mother_matters

Hi Runninwoo. What part of the country are you in? I would recommend contacting local hospices in your area and explain exactly what you told us to see if they would let you shadow with one of their nurses. Is the nursing school you attended near you? I often get requests from my alma mater to talk to students about hospice or to precept students for their community health internship or their senior practicum. You might want to talk to your alma mater (or any nursing program in your area) to see if they could put you in touch with a hospice nurse alum to shadow. Finally, you might want to see if there is a local HPNA (Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association) chapter in your area. You might find one of their meetings helpful and a great way to network with current hospice nurses. Best of luck!

I also took the test two weeks ago and passed (phew!). I agree with others who said that you're not sure if you passed or failed when you hit the finish button. The version of the test that I took had much more emphasis on chemo symptom management than I was expecting. To me, it seemed that aprox 50% of the content came directly from the study guide (such as where specific cancers specifically metastasize). For the other half of the questions, I had to rely on my experience as a hospice nurse (about 1.5 years). I had also purchased the book with sample questions and felt those were allot easier than true test questions---gave me a false sense of security when I was preparing. When I took the exam, the first three questions truly stumped me and my heart fell in my stomach---not the way you want to start things! While I don't think it's impossible to take the exam without prior hospice/palliative care experience, I think it would make it allot more challenging. While I didn't find the HPNA prep class particularly helpful (I went to the one in Pittsburgh), I think a study group would have been nice. Best of luck to all of those preparing to take it in the spring!

For my first and last visits of the day, a previous employer would pay me for the mileage that was above and beyond the distance for me to travel from my house to the office (and vice versa). For example: my house was ten miles from our office. If my first visit was 15 miles from my house, they would reimburse me for five miles. I thought this was fair.

Fantastic news, Ahmedkhan! Looking forward to sharing in your hospice journey with you!

It looks like there is a different certification for LPNs: CHPLN. According to the accreditation site, in order to sit for the CHPLN exam, you need to have an unrestricted practical/vocational license in the US/territories and also have 2 years of hospice/palliative care experience. Given your experience with your dad, I think you'd be a great addition to the hospice nursing community! Many of us got into this field because we were inspired by the hospice care that a friend or family member received. Sounds like your next step would be to look for a hospice job and then, in two years, you could pursue certification. Good luck!

Whoa---that's intense! Sounds like you have a great plan. I would also make it a point to emphasize the importance of family centered care. In hospice, I've found that the family members need as much support and education as the patient---sometimes more! Also, even though their relationship with you as the nurse typically ends when the patient passes away, other members of the IDT will continue to work with the family providing bereavement support. Please report back on how the interview goes---wishing you lots of luck!

I graduated from the MU accelerated BSN program in May '11 and have a ton of publisher's study guides that I would love to pass on (no charge) to an incoming student. I found these study guides really helpful to prepare for exams (and sometimes really lucked out when the same/similar questions showed up on exams if the professor was using the test bank for the book). The study guides are for classes such as Pharm, Health Assessment, Med-Surg, Patho, Research, OB, and Peds. If interested, please send me a message through allnurses or e-mail me at crcodywhite at gmail dot com. I'd prefer to just turn over the entire box to the first person who contacts me. Best of luck to the incoming class----you're in for a great experience (even if it won't feel like it while you're doing it!).

Completely agree. I'm prior military (enlisted and officer) and I am really struck by the similarities between nursing school and basic training/officer training. Much like boot camp didn't resemble day-to-day life in the military, I'm optimistic that everyday nursing is much more humane and satisfying than nursing school. It's a right of passage---nothing more, nothing less.

i'm in my second semester of an accelerated bsn program and the biggest lesson that i've learned so far is not to sacrifice sleep. i have made a serious commitment to getting 7 hours of sleep every night, regardless of how insane things become (which they do!). often, this means going to bed at the same time as my kids and getting up at 3am. i have consistently found that i do *much* better in clinicals and on exams if i have had a decent night's sleep the night before---even if it means sacrificing some study time. in nursing school, you can study until you're blue in the face and you'll still never feel completely prepared for an exam. i can handle the uncertainty and the critical thinking challenges so much better if my head is clear from a decent night's sleep. i have a hunch that this is going to be true in real-world nursing as well--patients deserve a safe nurse whose head isn't foggy from lack of sleep. easier said than done, i know.

CNL package arrived in the mail today (and I was one of the ones who was just notified a few days ago). At this point, I'm 99% sure that I'm' going to go with the Accelerated BSN program at Marymount instead. This has been a gut-wrenching decision and I still have two more weeks until the point of no return but, at this point, I think that the Marymount program is going to be the best fit for me and my family for myriad reasons. It's hard to say goodbye to all of my fellow UMB applicants---it's been a wild journey and I look forward to crossing paths with you down the road as nurses. Best wishes to everyone for a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

Here is a link for the Med Calc book that was recommended to me (I've also seen this same one for sale at the Baltimore campus and at the Shady Grove bookstore): http://www.lww.com/product/?978-0-7817-5854-3 I have a friend who works for the publisher (Lippincott) and she just passed on a 40% coupon code that can be used on any Lippincott purchase (she said it was okay if I shared it with all of you). When checking out (either online or by calling 1-800-638-3030) use coupon code WC84L9ZZ. Please let me know if you have any difficulty with this. The coupon code expires 12/31 and can be used on *any* Lippincott books. (Yes, I'm going to see what other texts that we need might be included). Hope this helps---the next couple of months are going to be very expensive as we get ready for nursing school!!

Just got the call---I've been accepted into the CNL program. Now I have some serious soul searching to do but am grateful to finally have the ball back in my court.

Thought we could all use some comic relief today (see YouTube link below for Footloose--Nursing School Style). These student nurses have WAY more rhythm than I do---glad that wasn't a prerequisite for nursing school!

Haha, Grey Lady. There are a few of us on this thread who have training in hand-to-hand combat. Let us know if you would like for us to come and pose as applicants sitting in the audience to ensure your safety!!! It's the least we could do since you've had our back for so long! Just kidding---I really don't think you're going to face a hostile audience tonight.

This is starting to feel like a really bad boyfriend relationship. I feel so dirty and empty inside every time I check my status on SURFS but I just can't get past the seductive appeal of UMB's national rankings, their state-of-the-art simulators, the rock-bottom tuition cost, that gorgeous medical library, and--most importantly--that beautiful new student center, especially the pool!!! Oh UMB, why you treat me so bad!?!