Zee449

I saw this one and died laughing out LOUD. It's an old post but still very relevant. It all appears to go back to State BON. The Powers that be (ACCN, and the Nurse Instructors organization), put out that lovely blueprints for the BSN-MSN and now the DNP roll describing the redundancy of what is taught in nursing school. It knows it but was ineffective in changing it. I know our state has a mapp that instructor have to use. The assignments matches the criteria and the school has to have proof that you have that skill. I started my advanced practice journey 3 years ago and can guarantee nothing has changed. I started in nursing at age 17 as an LVN and have continued that for plus 20 years.... This isn't my first rodeo, nor my first grad school. Nursing school is based on recipes for proof, the proof is board passing rates. That pays the bills and keeps the BON and accediting bodys from charging more for program review visits (sort of like JACHO). A curriculum usually uses the state boards base knowledge list (criteria) that has to be taught for them to get accreditation. The syllabi are "mapped" to these criteria and the assignments are the proof for the school. It is like a recipe to turn out nurses. Nursing is like a good-ol-boy society and there are highly political veins. No one bucks the system. No one questions it and this post is a good example. If you question it, you are not one of us. Shhhhhhh....... I did ask these question on my NP entrance interviews. I was told basically the same thing as the replys. "That is just how it is", learning is a process and this process is proven to get quality nurses" ad-infinitum. I started this journey with 96 hours of graduate work in another field. This journey and it's rigid definition of what a EBP profession should be,is heart breaking. We as nurses are so much smarter than THAT. Every single preceptor I have had has told me the exact same thing: "Keep your head down, do the silly busy work and be done. That is just how it is so just think of it like an initiation and earn your title and then you can forget all of this. It is not real, relevant and not worth the trouble of questioning it." Unfortunately or fortunately I am NOT a sheeple. I figured out that the bare bones redundancy holds me back. I ask HARD questions, I question everything, I read up-to date literature constantly. I have a folder on my desktop for ideas, projects, answers to hard questions almost exclusively from from physicians and PA organizations. I use everything at my disposal to LEARN. (Oh..The British Nursing Society is represented for my profession in my folder). Yes it is redundant, yes I am paying an incredible amount for ...nothing really...but the right to sit for boards. Have I seen others in my class actually learn and not become disgruntled and suicidal from what passes as EPB based instruction theory and Benners Novice to expert ideology. NO. Will it finally change in my lifetime, no. Will I instruct or precept someone or several someone's in the future that WILL change it? I certainly hope so with all my heart. We are redefining healthcare, nursing, medicine everything. It is an exciting and confusing time. 80% of nurses are AMAZING. I love nursing, advanced practice nurses are on the front lines proving themselves again all odds. I will not give up on it. What the profession is becoming is still to come... a tiny light... So I guess my advice is simple. Keep in simple.Stay in a solution oriented mentality. Use the discrepancies, filed away for when you need them. Treasure your minds ability to say "wait a minute, there is something wrong here", it is a gift. Keep a list of the redundancy and ideas on how to improve it. Find the organizations and people in your area that have power. Network. The revolution will come, it is coming. Entrance exams and paid residencies will probably be the only thing that stops the mapping process we now have. It is not the instructors or the schools, but how the education system is structured. Learn to see their point of view so you can have good solid intelligent discussion that is EPB based (cringe) and one day be a part of THAT improvement plan. And in conclusion (HA), feel compassion and show compassion for those who are "sheeple stuck". Those that have no choice but to teach redundant concepts...They have to work and they are just doing the job they are being paid to do, with as much pride as they can muster."To understand than to be understood" (no, no really,....I will not reference this!) So I have probably ticked off my quota for the day (and so early!) Push on through and know that just because we don't know the plan, doesn't mean there isn't one!

My processing experience and advice: It will be exactly 1 year for me when I actually leave. I was told 3-6 months but I am older and my recruiter promised I would Commission in Jan (6m), then March(9), then.... I chose to MOVE to get another recruiter and he processed me in 10 weeks. I was missing 2 documents and my name was never placed on the scroll until march 23rd so I missed the July date but Commissioned on July 15th! But....Leaves have struck AGAIN and I have been awaiting orders since that date. (It's an OLD organization and moves slow, HA!) Factors that I never could get anyone nailed down on but now KNOW: Recruiters motivation and YOUR motivation! Get the checklist, there IS one! Age waiver and pleasing MEPS -go prepared! Medical records and tests and old records from the civilian world take a while so team with your doctor. They have the clout to get it done faster and without paying out the waazoo. Motivation to get what they want to them with-in a 24 hour period or better yet, anticipate what they need. Holidays and Folks on LEAVE (Very hard to process when 1 person is on Base/office "covering") End of a fiscal year (no so bad, got more money on bonus) Exact dates on all information, notarized copies written and copied Reference docs have to come back from those people you sent them to! My best friend RN, didn't want me to do this and stalled badly. CALL folks and bug them every 3-4 days and ASK if things have been found or mailed out! We are all busy people and just need reminders sometimes. Head nurse (interview) gets ALL this info and must make time to see you. Mine was Incredible. She wanted to come home early from vacation to do mine. I pray I get to work with that lady! Scroll signed by Whitehouse (They are a bit busy these days) Forms that the DoD changes FREQUENTLY, can cause you to sign 1 form 3 times! When they call, get back to the office ASAP The older you are the more they have to do on your security screen and job checks - (3 22 year-olds processed with me this time. They were Commissioned 5 weeks ahead of me because of this). Most "stuff" gets communicated on Thurs or Friday here. Talk to your recruiter every Fri and/or Monday. Do NOT quit your job until you have the orders in your hand. I admit that it's a bit embarrassing as I think my old employer thinks I just didn't want to work anymore as I kept changing the "ship date". I felt like I was not needed or wanted until I found this board. I watched literally 9 others go to COT while I just stood there. You are not alone! As much as I have grumbled there are many Pro's I can see from my "process". I can run 5 miles without throwing up or dehydrating...when I started I could run .10 of a mile and hurl. My buttocks is no longer sliding down my thighs! Looked at what I wanted from nursing and what my values were and where I wanted to go, do and see (SO EXCITING!) Mom and Marine daughter had to process what I was choosing and support me now. Husband has proven his commitment to me and this choice Marine brother and I sooo much closer (My biggest supporter) Time to take all my re-certs and a refresher and will feel more on top of my game. I now know so many folks in SA both civilian and AF ,the new place will not be an overwhelming adjustment! This recruiter and his Major have been so awesome, ethical, honorable, professional and motivated and I am so excited to get to be counted with them !!!!! JUST DO IT! I can not believe all the opportunities available! If I had realized or even investigated the military and all the benefits of doing this when I was younger....oh the regrets! But I'm doing it NOW! Wooohooo!!!!!

I got my LVN at 18... 5 out of 25 made it through the class This was back when i got sent home for a scuff on my white shoes and a skirt that was 1/4" too high. 2 of us were 18. 4 of us now have our BSNs. 3 are &/or have been instructors. 25 yrs (one day and semester at a time)...ADN to BSN to MA. I have taught 16 year olds in the new research programs to introduce nursing in high schools. 1 out of 25 could "do it". I have taught folks from that age up to 55 in BSN programs. 15-18 out of 25 make it through those. Each student...each class had a different set of skills and views. Each individual wanted and used a different part of her brain. Each one was needed, each one was used and needed by the individual patients and their individual needs. Each step I took, led me to the next level. I was supposed to enter a BSN to MSN bridge and didn't... and paid for it later (still paying and paying and paying...) But I "wasn't there yet" so... oh-well. I NEVER wanted to be an intructor or in management but there came a time when touching 40-100 lives a day compared to 2-7 to 12 per day became more important. I adore bediside nursing and being an instructor affords me that 10 times over! Management does the same some-what, I have found, as a resource person to new nurses and folks on the floor....It is a pain to be mid-managment or an intructor and "take the heat" from all sides but.... Someone with a MORAL COMPASS NEEDS TO DO IT! I am grateful to be in a profession that needs us all ,whatever our views and education. We used to get paid differentials for each level, each ACLS ..each Cert. That went away in the 90's for most of us. I have been through total burn out 4 times and made it through a better nurse each time. On-line degrees weren't around for me. I reserched BSN "cluster programs" (weekends) and drove 250-500 miles to get it all done. Total actual education semester time for LVN to BSN was 3 years...it took me 12 years while I worked full time thru it all. I just kept going! My fondest memories are from the 6 LVN years. The LVN,ADN, BSN debate has raged for 25 years. I walked thru it all. LVNs,ADNs weren/aren't supposed to be in ER,ICus and surgery...but they ARE & pretty awesome.In a perfect world we could all afford the BSN time and money wise.(My strange head always interjected "and then we would all be little copies of each other") In a perfect world ....hospitals would be run by nurses ...Ahhh...in a perfect world.... I have seen the ego trips of so many. From those who can calculate mcgs/kg in their heads (ADN), folks with photographic memories who can recite the creb cyle (BSN) and the contraindications pharmacy charts(MSN), to an entire floor sitting in the break-room with 1 nurse working 6 cases because the MD only "trusted her"(Diploma). I have been told my standards were too high by a Safe Harbor committee (LVNWhat I know in my knower: Each nurse IS special no matter what. We all have something to contribute. The mcg/kg nurse may not be the one who can mix and set up the drip TO THE CORRECT LINE in under 3 minutes (true story)! The drip nurse may not be the one who needs the "overly concerned family" patient...etc What they taught me in BSN school: The definition of a professional nurse is someone with high integrity who knows her assets and limitations as well as those of her team and completes excellent patient care using that knowledge. What a concept!!! What I learned with age:My limitations will continue until I have learned all that I need and then, and only then, the "Cognitive leap" will happen. I leap a little sooner than others in some areas and a little, to a lot later in other areas. What makes a nurse: a nurses heart and dedication "to meet the challenge", Few can truly understand unless you are one. My advice on education and continuing an education: Stay non-biased in all you see & hear(and include this in your reactions to your fellow nurses). Value each person individually. We all pull ego trips...we are human. Get on a commitee,You have something to contribute.Find what interests you Journal and do not "measure/judge" yourself except against yourself Consider the concept that there is no right or wrong...only lessons..and some of those lessons will level your ego and be incredibley painful but you will learn from them and you CAN go on. Do not buy into the fear & panic of loosing your job because of the letters behind your name. (unless you are not doing what you know you should be etc...) Fear is a horrid way to live a life. If you "aren't there yet" you are exactly where you are supposed to be for now. Bloom to your fullest. Be open to the next turn in the road Follow what interests you while maintaining your moral compass.....Walk in the direction of YOUR dream...how and when you get there will be the most amazing journey !

LVN 6yrs(AGE 18!) -ADN 4yrs -BSN 12yrs -MA 7yrs(don't use it but it was fun!) Going USAF to finish paying it all off! Never stop learning! Each step taught me to view things a little differently and I am so very grateful

Thank you so much for that statement! I have been trying to do this deal since 8/06. Long story but generally... Did a heck of a lot of research ANC and AFNC Wanted ANC, Husband said "I don't think so..." Did all papers, references, MEPS,interviews..... Got promised the moon, was supposed to go in in Jan....March....May... Told I could't have another Recruiter. "There isn't another one" Told I couldn't talk to his commander If anyone is having trouble in Dallas Fort Worth email me. I found I other guy (ex-navy going AF nurse) He knew the ropes and was able to get his pushed thru. as he had been having this trouble since July 2006. Very very very bad recruiter in very very bad trouble with the Air force now. I transfered to San Antonio AFR as I have been living there while working a contract. Awesome professionalism in recruiting there! Age waiver was never sent (they just found this one last week) Name never placed on "scroll" (found this out on day 1) packet was never sent completed!!! - 3 times (their QA error program showed over 164 errors) I know all of the above because they pulled my packet and found all this out and were HONSEST. It's all in now and I will go re-sign it all next week and hope to get the answer back in 2-4 weeks. They are saying July 2nd. Worst case August. They have apologized profuecly, taken me to Willford hall and let me see and talk to nurses. I will try to post some of the information on other threads related to what I have learned in the last 3 weeks about promotions, positions, timelines, nurse transitions, deployeements ec. These were wonderful nurses and I can not thank them enough! BUT I was really feeling alone and like a horrid trouble maker and that maybe they didn't want me... until I read this Thread! I can not thank you enough! Mack