ceecel.dee

Technical difficulties never happen at opportune times. I feel for the instructor and the students! Ever have to request more time to post a discussion or hand in a paper d/t slow computer or down services? Happens all the time. Sorry for your frustration!

Really...it's not unusual for 1 nurse to be responsible for 53 patients?

No, I don't think you're wrong. I think that it was good of you to realize that your nurse wanted to wrap up her shift, but she should have come to you immediately after report to do your d/c if the oncoming nurse was not willing to d/c you immediately after your assessment. As you said, it would have only taken a few more minutes. Who wants to be d/c in the evening anyway, especially in rural America? It just doesn't work well!

Another nursing instructor here...you have no obligation to share your good news with the school. Enjoy your pregnancy! It's done all the time.

I find it slightly comical (sorry to suffering smokers) when the students on our campus are "busted" by my dear office-mate smoking just outside of the doors with our office window just a few feet away. The campus was in the preliminary movement toward going smoke free and made a rule that you must be 50' from the building. We put up a sign in our window that read "WE MONITOR BUTTS", and then she would knock on the window, shake her head and point to the sign. The students would give her a sheepish look and put the thing right out! I don't know...it just always made me smile. We never were clear on who we would call to enforce this...the poor maintenance staff?

Oh yes...this has annoyed (read infuriated) actual nurses forever! Many of them have very active telephone practices barely with even physician oversight (oh, the doctors are sooo busy)!

OK...married to an engineer. I don't think there is any person more polor opposite in occupations than a nurse and an engineer. Why nursing?

Well, what's your program schedule for Monday mornings? Students rushing in late only to doze on their fist in the back row do not impress instructors.

I do not know your work environment or the type of floor you work on. That said, I would tell the charge nurse that you must leave tonight by (exactly change of shift time), and then DO IT. If the oncoming relief nurse keeps her (the charge nurse) waiting maybe something will be done about her! This is also passive aggressive, and should only be used if everything else has failed. Everyone should fulfill their own obligations.

No, not unusual, but very stressful/frusterating! There may be computer training and/or general hospital orientation and/or training modules and/or background checks that the facility might require; if so, could you at least get your sessions scheduled as students probably won't be allowed to provide care without jumping through a few of the facility's hoops and the hoops may take some time. All this talk has me shifting gears into "fall semester"! I had better begin work on my packet!

I wear comfortable casual-dress pants, a simple top, a white lab coat, and comfortable shoes.

Schools don't require vaccines and/or titers to disqualify students. They do it so that they know you will not BECOME infected (or that you've consciously waived the protection). Proper use of universal precautions will protect patients from anything you may carry and protect you from anything patients may carry.

I am not freaked by blood at all, but I killed a mosquito that was attempting to taste mine in a store yesterday and splatted blood on my sleeve. It wasn't my blood....that grossed me out and I couldn't wait to get home to change!

There is a Regency, or is it Rasmussen, college with a LPN program also. Acceptance rubrics are common now with points given for GPA, prereq's completed, hands-on patient care experience, etc. Quite competitive with waiting lists for many programs.

Greater MN has lots of rural hospitals. They like part-timers because it limits benefits, but even more important, it gives staffing much more flexibility in scheduling. Census waxes and wanes, as it does in larger hospitals, but can be felt more acutely in small hospitals requiring more people on the roster to pitch in during high census. If most are full-time already, they can't give much more during increased need, but part-timers are usually willing to work more.

Try the VA! They are flush with $ right now, and hiring up, updating, building. Also, sometimes the rural hospitals are willing to spend time with someone "out of the business" for awhile in a kind of shadowing/preceptor way. This way, they get to "try you on" to assess the fit, and you get to soak in the learning while assessing them. We did this a few times at the rural hospital I worked in, and it worked well for both sides. However, it was an unpaid shadowing experience. We benefited from a couple of great hires, and in one case, we had to bluntly pass. This nurse ended up employed in a venue other than acute care, so she learned about herself as well. Good luck!

Couldn't do without them, in my experience!

Studying the theorists just portrays how the brains in nursing work out the puzzle of figuring out how best to holistically approach/understand patient's needs...non of them are perfect, but many have some basic similarities. If studying them helps nurses understand why you do something, and can make you a better nurse, why not try to apply some of that abstract thought to your patient care? Being a good nurse requires MUCH more than just doing what the Dr. orders.

You could save some of that really important quizing (pathophys, contraindications, etc.) for post-conference, and that way the whole group benefits. I have students pocket the med packages and the student quizes the others about their meds in post-conference. This is a great way to become very familiar with the most common meds given too, and can be kind of a fun group game. I typically have 8 students (usually 2 of them with 2 patients), so responsible for around 10 patients. We don't do the IV meds yet, so that helps! Very busy, and impossible to do everyone's on time. They are indoctrinated into what it is I like to hear from them as they are being checked (name of med, what it's given for, is there anything you need to know about the pt. before you give it, i.e. AP prior to beta blocker). The rest I save for post-conference usually (can sometimes depend on the student).

I have the students pocket the packaging of every med they give, and they quiz the rest of the students on the med in post-conference after they speak about the pathophys, the s/sx and labs, etc. Then they all are asked about a mistake they made that day...and this is usually a funny story ("the last pill package was so hard to push the pill through that I projected the whole cup with all the pills against the wall scattering them everywhere!" or, "I had to walk back to the laundry cart 3 times just to get the bed made properly!") and I find students really like to hear that they are all doing something clumsy or disorganized, and they all loosen up a bit (this is especially beneficial after the first clinical day)! They are also asked to state one nursing behavior that they observed that was admirable and one that was not, so they start to visualize what kind of a nurse they want be and to behave like.

I worked staff development in a rural hospital setting prior to college teaching. I think that the faculty position is much more stressful as it certainly requires more than nursing skills, and I always think of myself as a nurse first.

Oh, I remember "the begining"! I suggest that you do it awhile longer before you take any rash action. It is overwhelming, and I have to admit that I did not add anything valuable to faculty meetings that first semester at all! I was the sponge in the room. Only then did I start to conceptualize what the mission of the group was, and actually had to ask what the mission of the department and program was. This helped everyone to rise above the sometimes petty stuff that was discussed in meetings, and helped everyone to step back, slow down, and have to articulate some real thoughts about nursing education. This also helped me to figure out who thought and taught most like me, and therefore led me to my real mentors. This also spurred the curriculum revision that we completed, and this process (while aggrevating at times, was also invigorating to all of us) has breathed new life into our rather stagnant program. Hang in there...and good luck to your program!

Well, there are usually more ways than just formal testing to assess a student. If we didn't "teach" students how to test "NCLEX style", there'd be he** to pay, so we do try to incorporate it, as is only fair.:redpinkhe

I would worry about your credibility with students if you have no real-life experience, but I appreciate your enthusiasm! Good luck!

i agree...to a point. ambiguous test questions are exactly what you will see on your state board exam...that's why we attempt to indoctrinate you-all into "nursing school" style tests. it's not to try to trip you up. it's to begin to accustom you to the nclex style of questioning. students seem to really resent this...especially that first semester. if we did not do this, imagine the passing rates on the nclex! it is all a process! if you-all can just go with it, you will find out that there is a plan! instructors have your best interests at heart! it just amazes me that students might really think that we are purposely trying to torture them needlessly! what would our motivation be? come on!