caseyspen

yeah, after thinking about it. My plan is to go the PNP route with my hospital footing most of the bill and then getting a post masters certificate in acute care. Now I just have to study for the GRE.

Relocating isn't a possibility. The university affiliated with my hospital offers the PNP program and the private university (with tuition in the ten thousands) in the next city over offers the acute care pnp. I really don't want to rack up a huge amount of debt which is what would happen if I went the private university route. So I will probably be doing the pnp or fnp, just wanted to know if hospitals only hire those with acute care degrees. Thanks

Hi, I currently work in the PICU (6 yrs experience) but will be applying for NP school next year. I would like to work in a hospital setting as a hospitalist, in peds ED, peds surg/cardiology etc and wanted to know if hospitals require the acute care NP masters or does anyone know of PNPs working in hospital settings? Also, is it true that jobs are super scarce for PNPs and that its best to go for FNP instead, even if my interest is only in pediatrics? Thanks

hi, i work in a 16 bed picu in a level i trauma center, large teaching hospital. we have a resident and fellow in house 24 hours a day and attending in house during the day and on call at night. our attendings all live close and can get to the hospital in minutes if the fellow cannot handle the situation on their own. our docs are wonderful but we are headed for a fellow shortage next year and that is going to be very difficult. 1: what level of care does your unit provide? (do you have a cardiac surgery program? do you have an ecls/crrt program? do you have a transport team? transplants? neurosurgery? complex ent? trauma?) we have a seperate transport team with rns and rts. we do everything listed above although, we see transplants now and then and ecmo once every couple of months or so. 2: how many beds do you have? 16 but will expand to 20 beds early next year.what is your usual nurse to patient ratio? we never have more than 2 patients, patients that are singled are fresh post op hearts,critical airways that are chemically paralyzed and sedated, and any really sick kiddo requiring interventions frequently or one that needs close monitoring. being on vent is not a reason for a patient to be singled unless they are on jet or the oscillator (although in a pinch i have had a kid on cvvh and the oscillator paired with a chronic stable trached pt but that only happens in a severe staffing crunch) 3: does your unit employ ancillary staff such as cnas or patient care techs to assist with hands-on care or is the nurse responsible for total care of the patient(s)? there are a couple of na's and/or nurse externs that work in our unit but they only work day shift and mostly help with traveling to scans, stocking and running to blood bank. on nights we do total pt care. 4: how do you manage breaks in your unit? we have combined our 30 min and 2 15 minute breaks, so we get an hour break . if the patient is really critical then the charge nurse (who does not carry an assignment unless we were really short staffed) watches your pt. otherwise we just get another nurse to cover for us for the hour. we try to have everything done, make sure nothing will beep off, and our kid is well sedated before we leave. the goal is for the person covering for you to not have to do anything for your pt while you are gone. and we see our charge nurse frequently because they don't have an assignment they float around the unit helping where they can. they also have to do iv starts on the floors, and go to every pediatric code or rapid response call. 5: how is continuing education provided in your unit? we have hospital wide competencies that must be completed yearly and we have a picu education committee that meets monthly to come up with quarterly competencies and other cont ed opportunities. 6: does your unit hire new grads? yes.what kind of orientation program are they given?12 week orientation rotating days and nights. staff with nursing experience is given 8 weeks. 7: how difficult is it to transfer patients out to other levels of care when they're ready? our main problem is bed space, most of the time we can get stable kids out as long as there are floor beds available. i do think we need a step down unit because some kids tend to hang out in our unit because of one issue that i think could easily be managed on the floor but the floor nurses don't feel comfortable taking them so they get stuck in our unit. do you ever discharge patients home from your picu? it happens rarely, most discharges from home are chronic home vent pts (our floors can't take home vents even if they are stable which i think is so silly considering these pts are managed by lpns in a home setting!) or a kid that probably didn't need to be there in the first place and once problem is solved it just makes more sense for them to go home. i've only seen that happen a handful of times in 4 years though. 8: what is your turnover like? our turnover isn't too bad, it's usually related to life changes, births, marriages, relocations of spouses, furthering education (nps,crnas etc). once in awhile we will have a group leave at once it seems like but most are not leaving because of the unit itself. most people that come seem to like it if picu is their thing. we have had a few nurses leave that couldn't deal with sick kids or they came from nicu and didn't like all the different diagnoses and big kiddos so they went back to nicu. hth!

can you share any study tips? How did you prepare for the nclex? Is there anything you would do differently now that you have taken the test? How long and how often did you study for the boards? thanks, casey

Hi, graduation is around the corner and I don't plan on wasting any time getting started. I would like to study 6 days a week but am trying to come up with a realistic study schedule that will be effective. I would like to take the boards sometime near the end of June. I have saunders, mosby and will be taking the live Kaplan review course in May. I was thinking about getting lippincott too but was wondering if that would be over doing it? I don't want to over study but I am worried sick about this test already! I have done really well in school but I know that doesn't guarantee me a passing score. casey

Yes on the weekend days with the diff, the pay is 28/hr. weekend nights is 31.75/hr. Of course because of this diff, it isn't hard for the hospital to find people to work weekends! As a new grad I will probably get to work the weekend I'm required plus maybe one other during the scheduling period. casey

In North carolina, I will be making 18.00/hr plus night diff of 3.75 and weekend diff of 10.00/hr. plus a $12,500 sign on bonus for 2 year committment casey ps. most hospitals give straight day pay when working 7a-7p but at the hospital I will be working, the night shift differential kicks in at 3pm when you work 7a-7p. that makes a difference in yearly salary.

Hi, I will be graduating in May with my BSN and I just accepted a job in the PICU at a large teaching hospital. I will be working 3 12 hour shifts a week, day/night rotation. The manager said she doesn't care how it is split up over each six week schedule. How do you guys split up your shifts? Is it better to do all three back to back and do 3 weeks of nights and then 3 weeks of days or to alternate week to week? I'm also thinking about breaking up my days so that it won't be so tiring like doing a mon, wed, thurs. I was told by a classmate that I will hate this but it seems like the break in between would be nice. The nurse educator said they have some moms that do all their shifts every other day (m,w,f) every week but that they don't like that because it interferes with continuity of care. I know I have a little ways to go (start date is August 2nd) but I would appreciate any advice you can give. Thanks, Casey

I accepted a job at a hospital offering an "educational loan" to new grads. They will not call it a sign on bonus! It is $5000 for one year committment, $10,000 for 18 months and $12,500 for a two year committment. You get the first lump sum when you sign your contract and then another lump sum on your first day of work and then the final amount at the end of the contract. If you decide not to work there, you can always just quit and pay the money back. You also have the option of course, of accepting the job but not getting one of the "educational loans". Casey

Hi! Well it looks like my prayers have been answered and I will be interviewing with a level III NICU in a couple of weeks. Are there any questions you think I should ask? Any tips or advice on how to nail the interview? I did a shadowing experience on this unit so I have at least seen it before and met with some of the staff. Everyone seemed happy. Supposedly there are 12-15 new grad positions so I am optomistic about my chances but I am a newbie so your advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Casey (senior nursing student)

Hi, I'm a senior in my nursing program and will be graduating in May (God Willing!). I currently work as a phlebotomist and 90% of the time draw the babies in the NICU. I really like it there and I try to look at the equiptment and what is going on with the babies. I listen closely to report if I am there to just try and pick up on what the nurses are saying about the babies. After starting my peds rotation this semester, I really feel like the NICU is where I would like to work after graduation. My current clinical instructor is making an effort to give me infant patients since she knows my plans. Next semester we do a preceptorship and I want to do mine in the NICU. If I don't get NICU what other unit would you all suggest that would give me a good foundation for going into the NICU as a new grad? I know most of the learning will start once I'm out there in the real world but I would like to do whatever I can to make the transition easier. Any advice you can give would be appreciated! Thanks Casey