Kei35

I'm working on my MSN through WGU as well. I love them so far! Although all of it is online they are very supportive and I like that you can work at your own pace. The only deadlines are that you complete 8 CU by the end of your term (6 months). That being said, you can also complete more than 8 CUs per term; you're welcome to finish as many CUs as you can manage in 6 months, while only paying one flat fee. I would say I went back for my masters 50% for myself/a sense of accomplishment/ongoing education, 30% for just in case a role I want down the line requires it, 20% because it feels like the right time: stable (knock on wood) telecommute job, I have extra funds to pay for it, and my employer will reimburse a little bit of the tuition. I don't think I'd have gone back to school if I had to take out a loan. I'm done with that! I just finished paying for my BSN earlier this year after 10 years. Have a great week, all!

Hi OP! Which job did you choose? I work at HF and if you have any questions you can message me. Good luck!

Hi all, I am beginning my MSN (executive track) with Chamberlain in less than 2 weeks. Just wondering how everyone has liked the program so far? I've had only positive experiences so far with admissions and financials and I thought it was a nice touch sending out an acceptance letter. I had applied to two other online schools last year both of whom left a bad taste in my mouth after being enrolled. =P Thanks and happy new year!

Hi all, I just applied to Walden's MHA program and am waiting to here back whether I am accepted into the program or not. I appreciate all the comments everyone has posted. My friend actually is almost finished with her courses at Walden for her MSN in Nursing Informatics. She has enjoyed the program and school so far but always tells me to be prepared for tons of reading and writing (which is fine :)). I have a BSN and have been working in public health for almost 3 years in NYC. Looking forward to using my MHA at our company in the future. :) Any suggestions for prepping? I would start Oct 31 if I get accepted. I currently own a MacBook Pro that I was planning to use for the course. Any other supplies I need or study tools you all recommend? (I'm just kind of giddy to do some back to school shopping) Take care and have a great weekend! K

I think I'm at my gravy job right now. I work in home care. I love it! Like all jobs it has it's ups and downs but it works for me and I rarely feel like I am "working" because I enjoy it.

As an aside, I also got my 2nd cat one day going home after seeing patients in my health area. She was a stray who kept following me down the block, then followed me to my car, hopped into my car, and did not stop purring. I went with her straight to our vet, she was cleared, and came home with us. Sweetest cat ever. Never thought my 1st cat would ever get along with another cat, but they became fast BFF's. Anyway, she's just another blessing that came along through home health. lol.

Thank you so much for this post. Everything is true and insightful! April 6th marks my one year anniversary as a home health nurse. I work in the Bronx. It can get complicated, frustrating, etc. managing patients' cases (because yes, you are the coordinator!) but WOW, I have loved this job. It does not even feel like it's been a year since I started. Sometimes when I'm working, I have so much fun interacting/teaching/providing care to (most) of my patients that I can't believe I'm working (until my paperwork time arrives). But even with the paperwork, it's fun but one must be really organized and able to stay on top of tasks of coordinating. Most days after my visits & paperwork, I don't feel like I've "worked" because I enjoy the job. With home health, that saying applies to me: Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life. So far, so good.

Thanks everyone for the inspiring comments! Our job can definitely get frustrating but it's the moments when you realize you have helped truly helped someone, or have been helped yourself, that make it all worth it. Kudos to all of us.

Last week, I lost a patient for the very first time. I have been a home care nurse for one year. I work in home care in the Bronx, New York. I had been seeing this patient for about 7 months, 2-3x/week. He had a medical history of HTN, CHF, and venous stasis ulcers. He had a personal history of a hard life, drug addiction, imprisonment, alcoholism. He had no family nearby, just some neighbors on his block and in his building who would come by and help him by doing groceries and laundry when he couldn't get out. I was seeing him to care for a progressing venous stasis ulcer. He was pretty non-compliant with his meds at first, never went to the doctors appointments he had, and I pretty much had to beg him to follow up with the community clinic. For the first few months, he was flat-out nasty with me: mumbling things under his breath while I did my visits about me not caring about what happens to him and one time he even greeted me from his stoop, beer bottle in hand, with beligerent yelling and cursing. I always kept my cool with him, did everything I had to do, and would always reply back with: I do care for you, even if you don't think so! Truthfully, some days I dreaded to visit him because I was not sure whether he would be in a good mood or not. Four months into our working relationship, I stopped hearing negative comments and he was proudly telling me he was taking his meds, which he was. He tried his best following up with community doctors from then on. He remained stable. But to make a long story short, I think he got lost in the system. He never had the same doctor at the community clinic so his needs were not met, despite his attempts and mine. Orders remained the same for meds and wound care. I then found a wound clinic that accepted his insurance and would provide transportation. We set him up to go. I visited him on Monday, March 1st and told him I'd be back Wednesday to follow up and jokingly said, "If you're not here, I'll know you're at the wound clinic!" He replied, "Yes, dear!" as he always did. Wednesday came and I had to call out sick. Later that day, I reviewed my patients' cases online, and read a short note on the nurse's visit to my patient. "Pt expired". What? Could not be true. I called the nurse who attempted to visit him and asked if he was sure. He replied, "I believe it is true. His apartment door was sealed by NYPD tape. And there were candles in front of the building. His neighbors all informed me he died on Monday. I am sorry. Get some rest and get well yourself." For a few days, I could not stop thinking about my patient: where was he now? What did they do with his body? I kept thinking back to our visits and how we were making progress. Weren't we trying our best? Did I? Did he? When I went back to work, I drove by his building, and the candles were still lit, and the side of a cardboard box was taped above the candles with messages scribbled onto it. I could not yet get myself to stop and walk up to read the messages. A lot of things ran through my mind the following days. It stressed me out. But by thinking it through a couple of times, I remembered I would never know everything. All the questions I had would not be answered. I realized all I am ever left with was myself. I realized that my patient had left a profound mark on me although I only knew him on the surface. I then became somewhat comforted that I knew he (eventually) valued me. I knew that this experience re-affirmed my duties as a nurse, as a person; that each patient, PERSON, deserves 100%, and that we need to at least try to give them that while they or we are around. RIP RB.

I'm in NYC. I graduated in 2007 and all the jobs I applied for had starting RN salaries of $32 and above. New grad salary at where I eventually began work is $38.

ACLS = Advanced Cardiac Life Support Don't quit. I have been a nurse for almost two years in May and I have days where I doubt myself and make mistakes but if you love what you do and love to learn, keep up at it.

sdOU2009 - I've logged on to Pearson Vue before many times when I was taking the nclex (attempt #1 & attempt #2) and I've seen them do maintenance before. It hasn't changed yet...so let's hope! Maybe someone who has taken it today will post and let us know...good luck!

CONGRATS & G'LUCK TO ALL -- nursing students, nurses, and those waiting those dreadful days, hours, weeks for their results! We all deserve a pat on the back. Special shout out to my husbandseRNdpt who just passed and is now officially a Registered Nurse. We tried the PVT at attempt one and it went straight to the payment/cc page. Attempt two: "good pop up" and this morning the results were in: PASS. Nurse Kay

I love this article. I had so much fun in the OR while I was an OR nurse. It's hard to explain what we do to others because they'd have no idea since there is not much exposure to it in nursing school! You did an amazing job putting the pieces together. Thank you!

Hey SilverMist! Just wanted to know if you've applied to HSS. I was in telemetry for about 4 months right after graduation (I graduated in December '08 with a BSN) and then I switched to HSS' OR Residency, which I started in July. It's awesome so far, HSS appears to invest a lot to educate their new staff, and the benefits are ok. My favorite thing though is how much tuition reimbursement they give...it's like $10,000 for BSN, $12,000 for Master's, and more for PhD... Another really great thing that keeps me going is that fellow co-workers at HSS are really nice. =) It really helps to have friendly and supportive colleagues. Just thought I'd reply 'cuz I was so happy to see HSS mentioned. =) If you really don't like cardiac, there are other options for you out there. My husband really enjoyed doing Psych @ St. Luke's-Roosevelt. Kay