algebra_demystified

That's a weird thing to deal with. Gender insecurity is RAMPANT in nursing. That sucks. I don't know what to say, just thought maybe it would help to know that somebody else feels the same way from time to time.

Custom made is the way to go.

Nope.

I worked some of the time while I was in school. During the EBP class, there was no way I could have gotten as much out of the class as I put in during that time while still working. It was a transformative experience and I would suggest that anyone looking into the program decide whether they want to work during that time. If I had worked during that time I would have passed the class, but I would have missed out on the research I did in that time. It really changed everything for me. I changed my course 180 degrees with great confidence. I went to campus once each semester. There is no support finding preceptors. There are +/- to this approach. If you make it on your own, you are much more likely to have a job waiting for you at graduation. There will be quite a few of you who will compete for the lowest-paying jobs right out of school, undercutting each other for a piece of the bottom line. Try to do what you want to do, and negotiate a rate that is in line with what you want. That practice requires call 7 nights a week for three years? No thank you. They want you to take overflow calls of theirs? No thank you. On call only? Let's see what that looks like. You decide what works for you.

I just finished up this past Friday. Here is what I have to say about the program. The quality of the student body is excellent. I studied with nurses who have decades of experience in various specialties. All of the students in my class were fluent in English. The discussion board was energetic and engaging. There was the same kind of peer support in the online program as there was in my Associates program at Glendale Community College (Go Vaqueros!). When we got together face-to-face at the immersion sessions I felt very comfortable discussing work issues and future plans. While we didn't spend ten hours a week together at coffee shops, we sure did have a facebook group that served as our coffee shop. The instructors are excellent. They were flexible, approachable, knowledgeable, and demanding. Feedback on papers was timely, informative, and fair. If there was a problem with a quiz or test question, they were fair about grading. In the toughest two classes in the program (600 and 563), the materials provided were sufficient for anyone with the energy and ambition to earn an A. For example, I turned in a monster paper for 563. It was so big and strange that the instructor took two whole calendar days to grade it. She gave me a 100% on it even though it was two days late. I think it was apparent to her that I did everything in my power to get that ship into shore, so she didn't dock me any points on it. My final grade was a 94.9%. At Gonzaga, a 95% is an A. She gave me the A-, because I didn't make it to 95%. I think that's tough, but it's fair. She is going to help me with submitting that paper for publication. That's awesome. You have to book your own preceptors. This is not easy. It takes time. It's similar to looking for a job. You have to sell yourself to potential preceptors. The good news is I learned a great deal about myself and had to risk rejection. The bad news is that I had some work to do. I should have started sooner, but it all wound up working out well. I am completely satisfied with Gonzaga and would recommend it to anyone.

If you are objecting to a nurse busting out of her uniform, you need a time out.

Do everything you can to learn about pharmacology. It will pay huge dividends in your career to come.

If it was me, I would ask the patient for their preference. Do you want me to do it, do you want me to get a female to do it, do you want a female observing me during the procedure, what would make you the most comfortable? It doesn't matter to me how the bed bath gets done as long as the patient is satisfied with the care. They may have to pay more to have services delivered in their most preferential setting. I have changed urinary catheters for teenage girls, have changed diapers on toddlers, have fed anorexic teenagers via gastric tubes, etc. I am there to provide a service to a paying patient. The patient is not there to provide me with a job, I am there to provide services to a patient who can pay.

I don't worry about the gay male nurse thing at all. There are quite a few gay male nurses, but I don't feel like I need to comment on that situation. What does that mean to me? Most of the gay male nurses don't make their sexuality a thing in the workplace. The few who do, I avoid. The gay nurses I work with are skilled and competent. I guess I'm not really sure where this discussion is going. I enjoy working with straight male nurses above all other demographic groups. Less drama, lower conflict, and less trouble. We all show up to work and don't have too much hormonal stuff going on. I know none of this is politically correct, but I don't care. It's easier to work with people who are easy to work with.

I don't think you're being hard enough on yourself. Everything you see in A&P 1-3 will be back again. The last time I counted it up, I repeated all the same content from A&P six times through nursing school. If I had any idea how important it would be for me to master the content in that class the first time around I would have studied twice as much instead of slacking off at three hours a day, seven days a week. Studying that material for the test is not enough. I recommend that you think about your A&P classes as essential foundational education for the medical profession. You'll see all that material again in your med/surg or pathophys classes four times. If you learn it the first time you don't have to relearn it in every subsequent class. You'll go over it again in pharmacology. If you go on in your education, you'll go over it all again in advanced assessment, advanced physiology, advanced pharmacology, psychopharmacology, and every clinical hour from then on. It's very much worth it to study that material to the finest granularity of detail. I wish somebody would have told me at the time how important it was.

I'm a fellow student, so I feel your pain. Working hard for good grades takes a lot out of you. That said, there is no substitute for a 4.0GPA. Nursing schools are very competitive right now. They have to use something to screen applicants. For some, it's GPA. For others, it's a previous educational goal. A B in micro can tank you, and that's just how it goes. I wish there was another way to prove yourself. Medical school (MD) is easier to get into than nursing school is. Medical school has a 50% acceptance rate, and nursing school commonly has less than 10% acceptance. Good luck.

Nope.

I found this great book on psychiatry called Psychiatrists and Witch Doctors that changed my mind about a lot of things. It was probably the most important book I read in my masters program (though it wasn't on the book list... I just liked it). In psych, one of the most important things is the relationship between the patient and provider. If it is culturally congruent, it is much more likely to be successful. If the patient is part of a culture where demonic possession is "real" then the patient is most likely to respond to an exorcism. If a patient is part of a culture where wanting to have sex with your mother or father is the most important thing, then that is the issue to be addressed. If your culture says that your beliefs are not as important as harmony in your family or tribe, then solo therapy probably wouldn't work at all. It would mean nobody cares about you. There are elements of my culture that are stupid. For example, nobody bats an eye when someone says, "That apartment is way too small, I would never have a dog there." They might even say that to somebody who lives in a comparable place and has human children living in those conditions. And the person with children would not be offended! I can be an ethical nurse in this place. I do not perform pastoral services, that is somebody else's job. For talk therapy, I can engage with religious people, but I don't address spiritual needs other than to see whether that person has the ability to access spiritual care. If they do not, I help them find someone who can help them with that. If the patient sees everything in their life as having a spiritual focus, that kind of bumps me out of the picture and they should probably see somebody else for talk therapy. Maybe I can do their meds. If medication side-effects are secondary to demonic possession, I can't do their meds either and they need to see another provider. I can choose to see or not see any patient, so I can select out patients I cannot treat.

Well, I had another appointment after the one under discussion where I almost left. The missionary guy was proselytizing and that struck me as grandiose and entitled, but the couple that came after him were astonishing. Grandiose and entitled are very much in line with the psych patients I see. Describing full-on demonic possession in a church, and pondering how Satan is plotting to destroy him and his wife, was a bit much. He actually clutched his hands like claws, drew his mouth back into a teeth-baring rictus, bugged his eyes out, and hissed about how the devil was going to take everything from him and leave him penniless. It was all I could do to not just get up and walk out of the room. It was like being in a cartoon or something. I can't imagine "going there" with him and trying to be therapeutic. Nope. I told my cotherapist I would not be seeing that patient again.

That's a really great answer. Partly because it is true. The other part is because it puts the focus back on the patient, and that's where it should be. Why should a patient pay to help me with my issues?