biltz

I'm a Med-Surg RN in between jobs and I have a question about liability with providing care to neighbors. I live in a very large retirement community in California. My neighbor asked me to assist her after knee surgery. Her daughter and she wanted me for my nursing skills and to monitor her post-surgery and then to progress to simple ambulation, ADL's, and light housekeeping. I told them I was concerned with "representing myself as a nurse" as I didn't carry individual nursing insurance and didn't want to jeopardize my nursing license if something went wrong. I insisted that I didn't want to be paid and would just volunteer doing it as a good neighbor. In the end she insisted on paying me a nominal fee. Ironically, right before discharge she suffered extreme orthostatic hypotension and ended up staying in the hospital an extra couple of days and went home with an agency home health nurse. I came a few days later and just helped with ambulation and light ADL''s and housekeeping. She's mentioned to several friends and neighbors how much she appreciated my services and now they are asking her to ask me if I will work for them. A friend who's husband has dementia would like me to come and sit with hIm so she can have some relief. She mentioned though that she liked that I was an "RN and came with that background". I would love to help her but I'd also like to get a little compensation for my time. I might also like to do this for a few other referrals. It's been a long time since I took my healthcare law class. Am I setting myself up for a huge liability case or losing my license? I don't want have to carry insurance, set up a business, contracts etc... I also don't want to do this long term, just until I go back to full time work. I also don't want to get in to discharge orders, doctor communications, medication administration, etc.. I just want to go and offer simple "nurse's assistant" services. 1. Would I need to carry insurance to cover my a$$? 2. As an RN with a current license am I liable to perform to the highest scope of my license even if we agree on a limited scope of work? 3. Would a contract limit liability in terms of scope of work? 4. Would any of this jeopardize my license or do I have to be working with an agency? 5. Anything I'm forgetting?

I need some advice. I have the choice to choose between two new grad opportunities at the same hospital. One is in oncology and the other is in the renal/diabetic unit. I have always imagined myself as working in renal with the goal of eventually working with a transplant center. I have close personal ties with transplant and dialysis patients in my family and have had a passion for transplant nursing since starting nursing school. I even precepted in a rental unit and enjoyed it. Oncology has always been the farthest from my mind Through a strange set of circumstances I ended up with an interview in the Oncology department and decided "what the heck it's another opportunity to practice interviewing skills". As I discussed the role of an oncology nurse with the manager I realized there were a lot of similarities between what appeals to me about working with renal/transplantpatients and what working with oncology patients entails. Both are more wholistic types of nursing - i.e.seeing repeat patients, following them through the long arc of their illnesses, lots of patient teaching, dealing with families, complex care, multi-systemcomorbidities, etc. By the end of theinterview I not only sold the interviewer on me, I started to sell myself on Oncology Since then I've been talking to my BFF who was an onc nurse and loved it. The more I look in to oncology the more interested I am in to it but it is still all very new to me. I know a lot more about renal than I do about onc. She tells me that renal patients are much sicker and stay sicker (they are usually the most non-compliant patients when they come in and stay that way when they go out - and that's why they are frequent fliers) - vs. - onc patients who have been healthy and have a new diagnosis but fight to stay alive and do whatever they can to comply with the regime. She hates working with renal patients but loves working with onc patients. I'm wondering if it's just a bias or a perspective I've never encountered before What are any of your thoughts/input? Have any of you worked both units? What do you think gives one a better new grad experience/basis of learning the profession? If one didn't stay in either renal or onc their whole nursing career, does one offer more opportunities to branch out and/or limit you in the future? Any input would be of great value! Thanks!

I need some advice. Ihave the choice to choose between two new grad opportunities at the samehospital. One is in oncology and theother is in the renal/diabetic unit. I have always imagined myself as working in renal with thegoal of eventually working with a transplant center. I have close personal ties with transplantand dialysis patients in my family and have had a passion for transplant nursingsince starting nursing school. I even preceptorin a rental unit and enjoyed it. Oncology has always been the farthest from my mind. Through a strange set of circumstances I ended up with aninterview in the Oncology department and decided "what the heck it's anotheropportunity to practice interviewing skills". As I discussed the role of an oncology nurse with the manager I realizedthere were a lot of similarities between what appeals to me about working withrenal/transplant patients and what working with oncology patients entails. Both are more wholistic types of nursing - i.e.seeing repeat patients, following them through the long arc of their illnesses,lots of patient teaching, dealing with families, complex care, multi-systemcomorbidities, etc. By the end of theinterview I not only sold the interviewer on me, I sold myself. Since then I've been talking to my BFF who was an onc nurseand loved it. The more I look in tooncology the more interested I am in to it but it is still all very new tome. I know a lot more about renal than Ido about onc. She tells me that renalpatients are much sicker and stay sicker (they are usually the most non-compliantpatients when they come in and stay that way when they go out - and that's whythey are frequent fliers) - vs. - onc patients who have been healthy and have anew diagnosis but fight to stay alive and do whatever they can to comply withthe regime. She hates working withrenal patients but loves working with onc patients. I'm wondering if it's just a bias or aperspective I've never encountered before. What are any of your thoughts/input? Have any of you worked both units? What do you think gives one a better new gradexperience/basis of learning the profession? If one didn't stay in either renal or onc their whole nursing career,does one offer more opportunities to branch out and/or limit you in thefuture? Any input would be of greatvalue! Thanks!

Oooops, and its in June 2013 not July (had something else on my mind....)

Yes, it's invite only. I applied to the new grad program and then those chosen to interview are invited to the "open house fair" to interview with the different unit managers.

I will be traveling to the new grad fair from out of state and wanted to get some background information regarding the fair. I read some posts from last year's fair that it was a "loooooong" day. Has anyone heard anything more about the event than what was in the emails? What units are hiring? How many positions? Anyone from last year's fair have any insights or input? Thanks, B

Hello, I and a fellow classmate have received invitations to attend this year's (2013) new grad fair. Any suggestions on how to prep for it and/or hints for being successful at it? How do we find out what units are hiring? Any input would be helpful! Thanks!!!!

From the original email sent out did you take it that the references had to be mailed via postal mail from the original source? The last email I received it was mentioned that they were expecting letters to be mailed/emailed/faxed. I don't remember receiving any email or fax numbers for my sources to send to UVMC. Did any of you see that it could be emailed to them? Any of you have that contact info?

Did that work?

What is your FB profile name?

I would contact ----- and ask her who to talk to and tell them that you are interisted in switching if a position opens up. I would assume that if a position opens up they are just going to go down the list that they already created. I think that Hayward is typically the more desired location so its more difficult to switch to that campus than it is to Concord. We did have one student switch at the beginning of either Winter or Spring quarter when someone dropped out of the Hayward program so it can happen. Hayward also has there own form of a Blackboard message system just for their students. You might ask ----- if you can post on there if someone wants to switch.

Definitely come to orientation. Stuff like that happens all the time. They will work it out in time. You don't want to miss all the info they will give you tomorrow!!! KB

Search for CSUEB Concord Nursing Class of 2013 on FB. Did they tell you that orientation is on Friday at 8AM?

Andrew, I just sent you another private message. Biltz

.... After reading your question Andrew I realized I probably didn't answer your question properly in my last post. Defending yourself in such a situation is very, very difficult. As a matter of fact, "being defensive" is one of the major issues they will use against you in any kind of review setting if you are not 100% agreeable to the instructors recommendations. Therefore you have to be really carefull in your approach to all this and how you carry yourself. You want to show that you remain "teachable" and that you are listening to corrective instruction even though you have some "difficulty in agreeing" with the same facts as your instructor. Once they brand you as "defensive" they will usher you out the door. The next thing to remember is that as professional nurses, your instructors are masters at documentation and privacy and they will use it to their advantage. Therefore you have to do the same. Document, document, document!!! Write notes on everything you do. If a nurse or your instructor note that you did something well, document exactly what they say. Get the first and last name of every nurse you work with. If you do a skill with a nurse or your instructor ask how you did and document their reply. If things are really going back and you think your instructor is picking on you, ask for a student to be a witness. If your instructor wants to talk to you 1on1 and pulls you in to an empty supply room or pt. room, ask for a student to come with you as a witness. If you think your instructor unfairly judges your skills find out if the department will call in another instructor to supervise you for one day. Just always have a second pair of eyes and ears on you. That was how my instructor got away with everything. She would pull me into an empty supply room or pt. room, tell me one thing and then do something different or write on my evaluation something totally different. Also, I'd do something with a nurse and it would be fine and when she got report from the nurse later, she'd totally twist the facts around and misinterpret how things went down. I didn't keep a record of the nurses I worked with so I couldn't go back and use them as witnesses. Be as diplomatic as possible with your instructor. If that's not working, read your nursing handbook and find out what the policy is for handling complaints. The department will fall back on that always AS THEIR protection. If you don't follow the handbook, the nursing department or University will use that as an excuse to throw your complaint out the door at any point down the line as they choose. Miss one step or jump over one person's head and all your protections go out the door. Document in writing everything and prove that you have attempted to work with everyone up and down the chain of command and document how you've done it. Also, follow everything up with an email or a letter documenting what you have done. Also, ask the same from your instructor. If he/she repremands you, ask for it in writing, in an email, or something written. If she compliments you, follow it up with an email, thanking her for the compliment. Then, start printing everything out and building a hardcopy file b/c you will need it if you go to the university or a lawyer. I've sent you my email privately Andrew so if you want more specific suggestions, contact me.

I'm really sorry to hear this is happening to you Andrew. There are a variety of avenues you can take depending on what stage you are at in the process. Have you already failed the clinical or are you still taking it? Are you still in the program? Sadly, when things start to go downhill, they move fast and things are stacked against the student and everything is stacked in the instructor's/school's benefit. The way things are set up, the student is guilty until proven innocent beyond a shadow of a doubt and even when that happens everyone will still doubt you. For me things did not work out well (depending on how you look at it). I fought the nursing department and the school tooth and nail and did not prevail. At first I attempted to work with the instructor and the department diplomatically and following "their rules". When that didn't work, I went to the University. They were spineless and told me that they had a "laissez-faire and hand-off" policy with the Nursing Dept due to professional courtesy b/c they dealt with public health and safety. I filed a formal discrimmination complaint with the Calif Dept of Fair Housing and Employment and also one with the Dept of Education. Unfortunately I had waited so long in trying to work it out with the Nursing Dept and University that time had run out on statute of limitation so that didn't work. After that I filed complaints with my State and US representatives and the University's Board of Regents. It created a lot of headaches for the department and they had a lot of explaining to do to them. What finally made them stand up and take notice was when I found out who their accreditation agency was and found out how to file a complaint with them. The nursing department paid attention then and started kissing everyone's a**. Until then the Nursing Department pretty much had contempt for all agencies b/c they knew the University would cover them. All their meetings and correspondences were behind closed doors and I was prevented from seeing any documents and hearing or seeing ANY statements that were made about me or my case. As part of my complaint with the accreditation agency the Nursing Department the agency had to give a copy of their reply of my complaint back to me. That's when I found out all the misstatements and lies the instructor and the department had been making about me and my case to the university and all the officials involved. As a result I ended up replying to the accreditation agency and calling out the Chairperson and all her misrepresentations. I then sent copies to all the University officials I had previously dealt with. The accreditation agency ended up auditing the department. Because the nursing department privately contracts the agency, their final findings are private between the parties. My understanding though is that the nursing department had to make some serious changes to their policies and procedures b/c of all this. I've also heard rumours that the chairperson is leaving at the end of this year. Don't know if that's b/c of this too. For me, I've already restarted in another program. I knew there was too much bad blook between me and the program once I went outside the department to go back in. In this particular CSU the department has a particularly nasty reputation with the teaching staff. The CSU I'm in now, I don't think the same thing would happen. It's much, much more professional. I'm glad I fought the old school and didn't take it lying down. I think far too many student just sulk off and don't fight them. That's why they get away with this crap. I'm also glad I started again with a new school. Its renewed my faith in the profession and the educational institution. One HORRIBLE institution doesn't reflect all of them.

Another thing you might want to do over the summer is to take the WST (Writing Skills Test). Everyone has to take the test or the required equivalent course work to graduate. It's a pain in the butt to take during school and if you can take it over the summer you should just do it and get it out of the way. Basically you just go in and write a five paragraph essay with a thesis, topic sentences, etc, etc on a given topic. If you already have graduated from a CSU you've probably taken it or its equivalent. All you have to do is call your college's testing office and have them fax the test results to CSUEB's testing office and you are off the hook. Here's more info on the test: http://www.testing.csueastbay.edu/uwsr/wst/wsthome.php

To be honest I forget how I came about figuring it out but it was a process of elimination I think. First, I'm a graduate of San Diego State so as a graduate of another CSU so I assumed that whatever catalog I graduated under covered me regarding the general GE requirements. I called the counceling center and they confirmed that as a previous CSU grad all my GE was covered. They didn't even need to look at my transcripts. It's just a done deal. If your bachelors is from a non-CSU school I don't know if that's the same. They might have to review your transcripts and match them up to the catalog, etc. etc... If I remember correctly there are some sort of campus orientation days at Hayward that you can sign up for and on those days you make an appointment to have your transcripts and GE reviewed. I was told that is the best time to have your transcripts evaluated. If you don't have them done at that time it takes forever to get an appointment and get them evaled. This is the link to orientation. http://www20.csueastbay.edu/students/campus-life/student-life/slife/orientation/transfer.html You can call Student Life and ask them directly about the advising session. The HDEV is an upper division at CSUEB so I think most JC's HDEV don't transfer. I think only Berkeley City College's does b/c they include content other schools don't. The only reason I took it there was b/c I was also apply to the direct entry master's program and accelerated BSN program at Sammuel Merrit and they had a matrix on their website of approved classes from all the JC's in the Bay Area and only BCC had an HDEV that they would accept. BTW, whether or not you've taken patho and pharm you still want to audit the classes to freshen up your knowledge. If you can though, avoiding the pressure of the grades and the tests would just make your first two quarters all that much more easier.

IF you already have a bachelors that puts you in a different catagory with everyone else (at least it did with me and hopefully they haven't changed the rules). All my GE requirements transferred over and the three additional GE classes that you need you can take at a JC and have them transfer over too. The only particular one is HDEV which the only transferrable course is at Berkeley City College. It's a semester class but it is WAY easier than the one taught at CSU. BUT THIS WAS ONLY BECAUSE I ALREADY HAD MY BS!! If you have a bachelors I'd see if you can jump in to a class this summer and/or in the Fall and have it transfer over. They are much, much easier at a JC. Also, again - you could consider taking a patho or pharm course over the summer. U of Iowa has an online course you can take I think but I never checked to see if it will transfer. The only thing Dr. Liu was interested in was that it had the proper topics covered and it had a proctored final which you can work out.

You should probably still register for the GE courses that you want to take. Usually people took those in the evenings or after theory ended at 4pm T/Th (although I think there were some seminar sections you could sign up for on 4pm on Tues if you want that option).

I did not get the book bundle. A friend who dropped out of the program donated all his books to me and I barely even opened any of them. Most of all your study material is in the PowerPoints your instructors give you. Your Patho and Pharm books you will definitely read through. Most of your instructors will tell you that if you have an edition that is one edition older than what is currently being used you will be fine. Usually in lecture a teacher will tell you to know a certain chart on pg ... for a test and if you have an older edition it's usually just one or two pages different than what they tell you and you can easily figure out what they are referring to. Regarding the booklist - last year I think they revised it about six times after they gave it to us at orientation before they had it correct so even if we gave you ours there's no guarantee it will be the same for you by the time they finalize your class's. Another hint. At orientation you will probably have a lot of questions about books for the current students. Your instinct will be to ask "What books do I need?". A better question to ask is, "What books do I need vs what books do I want?". Practically speaking you need every book on the book list that is listed as "required" but they will also give you a "recommended" list. There will also be a lot of books mentioned such as care plan books, reference books, etc, etc. They can run up your book costs conciderablely. Ask students what they found to be helpful besides the required books. This will help you get an idea of what else you will have to buy later in the quarter. Don't go crazy buying a ton of extra books right away. Wait for the quarter to start to begin buying all the extra careplan books, reference books, etc, etc... There is no need to buy them at orientation or before school starts. Really get an understanding about what each one is about and why you need them first. Really, don't go crazy trying to buy your text books right now. You will have plenty of time after orientation. As recommended above, if you want to study something, brush up on your A&P and enjoy your summer for now. If you really want to be productive. See if you can take one of the 3 General Ed classes over the summer or take a transferrable Patho or Pharm class. Getting any one of those out of the way will make your life soooooo much easier your first year, you won't believe it!!!!

You don't necessarily have to buy the book bundle. You can get the books used. There are some advantages and disadvantages to either option. All of this will be explained to you at orientation over the summer (about mid July I think). Don't go making any major purchases or decisions until then. At least at the Concord campus the school does an incredible orientation day and you will meet current Level 1 students and there will be presentations on books, uniforms, clinicals, skills labs, etc. You'll walk out of there with more information than your head can hold. Soon ------ will be sending info on vaccines and documentation you need to get to the school. Just focus on that for the time being.

You're blowing my cover Jen

Private me your email and I'll send you an invite to the group we've set up for Concord and that will give you an idea of how to set up one for Hayward. Once you do that then you can just send ------ an email with a link to the group and ask her to send an email to everyone in the Hayward cohort with an invite. Just wait until after the May 20th deadline to do that. Also assure her that in the invite you are going to tell everyone not to ask her about issues regarding the site because it will not be administered by the department itself.....

BTW, for the Concord campus students we've put together a Yah@@ group and FB group for you guys so that you will be able to contact each other and discuss things prior to orientation. It won't be administered by the school or nursing department but student run. After the May 20th acceptance deadline passes we are going to ask the nursing office to send out invites to all of you to join the groups. For those of you in the Hayward program I suggest one of you set up your own group on either Google or Yah@@ and ask Lara to send an invite email out to your fellow students with a link to the group. It will really help you communicate and bond as a group prior to orientation and the start of school.