PurrRN

McDonalds - 1st job at 16 Hotel maid Waitress Vet tech Ranch hand/trail guide video rental clerk dog groomer US Army MP Security guard SAHM RN

Just curious about how accreditation or lack thereof will affect DNP graduates. When I looked at the AACN website, there are only 18 accredited programs at this time. With the 2015 DNP push, I was just wondering if choosing a program now that does not eventually achieve accreditation will affect the graduate negatively down the road in their career. Thanks for any insight.

Probably won't matter. Make sure the school you attend is accredited and focus on your grades, GRE test score, and relevant experiences.

Wait. They are preying on you. $60,000 for an ADN/ASN degree that potentially won't even allow you to further your degee down the line if you want to...and you probably will. I feel for you wanting to get into a program so badly. But the cost certainly isn't worth what you would get in return.

New grad here (May 08). Personally I've found the sentiments expressed here to be ontrack. Six months in and I've thought many a time since starting my new job "I can't believe I did all this work (schooling) to end up like this! (unhappy). This is my take on the whole situation. It's not that we hate nursing, if it were truely about nursing and the nursing process, I would love my job. Its EVERYTHING else that TPTB throw into the relm of "nursing" that is mentally, physically, and emotionally, unrealistic. Ask any floor nurse what her/his patient contact to PW is and I can tell you the PW wins everytime. The POLITICS involved in nursing is overwhelming considering I went into nursing thinking it was going to be a HOLISTIC endevor. What an eye opener I've had. What I can say is that hospital experience is vital to many other avenues of nursing employment and most of us can't just bypass it altogether if we want to pursue certain nursing goals. Therefore, we grit our teeth and try to get that 1-2 year experience under our belt so that we can progress elsewhere (if we want). That being said, you certainly CAN have a career of strictly clinic work or school nursing, etc...bypassing the hospital system. Its just that if you change your mind later at some point in life, you may need to have certain hospital experiences to move into other directions. Nothing is absolute-and nursing certainly has a multitude of wide and varied avenues someone could persue if the chose to. Good luck in your quest!! Don't leave the rose colored glasses on but don't let anyone deter you from your goals if this is what you want to do. Angela

Get a list of hospitals you can comfortably commute to and from with your school schedule in mind. Most/Many hospitals have web sites that post openings for doctors/nurses/assistive personnel. Contact the HR from each hospital and inquire to what requirements you need to be hired. Some hospitals just require HS diploma and they train, some require a CNA course (depends on your area of the country). Usually the fact you are in or about to start NS school will be a plus. Pay scale will vary widely depending on economics of your general area. When I was in NC in 04/05 CNA's were offered $6-8/hr. Here in mid MO the hospital I work for offers 9.50 to start. You won't get rich but the experience will be invaluable.

Just out of personal curiosity how is 1 nurse to 160-180 patients even remotely possible? Is this a clerical error or am I missing something about nursing in the Phillippines? Thanks for educating me.

Try getting a job as a PCA with a hospital in your area. Provides useful experience, money, and you can usually work your schedule around classes. I wish I'd done that prior to graduation as it would have been very useful.

It's unfortunate that employers treat us like they do, but it is a reality that they don't care about you/us other than as a means to fulfill THEIR obligations. You could try being honest with them and tell them that you absolutely cannot work over and the first time you are mandated you will resign, however this typically doesn't work (because they mostly don't care about YOUR responsibilities, only theirs). It comes down to you feeling empowered to drop the job and move on. I don't mean abandon your patients (that only hurts you with the BON), I mean that the first time after you are mandated and after you have informed them that you CANNOT, you suck up having the babysitter keep your baby until you are relieved, and then quit. It's not what you want to hear, it's not what I would like to say, but we as nurses cannot ignore the fact that we are continually being taken advantage of because higher ups don't want to do the responsible thing and hire enough personnel to cover their positons. I hope you find a way to make your position work for you. Maybe I'm wrong this time and they'll work with you with your situation. Lots of luck. Angela

1. When did you graduate? May 10, 2008 2. What school, what degree? Lincoln University, ASN 3. Did you feel the program was clinically strong? NO 4. What department do you work in? Acute Rehab 5. Was this your goal department? No, I wanted ICU 6. (here comes the scholastic part) We are studying the Four Steps of New Nurse reality shock. Honeymoon phase (job is great!), Shock Phase (OMG i am responsible for peoples Lives!!!), Recovery (it's getting better), and Resolution (feel your own personal growth as a nurse)...What stage do you feel you are in right now? OMG, I'm responsible for peoples LIVES!!!!!! 7. Are you encouraged by the "veteran nurses" you work with? Are you comfortable asking them for advice? Mostly encouraged, and yes I have no problems asking for advice (which I would do even if they were snotty). 8. Please number the following skills in order from your strongest to least strongest...Interpersonal/communication skills Clinical skills 2 Organizational skills 4 Delegation skills3 Priority setting skills 1 9. Which of the above do you think should be a nurses strongest skill? Clinical skills 10. Do you feel personal growth in these skills in the time you have been working as a nurse, or do you feel you will always have room to grow? Both... I feel every day I work I improve in all these aspects, as I become more familiar with my patient population and learn the ropes. I also believe that I will always have room to grow in learning new and improved/better ways to do things. Thank You so so so so much!!!!

Graduated May 08, started work June 23rd. Fire away!!

I graduated in May also, and had to accept an Acute Rehab job at my hospital. Fortunately for me, the hospital has an agreement where I precept on the med/surg floor for 12 weeks before going down there to work. I say fortunately because I've worked a couple of shifts on the AR floor (mids) and you are correct about not having alot to do with new skills. This is a place where the patients are encouraged to sleep as much as possible due to the heavy work load they have in the mornings. This of course doesn't mean skimping on the initial shift assessment, but there is rarely any meds/interventions to do afterwards until morning BS/meds. What I take from this experience (trying to stay possitive), is that I'm trying to absorb as much as possible on the med/surg floor for now, and will try to perfect my paper work/policy skills on AR when I go there. I don't know about your hospital, but mine says that I can apply for transfer after 6 months. Which I'm pretty sure I will do. Ideally, I don't think it's such a great place to start for new grads- but life rarely is and I think that if you have the right attitude and motivation, you can make any situation work out for you. Getting your foot in the door of the hospital is key, then afterwards you can guide your career in the direction you want it to go. Just because you aren't working on a fast paced floor (for now) doesn't mean you can't continue to learn critical thinking skills or become familiar with how your particular hospital handles interventions. There is SO much to learn that I'm sure I'll be really busy for the next 6mo-year. Good luck, you are not the only one feeling this way. Some of us are in the same boat! Hope your hospital environment is as supportive as mine. Angela

One of my classmates called me on Saturday with the news that she passed. Yep, you guessed it! She had 265Q on Thursday when she took it.

Thanks Charlee, I appreciate your insight and advice because I want to be able to be great at my job and realize its ALL important. For the inexperienced, like myself, it can be the little things that experienced nurses don't have to think about anymore, that trip us up. I've actually finished my first week in orientation with the hospital. Got my official name tag, took PBDS (yuck!!), etc. We have two more days of documentation training and then I'll finally be able to go to my own floor. I'm going to do what you suggest and get my "brain sheet" together with all those reminders on board. Sounds like it will make the transition smoother than if I were just winging it. Thanks again, Angela

Yep, I took mine at 1400 on June 11, 2008. Had to drive 2 hours to get there so I left at like 0930 in the morning so I could get lost (if it came to that) and not panick. I ended up getting to the testing center at noon and sat in the parking lot reading a book until time to go in. I think that reading a fiction book prior to going in was the best thing I did that day, because it allowed me to relax a little and non stress. I had taken some school books to study with but found myself feeling that panicky feeling starting to rise in my chest, so I put it down and picked up the fantasy fiction one. Anyhoo, I bet the test wasn't any different than the one they gave at 0800:D Good luck