Errn22

Nope I haven't heard anything except for an email about completing FAFSA stuff but that's it. I've emailed two different people about clarification on my admission letter since it just says health nursing MSN, nothing specific to PMHNP...but haven't gotten a reply from either.

Thanks so much! :)

I got my acceptance email an hour ago! Anyone know the next step? Will someone from our program contact us?

Congrats!! I'm obsessively checking on mine while at work today haha

Yep, I have my phone on me constantly and I have been refreshing the application site every 30 minutes for the past few weeks...and now I keep checking my email every 30 minutes lol.

My status just changed over in the past hour to say recommendation submitted...fingers crossed!!

Nope and I check multiple times per day! Haha

Yes, I contacted them and they said that they are hoping to have all notifications out by May 1.

What program did you apply to?

Thanks for the info! Yes I got accepted to SLU but being that USC would be in-state tuition (half the cost of SLU!!!) for me and it's also the school that I'm more interested in, I would rather go to USC. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that I was accepted at SLU and will be attending in the fall if USC falls through.

I applied for the PMHNP program for fall at USC. Have any of you heard anything about your applications?

I also applied to USC for their nurse practitioner program (PMHNP) and haven't heard anything and it still says decision pending online. I heard from the other school I applied to for fall today (Saint Louis University). Have you heard anything from USC yet?

I have been working in ED nursing since graduating with my RN ~4.5 years ago and earned my BSN a year ago. Ever since starting nursing school, I have wanted to work with peds/adolescent psych patients, but everyone talked me out of it, including my mother who has been a nurse for 30+years, all having negative things to say about psych nursing. While I enjoy ED nursing, I've been wanting to branch out and I found a position opening for a nurse working in an outpatient center for 5-12 year olds with behavioral problems who are at high risk for being kicked out of school. It's a day program with schooling integrated. I thought this would be a good introduction for me so I applied. I had an interview a few days ago and the administrative manager explained somewhat about the position (she couldn't tell me exactly what a nurse's day consists of there because she oversees 4 different types of psychiatric clinics for the hospital) and advised they had been looking for two months but the peer interview team did not want to bring on anyone that had interviewes yet. Basically I would be working with one other nurse and our assigned patients would be her with the younger ones and me with the older ones. She has been there a long time and is in charge of a lot and is concerned about hiring someone without experience or leadership abilities for days that she would not be there. I was advised by the manager to emphasize my leadership qualities, however I only have limited psych experience from the ED. I am more than willing to learn all that I can and I would like to have some necessary knowledge under my belt before my peer interview this week. Can anyone suggest some books and/or websites for me to read to increase knowledge regarding, ADHD, ODD, CD, etc? I would greatly appreciate it - I want this job so bad!

Depending on the community surrounding the hospital, there will be various types of patients. In my experience in working in community hospitals, in the past 5 years I have seen one stabbing, one shooting, a few drownings, many minor MVCs, and the rest being a mix of genuine "sick" people and then a lot of things that could have been handled by a PCP. I have also had a lot of drunks and a lot of psych patients. Major traumas and very involved ICU patients went to larger nearby facilities. You basically get a little bit of everything, but it is not always as exciting as what is portrayed on tv and in movies. I love the randomness and never knowing what to expect. Plus, as you stated in your post, there is a lot of autonomy for nurses in the ED.

20-something female with c/o tampon stuck in lady parts xfew hours and unable to find the string. She got tired of waiting so she had her boyfriend pull it out and then signed out AMA. 50-something overweight female with poor hygiene with c/o "I'm hemorrhaging from my left breast". I asked pt if I could see what she was talking about. She proceeded to lift up her shirt, lift up her bra, and remove a baby diaper from her breast area. Immediately after, her breast became a fountain of malodorous purulent discharge, creating a perfect arc and landing all over the floor of my triage room. I could not triage in the room for the rest of the day because no matter how much we cleaned it, it still smelled horrible. 30-something female with c/o chest pain. After taking pt to a bed, we had her change into a gown and proceeded with an EKG. Upon lifting her large left breast, a half sandwich was found. Pt's response? "Oh there it is! My boyfriend and I were playing 'hide the sandwich' last night." Wow, just wow.

Thanks! I got the job. I will be floating between a few ERs in the Charleston area. My friend lives in Daniel Island and it is expensive but she lucked out with her living situation. She is new down there too so she doesn't know much about the different areas. I guess I would need to find out where exactly the ERs are that I will be floating too so I can figure out where would be a central location. A friend of a friend also recommended James Island so I will look into that as well. Just stinks that I have a month to find a place to live down there and I'm a ten hour drive away!

Hello! If all went well on my second interview today with a hospital system in Charleston, I will be moving to the area within a month. My friend moved here in February and lives on Daniel Island. I love it, but apartments there are a bit pricier than where I currently live in Maryland, and the pay will be less. She lucked out renting a studio apartment attached to a house. I like Mount Pleasant too but it is also somewhat expensive. She lived in West Ashley before moving to Daniel Island and said that it was okay but that her complex had a lot of partying college students and some other not-so-great types of tenants. Any suggestions or pointers would be greatly appreciated! I live 10 hours away by car and I don't know if I will have any other opportunities to fully check places out. Thanks in advance!

I graduated from HCC in 2009 and it took up to a year for classmates to find a job. What helped me was working as a CNA and then a student nurse extern at the local hospitals while I was in school. As a new grad, I started out around $25/hour I believe.

I have my FNE-A/SAFE certification and live in a compact state and may be moving to another compact state. Will my certification still be valid?

This was one of my big concerns going into nursing too. I am a shy person and have social anxiety at times, but I was determined. One of the things that helped was getting my CNA before entering nursing school and working throughout my schooling as a CNA and then as a nurse extern. It helped me ease into the assertive demands of nursing, as well as make me more comfortable in the hospital setting, which also helped when it came to clinicals. This left me more confident and in turn, a little less shy. After school, I ended up working in an Emergency Department...one of the last places a shy person would expect to work. However, it helped force me to face my shyness and anxiety. As a previous poster stated, you may end up with a target on your back...I sure have, but it has helped me also because I am now at the point where I say to myself "Smile and take it...and prove their *** wrong!". As for the depression, you should definitely face that as early as possible. I didn't and it effected my work in the beginning. But now that it's under control, it has also helped with my confidence levels. Good luck to you!!!

Keep in mind, the circumstances vary from hospital to hospital. I signed a contract at a local hospital while in school...they paid for my schooling and I would work for them 6 months for every semester they paid for (ADN). I am very happy with my decision. It's been almost a year and it has flown by! I was grateful for a job in this economy, especially when many of my classmates were unable to get a job. I looked at it this way...it's two years, it's a job, and it's experience. But also, my hospital allows unit transfers after 6 months if there is a position available and you are qualified. Just my two cents! Weigh the pros and cons of YOUR situation and the hospital...and good luck!

Jen! I'm sorry you aren't having any luck! I'll keep my ears open at HMH if I hear anything about them changing their hiring status of new grads! Keeping my fingers crossed for you! And yeah, after all of that stuff with St. Joe's, I'd be hesitant to start out there too. ~Erin

Well no matter which one you go to, you can still get the scholarship and do the externship, but externs usually get taken on if they already work as a tech in the hospital. And yeah, I think only about 1/4 of my class has a job...and 2 people from the summer graduation still don't have jobs. It's rough now, but it will turn around!

No problem! Also, if you decide to work for UCMC or HMH, look into their externship program when you are in the second semester for admittance for third semester. You get a lot more experience and it gets your foot in the door. I just graduated from HCC and I was able to get a job while the majority of my classmates weren't, because of the scholarship and the externship. Sorry, just rambling now, but good luck!

HCC offers programs in the summer for CNA and they are shorter than when I took it about 2.5 years ago. And I agree, it's good to have that experience. I took the CNA class the semester right before I found out that I was accepted into the nursing program and then got a job at UCMC. (Also, I would advise looking into the UCMC scholarship program too once you get accepted!)