is on, she wouldn't listen. And, in my unit, I have older nurses who still practice this way as well, ticking me off when I come on because I change it around. I am currently trying to gather information/evidence that hanging a primary of NS with a secondary for the abx is the way to go. My other question is, how does everyone out there run their drips? If I have a Lasix drip running at 5mg/hr (5ml/hr), would you run this as a secondary?