nursemanit

don't give up on renting just because of pets - a lot of houses will rent to someone with pets there are plenty of unsold houses that the owners need to rent and they are cheap. The real estate market is too strange here, you really should learn the town before you make a decision. I got screwed making a quick decision and have not gained a dime in equity in 5 years.

1. Rent first !!! for you price range you will need to commute to get to LSU (if it is under 175,000 and in baton rouge you do not want to live there) 2. The BON is slow drop off you stuff in person and let them know that you will be checking up!

The job market is poor right now. There are still grads from last year looking for work. If you can get a job at 20/hour take it. In one year you can job shop as an experienced nurse.

I did attend one night a week for the BSN, if you live in the BR or New Orleans areas you have to attend the BSN classes but I would ask since I have heard of some exceptions, the MSN classes give you the option of doing it online or in New Orleans. The non nursing are like history, womens studies, religion ect. you need at least 120 credits for a bsn.

I have and I am currently enrolled - what do you want to know?

I just Graduated today from the Loyola BSN portion ( I am halfway through the RN-MSN online Program) I would recommend the BSN program. The non-nursing courses are awesome. Loyola is a tough school and the non - nursing classes will not be easy but it is worth it. The nursing classes are where I have some concern, traditionaly the nursing classes are the most difficult but at Loyola they tend to be rather easy. I have think this is due to the limited amount of new content since most of us have been practicing for years. The MSN online courses are interesting and more challanging. One warning about the MSN portion it is very self directed / self learning in style so you have to be deadline driven and not require much direction.

I have noticed that Ph.D. programs seem to care about your BSN GPA more than your MSN GPA when evaluating applicants. I would assume that DNP programs, which can be more competitive, would follow the same pattern. My suggestion would be to consider the effect of a long commute on your GPA, would you miss more classes, be tired in class? I would feel better with a 3.8 from a local school than a 3.2 from UCLA. You should also consider the ugly practice of GPA cutoffs; some programs do not consider graduates with a GPA less than 3.3. This is frequently a unwritten and unofficial policy that is rumored to be in place at some schools. That policy could eliminate you even if your school was more prestigious. The final factor is cost. I would lean towards the cheaper program since the "real world" does not care where you went to nursing school. Remember that a BSN from Yale gets paid the same as a BSN from Easytogetin U. at most hospitals.

The assigned questions were so basic that I can answer them based on my knowledge of history. I want to put some feeling into the assignment so questions like What kinds of things were taught in school? What was your relationship like with physicians? What were the big issues that bother you in the early days .....

Any time before the mid 60's would be ok

I have an assignment to interview a nurse who was in the field during or prior to the 1950's. Unfortunately, I work in informatics and I am the oldest (at 35) of my co- workers. I would love it if some of you could have a discussion on what are the major differences between now and then as far as practice, role, and other topics that you feel are better or worse than "back then" - Thanks to all who can help.

I can agree with most of the points about the "classic" theorists. Or as they are called now the Grand Theories. In the grand theories there are some pearls among the aggrandized concepts and made up words. I liked Betty Neuman's model of Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary interventions. In addition, her concept of lines of defense was a good analogy for the importance of prevention as an intervention in nursing. D. Orem's self-care deficit concept is a great way to learn how to figure out how much to do for the patient and what to let the patient manage on their own. As nutty and useless as Martha Rogers was she did help nursing with the concept that a human is greater than the sum of its parts - or that our patients are more than just a combination of organs, systems and diseases - this seems obvious now but back in the 70's holistic views of the patient was not the standard practice. Now there are more theories that are practice related and smaller in scope and reality based. P. Benner' s novice to expert as it related to clinical competence is a spot on theory that is indispensable in the orientation of nurses. Eakes and Burke's theory of chronic sorrow is another modern theory that has practical application. One of the reasons that I want to be a professor of nursing is that I would live to teach theory correctly. Too many instructors teach the old 1970's theories as religions that you are supposed to believe in and they neglect the practical theories from inside and outside of nursing that are actually useful in care. If I am lucky I will be the first male nursing theorist with my "Keep it simple, Keep it real, and keep it practical dude" theory of nursing.

I am about to hit on 15 years as an RN, And yes I am a student, I will always be a student. Besides graduate school, and full time work I also keep up with the major journals. Experienced nurses who have actively continued their (formal or informal) education are priceless!! Experienced nurses who only do what they were taught 20-30 years ago are dangerous. Unfortunately it is hard to tell on a forum when asking questions which is which. That is why it concerns me when people solicit opinions on clinical topics on a forum. I have to get back to my "required" research now but this was a pleasant debate -- till later..

But do you Know "ut, i am a huge proponent of meticulous foley care. scrub that peri area clean, or else (female) pt will likely get e coli " I think the research would provide some clarification to that point, Not that it is wrong - but the studies in relation to UIT are not as confident as you are. My point is not the foley care, the point is that the OP (and all practicing nurses) need to get clinical information from research not from querying other nurses.

"there are other (realistic) considerations." This is addressed in the research see citation 2--- Judgment requires a knowledge of the existing research - without that it is just opinion.

A few minutes spent researching answers this question. Here are 3 of the most recent published peer reviewed articles on the topic as a start. Godfrey, H. (2008). Older people, continence care and catheters: dilemmas and resolutions. British Journal of Nursing (BJN). 17: S4-S11. Inelmen, E. M., G. Sergi, et al. (2007). When are indwelling urinary catheters appropriate in elderly patients?. (cover story). Geriatrics, Advanstar Communications Inc. 62: 18-22. Nazarko, L. (2007). Avoiding the pitfalls and perils of catheter care. British Journal of Nursing (BJN), MA Healthcare Limited. 16: 468-472. What people "think" about a nursing topic is not relevant. Nursing has a large body of research on this topic and it has been proven and accepted as best practice for years that indwelling catheters are a last resort.