seeandwhy

mianlica, thanks for the meniscus.com review for the ONS. I checked it and it is a big help. I am sked to take the exam on april.

Dansko shoes are the best. I got several pairs of it in different colors to match my scrubs. It's kinda expensive but it's worth it besides I needed to pamper myself a little bit.

PinoyNP, thanks for the inspiration! I feel like I am re-charged again. I will follow your advice. I had talked to the admission counselor from U. Phoenix yesterday and their program is not for me. So what's in your goal statement? I am planning to draft this week, hope I can send it to you via personal email so that you can edit and critic it and hopefully give me some advice. This goal statement seem to be so huge - it scares me specially that I am not a writer. Anyway, thanks for answering my questions, you are clearing my mind. Now, at least, I got a better view of what I wanted to be and the choices I have. You are such an inspiration! That is what I need...

Hi Pinoy NP! Glad to hear from you. I got my MSN adult Nursing in the Phils and I wanted to pursue the Acute Care or Primary Care NP. I already consulted with the admission office and the int'l credentialing service on the university that I intend to apply. So far,you are absolutely right, they told me that I should apply for the post-grad certification and in order for me to sit for the ANCC certification for Advance Nursing Practice, I should take the Advance Pharmacotherapeutics and the Advance Health Assessment. Informally, they said that all my subjects/grades in my transcripts were credited. My only hindrance right now is the preparation of my application porfolio because it seems that it is so tedious specially that most of my credetials would still come directly from overseas. I needed 3 references/recommendation letters, my statement letter, OTRs including high school, etc. The deadline for Fall application is next week but they are giving me some consideration since I am an employee of their university hospital and I'll go for the post-grad. At this point in time, I am a bit confused if I should really push through studying in State University or maybe enroll in the University of Phoenix instead. Maybe their requirements are lesser - I don't know. Just that... to find a job as an NP is very competitive, therefore, it has a better edge to graduate in a State University under the tradional classroom style than to graduate from an online school. I really do not know how valid is my opinion, I confused right now. See if you can help me out decide, ok. I'll appreciate it. -

Night shift in my floor is different than the day shifts because we are more of a task oriented. Day shifts change the IV lines, update the protocols, presents the updated cases of each patient to the multi-disciplinary team, etc while night shifts- draw labs and as soon as results come up, we replete all electrolytes,give trasfusion, order CXR - we do not have available doctors in the floor at night, just nurses and 1 aide but we are guided by our protocols so we just know what to do next. Of course, we have on-call MD who is a Fellow because the MDs in my floor are Attendings or Fellows only, we do not have Residents. Therefore, night shift is sometimes scary but we are already used to it but if in cases we really need a doctor to be present, we call the Medical-Respiratory ICU doctor in another floor. But actually, it is better to work nights because less people to see, more quite but differential is great.

pts on neutropenia should be extra careful because as we all know they can easily catch "germs" that is why there is what they call the Neutropenic precaution - in my floor, we are really strict as possible because our patients WBC goes down as low as

Buretrol is the best because we mix our own IV meds and putting it in the buretrol saves time to prepare for piggyback! we use buretrol to all our patients in my floor - we cater to all ages. Just to give you an example : if you needed to give 40 mEq of KCl IV on your patient for a K level of 3.2, just get 4 10 mEq KCl bags (this is our stock) then get a secondary line and put all the KCl in the buretrol which then totals to 200 cc then program the pump to 50 cc rate and 200 for the volume then it will automatically infuse for 4 hours. This way, it is more convenient and saves time, you do not need to keep on changing the piggyback 4 times. Actually, benefits are too many to mention.....

We only give TPN via central line because all patients in my floor has a central line and we do not stick our patients therefore no peripheral lines. We draw our blood works twice in 24-hour period and we usually clamp the TPN line then draw blood from another line but the first 10cc is to be discarded because then we draw our sample. We also give meds to the TPN (of course compatibility of the meds is a priority). Usually,we have TPN in 1 line, then lipids in another line, then either tacrolimus or cyclosporin in another line, sometimes w/ PCA in another - all of these goes in 1 lumen of any kind of central line access.

I think it is best for you to go straight to the RN Program. Since you already have a Bachelors degree regardless of either Medical related study or not, there are some universities right now that offer the Accelerated Program wherein you go for a BSN (usually 2 years full time to complete) then 1 more year which is optional to proceed to the Masters degree. I strongly think that'll be the best option.

take the NCSBN online review. The presentation of the review questions are very similar to the NCLEX. It was the best!

I came in the US 3 yrs ago. I started to work in a Med-Sug floor. T'was really busy as in BUSY. In the Phils, I used to work in a District Hosp wherein there was 1 MD, 1-2 RN, 1 aid and the security guard for the entire 50-bed hospital. I thought that was tough coz we were incharged for all the wards including ER,DR,etc. But I tell you, nothing compares than the stress here in the US. Patients are legally conscious - believe it or not, there are patients that are waiting for you to make mistakes so that they can make money. Med-surg is truly a tough floor but it is the best training ground especially for foreign grad nurses like us. I already moved out to a specialty floor but I can say that I had a strong nursing foundation bec of that med-surg experience. My first evaluation from my new floor is "exceptional" and I always receive commendation from my manager.Barely 3 years here, I think I accomplished alot - I got my car exactly 2 months since I arrived,bought my own house as soon as I turned 1 year, had another baby, my children who are in elementary had won several chess competions not only from our city but statewide and had been invited several times in other states but we refused-it is not our priority. I used to work as a PRN in another hospital. I worked there at least once a week, the extra money I got from there were the money I sent back home to my family in the Phils. It was difficult at first bec primarily is the language barrier and they use a different computer system but nursing care is the same, just ask other staffs for their policies if in case you have doubts. I was able to do that for 1 year. i already quit coz I just satisfied my curiousity of how it is to work w/ a second job and in another hospital. But I really gained a lot from that, not to mention I was able to buy some properties for my parents,etc. I also had tried to go to school in a big university (again, for curiousity's sake). This one was kinda tougher because t'was a traditional class that meets twice a week for 3 hours per session. I took the "American Film" class just to see how is it to be a student in the US. My classmates were really young, single, college students, full of life, most were full-time students. I was able to pass the class but my conclusion was that it was a misadventure. Now, that I am 3 years, my goal this time is to be able to take the NP or the Advance Nursing Practice Exam because I had my MSN in the Phils but I think I still need to take a couple more subjects to qualify me to sit for the certification. To be honest, since I arrived here until this point in time, my mentality is to take advantage of whatever america can offer me because I plan not to stay here for good instead I am preparing myself in all aspects specially financially for an early retirement then go back home to share what I had gained here in the US to the Filipino nurses and future nurses that wants to work here in the US.

Wen83 is right. I took the NCSBN 3 weeks online review. It wasn't that expensive. I was totally impressed with their program. I was so scared and anxious when I took my nclex but as soon as I have seen my first question, I smiled because I felt right there and then that I knew I can pass it. The format of the NCSBN review is exactly the same as the NCLEX. I felt like I have already seen that exam before and it was just re-worded for me. After 75 questions, my computer was off. I had a great feeling as soon as I left that building. I knew I did good, thanks to NCSBN.

you have worked yourself tooooo much... give your body some time to recover... have a good sleep. Do not feel guilty for saying "no" if you really don't like working, the truth is, they do not care about you - if you get sick, they can't help you. Just ignore their call or you can say, "I am not prepared to work tonight because I didn't have enough rest - I do not think it is safe for the patients and for my self,too." Your hospital should set a maximum hours a week for nurses to work and also make a policy that nurses can't work without at least 10 hours break in between schedule. We strictly implement this policy in my hospital.

better find a direct hire hospital than a nursing home. don't pay anything instead they should provide your visa and even give you a sign - on bonus.

I think my hospital is one of the best in giving shift diff... $5.50 for evening M-F $6.25 S-S $7.50 for night M-F $8.25 S-S plus the hospital's benefits are are excellent!