Kellied1983

Hey there ACNPs ! (and anyone else with information!) I am applying to graduate school for nurse practitioner. I am leaning towards the acute care nurse practitioner (ACNP) and clinical nurse specialist blended program. From what I've read on various threads, CNS is more geared towards nurses who want to serve as educational support in a hospital setting. Is this correct? I am wondering what kind of jobs are out there for ACNPs? I have read the other postings on here regarding ACNPs and most of the jobs people listed involve the hospital setting. I love the ICU and am excited to work there in a practitioner role however, I worry about burn-out. Also, if I have a family I might want a job that's not as high stress. Can ACNPs work in an internal medicine role or is that only for ANP and FNPs? For example, could I join a physician practice that treats only adults? What other settings could ACNP's work in outside the hospital? I have to declare a specialty on my application and I am so afraid of limiting my options. Do you think becoming an adult nurse practitioner (ANP) would give me more job options? Any information anyone could give me would be great.

That's really great advice. Thank you! I will definitely ask for this information next time. And I am going to get that letter from my doctor and keep it with me so this will not be an issue next time! I'm just very demotivated right now..I was genuinely excited to start and I really thought I could help a lot of people on this unit. And now..I've graduated 6 months ago..and I am back to applying for jobs online and dropping resumes off. >

All the literature I've read says nurses must be able to lift 50 pounds. But from what I'm reading on this thread, it sounds like the hospital can have it's own policies on weight requirements. And that's fine but they shouldn't have told me it was "Maryland state law that nurses be able to lift over 80 pounds" because that was not accurate. And I believe they should not have told me that my weight restrictions were "not a big deal" when it actually was. I believe they certainly acted unethically, but I'm not sure they did anything illegal. They thought I could be a liability. But the ironic part is that the reason I disclosed all this information is so that I WOULDN'T be a liability. Isn't it better to know your limitations and get help so that you don't hurt your back so many other nurses out there? I guess not in HR's eyes. Another lesson learned.

Yeah I am too! They told me I had to lift over 80 pounds actually but on the paper they gave me it just said "must be able to lift over 50 pounds". So theres a bit of a discrepancy there...

Today I went back to the hospital (which was humiliating enough!) and asked to see the "Maryland lifting requirements for nurses" and what I received was a generic paper that stated nurses must be able to lift 50 pounds and over. Nothing specific and the paper was a computer print out..certainly not the Maryland Board of Nursing or anything. You know the funniest part of all this is that I shared this information because I DIDN'T want to be a liability. I was thinking in my head, "allright well I'll be able to lift as much as anyone else and if I or my coworkers need any help we can all work together to lift a patient and avoid future back problems." Now that I think about it that way I feel silly. I certainly have that funny feeling in my stomach that tells me the way this went down wasn't exactly kosher...but to be honest, I'm not sure I want to fight for a job in a place that so casually throw me out to the wolves. What do you guys think?

So I had been offered a position at a large, regional hospital as an RN. During the physical I was required to divulge all of my medical history. I explained that four years ago I had had brain surgery, which required a laminectomy of my C1 and C2 vertebrae, and I was not supposed to lift any extremely heavy objects. The nurse at employee health told me that I must get a note from my doctor explaining how much I can and cannot lift. I told the nurse I could lift up to 70 pounds (i am 5'5 and weigh 105 pounds so that is a lot for me) she said that's fine and to get the note. I told my doctor what to write on the form and handed it in yesterday to employee health. After I did, another nurse from employee health sat me down and told me that Maryland State Law says Nurses must be able to lift 80 (!) pounds and over and since I couldn't, I couldn't do my job. I was shocked and became very upset! I spoke to her supervisor and the HR rep who'd hired me and I begged them to let me pretend I hadn't come in today and that I could get a note saying I had no restrictions, but they refused and retracted my job offer. I tearfully explained I had turned down many other job offers and had been told this was "no big deal". The HR rep told me, "I didn't know it would be this big of a deal." I feel like I was punished for being honest and am completely shocked. Does anyone have a similar experience? Am I really supposed to believe that all nurses can lift over 80 pounds? Thats almost my whole body weight. I am so scared they are going to call my board of nursing and tell them I have weight restrictions and they will put restrictions on my license. Can they do this? I talked to my doctor and he said he'd give me another note saying I had no weight restrictions, but this hospital told me "It doesn't matter, there's nothing you can do to change our mind." I cannot believe I lost my job over this. Any feedback you guys can give me would really help me. I guess I learned to just keep my mouth shut. But I was trying to build a relationship built on honesty...I guess that was naive.

ohmygoodness! That just broke my heart a little! In my opinion, NO ONE should have to put up with that kind of treatment. NO matter what, there is a professional line that should not be crossed. You are co-workers and deserve some respect. Is there no one who can help you? If you're really not getting any help from your nurse managers, then look somewhere else. Nothing is worth you being miserable. There's got to be other options within your area. Whatever your reason is for staying, if you are that unhappy you should examine other options. Nothing is worth your health and happiness. Hope this helps and good luck!

Actually, the question varies depending on which state you are applying. I had a similar situation. Contact your board of nursing to see what you should do. I sent proper documentation and a letter of explanation and 2 days later I had a license. Usually, there is a legal nurse associated with the board that can give you advice and let you know what came up on your background check, if anything.

Hey guys, Ive been silently watching this thread since I passed my NCLEX on Feb. 19th. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask me on this thread or PM me. My heart aches for how much stress you all are going thru! Believe me, I went through the same thing! By the way, I didn't do any review programs or anything from Kaplan. I self reviewed from Saunders, Davis and a few others and passed with 75 Q's my frist time. Good Luck to you all!!

Hey guys, I passed my NCLEX with 75 questions last week. I didn't use any preparatory classes. I studied Saunders (Great review material), Davis (very good questions close to NCLEX style), and Kaplan (great review questions). I did about 2000 questions and my pass rates varied depending on what book I used (IN Davis I never had a very high pass rate). ANyway, maybe this helps. I also wanted to point something out. Don't stress about the number of questions you are getting wrong. I got A LOT of questions wrong on the NCLEX and still passed. In fact, I was sure I failed after I realized how many I missed. It's based on how much knowledge you know. I didn't see any similar questions from my books on my NCLEX> I got my answers from the material I studied from within the books. Try to understand the material rather than doing sporadic questions. GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL and I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT! PS: I got all my medcalc questions wrong because I did a wrong conversion and still passed. Just concentrate on learning the material and you will do fine.

I totally know how you feel. I've spent the last week trying to get ahold of the Maryland BON regarding my background check. When I was 19, I got citation for drinking under the age of 21. Even though, this is not a major offense, my background check is being held up while they review it. I've woken up almost every night in the past week with cold sweats and nightmares about being denied a license. And of course, I cannot get any information from my BON. After awhile it just drains your energy. But keep your chin up! Hopefully you and I can get through this and end up on the other side with our licenses!

Im going to start doing that as well. Also when I come across 2 conflicting facts in books I'll post them so we can all find out the right answer and remember them! We have enough on our plates to have to worry about whether the material we are studying is accurate!! So frustrating!!

Hey guys! Sorry I've been MIA. I had to take a little break. I will def do a unit if you guys would like me to. Sign me up for anything. I have a question. Have any of you found conflicting information in different NCLEX books? For example, in the Saunders book, I read that when a client with a trach is feeding the cuff should be inflated and then in another book I read it should be deflated. There have been others too this is just one that jumps out in my mind. It's driving me nuts cause I don't know how the NCLEX will be. Any words of wisdom would help. I am getting more and more nervous!!!

Here are some notes on cardiac meds that I made. Also wanted to share a way to remember side effects for anti-cholinergic meds that a prof taught me: Can't pee, can't see, can't spit. It's pretty easy and has helped me with a few q's DRUG CLASSIFICATIONS: cardiac Beta-blockers: A drug, such as propanolol, that opposes the excitatory effects of norepinephrine released from sympathetic nerve endings at beta-receptors and is used for the treatment of angina, hypertension, arrhythmia, and migraine. Also called beta-adrenergic blocking agent. Thiazides (Diruetic): Any of a group of drugs that block reabsorption of sodium in the distal tubules of the kidneys, used as diuretics primarily in the treatment of hypertension. They inhibit Na+/Cl- reabsorption from the distal convoluted tubules in the kidneys. Thiazides also cause loss of potassium and an increase in serum uric acid. The side effect of hypokalemia has motivated combining thiazides with ACE inhibitors, which also lower blood pressure but cause hyperkalemia as a side effect. ACE inhibitors: A group of drugs used to treat high blood pressure. These drugs work by decreasing production of a certain chemical in the kidneys that causes constriction of blood vessels. ACE inhibitors are used for controlling blood pressure, treating heart failure and preventing kidney damage in people with hypertension or diabetes. Calcium Channel Blockers: Calcium channel blockers are a class of drugs that block the entry of calcium into the muscle cells of the heart and thearteries. It is the entry of calcium into these cells that causes the heart tocontract and arteries to narrow. By blocking the entry of calcium, CCBs decrease contractions of the heart and dilate (widen) the arteries.CCBs are used for treating high blood pressure,angina, and abnormal heart rhythms (e.g., atrial fibrillation). They also may be used after a heart attack, particularly among patients who cannot tolerate beta-blocking drugs, have atrial fibrillation, or require treatment for theirangina. (Unlike beta blockers, CCBs have not been shown to reduce mortality oradditional heart attacks after a heart attack.) Aldosterone Antagonist: Aldosterone antagonist refers to drugs which antagonize the action of aldosterone at mineralocorticoid receptors. This group of drugs is often used as adjunctive therapy, in combination with other drugs, for the management of chronic heart failure. Spironolactone, the first member of the class, is also used in the management of hyperaldosteronism (including Conn's syndrome) and female hirsutism.

Hey guys! I will try to do the same. I am reviewing cardio and renal now as they are not my strongest points. I swear some days I feel ready to walk in and take on this thing and other days, like today, I feel like I need about four more months! My nursing school has a 97% pass rate on the NCLEX, I pray nightly I'm not in that 3%! Hope you all are getting a lot of studying done and I'll pray for all of us tonight!