RN543

I have to chime in here. I've worked in psych for 6 years now and it's my passion. But psych isn't for everyone. If you don't love psych nursing, then you aren't doing yourself or your patients any favors by continuing in the specialty. When I encounter staff that are unhappy working in psych, it's often because of the expectations they had before they started. It's a wonderful thing to pursue this career because you want to make a difference. If that's you then it shows you are a caring person with a desire to help people. The problem is that some people have not accepted the fact that we aren't going to save or cure EVERYONE. It's likely that only a small percentage of our patients will improve and go on to lead productive lives. But I'm not going to stop trying. We need to remember that first of all, we don't always hear or see the success stories (b/c our successful pts may avoid readmission and we might never see them again)... So it's hard not to focus on the negative things we see and hear. But also remember that even the little things u do make a difference to that patient... Even if you're not a miracle worker... For example, a new patient comes in (depressed and suicidal) that is scared, embarrassed, ashamed... But you show compassion... You listen to them without judgment... You offer a meal to that patient that hasn't eaten in days. U put them at ease and make them feel a little better about what they are going through. You praise them for the choice they made by seeking help. So maybe this patient doesn't make a miraculous recovery... But it doesn't mean u didn't make a difference. Maybe a year from now when they are standing on that bridge about to end it all... They will remember you and how you made them feel about seeking help. Maybe you will be the reason they won't feel too ashamed to ask for help. You may have saved someone's life and never even know it. I just try not to judge. Someone who has BPD may be a little annoying but I won't let that show... And they are just as deserving of my time and my compassion. And at least in my area, the majority of my patients also have addiction issues. There is no easy fix for mental health disorders and addiction. And then you throw in external factors like homelessness, unemployment, legal issues, relationship/family problems... And the odds are hard for anyone to beat. The truth is we don't have the community resources (at least in my area) for these people to get back on their feet. Even when our facility's case manager finds a halfway house or other placement for one of my patients, they typically don't have the money to afford it. When I have a patient that is readmitted... Of course it saddens me that they are not doing well and had to return... But the only other negative thought I have is how we as a facility failed that patient. Was the patient discharged too soon? Did we not plan appropriately for their discharge? Is their something we can learn from this rather than being negative and judgmental toward the patient? Why would I get annoyed that my admission was a patient that was just here a month ago? Because he's abusing the system? Because he's taking a bed from someone else that really needs it? Oh please! Who are we to decide who is more deserving or who needs our help more than others? Sometimes it's nice to have the same patient again because I already know them... Maybe my assessment will be quicker... I may already have a good rapport with them, etc. And maybe they don't quite "get it" the 1st time, the 2nd time, or even the 20th time. But maybe on the 21st time you admit that patient they will come with a new perspective and insight and will follow up with their aftercare plans. You just never know. I learned my best lessons not from lectures... But from my own screw-ups. Sometimes our patients need to fall before they can pick themselves back up. In my opinion, there is a lot of discrimination and a lack of compassion for mental health and addiction. But how is this issue (non-compliance, readmissions, etc.) any different than any other nursing specialty? What if you take care of a patient that had a massive MI and goes back to eating cheeseburgers and has a 2nd heart attack within a few months? Or you have a diabetic patient that refuses to follow their recommended diet or take their medications consistently? Would you feel the same disdain for them? Are they just abusing the system too? Listen... I look at nurses that work in ICU or nursing homes or oncology or just about any other specialty... And I think how do the do it? But I'm sure a lot of them look at psych nursing and think the same. If it's not your thing then it's all good. But even if u think ur negativity is not being noticed by ur patients or co-workers... You're probably wrong. I decide what kind of day I'm going to have each day by my own attitude I walk in with. If you're attitude is negative, your negativity will likely be contagious. You would be surprised at how much of a difference it makes to carry a smile and a positive attitude... Your positivity will be contagious too. And pretty soon you will be impressed with the difference you are making around you.

I did LPN school first, then LPN-RN, then RN-BSN so my answer may be different than others. My LPN school was a year long, separated into 4 quarters. That whole year I pretty much had school Monday-Friday 8-5. The first quarter I had clinicals in a nursing home 1 day a week, and was there 7-3 that day. The rest of the quarters I usually had clinicals 2 days a week. Starting in the 2nd quarter we had to go to our clinical site the day before... After being in class all day... Look up info on our patients... And then go home and work on care plans for the following day. I only worked part time during LPN school. During the rest of my schooling I worked full time. You are right, it's different with every school. Sometimes clinicals are scheduled based on the availability of clinical sites. I've heard of some students having to do clinicals on weekends. Most places have a shortage of available clinical sites. Good luck to you.

Since you already have a bachelors degree, have you considered an accelerated BSN program? I hear they are pretty intense, but it may save you time if your ultimate goal is a BSN.

This sounds like PEA or pulseless electrical activity. Although there is some electrical activity, there is still insufficient cardiac output to produce a pulse and the patient is still in cardiac arrest. CPR would still be administered under this circumstance. Great question. Hope that helps.

I just went through this a few months ago. On your "to do list" (I think that's the first page that comes up when you login)... Click on the blue plus sign to expand your requirements. Then for each of those, you click on the plus sign to expand. You will see a document you can click on. That's also where you go to upload everything. I don't know if I explained it well, but hope that helps.

In my experience, the biggest factor in getting a job as a new grad is who you know. Someone else may be able to provide you more insight about things you can do to beef up your resume, but I would definitely start networking if you haven't already. I applied to lots of hospitals when I graduated but got few call backs for interviews. I ended up getting a position at a hospital where my mom had worked for 30 years and she is well known there and well liked. I don't think I would have even gotten an interview if it wasn't for her. We had a pretty large group of new grad RNs in our orientation. The majority of them had worked at that hospital as CNAs or nurse techs. A couple others had worked there as LPNs before getting their RN. I was only one of a couple who wasn't already an employee there. Most of my friends got jobs at places where they did their preceptorship or because of people they new. Some others took jobs outside of acute care hospitals... Like in psych, corrections, or nursing homes. Other posters may disagree, but if you don't have luck getting a job in a hospital, you might consider getting a job in a place like that. You may have better luck that way and still get some valuable experience that will get you into a hospital at a later time, if that's what you want. Now I work in psych... And we do hire some new grads. Psych isn't for everyone but sometimes you never know until you try it. I know I never planned on working in psych, but I actually love it and am now in school to be a psych NP. I wouldn't do anything else. So try to make connections and put your name out there at places you might want to work. If you are not already, you might want to work as a CNA or nurse tech until you graduate. You might even consider doing some volunteer work to do some networking. Good luck to you and hope your job search is a success.

For fall, our application deadline was April 1st. I expected to hear something mid to late May, because it said 6-8 weeks. However, I got my acceptance letter on June 18th, so it was about 11 weeks from the deadline. Hopefully it doesn't take as long for the Spring applicants... But don't be surprised if it does. The wait was dreadful. Good luck to all of you!

I just started at USA this fall. For us, the initial orientation was done as an online webinar. We had modules to complete in the couple weeks before class started, with videos to watch and some quizzes to take. And then we got the invite to the webinar, which was the Thursday of the first week of class. It was mandatory and we had to be sitting in front of our computers that day to participate. I think that's a fairly new thing they did to eliminate one of the trips to Alabama. For me, I don't start clinicals until Fall 2015... So I will have to go up there for clinical orientation right before then, but I'm not sure of the dates yet. According to the schedule online for your program, do you start clinicals the first semester? If not, I imagine you will not have to go to Alabama until around that time. Hope that helps.

Oh no problem :) There is a Baptist Health Care Corporation in Pensacola which includes Baptist hospital in Pensacola. I don't know if that's the same thing or not, probably not. I'm not sure if this link will work but here is a list of the clinical affiliations, listed by state. This info is on the USA site for anyone to see but it's hard to find if you don't know where to look. http://www.southalabama.edu/nursing/documents/ClinicalAgenciesbyState_014.pdf If not, you can try to get the hospital to sign the 2 page agreement like I mentioned. If they won't do that, you can get the school to establish an affiliation agreement. This second link has the 2 page agreement as well as some other forms. Once you get accepted into the program and do your online webinar orientation the first week, you can start planning your clinicals and still have plenty of time to arrange everything just in case they won't sign the 2 page agreement and an affiliation agreement has to be established. http://www.southalabama.edu/nursing/cmnforms.html Hope this helps :)

I know some schools, at least the school I'm attending, will take into consideration the amount of experience you will have by the time you actually start your clinical rotations. It's different in every program and would depend on whether you are going part time or full time, but at my school we start clinicals the 2nd year. The school I go to also has an additional course with clinical hours (that must be done with an RN, BSN) to compensate for not having the full 2 years of experience or not having enough experience in that particular specialty area. However, it didn't state any of this on the admission requirements listed on the university's website, or at least not anywhere that I saw. It specifically stated that you needed 2 years RN experience in that specialty. So some schools may have exceptions like that eventhough their admission requirements list otherwise. However, I would imagine they would be more likely to accept an applicant that at least had a job secured, and was already working in that specialty as an RN, even if it wasn't the full 2 years. In my opinion, I think it's a long shot, but you never know. You might have more luck waiting until you take your boards and getting a job before you apply. However, if the expense of application fees isn't a big concern to you, I don't see how it could really hurt to at least try. Good luck to you!

I don't remember it saying anything about that in particular. I don't see why that would be a problem but I could be wrong. I don't think they really gave specifics like that, but if it was not sufficient they would reject it and let you know. They were even taking letters from provider as temporary documentation if you were missing the card, so I think worst case, they would accept it and give you 30 days to get a new one. But I think even that is unlikely. Here is what it says on the certified background website. That's the site where we have to go (after we get accepted) and put all our shot records, copy of license, CPR, etc... Submit your ACLS, ATLS, C-PRO, BLS OR Professional Rescuer CPR course. Copy must be front & back of the card and card must be signed. Renewal date will be set based on the expiration date of the card. Certificates OR letters from provider are accepted temporarily until card arrived with a renewal date of 30 days.

As far as the experience, I was going by what the admissions requirements said on the USA website. However, I guess they do make some exceptions for those that don't have enough or the right type of experiences. First of all, I think I said before, but they will likely take into consideration the amount of experience you will have when you start your clinicals. And that won't be at the start of the program, or at least it's not for me. But also, when we had our online webinar orientation this week some students were asking about this extra course they have on their schedule. I guess in certain circumstances you may be accepted with less than the 2 years, but may have to take the extra course that includes clinical hours. I don't know many specifics because we each get an individualized curriculum schedule that may be a little different than the one you see online, and I'm not scheduled to take that course. But anyway, they said you would arrange for a preceptor to do these clinical hours. And they mentioned something about some students having this course in the spring semester which would be the 2nd semester since we just started in fall. So that would give you time to set that up if you were required to take that. You do those clinicals with an RN (I think they said had to be BSN) and not a NP or physician like you will do the rest of your clinicals with. If you are having any issues with NursingCAS I would email them or call. I had to email them a couple times and I found they always replied in less than 24 hrs and answered all my questions. As far as getting an email notification from USA that your application has been received and is complete, I wouldn't stress too much if you haven't received one. From what I read on the boards when I was applying and waiting to be accepted, some received them and some didn't. I didn't receive one and so I emailed the school and got an email back several days later saying my application is complete and being reviewed by the admissions committee. Some sent emails and never got responses. Some received the email without ever having to email and ask. But from what I read, this didn't seem to be any indication of whether or not someone was or would be accepted. But if you are concerned I would email them and wait a few days for a response. If you don't hear anything back, you can try again. It's unfortunate that you may have to deal with the uneasiness of not knowing for sure that your application was complete... But they do have one academic advisor that oversees the admission stuff. And he was the same person that put together and sent out our individual curriculum schedules as well (for several hundred students). So you might not get a response right away... Especially since this past week was the first week of classes... But hopefully things will settle down for a bit and he will be able to respond. Anyway, I wish all of you good luck and I hope you will be getting a nice letter in your mailbox in this next month or 2.

Oh a couple more things lol... I know a lot of people have concerns with finding preceptors for online programs. USA already has affiliation agreements with several hospitals and other facilities across the US. They recommend that you try to do your clinicals at one of those sites, if possible. I found 3 facilities within an hour from where I live that are on the list, so I will probably go that route if I can when I start clinicals next fall. That's supposedly the quickest process when setting up your clinicals. If there is not already an agreement in place, you can try to get the preceptor and facility to sign this 2 page agreement that is already drawn up. If you are able to do that route, it is a pretty simple and quick process as well from what I understand. Some facilities are not willing to sign the agreement the way it is written... I guess due to legalities. So if that's the case, the school will have to set up an affiliate agreement with the facility and that's the lengthy process that could take around 4 months or so to get the site approved. I don't think it will be a big issue as long as you plan ahead and you won't be starting clinicals right away so you should have plenty of time to get all that set up. If you do have issues, USA has a clinical coordinator that can help you find sites/preceptors. For the psych track, you have to do about half of your hours in an inpatient program and half outpatient. And since it's a family psych NP program, you also have so many hours with children/adolescents (I think they said 50 hours). If you found the "perfect" preceptor that did both inpatient and outpatient and saw kids and adults, you could potentially have the same preceptor throughout the whole program. That's definitely a plus because other specialty tracks require hours in several different areas, requiring multiple preceptors. You can do your clinicals with a family psych NP or a psychiatrist. I started my classes this past week. One class (patho) is tons of reading and an exam every 2-3 weeks. Your grade is completely based on the 7 exams that you will take throughout the semester. Your exams are taken at home and proctored through an online service where your are watched and listened to through your computer via your webcam/microphone. You have to take it on a specific day but have from 12 am to midnight that day to sign in and take it. My other class is a lot of papers and a few online discussions but no exams. So far I am pleased with my choice :)

Oh no problem. Yea I think each school decides what they consider full time and part time. Some schools require 9 credits for full time status. I think USA states that 6-10 credit hours is considered full time at the graduate level. I did notice that our curriculum schedule is pretty much the same as the part time track for spring. I believe I have only 6 credits every semester except one (in which I have 9 credits). So I don't know why they call one full time and the other part time. Anyway, as far as your application... I would just make sure to allow yourself plenty of time to do the NursingCAS app. For that one you will have to request 2 copies of transcripts (one sent to yourself and one to NursingCAS) from every college you have been to. Then you have to input each course into the NursingCAS website including the exact course name the way it appears on your transcript, the grade you received, and the credit hours. If you have a lot of college credits, this can be pretty tedious and time consuming. You also have to fill out some other info on that site. Then NursingCAS will have to verify everything against your transcripts and they calculate your GPA. I think that whole process took me about a month from the time I requested my transcripts until my application was verified. So just make sure you plan for that. There is a secondary app that you fill out and send to USA but that was a lot simpler. You don't need to worry about GRE or letters of recommendation. So I guess my advice would be to just make sure you read everything on the USA website and make sure you complete all the parts of the app as instructed. And then after that just be ready to wait. Even if you apply early you won't find out anything until 6-8 weeks after the application deadline. And for us, it was actually another couple weeks after that, because they got behind. But good luck to you and I will try to keep you posted.

I plan on working full time the whole program too. But I switched jobs... Was working 3 12-hour shifts in a row 7p-7a and have switched to a job where I'll be working Monday-Friday 3p-11p. I figured I can have a more regular sleep schedule this way and be able to get more done. When I was doing my RN-BSN program, I had a hard time doing any school work on the 3 days in a row that I worked and then would usually need a day after to recover and catch up on my sleep. Hopefully this will be better for me and will be a better schedule for when we start clinicals next year. But yea, I think it's definitely doable, especially since we aren't doing the condensed scheduled. That probably would have been to intense.